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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5183385" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 182: June 1992part 7/8The marvel-phile: Leftovers here again. Like cold meat on boxing day, it seems to be almost standard in this department these days. It really isn't as fun as it used to be. Still, this is one that's more player useful than most. Dr Doom's hyperscience gadgets. He's certainly come up with a lot over the years, and it wouldn't be surprising at all if some of them got lost, stolen, or recreated by someone else. Anasthetic nose plugs to keep people comfortably unconscious for whatever length of time. A staff designed to absorb nearly any force harmlessly. The nervous system scrambling Entropic Inducer. The Null time sequencer, which lets him freeze time to his advantage. And the Quark instability condenser, which is a pretentious name for a half-assed disintegration ray. All appeared in Fantastic Four issue 352, showing that he's got a pretty impressive toy collection. This is different from most of their articles, but still feels like they're more creatively hemmed in than they used to be, with the focus entirely on existing characters and things. They've also got less of a sense of humour about this, as reflects the general tone in comics these days. Can't say I'm happy about the way this column is going. Fiction: The dragonbone flute by Lois Tilton. Far too often in these stories, Dragons are a dying race, and we only get to see ancient powerful ones. Where's the next generation? Is anyone going to help keep them alive? And who will mourn them when they're gone? It's another melancholy story this month, with just a small glimmer of hope mixed in. Both the main human and dragon have lost the ones they love, and find a bit of comfort in a world which seems determined to screw them over. Quite an affecting story, this once again manages to shake off the boredom and engage me emotionally after a whole wodge of filler articles.  If only the rest of the magazine has as much stuff to choose from when trying for the best. Forum: Tim Harford is one of those people who actually managed to allay teacher fears by simply talking to them. It was actually surprisingly easy. Course, that's likely because they hadn't made up their mind yet. Rational minds which suspend judgement until they have sufficient information aren't usually the problem anyway. Geoff Pass has a friend who became a born again christian, but kept relapsing into gaming, and then loathing himself afterwards. It'd be funny if it weren't for the valuable stuff he just threw away, some of it loaned by the writer. Aaron Goldblatt points out that the RPGA is already supposed to be an organisation that represents gamers as a whole. Yes, but you don't see them doing much anti-oppression campaigning. Anyway, remember that the other side thinks of themselves as the good guys too. Without empathy, you'll only make the problem worse. Dale Critchley is a christian and a gamer, and points out that evil characters tend to be a self-correcting problem. As we've found before, through gaming we can learn to work together better with other people. If you just flat-out forbid evil, they'll never learn the problems it causes except by harsh reality. Michael Niveu has written a paper on the effects of RPG's as part of his university work. In assembling material, he found that there was plenty of rigorously tested positive material, while the negative stuff was merely unsubstantiated hyperbole. Another strike for the scientific method. Richard Doyle is going to aggressively seek out and engage in diplomatic relations with church people in his area, and encourages you to do the same. If you do it right, it should get rid of a lot of their fears. Jeffrey S. Kennedy is another christian who thinks the whole thing is stupid. No-one's saying monopoly turns you into a greedy social climber who backstabs their friends, or hungry hungry hippos promotes obesity. You are not your character. Craig H. Barrett also goes on with great passion about the social benefits roleplaying has. Co-operation, self-control, reading, math, leadership skills, imagination, all in one neat package. And it's fun too. How can teachers object to that?! Nathan Nieman suggests taking the matter all the way up to congress! Don't let the other side win just because they shouted louder! Send me letters personally! Ahh, the enthusiasm of youth. Don Jamieson gives another anecdote of how his group have been playing for the past decade and grown up into productive, well-adjusted adults. Course, no-one notices those. When failure gets you more attention than success, failure can become a perversely attractive option. Such is the paradox of media reporting. S. Lynne Mann also points out the educational benefits of rpgs. We are definitely getting into repeating points territory here. How much more of this can people take?</blockquote>

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