Howard Stern rips on D&D on his radio show

[Barendd Nobeard]

The only part of this I would care to hear more about is the validity of the comment by the caller who said they ask police candidates if they played.

That's just a ridiculous assertion for a caller to make, because every municipality in the country might have different questions on their exams. A friend of mine (met through D&D) recently became a police officer, and had no such questions on the tests he took. But that doesn't mean other places don't ask that question.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

I remember when Howard was a local morning DJ here in DC. I was in Jr. High & High School during that time.

[hijack]Me, too, Kengar. Where'd you go to school? I was at Jefferson High School in Fairfax County.
[/hijack]

 

[frankthedm]

Dead man talkin'

 

[reapersaurus]

The part that concerns me about Howard doing a slam-job on D&D is that, like it or not, his doing so makes other people more comfortable in slandering D&D.

If people hear someone in as big of media position as Howard do so, than they feel that it's OK to continue the prejudice.

It's funny, I'm surprised that some of you MidWest guys (that always complain about how you can't openly proclaim your support of RPG's for fear of retribution, or strange looks, etc) don't see the corrolation here.

Myself, I thankfully have no problems of people knowing I game in my area of the country (Northern Geek-ifornia). But if I was in an area that still had those ridiculous vestiges of 80's paranoia and discrimination against RPG's and roleplayers, than I'd REALLY have a problem with such an over-the-top, verifiably-slanderous and incorrect discussion about the game.

 

[Fast Learner]

Oh come on.

If anything Howard slandering D&D gives D&D legitimacy. His opinions hold so little weight that they have the opposite effect of his intent.

Seriously, he was never relevant, and today he's the opposite of relevant.

Are you concerned that his listeners will now think of D&D as bad? What do you think they thought of it before he said this stuff?

 

[reapersaurus]

I hate to break it to internet people, but to most humans beings, hearing something said = getting closer to believing it.

Most people are simply not smart/savvy enough to seperate out What They've Been Told from What Might Actually Be.
That's not me being elitist - that's fact (or at least human psychology).
The more times people hear something (ESPECIALLY said in a humor/hip/derogatory style), the more times they will accept it. Further, they will be less inclined to be offended if/when the subject is inaccurately slandered again.

And I'd wager that there are WAY more people out there who are not as aware of Howard Stern's irrelevance as many people here seem to believe.

He doesn't get the ratings he does (i.e. the millions of people that listen to him) if it's all just people dialing him in to gawk at his being irrelevant to society anymore...

By the way : has anyone thought of how many more people were exposed to Stern's negative hatchet-job than are exposed to any kind of positive advertisement or word-of-mouth about RPG's?

Isn't there a saying that kinda goes "In the absence of any other opposing viewpoints, the most-publicized statements become the accepted facts?"

 

[Silver Moon]

Should any of us really care about the opinions of a divorced middle-aged loudmouth who hangs out with strippers and porn stars? I know that I sure don't.

 

[reapersaurus]

Just in case it wasn't clear, my point is that it doesn't matter whether YOU care about Howard Stern's opinions -
Hundreds of thousands of people DO, whether we like to admit it or not.

 

[Bass Puppet]

I understand, but I think that most people who listen to Howard know that it's a COMEDY MORNING SHOW. Those that take him entirely too seriously are idiots to begin with, heck he doesn't even take himself that serious. And, he didn't go on and on about this bit, it was mentioned when somebody called in and they did a schtick about it.

Let's be real about this, you can purchase D&D at the mall these days and most people who know about D&D know it's harmless. If some crackhead was using D&D to lure some kids into his "Dungeon" it's like saying that joe smoe killed Bob because he listens to Heavy Metal Music. I remember a case and point with the Judas Priest issue back in the 80's and if I remember correctly, their record sales went up.

 

[Scarbonac]

Did anyone listen to Stern's show this morning? I don't know how the topic of D&D came up, since I only heard part of the show, but Howard and his gang were ripping on the game pretty bad. In typical Stern fashion, the game was portrayed as being sexually perverse - Stern actually claimed that the game involves an older man (the DM) leading young boys into a dark basement, where they have to obey his commands. (?) Robin the co-host asked how the game is "won", and nobody had an answer. So Stern made up his own sex-related answers on how the game is won. Many more sexual comments and jokes followed, D&D players were portrayed as inept losers at best and sexual perverts at worst, and nothing was said to dispute what D&D is really like. One caller actually phoned in the show and claimed that potential police candidates are asked if they ever played D&D or not, with Stern saying that he wouldn't trust a D&D player to become a cop, since D&D players aren't mentally stable.

All in all, D&D was bashed pretty bad, and its players were made to look like total freaks. Which, coming from Stern and Co., is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, of course. But D&D really doesn't need this kind of publicity.

Great; one of the few mornings that I don't listen to Howard and I miss something on the show that's really good.