What? No! Curse you, Shakespeare! Mobilize the Anti-Shakespeare Squad!
'cause things just got wierd for me…
You got that right, cause it’s a MAN, baby! 
And she swore it was her pre-op stage! I’ve been tricked…
they have blamed that too
In the '00s, why did Zhare talk?
. . .
but never once said anything intelligent?
I never said anything intelligent? well people have told me that before
I was playing D&D in the 80’s and I can tell you it was because the players started to play so much with just one character that they started to believe that the character was real and when it died they thought their life was over, that they had nothing left to live for. Kids and Adults would actually dress up as their character and go to conventions & locations and play real life D&D which only compounded the thought the character was real.
My theory is that some people get a lot stupider when they grow old.
Dragon Ninja is just being sarcastic. I hope.
The fact is, that urban legend about some kid committing suicide (or murder) over D&D is completely untrue; there was a case of a kid who played D&D who ran away from his home, but it was due to other problems he had, and he was found later alive. (There WAS a movie inspired by that, which does feature a fanatical killer, which was totally fictional but it helped spread the rumor.)
Besides, D&D players neither believe in the stuff not even dress like their characters except at conventions. And the closest thing to Satanism in D&D are the demons that were meant to be killed by the heroic characters, like in lots of legends and novels.
An anyway, Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy, which many overly romantic people fail to get. The act committed by the protagonists was supposed to be seen as WRONG, not admirable. Give me a heroic fantasy game over teenagers in love killing themselves anyday. :no2:
Jack chick says its evil, that’s why.
This thread is over 2 years old. Why bring it back, now?
Mazes and Monsters(Its a completely true/unblievably false movie)…watch it and be afraid … thats all I got to say.
Oh wait did I say be afraid? I meant laugh your ass off.
I pretty much agree with everything Wilfredo said.
There are several reasons as to why DnD was demonised by parents, all of which are flawed.
My personal favourite is the factor that these people can’t deal with the fact that they are human beings, and as human beings, they have flaws. It’s the same reason as to why Video Games have recieved such a slating recently. Something has gone wrong, the product is related to the incident (no matter how loosely related), and rather than find a deeper, more logical reason, the audience will blame the product. Why not? It’s easier to do, it doesn’t fight back, and it’s mass produced so there can be more money in it.
Instead of realising that there may be some social hinderence, a lack of education in what’s fact or fiction, what’s right or wrong, or some basic mental instability, all blame is placed on the product. It can never be the humans themselves, oh no, that’s insane. Let’s use the Manhunt incident as an example.
a 14 year old kills another kid of his age after playing the game. Quick answer: the game was the direct and only cause of this incident. instant flaw with this: He was 14. He was 4 years to young to have played the game. I’m just wondering how he got his hands on it. How did his parents miss the age label, and if they read the label, how did they not see this, or any other psycological problem, coming? If the kid bought it himself, why did the store clerk not ask for ID? It’s this same thing with DnD and other video games. While it may be a key player in the problem, I can probably garuntee you, it’s not the one and only reason. Yes, the label warns the audience that the game can be ‘a little disturbing’, but when it comes to 18 games, it’s only ‘a little disturbing’ in the same way that lava is ‘a tad warm’.
Another reason can be religious overtones. Remember that comic that was written? The one where this girl gets into DnD, joins a cult, realises her mistake, joins the church and then takes part in a town book burning to purge the ‘Devil’s Game’ forever? I laughed so hard at it’s terribleness, I think my sides hurt, and I’m a Christian. As wilfredo says, you fight demons and devils a lot in the game. Why would Satan think it would be a good idea to draw players in by making a game that simulates you and your friends slaughtering his minions? Sure, the demonic imagry on the early books didn’t help the case, but you could also see on the same covers, the good guys heroically holding back the evil forces. Unfortunately, they only took up 5%-10% of the cover, so attention was automatically drawn to the big scary monster that enveloped the rest.
I guess a minor reason could be Munchousen Syndrome. Parents look for attention, they realise their kid is a little screwed up, they know their kid plays DnD (or that DnD is the popular excuse), they have access to an excuse.
other reasons could be following the crowd, finding reasons to sue, over bearing parents who don’t see DnD as part of their plan for their child, etc.
Before I continue, I’m a christian, I play violent video games, watch TV and movies that are quite gory, and I play RPGs a lot. Have I lost faith in God? no. Have I killed, harmed or sacrificed someone? no. Do I plan to? the phrase ‘hell no’ comes to mind.
I do appologise for going off on a bit of a rant, I’m just tired of persecution by other social groups. I actually had someone back away and declare “please don’t sacrifice me to satan” when they found out I played DnD.
besides. Vin Diesal aparently plays DnD, and he’s not screwed up.
…right?
Sorry to hear that you’ve had trouble for playing D&D, Acenra. Hopefully it’s just the typical social friction that comes with growing up (if you’re smart you’re a “nerd” if you’re athletic you’re a “jock” etc.- people always find some way to demean others, probably to make themselves feel better) and nothing too serious. BTW, I’m a Christian too (nondenominational) and I also think that God wouldn’t find fiction -even the kind that mocks him- to be evil or damning in itself- he doesn’t have our human pettiness. Besides, I’ve always believed that fiction is one of the most constructive things humanity ever conceived- it allows people to live the lives of others in their minds, and thus leads to better understanding of each other. Its main purpose may be to entertain (or making $$) but well-written fiction of any kind -even games- are GOOD for people.
If it was deadpan it was probably Brit humour. \deadpan
well, it wasn’t the standard sarcastic bullying that usually goes around, he seemed genuinely scared. It was more embarrasing on their behalf really. Of course, this became awkward for a good few weeks, then the standard bullying came along, and then I went to university and found people who play DnD, so it all worked out in time 
My response would of been “I dunno, I get a +2 profane bonus to dice rolls if I sacrifice innocents, but rituals of darkness are like posting a kill me sign on my back as far as those damn paladins are concerned.”
That or “Nah, you don’t gotta worry about that, but I might feed you to a dragon.”
That, uh, isn’t what Münchhausen syndrome is, really.
Really? I thought Münchhausen Syndrome was a parent harming their child or over exagerating an illness in order to get attention. I was saying it was possible that the parent would make their child seem like a victim of DnD, and, in turn, become a victim themselves. I probably should have worded that part better. Either way, I’d probably still end up wrong, I usually am
Actually you’re right, sort of: there’s “Munchhausen Syndrome” and there’s “Munchhausen Syndrome by proxy”. According to Wikipedia anyway: