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Dungeons & Dragons and the Ethics of Imaginary Violence (hopesandfears.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Are people just naturally inclined to be destructive when there aren't any real consequences? Should we be worried about people who imagine such violence? Writer Clem Bastow spoke to D&D experts, psychologists and others to answer these questions. It turns out that playing out violent fantasies in D&D is not only healthy, but could even teach players how to be a better person. “Rather than playing an extension of who you or I are within the game, I see it more as playing a fantasy character who can do whatever they want, and who doesn’t feel inhibited by social anxiety or fear of punishment or rejection. It’s an exaggerated version of how [the player] would like to be, but can’t. The game is a safe way to be this other person,” says Clinical psychologist and games designer Dr. Owen Spear.
Will still get parroted by the press - whether it's D&D or GTA or Halo.
I know some people who would say, word for word, the exact same thing about marriage. So perhaps the problem isn't the game, but how you play it.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
If you ever encounter someone who insists on banning some form of media because it supposedly causes those who consume it to become violent/sexist/etc., say that you wholeheartedly agree with them and ask when they will be banning the Bible (or better yet Quran) as that's been responsible for all sorts of violence/sexism/etc. It seems that most of the people who try to make an argument in favor of banning media for such reasons are either religious-hardliner nut-jobs from the Christian conservative camp that will flip shit at the thought of any attack on their Jeebus or wacko authoritarian cultural-Marxist leftists who would never want to appear to say anything bad about Islam.
The mental contortions that follow are spectacular to watch.
I enjoyed playing D&D during undergrad. My wife wasn't much for it so it has fallen by the wayside. Her family is super into sports and I've picked up enjoying the games of a particular college team. You know what I've found out from her family: enjoying watching sports is almost exactly the same thing as playing a tabletop RPG. You get together with people you know. You learn a lot of statistics and rules. You argue or discuss different decisions with them and complain about the officiant. You snack and probably drink together. You pick up a lot of obscure trivia as you go along. Everyone enjoys themselves enough to do it on a regular basis.
I had friends who wanted to rape, plunder and blow up the local town than face off the godforsaken monster in the dungeon. One of them went to prison for chasing his girlfriend with a shotgun.
Shotguns are not allowed, except in the despised 3.5 expert edition.
Although I'm happily married, I always think of this Bill Murray quote when someone asks about marriage:
"When someone is murdered, they always investigate the spouse first. And that pretty much tells you everything you need to know about marriage."
Lol.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...