D&D Social Stigma

I bump into the stigma whenever a lady makes it to my bedroom (not that they shouldn'ty be able to notice in my kitchen or living room) and they notice the shelves full of rpgs. I point out : "it is a cheaper and less annoying hobby then drugs,gambling, whoring, psycho sports fan or boozing" this generally chills them out.
 

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While I've ran into many people that could be labled as the "sterotype gamer", most have been intelligent, well-adjusted people that are really no different than most people you meet on the street at any given time. The same can be said of any social stereotype from jocks to goths.

I have met a few people that feed the stigma and judge others based on it, but only a few and most of them are/were so batcrap crazy in their own right that few other listened to them. Most people that I've met look upon it as just another hobby or simply smile and nod when I tell them about it. As long as they don't give me a lot of flak about gaming, I could care less.

Kane
 

Turjan said:
It seems to be expressively forbidden by the author. From a thread regarding this topic on rpg.net:

"WotC has the rights to do a Potter RPG, but Rowling has stated she feels RPG "rot kids brains." That's a direct quote from the woman at WotC in charge of flying to England and trying to covince Rowling otherwise."

Talk about social stigma ;).

GAR!!!! :mad:
There's only one thing that rots your brain - not using it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


@jones4590 - why do you care what those people think, or if they make jokes about you? If you ignore them they will probably shut up. And if they don't, who cares?

Yes, I know - my parents said the same sorts of things to me when I was a kid, but when you're a kid you never believe them. ;)
 

For those of you who don't know the "stigma" then congrats. However, for a large number of ppl out there, the mention of DnD (if they know what it is) will elict chuckles and worried looks as they can't figure out why someone "normal" would do something so "weird." For those of you who refuse to let things like that bother you and go out of your way to talk about dnd so that people know you're proud of your hobby, kudos to you, but I don't think it makes any sense to try and blame the continuation of the stigma on those who won't "take a stand." There are enough people out there who don't "get it." We don't need to look down on people who don't make erasing the stigma of dnd their personal crusade.
 

openly talking about your hobbies is NOT a crusade.
its normal.
the same way you would talk about chess, or birdwatching, or last nights tv shows, talk about your gaming hobby.

and the reasons why it IS ok to blame the "persecuted" is simple, the reason these other people think something is wrong with gamers, is because they DON'T KNOW ANY NORMAL GAMERS. they ONLY know the sterotype.

Every time someone who is afraid steps forward and says "I'm normal. And I game." , someone else has their gaming stereotype shattered.
 

Perhaps this comes down to what individuals consider "normal." I don't talk about playing the cello with people who aren't in orchestra, why would I talk about dnd with ppl who aren't in my game? It Would have to be some weird, extra effort to go out of my way to talk about dnd with ppl I encounter.
 

cuteasaurus said:
For those of you who don't know the "stigma" then congrats. However, for a large number of ppl out there, the mention of DnD (if they know what it is) will elict chuckles and worried looks as they can't figure out why someone "normal" would do something so "weird."
You're lucky! When people discover this is my hobby, there's nothing incongruous about it at all, just an unvoiced, "oh... that explains a thing or two."
For those of you who refuse to let things like that bother you and go out of your way to talk about dnd so that people know you're proud of your hobby, kudos to you, but I don't think it makes any sense to try and blame the continuation of the stigma on those who won't "take a stand."
Agreed! Much of our stigma comes, legitimately, from the fact that our hobby does over-represent socially inept men with eating disorders. If we became more visible, that wouldn't change and, therefore, neither would society's judgement.
 

Kanegrundar said:
While I've ran into many people that could be labled as the "sterotype gamer", most have been intelligent, well-adjusted people that are really no different than most people you meet on the street at any given time. The same can be said of any social stereotype from jocks to goths.

I have met a few people that feed the stigma and judge others based on it, but only a few and most of them are/were so batcrap crazy in their own right that few other listened to them. Most people that I've met look upon it as just another hobby or simply smile and nod when I tell them about it. As long as they don't give me a lot of flak about gaming, I could care less.

Kane


I have meet some gamers who have made me uneasy, but I think that is because they would make most people uneasy. Are there gamers who lend credence to stereotypes? Yes. However, I find that the majority of people I have meet in some 25 years of gaming have been relatively normal people. I would say that relatively few people I have meet seem to typify the gaming stereotypes. The social stigma has decreased in the past 25 years, and I think it will continue to decrease. I don't know if gaming will ever be a really popular pasttime, but it does seem to be a lot better understood than in the height of the anti-gaming hysteria of the 1980s.

JamesDJarvis said:
I bump into the stigma whenever a lady makes it to my bedroom (not that they shouldn'ty be able to notice in my kitchen or living room) and they notice the shelves full of rpgs. I point out : "it is a cheaper and less annoying hobby then drugs,gambling, whoring, psycho sports fan or boozing" this generally chills them out.

Someone I used to game with said that a night of gaming with friends was a lot cheaper than blowing a good chunck of his paycheck at a bar. Hmm, James, I think that you might have a good idea for a t-shirt.

Most of the gamers I have meet have been intelligent and had at least average social skills. I have seen a few gamers with bad social skills, and I once briefly meet a gamer in high school who perhaps needed to learn about such technological innovations as soap and deodarant spray. However, I sometimes think that although gaming may track a fair share of introverts, that we are a pretty diverse lot. Most gamers I know have social lives, jobs (or working towards a career in college), family and other responsibilities. Many of the people on these boards have spouses and children. So, I think that although you can find people who fit the stereotypes, the majority of gamers probably does not. (I seem to recall a few WotC gaming surveys. Perhaps someone can find them and quote the demographic data.)

For myself, I have known journalists, college students, elected politicians, police officers, technology workers, nurses, teachers, and many other people who happened to play RPGs. Most were preety decent people. I think that it is easy to let the opinions of others determine how you live your life, but I do not see this as necessarily a wise way to live. I think the best way to counter a fallacious opinion is to offer facts and reasoned arguments. Some people will not listen, regardless of how many facts and logical arguments you present. However, I have found most people willing to listen to different opinions.

Now, if you want some resources to counter the stigma, here are some resources.

The Escapist is a good general resource, with many good resources, links, and archived material.

AaronL, I think RangerREG makes a point, as my high school interests were not smoking, sexual promiscuity, booze or drugs. However, I have seen a few people who have had to counter religious prejudice against RPGs. (I had an aunt who fell for the Jack Chick line of thinking, but eventually countered it by explaining it was a game.) So, here are some resources to help you out in addition to The Escapist.

James Wyatt is a game designer whow works for Wizards of the Coast and a former minister. His website is Aquela. You might want to click his theological musings.

Tracy Hickman is a former Mormon missionary and co-author of many of the Dragonlance novels. His website is Tracy Hickman and has several good essays that you might want to use to educate the people who have condemned roleplaying. So, Aaron L and jones4590, I suggest checking some of the resources to help counter the prejudice that both of you have faced. Hang in there.

As for J.K. Rowling, I find her reported remarks amusing as similar things have been said about her books. Perhaps she should be open minded in light of her life and experiences. Perhaps the WotC representative should forward some of the links to her.
 

Turjan said:
It seems to be expressively forbidden by the author. From a thread regarding this topic on rpg.net:

"WotC has the rights to do a Potter RPG, but Rowling has stated she feels RPG "rot kids brains." That's a direct quote from the woman at WotC in charge of flying to England and trying to covince Rowling otherwise."

Talk about social stigma ;).

I'd like to see the exact post from the 'woman at WOTC' before I'd really beleive that post, actually. If so, I'd be interested to know if Rowling was talking about computer 'RPGs' since she may very well not be aware there is any other kind. The other reason from that thread, that Rowling doesn't want other people writing about her characters, is much more beleivable.

I'd say in some places the stigma might eventually vanish if local news and other media didn't keep it alive. Take the commercial where the geek is giving the supermodel a copy of the PHB. Nice and funny, esp to see the PHB on national TV, but look at the commercial again: the guy portrayed is still a geek and the viewer is not supposed to take it seriously that he's actually dating this women, etc. The commercial is using (a technical term I don't remember the name for, but it involves using radically juxtaposed images for comedic effect).

The same thing with the commercial where the woman says 'Why, yes, I'd love to come see your comic collection'.

Positive portrayals in the media are very few and far between and even when they are, there's usually nothing that identifies them - the scene in ET, for example - I'll be willing to bet you money that the vast majority of the mainstream people that saw that movie had no idea what the kids were talking about in that, what, 1-2 second mention. There was positive (or, at least, non-negative) portrayal but without it being identified as D&D (or any tabletop RPG), it's useless. Contrast that to the number of times Lifetime reruns Mazes and Monsters, or that other 'true crime' movie about the evils of gaming.

Do we have anyone from law enforcement (esp. municipal) on the boards? I know that in the 80's, Puling made presentations to various city police departments about the dangers of D&D. I have no idea if she was taken seriously. I know that in the late 80's and early 90's cult experts also did this (and in almost every book on cults I've seen, D&D is mentioned in some way, either as a danger sign or as a side effect). I have no idea if they were taken seriously or not.
 

I might not be an expert in human relations, I'm pretty sure that talking about your hobbies and interests with people in normal. Its how you get to know people and decide if you want to be friends. Maybe if you talk about cello or d&d with someone outside of your orchestra or gaming group...you'll disover another potential gamer or ochestra member???

Conversation.
Its part of being social.

And for the gamers who don't understand that, it sort of proves the whole gamers = socially inept scary basement dwellers stereotype doesnt it?

And I am a BIG supporter of stereotypes exist because they are TRUE.
But I don't consider the fact that I'm a fat, pony-tailed, glasses-wearing, black tshirt, wearing, game playing, comic book reading, internet surfing, card-carrying GEEK a bad thing.
The bad parts of the stigma aren't the way we look, or the related hobbies.
The bad stereotype is the hygeine-challenged, socially inept, satan-worshipping, friendless, basement dwelling loser who's never seen a woman.
 

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