Question:
Those who are hunting / fishing - are you actually doing it for food or resources or do you do so to send it to a taxidermist and have it mounted on your wall and/or just throw the fish back into the water after you catch it?
bler! blerbler!
blerbler bler?
BLER!!!
bler....blerrrr......blerrr.....bler.
blerblerbler,
bler.
Bler?
bler. bler bler bler.
bler......
STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW! THAT'S MADNESS!
Whoah. And I thought I was snacking on portobello 'shrooms...
|
I read the Boston Herald article.
Wow.
That is really poor journalism. I don’t think such an obviously weak link is going to set back the reputation of our hobby or anything, but the loonies will grasp at any straw, no matter how weak to support the whole “D and D is bad mmm ok?’ thing.
I don’t think we’re going to see a resurgence of the bad old times of the anti D&D hysteria of the 80s, but if one ignorant but well meaning parent hears about this article (without reading it – because obviously if you read it you would see it’s crap) and tries to prevent their child from gaming because of it, then it’s a bad thing.
Misinformation is a weapon of mass destruction.
I think it is telling that the Boston Herald has changed to the tabloid format three decades ago - yes, they mean the paper format AFAICT, but judging from the content, it could be otherwise... (see the wikipedia entry)
Pulitzer Price winning newspaper? Sweet memory, nothing more.
Stefan
|
|
If this was in a tabloid like the now defunct Weekly World News
This just in:
Claims that the Weekly World News has become defunctified are completely erroneous. Reports confirm Bat Boy and Ed Anger are working with reverse-engineered alien technology to discover who is spreading these malicious rumors in an effort to capture and feed these slanderers to The Loch Ness Monster.
|
They even mention the Wisconson decision.
Wisconsin still bans Margerine in its prison system. I can asure you that we're not playing with a full deck over here when it comes to our Department of Corrections.
But...but what if one of the prisoners gets their head stuck between the bars?!?!
WILL NO-ONE THINK OF THE PRISONERS?!?!1?!ELEVENTY-ONE!?!?1!?!
|
|
I'm slowly formulating an email response to Laurel Sweet.
Anyone have some good studies I can point to for support?
Found THIS, by one-time Dragon-staffer Mike Stackpole.
|
i really would like someone to fund a research project to finally find out what makes ppl violent, then we would be able to move away from such ignorant statements like the one made by this news article... it would be over and done with
Violence happens. Crazy people happen. Blaming gamers for one person who played D&D snapping makes as much sense as blaming Oldboy for the Virginia Tech shooter, or blaming Limbaugh for the Holocaust museum shooter, or blaming Sean Hannity for Dr. Tillers murder, or blaming some kids suicide on Judas Priest or blaming the fact that this woman killed someone on the fact that she's a woman and then leaping to the specific-to-general 'guilt by association' logical fallacy that something about being female made her snap, with all sorts of sage references to 'hysteria' and the legendary female inability to control strong emotion that was used for centuries to exclude half of the human race from having equal rights.
D&D players kill imaginary monsters in imaginary worlds. Irresponsible journalists create them, in the really-real world.
|
|
Found THIS, by one-time Dragon-staffer Mike Stackpole.
Oh, hilarious, how Patricia Pulling estimated that 8% of Richmond, VA were associated in some way with Satanic cults. She figured that 4% of the teenagers, and 4% of the adults were involved, and then said that made 8% when she added them together!
When it was pointed out that 4% of adults and 4% of youth would be 4%, not 8%, she said that 8% was right, because her estimate was probably conservative anyway.
Oy.
|
Has anyone read the comments on the Herald website this article provoked? All overwhelmingly castigating the article as crap. I don't think we need to fear anything - most people are perfectly clear that D&D had nothing to do with it.
Unfortunately the increased traffic because of this backlash is a good thing for advertising of the paper. She could've wrote a boring pathetic piece that would have normal readership but she did this instead and drew a ton of interest to the paper. Publicity is publicity.
Same thing as Howard Stern, some people loved him, some hated him. Some listened to him because they hated him and wanted ammo against him. Advertisers usually don't care, they want numbers...|
|
Aaaand...
LINKS to a whole bunch of reports that may be useful in debunking any similar articles. (See part 2, lower down).
Aand
The Escapist, which, as well as providing links to debunk attacks on RPGs, also takes a pro-active stance on improving public perceptions, via literacy programs, etc.
Are there no editors at the Boston Herald!?
They are all on Paizo's Off Topic threads.
How the hell did this thread delve into hunting and fishing? Let's not rip into each other over our various lifestyle choices, folks- it's the article we're mad at.
Story They even mention the Wisconson decision.It's the Boston Herald. 'Nuff said.
Well, maybe not 'nuff for the people outside the region.
For those: the herald is a tabloid rag. It's impossible to take it seriously. Expressing any aggravation over what they say about our hobby only encourages them, and wastes our time.
|
|
Story They even mention the Wisconson decision.It's the Boston Herald. 'Nuff said.
No, that isn't it at all. When something is posted in a large newspapers like the Boston Global, and it's a slow newsweek, things that normally wouldn't be news suddenly are news.
Who knows, it might appear on dateline NBC.
Oh, and Guy Humual is wrong about something. My statements aren't getting read by a million people, probably mostly ignorant about DND, whose opinions are being formed by someone who doesn't have a clue.
Actually since only .001% of people who play D&D commit violent crimes it is obvious that playing D&D/Pathfinder actually prevents violent acts. I know without my weekly Pathfinder sessions I would be a raving lunatic.
I removed an offensive post and a slew of replies to it. Flag it and move on, folks.
Found THIS, by one-time Dragon-staffer Mike Stackpole.I'm slowly formulating an email response to Laurel Sweet.
Anyone have some good studies I can point to for support?
Thanks, Snorter! This will give me a great excuse to write Mike a letter. Haven't seen him in two years. He's a really sweet guy. I can say that because he gifted Ed Healy and I some expensive sound equipment he was no longer using. If you ever see him just ask him for free stuff! ;)
Flag it and move on, folks.
I can not seem to find the flag button on the Boston Herald.
|
|
Huh? I don't think I claimed that your statements were, I just suggested that some of your statements (which thankfully have been removed) were using the same sort of faulty reasoning used in the article. I found that ironic. That's all :)
Oh, and Guy Humual is wrong about something. My statements aren't getting read by a million people, probably mostly ignorant about DND, whose opinions are being formed by someone who doesn't have a clue.
Does anyone else think rehashing the argumet Ross just deleated is not a good idea? Seems like a good way to ge the thread locked.
|
|
Thanks, Snorter! This will give me a great excuse to write Mike a letter. Haven't seen him in two years. He's a really sweet guy. I can say that because he gifted Ed Healy and I some expensive sound equipment he was no longer using. If you ever see him just ask him for free stuff! ;)
Let's hear it for Limeys with OCD!
I can't remember where I put a set of Allen keys last week, but I can sure as hell recall who wrote an article 20 years ago, totally pwning the book-burners of the day.If you've got access to the Dragon back-issues (or the 250-issue CD ROM), do a search through the editorials. Roger Moore had several good ones, dealing with the differentiation between fantasy and reality (ie how he dealt with a burglar), the misinforming of police forces (similar to what's in Stackpole's article) and his experiences as an Army psychologist (re; which is more damaging? Gaming or religion?). Definitely worth a read, if you haven't seen them before, and worth a re-read, even if you have.
What did you get from Mike? The sound system from his Battlemech? You could fit some serious woofers on a Hunchback.
Thanks, Snorter! This will give me a great excuse to write Mike a letter. Haven't seen him in two years. He's a really sweet guy. I can say that because he gifted Ed Healy and I some expensive sound equipment he was no longer using. If you ever see him just ask him for free stuff! ;)Let's hear it for Limeys with OCD!
I can't remember where I put a set of Allen keys last week, but I can sure as hell recall who wrote an article 20 years ago, totally pwning the book-burners of the day.
If you've got access to the Dragon back-issues (or the 250-issue CD ROM), do a search through the editorials. Roger Moore had several good ones, dealing with the differentiation between fantasy and reality (ie how he dealt with a burglar), the misinforming of police forces (similar to what's in Stackpole's article) and his experiences as an Army psychologist (re; which is more damaging? Gaming or religion?). Definitely worth a read, if you haven't seen them before, and worth a re-read, even if you have.What did you get from Mike? The sound system from his Battlemech? You could fit some serious woofers on a Hunchback.
I'll definitely check those out, thanks! I have every dragon back to issue 24, along with 14 and 17 I think, but a CD-Rom would sure be a lot easier to navigate. I wonder if I bought that? Hrmm...
Mike gave us a portable recorder some headphones and mikes I believe.
I like that woofered hunchback design.