I was just wondering a couple of things:
1) How many people remember gaming during the BADD/Pat Pulling era of D&D and felt like you were gaming in the closet to avoid a book-burning on your parents' newly manicured lawn?
2) Has the absence of BADD/Pat Pulling anti-D&D attitudes led us as a community to attacke each other because we no longer have the "Architects of Fear"-type "common enemy"?
Would we be fighting amongst ourselves less if we had someone outside who was a threat to the industry? I always get the feeling that post 1995-ish gamers have a much different type appreciation for the game because it has become far more mainstreamed and accepted to be a "gamer".
What does everyone else think?
What the ... does BADD/Pat Pulling even mean?
|
What the ... does BADD/Pat Pulling even mean?
Exactly the point.......
D&D was vilified for years as a satanic game that lured people to the occult. Sadly it wasn't true....
Many religions made it a point to attack players of the game in the early 80's and beyond using such excuses as teen suicide, satanism, witchcraft and the occult to justify lashing out at the game. Books were burned, parents forbid their children to play, cats and dogs cohabited. It was truly ridiculous.
In a pamphlet a few years back (3 or 4 I think) the catholic church still listed playing D&D and other similar RPGs as a Venal Sin.
What the ... does BADD/Pat Pulling even mean?
I'm guessing you are fairly new to gaming (relative to its 30 year run).
BADD = Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons
Pat Pulling = founder of BADD who firmly believed that her son's suicide was directly caused by D&D.
This was the era during the 80's when D&D was labelled as satanic and evil. Look up the old "Dark Dungeons" Chick Tract.
What the ... does BADD/Pat Pulling even mean?Exactly the point.......
D&D was vilified for years as a satanic game that lured people to the occult. Sadly it wasn't true....
Many religions made it a point to attack players of the game in the early 80's and beyond using such excuses as teen suicide, satanism, witchcraft and the occult to justify lashing out at the game. Books were burned, parents forbid their children to play, cats and dogs cohabited. It was truly ridiculous.
Ah, someone who knows!
I think it's actually ironic that, particularly at the time the accusations were made, the suicide rate among gamers was far below the national average. I think country music listeners had a higher than average rate at the time.
|
More about Pat Pulling can be found in Michael Stackpole's Pat Pulling Report at http://www.rpgstudies.net/stackpole/pulling_report.html. Rpgstudies is kind of a cool site as well, it has a listing of academic papers both against and defending D&D and rpgs. I gotta say, the "questionaire" Ms. Pulling distributed to police departments was a hoot--talk about leading criteria and questions!
I wonder if those anti rpg attitudes of the early 80's have really gone away though. Sometimes it seems like they've more shifted towards video games (the hysteria after Columbine, etc.) than completely vanished.
As for the tendency of internet posters to attack and argue with each other--I suspect even had the anti-rpg hysteria of the 80's not occured, you'd still have folks going at it. It just seems human nature that the larger a community grows, especially on the net with its medium of non face to face communication, the more disputes break out.
There was nothing like this era where I live. In the 80's there was no D&D here because it was an eeevil imperialist activity undermining the state just like jeans, punk, dolars and other such stuff :D
|
Would we be fighting amongst ourselves less if we had someone outside who was a threat to the industry? I always get the feeling that post 1995-ish gamers have a much different type appreciation for the game because it has become far more mainstreamed and accepted to be a "gamer".What does everyone else think?
Honestly, I do not miss that period at all. I can talk about my hobby among my friends, without getting weird looks. Heck, i even get some dating. I even meet GIRLS into gaming...
Just an anecdotal memory : some years ago, back at the uni, I was talking with a classmate about hobbies. I tell him about my RPGs, and he gives me a weird look "You mean you climb on the roofs of churches by night ?" Me : WTF ?
Turns out there was an inflammatory show on TV a few weeks earlier about an alleged profanation of tombs in southern france, and it had colored his opinions.
For the record, the profanations had really been done by a group of neo-nazi, but since they were sons from prominent local people, the police and media had found it more convenient to blame the local RPG club ...
This story really shot the development of RPGs in France
So yes, I am glad this era is gone.
|
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
|
I think country music listeners had a higher than average rate at the time.Well that's hardly a shocker! Have you listened to some of that stuff?
"My dawg done died, my wife left me for another man, my car broke down and the bank took my house, I think I'll have another beer."
Yee-haw.
I listen to country while I play D&D. Does one help cancel the other out?
What the ... does BADD/Pat Pulling even mean?I'm guessing you are fairly new to gaming (relative to its 30 year run).
BADD = Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons
Pat Pulling = founder of BADD who firmly believed that her son's suicide was directly caused by D&D.
This was the era during the 80's when D&D was labelled as satanic and evil. Look up the old "Dark Dungeons" Chick Tract.
Ah, I know about that, just hadn't referred to it by that name.
Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
|
I was an avid gamer during that era, and remember well Pat Pulling and, of course, Pat Robertson's 700 Club rants about how evil the hobby was. Releasing the movie "Mazes and Monsters" helped those anti-D&Ders to further make their point.
Luckily, my parents did not buy into that jib jab, and got me the D&D Basic Set for my 10th birthday (1978), and I was instantly hooked!
Funny thing: My wife's Godmother firmly believes D&D is an evil pasttime (she's a devote Catholic), and I have to keep the door to my gaming library closed when she comes over. Otherwise, I would be condemned to Eternal Damnation!
I listen to country while I play D&D. Does one help cancel the other out?I think country music listeners had a higher than average rate at the time.Well that's hardly a shocker! Have you listened to some of that stuff?
"My dawg done died, my wife left me for another man, my car broke down and the bank took my house, I think I'll have another beer."
Yee-haw.
No, country influence is overwhelming ;)
You know, every generation has this problem, probably since 8000 years. Every time the generation before them picks something that the kids like, but which they didn't have themselves at the time, and call it evil.
Any such protests didn't have anything to do with D&D, but with the apparently bilogical instinct of mid 30s to mid 40s to lead a crusade against their kids (because the kids have fun and they don't).
You know, video games, metal, TV, Rock'n'Roll, Cinema, Radio, ... It's really unimportant. All that matters is that someone is having fun and does not let you play with them, because you're too old. ^^
Now that video games are slowly becoming out, what will the next big thing be. You know, the one that most of us will condemn and that will lead us to form protests against it. ^^
|
What the ... does BADD/Pat Pulling even mean?Exactly the point.......
D&D was vilified for years as a satanic game that lured people to the occult. Sadly it wasn't true....
Many religions made it a point to attack players of the game in the early 80's and beyond using such excuses as teen suicide, satanism, witchcraft and the occult to justify lashing out at the game. Books were burned, parents forbid their children to play, cats and dogs cohabited. It was truly ridiculous.
In a pamphlet a few years back (3 or 4 I think) the catholic church still listed playing D&D and other similar RPGs as a Venal Sin.
hehe In those days I was in the army stationed in Germany, and we used to poke so much fun at that...wed all put the hoods up on our army jackets and walk into the rec center holding our hands straight out with a piece of red cloth over our arms and a jewelry box on the cloth...inside the jewelry box were our dice ;)
hehehe that brought back a memory... thanks for that!
Would we be fighting amongst ourselves less if we had someone outside who was a threat to the industry?
No, because we're gamers. We've always been beating each other over the head, and probably (sadly) always will. 2E coincided with one of the last bursts of "gaming=satanism" hysteria, and even then there were people who had the opinion that 2e was (pun intended ("the work of the Devil" (or Daemon :P ) and who steadfastly refuse to play 2e just as many refused to play 3e or now 4e.
And, I don't think we need a return to the bad old days of Pat Pulling, Rona Jaffe and James Dobson to get the edition warriors to pull their collective capitae out of their collective glutii maximi (pardon the probably atrocious attempt at Latin). If anything, that might be counterproductive -- Hasbro, being image conscious as many toy companies are, might order WotC to neuter D&D if another such moral panic occurs or scuttle the brand outright ordering WotC to focus on more lucrative and arguably less-controversial properties like Magic the Gathering.
1) How many people remember gaming during the BADD/Pat Pulling era of D&D and felt like you were gaming in the closet to avoid a book-burning on your parents' newly manicured lawn?
I never experienced any real first-hand persecution, per say, but I remember the Chick tracts and blaming suicides on D&D. Also, and worst of all, I remember Mazes & Monsters. I still haven't forgiven Hanks for that one; I don't care if it was his first starring role...
I did have a couple of bible-thumping schoolmates who got their kicks out of telling me how I was on the road to hell for playing the game. That was always fun.
]2) Has the absence of BADD/Pat Pulling anti-D&D attitudes led us as a community to attacke each other because we no longer have the "Architects of Fear"-type "common enemy"?
Would we be fighting amongst ourselves less if we had someone outside who was a threat to the industry? I always get the feeling that post 1995-ish gamers have a much different type appreciation for the game because it has become far more mainstreamed and accepted to be a "gamer".
It may be more mainstream, but a geek is still a geek, and I don't think things have changed that much. As for needing an enemy to provide community, that's rubbish. That's like saying that there would be no community amongst muscle car enthusiasts without eco-warriors screaming about how many pollutants are produced by their evil cars and that they will be the eventual end of life as we know it.
We fight amongst ourselves because that's human nature. It's easier to do on the internet because you can do it anonymously. Since it's easier, it becomes more frequent. I don't see people down at the local gamestore flaming each other over the rules systems they prefer. If it did happen, the owners would likely be quick to ask those involved to take it outside.
I think things will calm down eventually. Right now emotions are high in the wake of recent events. People will become comfortable with their sides, or minds will change, or we'll just realize it isn't worth all the effort and all the hubbub will go away...until the next irksome event comes up and it will start all over again.
|
|
Everytime this comes up I have to retell the story of my friend from elementary school who was forced to burn his d&d catalog. The church told his mom the books would scream and emit purple/green smoke when burned(I wish they did that!). She let him play gamma world though... haha!
*reminds me of skating through the 80's and 90's. It's crazy how things become accepted by the mainstream after a certain amount of time.
Well, I was around and gaming at the time - but mostly hung out with sane people. We did get occasional "Gaming is Evil" protests, we usually invited them to come and observe and tried to get them involved. It worked surprisingly often if you just introduced them to gaming as "you're (character from an action movie) and your friend so-and-so was just kidnapped, you're in location (x) and have these clues as to where they might have been taken. The police will not help. What are you doing?
I was heavy into D&D and other RPGs in the 80's and remember vividly the entire B.A.D.D situation. D&D was banned from being played on school grounds at our High School in 1983 just 2 years after I left. Oddly I have been told that the push to destroy D&D helped the game. It gave young people something to rebel with and increased the popularity of the game.
But I think the point that you are looking for is "If we had a common foe would all RPG players rally together instead of bicker and fight?" If our hobby came under attack again would all gamers unite?
Here is a little (very little) bit of wisdom from ol' Jib. Now this is my opinion so take it with a grain of salt. I am sure this won't speak to all of you but perhaps a few. I think that since the 80's RPGs have become slightly more mainstream. Part of that is the popularity of online games. No doubt the Lord of the Ring trilogy also helped. The Nerd stigma, while still a factor today, is weaker. You find jocks who enjoy World of Warcraft. Cheerleaders who could not get enough Orlando Bloom. In my day these guys would rip into a gamer (mentally, emotionally, physically) and never ever consider having anything in common with them. Gamers used to ban together, and since they were not accepted (for the most part) by anyone they made it an unspoken rule to accept everyone and anyone. If I was a D&D fan that was great! If I met a Runequest fan I would play his game because he was like me. with few players but a common interest there was nothing to fight about. With early gamers it did not matter age, appearance, gender, race, religion, anything. NOW gamers are more mainstream and with more people come more of the cliques and subgroups which thrive in every aspect of American culture. An elite ideal has grown in the gamer garden of Eden. The game now reaches a boarder market and that market has more attitude and opinion.
Suggestion: Play 'em all. If someone is a huge Shadowrun elitest go ahead and play that game. Play 4E, Runequest, Pathfinder 3.75. Heck go dig out 1E stuff and have roll. Oh you'll have a few favorites but you will keep an open mind!
Yeah, I remember the dark ages of BADD. Amazing just how ignorant those people were. They always find some thing to blame all their problems on. In the 1920s to 40s it was swing and jazz. Then of course, rock and roll in the 50s - 70s. D&D and heavy metal in the 80s. And now, video games. I'd say it's gotten a lot better since then for gamers. Mainly because an entire generation of us have grown up. It's a lot easier to pick on teenagers and their hobbies than it is adults. As the vidoe game kids are growing up, that's getting harder to pick on too. Have to wonder what they'll find now that is the root of all evil. I teach high school. I advise the computer and game club. You can guess what kind of evil we get up to :D
I remember those days well, mainly because there was a complete and total lack of reaction to it in the community where I grew up. Aside from one of my aunts warning me about the creeptards who played in the steam tunnels and went all psycho, nobody was really bothered by it. In fact, the middle school I attended had a subscription to Dragon (they probably would have had Dungeon as well, except that it didn't exist yet) and White Dwarf. My mother noticed that playing got me to read and understand math better, so she was cool with it and even bought me books for birthdays and christmas. At school, RPGs were embraced by a pretty large percentage of people and there wasn't really anyone there who took the whole D&D scare seriously.
The only time I actually ran into anyone who had a problem with it was near the end of the '90s. I had a friend who wasn't even playing, but we had to leave a BBQ early because we had to run the bi-weekly game, and we later found out that she was upset that such nice people (my wife and I) were devil worshippers. *sigh* In an odd twist of fate, she blew her own brains out about a year later. I guess D&D = evil but suicide = no problem.
|
I had a DM who played through that era. He pulled all the covers off his books and put them inside other ones, so his parents wouldn't find them.
It is scary that kind of stuff happened. When I started playing over a decade ago, my parents (and later my landlady) had no idea what it was, but they remembered all the hype from the 80s. The first thing my mom (and years later landlady) said was "isn't that some kind of wierd cult thing?"
I actually laughed at their response, it was so out of touch. I invited them to watch us play to calm their fears, but my mom just said "no, that's okay, whatever."
But I think the point that you are looking for is "If we had a common foe would all RPG players rally together instead of bicker and fight?" If our hobby came under attack again would all gamers unite?
This is exactly my core intent. Also, would 4e fans ban together with 3.X fans to unite long enough to ensure our right to argue as 4e & 3.X fans?
I think that since the 80's RPGs have become slightly more mainstream. Part of that is the popularity of online games. No doubt the Lord of the Ring trilogy also helped. The Nerd stigma, while still a factor today, is weaker. You find jocks who enjoy World of Warcraft. Cheerleaders who could not get enough Orlando Bloom. In my day these guys would rip into a gamer (mentally, emotionally, physically) and never ever consider having anything in common with them. Gamers used to ban together, and since they were not accepted (for the most part) by anyone they made it an unspoken rule to accept everyone and anyone. If I was a D&D fan that was great! If I met a Runequest fan I would play his game because he was like me. with few players but a common interest there was nothing to fight about. With early gamers it did not matter age, appearance, gender, race, religion, anything. NOW gamers are more mainstream and with more people come more of the cliques and subgroups which thrive in every aspect of American culture.
Suggestion: Play 'em all. If someone is a huge Shadowrun elitest go ahead and play that game. Play 4E, Runequest,...
Thanks for this, Jib. This is exactly the kind of discourse I was hoping to see with this thread.
I also wonder if younger gamers appreciate some of the harsh ridicule (not merely "you're a geek") some of the previous generations of gamers suffered in order to ensure gaming would continue ;-). I think I'd like to see maybe more panels on this type of discourse at Cons.
On a funny note, the Roleplayers Guild I advise at my college sent a College Bowl team to compete this past year. The regionals were at Falwell's Liberty University. Wallow in the irony. (Nobody burst into flames, btw)
|
Oh I remember Mazes & Monsters... bad juju
and that whole "gamers are satanists" era.
In another thread I made about telling about yourself I repleid to a navy officer who played about the navy being more tolerant. He asked when were they not? :)
It was during this age of gamers are satanists age. Yeah in school you hid what you played for fear of the teachers and parents. I wouldn't go to the gaming section of big book stores because people (in Texas) liked to harrass you. I would go to a "Comic Book" store for my games.
Yeah, glad those black days are over.
I was just wondering a couple of things:
1) How many people remember gaming during the BADD/Pat Pulling era of D&D and felt like you were gaming in the closet to avoid a book-burning on your parents' newly manicured lawn?
2) Has the absence of BADD/Pat Pulling anti-D&D attitudes led us as a community to attacke each other because we no longer have the "Architects of Fear"-type "common enemy"?
Would we be fighting amongst ourselves less if we had someone outside who was a threat to the industry? I always get the feeling that post 1995-ish gamers have a much different type appreciation for the game because it has become far more mainstreamed and accepted to be a "gamer".
What does everyone else think?
1. Yes, somewhat. My parents actually bought me the 2nd ed PHB and DMG as a birthday gift, pretty spontaneously. I had been playing palladium with friends and the parents of those friends, which was a somewhat common set up on US military bases in Europe in the mid 80's (maybe it still is?). I asked them at the time if they were worried about me playing D&D. They responded that they had read the books and figured anything that required that much imagination and math (algebra I know, but the tables were daunting to the uninitiated) really wasn't a much of a threat.
I later encountered several school groups with strong religious influences, particularly some years later in high school, that were very anti-D&D/rpg (but somehow, M:tG was ok.)
2. I don't think so. The community is bigger now, and fragmentation is a result of that. Many subcultures exhibit this behavior, the most iconic being the US punk subculture and its many, many derivate sub genre. I think it has to do more with the DiY spirit found in both (whether starting your own 'zine or starting your own campaign) with a heavy dose of brand loyalty (D&D vs Palladium Books Products vs White Wolf, etc.)
Also, I find it incredibly ironic that "pat pulling" also has a near-meaning in the MMO community, that is "patrol pulling" which is a maneuver where players separate some combat targets from others by a wide range of techniques, to make the overall encounter easier.
Fakey, this reminded me, I actually did some research after we discussed this (heck, what was it, a few years back?) and the Catholic Church, as a whole, never had a stance on D&D, but various local diocese did decide to "interpret" playing D&D as something worthy of confession.
I do remember one of the local pastors when I was in grade school telling us that kids shouldn't watch the D&D cartoon because it had demons in it, so my best friend at the time wasn't allowed to have anything to do with anything involving the name. Oddly, he didn't even seem aware that there was a game related to the cartoon.
Also, I always like to point out that this was a two pronged attack during the 80s. There were a lot of fundamentalists preaching about D&D bringing damnation and leading kids to suicide and ruin (right after they got done preaching about heavy metal), but at the same time, there were tons of pop psyche "experts" claiming that D&D was evil and corrupting (just like they claimed that they could prove that G.I. Joe and Transformers caused kids to commit violent acts).
At any rate, having a common enemy wouldn't have really done much to unify the "gaming community," at least not outside of discussions of those forces against them.
When Grand Theft Auto was the most evil thing on the planet, did Playstation 2 die hards quit criticizing X-Box owners for not playing the "right" console?
Heck, as I remember those days, there were still gamer snobs that played more "intellectual" games that looked down on D&D players, and some homebrew snobs would claim up and down that anyone that used a campaign setting were unimaginative cretins.
In other words, there have always been gamer divides. In fact, I can remember when D&D and AD&D players butted heads quite a bit.
I do remember one of the local pastors when I was in grade school telling us that kids shouldn't watch the D&D cartoon because it had demons in it
Wait. The Bible has demons in it, right? Does that mean we can't read the Bible either?
at the same time, there were tons of pop psyche "experts" claiming that D&D was evil and corrupting (just like they claimed that they could prove that G.I. Joe and Transformers caused kids to commit violent acts).
True dat. But then again, many of these "experts" were encouraged/hired by Pulling and BADD (and some of the fundamentalists), so it could have just been one prong with two attacks per round
When Grand Theft Auto was the most evil thing on the planet, did Playstation 2 die hards quit criticizing X-Box owners for not playing the "right" console?
Heck, as I remember those days, there were still gamer snobs that played more "intellectual" games that looked down on D&D players, and some homebrew snobs would claim up and down that anyone that used a campaign setting were unimaginative cretins.
In other words, there have always been gamer divides. In fact, I can remember when D&D and AD&D players butted heads quite a bit.
Point taken. Of course, those PS/2 and XBox 360 players just aren't up to our intellectual standards
;-)
|
|
You find jocks who enjoy World of Warcraft. Cheerleaders who could not get enough Orlando Bloom. In my day these guys would rip into a gamer (mentally, emotionally, physically) and never ever consider having anything in common with them.
In some way I do agree, it is a bit more open (and it does bother me when the same type of person who cranked me one for being a nerd can't stop using Facebook).
However, I think mainstream is not quite the word for it. Most kids don't know what WoW is, or if they do, they played it for a bit or just know someone who plays. There isn't a "stigma" around it, for sure, but it isn't as mainstream as some people make it out to be. The vast majority of the hardcore players are still the same type of people as the gamers back in the 80s. When I call them nerds, I do so proudly and fondly.
But I think the point that you are looking for is "If we had a common foe would all RPG players rally together instead of bicker and fight?" If our hobby came under attack again would all gamers unite?This is exactly my core intent. Also, would 4e fans ban together with 3.X fans to unite long enough to ensure our right to argue as 4e & 3.X fans?
Hmm, but the original question was whether we need a return to that era.
So, I guess the real question is whether having unity is worth an attack on the community as a whole?
Remember, this isn't the early 80s; gamers are no longer a bunch of insecure teenagers in their parent's basement, and D&D is no longer run by a few wargamers from Wisconsin.
Gamers are parents now and part of mainstream society. There are church pastors who are gamers and even run RPGs for their youth groups. And D&D is owned by Hasbro, the second largest toy company on the planet.
So a "return" to that era would require a threat that has grown equally to match the opposition.
Is that what we need? A threat to RPGs so powerful it can infiltrate mainstream society and affect a multi-billion dollar company.
And then what? Do we have to keep the war going to maintain unity like Big Brother in 1984? Or does it end and individual differences once again assert themselves as they inevitably will?
Having a common foe isn't the answer; it's not going to fix the inherent problem. And that problem goes back to insecurity.
People bicker and argue and fight over the most inane things because of pure insecurity. Their egos can't handle that others can disagree with their personal opinions. They tie their own opinions up in their sense of self-worth, and so anyone who disagrees with those opinions is attacking them in their mind.
When a creature is attacked, it's fight or flight, and when you get two such insecure people on opposites sides of an opinion who have the fight response, well, nothing good is going to come of it (except maybe as an example to others).
But giving such people a common foe that is actually crazy enough to truly attack both their beliefs isn't going to remove their insecurity; in fact, it can possibly give them a martyr complex reinforcing said insecurity.
Meanwhile, the threat that binds the extreme fringe elements is still a threat to the central group of gamers who have grown out of (most) of their insecurities, at least about gaming, and had been quietly sitting back and watching them, shaking their heads.
In short, no, we don't need a return to that era; we need to keep moving toward a new era where all RPGs are simply accepted, not only by non-gamers but by gamers themselves.
|
Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder
|
I also wonder if younger gamers appreciate some of the harsh ridicule (not merely "you're a geek") some of the previous generations of gamers suffered in order to ensure gaming would continue ;-). I think I'd like to see maybe more panels on this type of discourse at Cons.
I'm working on the programming for the gaming track of panels at Norwescon, so I'm always looking for new panel topics. I think what you're saying you're interested in seeing is a panel that addresses the "those who have come before us" angle? What did gaming in the 80's do to affect the game we play today?
I'd appreciate some clarification on this, as I think something along these lines WOULD indeed make a great panel discussion!
|
|
I doubt a return to the "BADD old days" would spark any unity. The internet is an environment conducive to arguing. People who would otherwise keep their traps shut feel free to thump their chests and brazenly throw-down gauntlets.
Shy people become assertive.
Assertive people become aggressive.
Aggressive people become belligerent.
Belligerent people become (exletive omitted)s.
(Expletive omitted)s become trolls.
Having a common enemy in a Pat Pulling type wouldn't likely change this.
|
|
I wonder if those anti rpg attitudes of the early 80's have really gone away though. Sometimes it seems like they've more shifted towards video games (the hysteria after Columbine, etc.) than completely vanished.
Dungeons and Dreamers has an interesting take on all this because of the way DOOM was vilified and violence in video games. I think you're right though because you can feel the same sort of "this game is from Satan" feel about Grand Theft Auto, etc.
Trent
No, country influence is overwhelming ;)I listen to country while I play D&D. Does one help cancel the other out?I think country music listeners had a higher than average rate at the time.Well that's hardly a shocker! Have you listened to some of that stuff?
"My dawg done died, my wife left me for another man, my car broke down and the bank took my house, I think I'll have another beer."
Yee-haw.
Little Trivia by the way, mazes and monsters TV movie was Tom Hanks first big gig.
|
|
My mom remarried when I was 13 and living with my dad. I was already playing D&D (started when I was 10), and my dad couldn't have cared less about the game, satanic or not. When I moved back to Seattle to go to high school, and moved in with my mom and my new step-dad, and he found out I played D&D, he was really freaked out. When I told him I'd put together a gaming group at my new school, he was gravely concerned and insisted that we play at our house, and that he be there. he'd seen the 60 Minutes report on the game and thought it was Satanic.
So we played our first session in my living room, with my step-dad reading his paper at his desk in his office, which was right off the living room. About an hour into the game, we're already deep into a fight with some orcs, he got up and left, and I heard him say to my mom -- who was reading in their room -- "I don't know what the hell those people on 60 Minutes we're talking about, that game is completely harmless." And he never once said another word about it, didn't care where I played, let me go to gaming conventions, etc.
I don't think going back to that era would eliminate bickering. I remember the switch from 1E to 2E was really acrimonious and broke up a lot of groups and lead to a lot of name-calling.
|
|
Would we be fighting amongst ourselves less if we had someone outside who was a threat to the industry? I always get the feeling that post 1995-ish gamers have a much different type appreciation for the game because it has become far more mainstreamed and accepted to be a "gamer".
What does everyone else think?
I wasn't gaming at the time, but I did have a father who honestly believed the hype of Mrs. Pulling, who even stopped playing the Intelivision version of Dungeons and Dragons because of the hype surrounding it.
That being said, I did live with fellow RPGer's who didn't play DnD anymore during a time when 4e was not around. And guess what? It's the same arguments. As long as there are multiple, different choices to play Pen and paper games*, there's going to be the mentality to say "Mine's better".
* Note this also applies to anything with selection, such as countries, religion or even pizza places.
So we played our first session in my living room, with my step-dad reading his paper at his desk in his office, which was right off the living room. About an hour into the game, we're already deep into a fight with some orcs, he got up and left, and I heard him say to my mom -- who was reading in their room -- "I don't know what the hell those people on 60 Minutes we're talking about, that game is completely harmless."
And after he was out of the room, you switched to the real occult game, right? :) Parents are so gullible. As if you would play the real evil game instead of a harmless diversion game in front of him.
Hey cool! She's dead! One less bigot to deal with.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Pulling
--Ray.
Little Trivia by the way, mazes and monsters TV movie was Tom Hanks first big gig.No, country influence is overwhelming ;)I listen to country while I play D&D. Does one help cancel the other out?I think country music listeners had a higher than average rate at the time.Well that's hardly a shocker! Have you listened to some of that stuff?
"My dawg done died, my wife left me for another man, my car broke down and the bank took my house, I think I'll have another beer."
Yee-haw.
Wasn't that mentioned (p)ages ago? And where is the connection to country music? Am I missing something?
|
|
I wonder if those anti rpg attitudes of the early 80's have really gone away though. Sometimes it seems like they've more shifted towards video games (the hysteria after Columbine, etc.) than completely vanished.
yep, anything to deflect the possibility that, perhaps, just MAYBE, some people are lousy parents and have no clue how to raise a child...
and, um, i've been playing going on 30 years. when do i get to cast real spells???