I really like this.

[kisekileia]

It was posted by someone named Adam Smith as a review for the D&D 3.5e Player's Handbook on Amazon. It's a nice counterpart to the ignorance of "D&D is of TEH DEVIL" sentiments, the lack of proofreading notwithstanding

Comments

[pyat]

Excellent points, and very true. RPGs were really my only form of socialization from about grade 8 as late as university, and I think without them I'd have just been a weird BBS troll.

[bwc1976]

Very cool! I wish I had known of anyone that lived close enough to RPG with, when I was younger and didn't have the Internet or more than a few channels of TV to keep me busy. But with my luck, my mom probably would have been afraid of it. She didn't even let me start driving by myself until I was 22. Even now, at 32, I'm not going to tell her I'm interested in getting a motorcycle, until after I've been safely riding for a few years.

[dustthouart]

You become involved in a very open friendly community of fellow gamers who almost always look past socioeconomic or racial barriers because the characters you play can be anything from playing a Human Wizard, to a strange alien Jedi Master, or even a Nasty Goblin with a heart of gold.

I don't think this is necessarily true; there are lots of sexist or racist tabletop RPGers. Didn't the writer of DM of the Rings write in a commentary at some point that as an RPG campaign goes on, the chance of one male at the table implying that another male at the table is gay approaches one? Or something like that.

*looks it up*

The rulebooks never say that players earn XP for finding ways to imply the other guys at the table might be gay, but you would never know this from observing their behavior.

There it is.

So yeah. There's a lot of reasons to try RPGing, but trying to find universal brotherhood is not one of them.

Like life

[bruorton]

people of course bring their own issues to it.

But given the basic premise -- that you are expected to experience the game world by playing someone very different from yourself -- you have to grant that it is an inherently progressive framework. Take a look at the last US election: surely we would all benefit if a reflexive fear of "the other" was not so easy to tap into.

That said, I won't put up with anyone in my presence calling someone else gay, in an RPG, or the classes I've taught, or any other venue. That is just totally inappropriate in our day and age.

Re: Like life

[kisekileia]

Yeah, I agree with that.

Also

[bruorton]

I love your user icon, and that cartoon is priceless parody. I bookmarked it to read the rest when I have the time -- thanks!

That

[bruorton]

is totally great, kise. I mean, put this way you just have to ask why role-playing isn't a staple of our public education curriculum! =D Also, I would add

12) It is not a game that one player wins to the exclusion of everyone else. In fact, in order to have fun and do well, the players have to work together as a team, learning how their own unique skills can complement others', and the outcome is usually shared pride in group success (as well as stories you will reminisce over for years to come).

Re: That

[kisekileia]

Thanks :D. I like your addition, too!

[mountaintops]

true & cute!

[kisekileia]

:)