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General discussion (archive)A look back at D&D hysteria(33 posts)(33 posts)
(33 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted April 11, 2014
I wasn't part of DnD during the histeria but, I have heard those stories. As I became interested in tabletop gaming and researching it, I found those "reports" to be bogus. After years of searching I'm now part of a tabletop group having fun.
The moment I saw this video years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-leYc4oC83E I knew I wanted to play.
Posted April 11, 2014
To be honest, I recall a roleplay game where three of the players (they called themselves the "violent dwarf association") kept looking for churches to desecrate and burn. They were really enthusiastic about it, too.

Then again, it was a LOTR game, so nothing to do with this, right?
Posted April 11, 2014
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Shaolin_sKunk: They would have had a heart attack!

And nothing of value was lost. :D
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Smannesman: Like The World of Synnibarr it's one of those mythical RPGs :P
On the (A)D&D note, I also remember a book of sex or something for AD&D. I'm guessing it was fan-made, but it might also have been a weird third party book or something.
Not too sure because I also had a Castle Guide with a bunch of stuff about how to build castles and I have no idea if that was official either. We did use it for a bit though.
Well, there was the Book of Erotic Fantasy for D&D 3.0. Despite it's shoddy presentation, it was a decent book for introducing mature themes into a game. I reference it once in a while for a Pathfinder PbP I run. Nothing like Cursed Orgasm to stop your horndog players.
Posted April 11, 2014
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P1na: To be honest, I recall a roleplay game where three of the players (they called themselves the "violent dwarf association") kept looking for churches to desecrate and burn. They were really enthusiastic about it, too.

Then again, it was a LOTR game, so nothing to do with this, right?
It's tempting to conflate cause and correlation. I seriously doubt that D&D or fantasy in general inspired that behaviour. It seems more sensible that people with violent pseudo-pagan tendencies would also be drawn to a violent pseudo-pagan fantasy world. In the same way that judgemental pseudo-moral folks are drawn to judgemental pseudo-moral religions. :)

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Ophelium: Well, there was the Book of Erotic Fantasy for D&D 3.0. Despite it's shoddy presentation, it was a decent book for introducing mature themes into a game. I reference it once in a while for a Pathfinder PbP I run. Nothing like Cursed Orgasm to stop your horndog players.
That gives a whole new meaning to a potion of +1. Which seems to be the same one those spam emails are selling. :D
Post edited April 11, 2014 by IAmSinistar
Posted April 11, 2014
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IAmSinistar: It's tempting to conflate cause and correlation. I seriously doubt that D&D or fantasy in general inspired that behaviour. It seems more sensible that people with violent pseudo-pagan tendencies would also be drawn to a violent pseudo-pagan fantasy world. In the same way that judgemental pseudo-moral folks are drawn to judgemental pseudo-moral religions. :)
Oh, I didn't mean anything with that other than trying to have a laugh at it.

And if there is anybody offended by it, know that the desecration pissed off some little "sorcerer of Angmar" guy, who then came after the whole party. A severe failure on my part made me ran over one of the dwarfs when I tried some acrobatics to get him on my horse on the run, but we were saved by one of those epic criticals that nailed the sorcerer to the ground with a sword. We managed to get away before he got back up :)
Posted April 11, 2014
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IAmSinistar: A nice reminder of the madness over D&D back in the 1980s, which was when I was a teen (and ran a lot of RPG sessions for my circle). Good info for you younger GOGnards who didn't have to live through the hysteria.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26328105
Oh yeah, I remember that. I had a couple friends that weren't allowed to play due to the hysteria. Thankfully, my parents didn't buy into it.
Posted April 11, 2014
Can't read the full article now, but how exactly did the specifics of the hysteria come about?
Posted April 11, 2014
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ShadowWulfe: Can't read the full article now, but how exactly did the specifics of the hysteria come about?
Some kids killed themselves (not en masse, but a couple separate incidents). They had psychological and emotional issues, but that was handwaved away because they also played D&D, so it was obvious that D*D was the culprit.
Posted April 11, 2014
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Ah yes the whole D&D and heavy metal stupidity back then. Good thing people are so much smarter now ;)
Posted April 11, 2014
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P1na: Oh, I didn't mean anything with that other than trying to have a laugh at it.
I figured as much. Just wanted to be clear for folks in general. :)
Posted April 11, 2014
Ahh yes, good old "Mazes and Monsters." I read the book multiple times as a youngster. Haven't seen the movie in ages. Funny. Now I want to read it again.
Posted April 11, 2014
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Smannesman: Do you remember ? <a href="http://www.gog.com/forum/general_archive/a_look_back_at_dd_hysteria/post2" class="link_arrow"></a></div> I just found out the other week that it's [url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jrralls/rpgs-are-evil-dark-dungeons-the-movie]getting the movie treatment.

Speaking of which, am I the only one who thought that Mazes and Monsters was actually a decent movie? Maybe it thought it was demonizing DnD, but if so, it did a piss-poor job - even in the movie it's pretty obvious that the guy had pre-existing mental conditions that were more a result of his messed-up family than the game, and when he's in trouble later, it's his DnD group who go to great lengths to help him when no-one else does.
Post edited April 11, 2014 by Azilut
Posted April 11, 2014
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rong44: Ah yes the whole D&D and heavy metal stupidity back then. Good thing people are so much smarter now ;)
In these enlightened times we know that it's computer games which cause the issue :)
Posted April 11, 2014
Actually D&D hysteria could be the poster child for how we should take a long look at the way we interpret studies. Correlation does not equal causation. I'm sure a lot of people with a lot of mental issues played D&D, but I have no doubts their mental issues existed long before they started playing the game and no one seemed to look at the multitude of gamers who didn't do anything wrong before and after D&D (in fact writers of your favorite tv shows were probably "dungeon masters" before they got big)
Posted April 11, 2014
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Smannesman: Do you remember ? <a href="http://www.gog.com/forum/general_archive/a_look_back_at_dd_hysteria/post2" class="link_arrow"></a></div><div class="small_avatar_2_h"><img src="/upload/avatars/2012/10/9ab2207aebc0b4b3d769917b2f21ec0e4766c3f5_t.jpg" width="16" height="16" alt="avatar" /></div><span class="quot_text"><span class="quot_user_name">Azilut: </span></span>I just found out the other week that it's [url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jrralls/rpgs-are-evil-dark-dungeons-the-movie]getting the movie treatment.
"Like all colleges, this university is run by the role-playing crowd who dominate all aspects of campus life."
All of them. All colleges are like that.

"But you and your friends begin to suspect that something is not-quite-right when the head cheerleader mysteriously vanishes from a raging all-night RPG kegger party"

There's one initialism that completely kills the credibility of the above sentence, but I can't quite place my finger on which one...
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General discussion (archive)A look back at D&D hysteria(33 posts)(33 posts)
(33 posts)