Since this is a subject that comes up with surprising regularity, I invite anyone and everyone to post links, references, books that you know of, and any other good supporting arguments for the positive benefits of roleplaying games. Also, if you have anecdotal examples of your experiences with RPGs, post those as well.
- James L. Carroll and Paul M. Carolin. "Relationship Between Game Playing and Personality." Psychological Reports, v. 64 (1989), pp. 705-06.
- Lisa A. DeRenard and Linda Mannik Kline. "Alienation and the Game Dungeons and Dragons." Psychological Reports, v. 66 (1990), pp. 1219-1222.
- Armando Simon. "Emotional Stability Pertaining to the Game Vampire: The Masquerade." Psychological Reports, v. 83 (1998), pp. 732-34.
Michael Stackpole (science fiction author) - The Pulling Report
Just from personal experience:
(1) DMing = handling multiple people, keeping them all on task while simultaneously keeping them all entertained, and engaging with each one individually. Involves a lot of prep time and handouts. Teaching in a classroom full of 9th graders, I found, was much the same thing.
(2) From constantly making my own character sheets on Excel, I've become the formatting guru. Everyone in my extended family (and my wife's) comes to me for resume help now.
(3) Absurdly expanded vocabulary (althought this may, in all honesty, be more attributable to reading a lot of Jack Vance books).
(4) I'm learning that dealing with state regulatory agencies is a lot like playing in a dungeon crawl. Usually, achieving your goal means clearing out every room, often under the administration of a somewhat arbitrary state lead guy (or DM) who may or may not have any idea what the rules really say, but who gets the final word on them for your session anyway.
|
5 Reasons Your Kids Should Play Dungeons and Dragons. by Scott Kurtz
It's no psycological study, but it is clearly written, direct and hard to deny.
Here's my own list, from personal experience.
1. D&D literally helped me learn to read and to do quick addition and subtraction. I started playing with the orange folder between the ages of 6 and 10. Since then, keeping track of gold, silver, and copper pieces, magic item values, XP gains and losses all have kept my math skills from deteriorating at the least. D&D literature, including fantasy novels, greatly expanded my vocabulary. (I have to give credit to Magic:TG for a test question about taigas.)
2. D&D helped me break out of my shyness and participate with other people of my age, and helped me communicate with people much older than myself. Before I joined in a group at a local hobby shop, I could hardly make eye contact with people outside of my family. Gaming with a supportive, non-pressuring group of peers helped me gain self-confidence.
3. Related to #2 and certainly the biggest influence in my life, D&D indirectly introduced me to my wife. In the years when I was coming out of my shell, I met her (playing the DBZ card game, of all things) at the hobby shop. A few years later, I heard she moved back into the area, so I invited her to my gaming table. The first night when everyone else had driven home, we spent 3 hours just talking about role-playing. It wasn't long after that we began dating. I can never say enough about what an impact this great game has had for me.
This thread is great! I hope others, more well-read than myself, will post as well.
It is fascinating to me that a culture such as our own still balks at the mere mention of Dungeons & Dragons. Regardless of your point-of-view on violence, adult language, and sexual innuendo in our books, magazines, movies, TV shows (even the networks), and even games, it must be recognized that those undertones have been on the rise in recent years. That being said, I am not an alarmist, trying to convince you or anyone else that it is an epidemic needing our immediate and passionate attention to take action to remove these vices from our society. No. As the militant protestors of Wal-Mart have learned (or in some cases, should learn) that raising an alarm on the behavior and practices of the corporation is not going to cause people to stop shopping there. Thus any group that tries to raise an alarm about the epidemic of violence, language, and sexual innuendo in our media, is not going to cause the industry to suddenly stop producing it, nor will it effect people’s buying/viewing/reading choices.
One thing I have learned as an educator is that I cannot make anyone do anything they themselves do not want to do. That is a hallmark of our nation’s founding. However, with this freedom comes a consequence, that individuals are responsible for their own actions and decisions. Thus, as a parent and a gamer, I cannot make the choices for my children; I can only provide my advice, my experience, my guidance, my knowledge, and my love, all in an effort to ensure my children are well-informed before they make decisions.
Now, as a gamer, I love this game! And I am disappointed when judgment is passed on me or others who play the game, simply because of its title, its reputation, or whatever. I have read the report that Michael Stackpole wrote (Lilith provides a link at the start of the thread) concerning his reasons for discrediting a major player in the opposition for RPGs, one Patricia Pulling. He does a good job of providing evidence, logic, and sound reasoning to discredit Mrs Pulling and many of her pieces of “literature.”
However, I would caution the reader to not fall into the same negative bias/conclusion he seems to be delivering when it comes to statements regarding religion and RPGs. Regardless of his views on Christianity, Christendom in history, and even “magick” in fantasy role-playing games, he eludes to a dangerous conclusion connecting religion and magic: that if an individual has a belief in God (and conversely, Satan) then they must also believe magic exists in our world, not just in fantasy. Because of this predisposition, these are biased when it comes to their perception of violent crimes and other atrocities in society and make conclusions that Satan and evil magic is at work. He makes two statements in his report where he leads the reader through a logical progression, stating that these individuals are somehow predisposed to believe magic exists in our world, thus they believe in a Satanic conspiracy. He calls this a “Magical World View.” Careful, Stackpole. Even if your intentions were not this, your choice of words clearly indicate two assumptions: That a belief in Christianity, regardless of sect, implies a belief in a Satanic conspiracy perpetrated by RPGs, and that a belief in the existence of Satan also implies that magic is real and thus a Satanic conspiracy is at work.
Now, I am not trying to start a religious thread or a discussion. That is already being done by the gracious allowance of Paizo here: A Civil Religious Discussion. (I would encourage anyone who is even remotely interested in this area of our game, to check this thread out.) But what I would like to do is offer some additional sources on defense of our passion for gaming, from a slightly different perspective. Keep in mind that these were written for a Christian audience, but individuals who play Dungeons & Dragons, and feel that it in no way causes a “conflict of interest,” as it were. Both of these do a great job of outlining the connection between magic, Christianity, and RPGs:
- Steve Weese: Christians Playing Dungeons and Dragons
- M.J. Young: Confessions of a Dungeons & Dragons Addict
If any of you reading my post in any way feel that I am attempting to "cram" Christianity or religion down your throat, please accept my humble apologies. This is not my intent as I have stated above. I merely wish to contribute additional resources in defense of our common passion and love for the game. Those that brave this rather long-winded post, thank you for your time.
Good Health!
I'd like to reiterate something I said on another tread to this effect. And that is this--I'm not on pot right now like my classmates, and I attribute that to the fact that I have something better to do, i.e. D&D.
Hi, I happened across this post... I'm the author of the Christianity and D&D article. I wanted to point out a couple of things, first, the updated link is here:
http://www.fansforchrist.org/new/articles/article03.htm
Second, I would note, from my article this fact:
"An article I found from religioustolerance.org lists five separate studies, and none of them found links to D&D. In fact, one study found that the suicide rate among role-players is over 50 times less than the average population. Another found that gamers are less likely to commit crimes. (Robinson, 3)"
I would say this is a very pro-RPG fact.
I'd also like to recommend to you my book, God Loves the Freaks , it includes the D&D article, plus an appendix on Christians, fantasy and magic.
*cheers*
Thanks for the updated link, SteveRacer! I appreciate it, and I'll have to check out your book as well. :)
