Really enjoyed this article. In fact, I think I'll forward it to my parents and ask if there were concerns with me playing roleplaying games in the 80s. I wonder.
Shag On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 10:51 AM, Cary Preston <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26328105 > > The great 1980s Dungeons & Dragons panic 10 April 2014 Last updated at 21:00 > ET > [image: Playing Dungeons & Dragons in the London Dungeon] > > In an era of potent concern over internet pornography, cyber-bullying, and > drugs, it is hard to imagine a game being controversial. But 30 years ago > Dungeons & Dragons was the subject of a full-on moral panic, writes Peter > Ray Allison. > > At the beginning of 1982's ET, a group of teenage boys are indulging in a > roleplay game, featuring dice and spells, and sounding a lot like Dungeons > & Dragons. They indulge in banter as they wait for a pizza delivery to > arrive. > > This innocuous depiction was a far cry from the less-neutral coverage that > was to come. > > Back in 1974, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) was arguably the first true > roleplaying game. Players took on the mantle of adventurers from a > multitude of races and occupations. Each game had a Dungeon Master who > would act as both a referee and storyteller. By 2004, it was estimated that > the game had been played by over 20 million people. > > Today, any veteran player from the game's early years would speak of its > positive attributes. It was based almost entirely in the imagination. It > was social. No screens were involved. > [image: Rule books] > > But in the 1980s the game came under an extraordinary sustained assault > from fundamentalist religious groups who feared its power over young minds. > > In 1979, 16-year-old child prodigy James Dallas Egbert III disappeared > from his room at Michigan State University. A private investigator, William > Dear, was hired by James's parents to find their son. Despite apparently > knowing little about roleplaying games, Dear believed that D&D was the > cause of Egbert's disappearance. > > In truth, Egbert suffered from, among other things, depression and drug > addiction, and had gone into hiding - in the utility tunnels under the > university - during an episode of self-harm. The well-publicised episode - > referred to as the Steam Tunnel Incident - prompted a number of works of > fiction, including the novel Mazes and Monsters and 1982 Tom Hanks film of > the same name. > Dungeons & Dragons > [image: Skeleton D&D figures] > > - Created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, after being inspired by the > wargame Chainmail > - Released by TSR Inc in 1974 and later acquired by Wizards of the > Coast in 1997 > - Games are run by Dungeon Master, who acts as both referee and > storyteller > - Players create characters from diverse number of races and > occupations > > Egbert later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1980. Despite > the evidence regarding his mental health problems, some activists believed > Egbert's suicide was caused by D&D. > > In 1982, high school student Irving Lee Pulling died after shooting > himself in the chest. Despite an article in the Washington Post at the time > commenting "how [Pulling] had trouble 'fitting in'", mother Patricia > Pulling believed her son's suicide was caused by him playing D&D. > > Again, it was clear that more complex psychological factors were at play. > Victoria Rockecharlie, a classmate of Irving Pulling, commented that "he > had a lot of problems anyway that weren't associated with the game". > > At first, Patricia Pulling attempted to sue her son's high school > principal, claiming the curse placed upon her son's character during a game > run by the principal was real. She also sued TSR Inc, the publishers of > D&D. Despite the court dismissing these cases, Pulling continued her > campaign by forming Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD) in 1983. > > Pulling described D&D as "a fantasy role-playing game which uses > demonology, witchcraft, voodoo, murder, rape, blasphemy, suicide, > assassination, insanity, sex perversion, homosexuality, prostitution, > satanic type rituals, gambling, barbarism, cannibalism, sadism, > desecration, demon summoning, necromantics, divination and other teachings". > > Pulling and BADD launched an intensive media campaign through conservative > Christian outlets as well as mainstream media, including an appearance on > current affairs show 60 Minutes opposite D&D creator Gary Gygax. > [image: Dungeons And Dragons, Jeremy Irons] Jeremy Irons in the film > version of Dungeons & Dragons, 2000 > > In 1985, Jon Quigley, of the Lakeview Full Gospel Fellowship, spoke for > many opponents when he claimed: "The game is an occult tool that opens up > young people to influence or possession by demons." > > These fears also found their way into the UK. Fantasy author KT Davies > recalls "showing a vicar a gaming figure - he likened D&D to demon worship > because there were 'gods' in the game". > > Veteran roleplayer Andy Smith found himself in the unusual position of > being both a roleplayer and a Christian. "While working for a Christian > organisation I was told to remove my roleplaying books from the shared > accommodation as they were offensive to some of the other workers and > contained references to demon-worship." > > Looking back now, it's possible to see the tendrils of a classic moral > panic, and some elements of the slightly esoteric world of roleplaying did > stir the imaginations of panicked outsiders. > How to play > [image: Polyhedral dice] > > - Each player takes on role of character; one player becomes Dungeon > Master, serving as game's referee and storyteller > - Characters form party and set out on "adventure", guided by > storyline set out by Dungeon Master > - Game is open-ended and can last over several sessions; a set of > polyhedral dice (pictured) are used by players > > "Since fantasy typically features activities like magic and witchcraft, > D&D was perceived to be in direct opposition to biblical precepts and > established thinking about witchcraft and magic," says Dr David Waldron, > lecturer in history and anthropology at Federation University Australia and > author of Roleplaying Games and the Christian Right: Community Formation in > Response to a Moral Panic. "There was also a view that youth had an > inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality." > > While the wilder claims about the nature of D&D tended to emanate from > evangelical groups, they prompted wider suspicion. > > "The memes from this campaign proliferated and, being published largely > uncritically in the initial stages, led to a wide-ranging list of bizarre > claims," says Waldron. "For example, that when a character died you were > also likely to commit suicide." > > The claims being made about roleplaying games did not go unchallenged. > > Author Michael Stackpole was a vocal dissenter, criticising Patricia > Pulling and BADD. In 1990, Stackpole published The Pulling Report, in which > he documented numerous errors made by BADD and accused Pulling of > misrepresenting her credentials as an expert witness on games. > [image: D&D gamers] > > Studies by the American Association of Suicidology, the US Centers for > Disease Control, and Health and Welfare Canada all found no causal link > between D&D and suicide. > > D&D continues to be debated, in the US at least. In 2010, the United > States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld a ban on D&D by the > Waupun Correctional Institution. Captain Muraski, the institution's gang > specialist, testified that D&D can "foster an inmate's obsession with > escaping from the real life, correctional environment, fostering hostility, > violence and escape behaviour". > > But public perception has changed. If people have any kind of negative > view of roleplaying today, it is much more likely to be about the supposed > geekish overtones, rather than fears for the sanity of the players. The > students who played D&D in the 1980s are now grown up into respectable > careers. > > "The view of roleplaying games has changed over time," says Smith, "mostly > because the predicted 'streets awash with the blood of innocents as a horde > of demonically-possessed roleplayers laid waste to the country' simply > never materialised." > > *Follow *@BBCNewsMagazine <https://twitter.com/BBCNewsMagazine>* on > Twitter and on *Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/BBCMagazine> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Unique Geek" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Unique Geek" group. 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