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<blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 5579973" data-attributes="member: 15538">Someone is being wrong on the Internet! They must be stopped!But on a more serious note, the white, middle-class part of my background cringes a little every time I see a thread title on an RPG board with a title like, &quot;Wht Race Do You Hate?&quot;Do I think RPGs affect our response to hatred and violence? I certainly hope so! If killing a few gnolls increases by even 1% the likelihood that some Cheetoh-eating nerd might oneday use her flipphone to document or report attack or abuse, or to shield a child from violence during a riot, or to march side by side by the hated minority du jour, I am all for it. The world needs more paladins, more Chaotic Good rogues, more delving wizards, and more monster slayers. Do I think there's any realistic risk of D&amp;D turning someone into a genocidalist, a school shooter, a drug dealer, a burglar, or the like? Absurd.I think RPGs are an opportunity for self-examination. It need not be hard work, so to speak. RPGs are not therapy, or philosophical quests, or sociological gauntlets, at least, not as a rule. But they give use the opportunity to live inside a different skin for a while, and hence in my view, can only do good.What is the consequence of playing a Chaotic Neutral fighter-rogue who steals from the rich and keeps it all for himself? A window into why that is not a viable real-life approach to life. It doesn't even take &quot;realistic consequences.&quot; Playing as a sociopath can be fun without any risk of it seeming like an actually preferable existence. It's not like D&amp;D is going to cause players to prefer killing and eating their own meat and use outhouses rather than flushing toilets. Does playing a bard make someone more likely to become a cellist?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pawsplay, post: 5579973, member: 15538"] Someone is being wrong on the Internet! They must be stopped! But on a more serious note, the white, middle-class part of my background cringes a little every time I see a thread title on an RPG board with a title like, "Wht Race Do You Hate?" Do I think RPGs affect our response to hatred and violence? I certainly hope so! If killing a few gnolls increases by even 1% the likelihood that some Cheetoh-eating nerd might oneday use her flipphone to document or report attack or abuse, or to shield a child from violence during a riot, or to march side by side by the hated minority du jour, I am all for it. The world needs more paladins, more Chaotic Good rogues, more delving wizards, and more monster slayers. Do I think there's any realistic risk of D&D turning someone into a genocidalist, a school shooter, a drug dealer, a burglar, or the like? Absurd. I think RPGs are an opportunity for self-examination. It need not be hard work, so to speak. RPGs are not therapy, or philosophical quests, or sociological gauntlets, at least, not as a rule. But they give use the opportunity to live inside a different skin for a while, and hence in my view, can only do good. What is the consequence of playing a Chaotic Neutral fighter-rogue who steals from the rich and keeps it all for himself? A window into why that is not a viable real-life approach to life. It doesn't even take "realistic consequences." Playing as a sociopath can be [i]fun[/i] without any risk of it seeming like an actually preferable existence. It's not like D&D is going to cause players to prefer killing and eating their own meat and use outhouses rather than flushing toilets. Does playing a bard make someone more likely to become a cellist? [/QUOTE]

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