Is D&D good?

[Bendris Noulg]

Where are our Carnegies?

Donating to the Make a Wish Foundation.

No, seriously... I was invited via my department head 3 years ago to one of their fundraisers, and let me tell you that I have never felt so far out of my league around a group of people. I sat at a table with a guy that, without hesitation, wrote a check for the Foundation that was nearly twice my salary at the time (and I was knocking on 80K at the height of the dotcom businesses).

I'll be the first to admit that many of them do it strictly for the tax shelter; but at least it's getting done.

 

[Dr. Harry]

However, I'm under the impression, the vast majority of roleplayers are people without deep ties to religions (...)

I would not say this. The very fact that ENWorld (wisely) makes religion, as well as politics, a topic to be avoided shows that there are many here who take religion *quite* seriously.

 

[TracerBullet42]

There is, however, a very educated and valid (from their point of view of what the commands of their G_d are) thought, which is that anything not done for the glory of G_d is satanic. From that stance, D&D and almost everything else we do is wrong.

<Treading lightly on the religious topic...hopefully not being offensive>

Who says you can't play D&D to the glory of God? Someone else already mentioned that time spent with friends is a good thing. It's called fellowship.

You can do just about anything to the glory of God. Just about anything. (Now is when someone childish will suggest some awful things...but I said just about anything...)

So is D&D good? Sure. Can it be manipulated into something bad? Absolutely. But that's the user's issue...not the product.

Hope that helps!

(And if I stepped on any religious toes...please let me know and I'll delete this.)

 

[thud13x]

Then again, what isn't bad?

I think so far every body preceding my post has more than answered the initial question. The conversation that Torm has started is very interesting as well. It touches on the very basic nature of humanity, sacrifice vs. self-perservation.

While I agree with Torm on the fact that anything can be bad, I think of it more along the lines that anything can be bad for you if not balanced. Moderation is key in regards to any part of life. We as humans have the instinct to be selfish. The majority of the time, if not always, we think about what we want. This is something that we first discover as children and carry into adolesence and early adulthood. I, for one, have been definitely guilty of this.

Now please understand I do not mean to offend anyone with any generalizations I make, these are just observations that I have experienced not just of me but of those around me. There, of course, exceptions to every rule.

The arguement that Torm makes is that we have lost that selflessness and mostly care about our status, possesions, job, etc. True, but on the most part this is balanced by other things. Example: A co-worker at my wife's law-firm is a, how to put it nicely with out offending Eric's Grandma... a skirt-chaser. Not a very responsible individual in regards to how he de-moralizes his "conquests". However, having met his wife and children, I realized he might be an a-hole outside his family life, but he truly is a great dad. His kids are courteous, smart, and absouletly the opposite of what one might expect. So, is he a bad person overall? No one can answer that in an objective manner.

Me, for instance, have been gaming now for last four years straight. Got back into 4 years ago during a very tough time in my life. Un-employed, going through a very hard depression, marriage on the rocks. I was not in a happy place. Gaming helped me. But, even though I started to climb out of the hole I was in, I still behaved in a manner that almost made me lose my marriage. I started to game in excess. This was not a "Gaming" problem but a "me" problem. You can substitute gaming for any other hobby, addiction, misc. thing, like food or work or sex or alcohol.

We need to come to a point where we are comfortable with both our selfishness and out selflessness. I see gaming as an outlet for me to relax, use my imagination, interact with friends, so when I come home to my family I can give them my attention 100%. I can soothe my wife's headaches, walk my hyperactive dogs for an hour or two, work Overtime so I can have a little extra to give the homeless, charities, political campaigns, anything that I think would help make the world a better place.

I think the parable Rel made truly puts it all in the right place.

That is my $00.2 and hope my rant makes sense. Again, apologizes to anyone offended by anything I might have said.

NK

 

[Caspian Moon Prince]

Edit: Caspian Moon Prince...
It is kind of funny, my mother was VERY religious (and still is... she was a Lutheran Pastor's daughter) but she encouraged me to play it. Besides the obvious effect it had on my vocabulary, interest in reading, and math skills she always knew the people I gamed with, knew where I was at any particular time, and she knew I wasn't out getting into trouble or doing drugs (early 80's). Once I became a High Schooler I joined up with a group that was composed almost entirely of professionals (paramedics, mathematicians, lawyers, etc) and they were a great influence on me. I wonder sometimes where I'd be today if I hadn't gotten into D&D back in 3rd grade. A good number of my elementary school friends got into drugs or got into other trouble with the law. I joined the Air Force for 9 years as a "Computer Guy" and now work for a great defense contractor. I've played D&D almost my entire life... everywhere I've gone in life it has gone with me.

I'm glad to see that your mother had rational judgement in this situation. Mine didn't at that time, and isn't all that religous either btw. I've taken that situation as another example of how lies in the media(which is what my mother had to go on) can be dangerous. In the end, like you, I see d&d and roleplaying games in general as one of the bigger, and better, influences on my life.

 

[Zelgadas]

D&D and drugs

I've seen a couple of mentions in various articles about the relationship between D&D and drugs, and I figured I'd just add my own experience.

I got into D&D in high school. There were two friends who I regularly gamed with, and this meant that we were inside, in someone's house, not doing drugs. Eventually, both friends that I gamed with started doing drugs; predictable, their interest in D&D fell of about that time. Myself, I stuck with D&D, and found other people to game with. If my friends (at the time) and I hadn't played D&D every day, I probably would have been doing drugs with them. In a very real way, D&D kept me off of drugs; I was far more interested in orcs and THAC0 than in marijuana and crystal meth.

Now it's about six or seven years later, and D&D is still having a profoundly positive influence on my life. They guy that I started playing with after my gaming group turned to drugs is going to be the best man at my wedding. I've been published three times in PDF, and I've got three more jobs in the works. I've found that I define myself as a D&D geek, and that makes me proud. Heck, just look at all of the people posting on this thread, all the people in this community. There's all the 'good' you need.

 

[pdkoning]

<Treading lightly on the religious topic...hopefully not being offensive>

Who says you can't play D&D to the glory of God? Someone else already mentioned that time spent with friends is a good thing. It's called fellowship.

I totally agree with you, I am Christian living in the Dutch Bible-belt, and I play D&D, I did a lot of research before (and during) I began playing it, because I heard it was 'evil'. The game itself, although it might not be suited for very young kids, is not evil. It can be used for bad purposes, but almost anything can be used for bad purposes.

Some people might think it is a bad game, but with a little explanation from me, they usually understand what D&D really is. I often rerer to J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. lewis, and tell them we play in worlds like Middle-Earth or Narnia, and adventure, and instead of reading the story the writer invented, we invent the story ourselves.

I think D20 is a great opportunity to spend time with friends, and to relax a bit.

Torm indicated that although we act heroicly in the game, doing good deeds, we usually do not do that in real life. I agree with you, most people do not have the lawful good alignment, but small things make the difference, I must admit that D&D made me appreciate the environment and nature more than before I played D&D. Fantasy worlds usually have a beautiful environment and animals, and I thought it would not be a bad idea if earth had a beatiful environment and lots of animals as well.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

Torm indicated that although we act heroicly in the game, doing good deeds, we usually do not do that in real life. I agree with you, most people do not have the lawful good alignment, but small things make the difference, I must admit that D&D made me appreciate the environment and nature more than before I played D&D. Fantasy worlds usually have a beautiful environment and animals, and I thought it would not be a bad idea if earth had a beatiful environment and lots of animals as well.

I, too, see his view. Perhaps I just know from experience that I will pull the passenger out of a burning car and that I can take the heat of a dangerous military mission. But the majority of my life has been just living well, raising my kids, and working in the private sector. On the news, I see warfare, death, child abuse, dirty politics in a multitude of nations, manipulation of the masses, dangerous and destructive drugs in schools alongside guns and grenades. Can I do anything about it? Only by being a nice guy and hoping that niceness spreads.

But in an RPG, you have the chance to make a direct difference. Not just being at the right place at the right time (e.g., walking down the street when the accident happens right in front of me) or part of a larger operation (e.g., crewmember of a US Navy ship in the Persian Gulf), but the dude, the man with the plan, the leader of nations and destroyer of tyranny. It's an outlet for the closet hero in all of us that would change the world in major ways if only we could.

 

[Henry]

I just wanted to thank everyone for being very civil in this thread. It's been a fascinating range of topics on the nature of not only D&D, but how we see ourselves and D&D's place in our lives.

I know for a fact D&D's been a positive influence in my life, mainly along lines of socialization. As one poster said, my best man was ALSO a fellow player and gamer - as were my groomsmen, and about one-third of the audience. Even my Bachelor Party consisted of the geekiest thing imaginable - an all-night Caffeine-enhanced DOOM network session, played by me and my group at the time. And yes, I enjoyed it better than a strip club. I think my wife liked it vs. the alternative, too.

 

[diaglo]

yeah my best man, groomsmen, guests, etc... were friends who also gamed.

and i've been to/participated in their weddings also.

as well as births, deaths of family members, character references for jobs, etc...

still can't forget the time the FBI guy called and asked me about one of my old crew...