[OT] RPG research paper, need help

[EarthsShadow]

I am writing a research paper for my writing class and the topic I picked is basically something all gamers have heard all our lives but other people who have only heard glimmers of RPG's, or don't even know what they are, are confused by this topic, which basically is:

Do rpg's cause or influence people that play them to commit suicide, murder, or join satanic cults and satanism?

I bring this up because I am trying to find some good official websites on this topic, and if any of you know of anything that could help I would be most appreciative.

Most sources I know of possibly getting are articles, but another source I can apply to my paper is a interview with somebody who is very knowledgable within the rpg community, probably somebody that has worked on them, or a psychologist that has been around people that have played them and knows something of this topic. This last part might be a stretch, but even if I can get a few good websites I will be grateful.

I know within this community we basically know that rpg's in general don't cause anything of the sort, but others out in the world believe differently, and I have to write this paper as a research paper answering basically this specific question.

 

[Fast Learner]

Here's a good start: Mike Stackpole's The Pulling Report. This page also has some links to interesting stuff (though a number of them are now broken). And here's Greg Costikyan's "A Short History of Paper Gaming" to fill in the history a bit.

You can find plenty of folks saying it's evil by going to Google and simply typing dungeons dragons evil.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Take a look here. It doesn't give you all the specifics, but it will get you going in the right direction.

 

[grodog]

Check out these links:

• http://www.rpg.net/252/quellen/darkdungeons/ddtext.html
• http://www.rpg.net/252/index-e.html
• http://www.rpgstudies.net/
• http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/ (for books by Daniel Mackay (as author, editor, contributor)
• http://www.gama.org/gamesed/index.cfm?action=home&nodeID=5

Lastly, if you can find copies of the old Hogshead journal _Interactive Fantasy_, buy all four issues (the first was called Inter*Action, but was later changed).

 

[kingpaul]

While my MBA Research Project doesn't quite deal with what you're looking for, my list of references might help you out. May I also suggest The Escapist, a gaming advocacy site