RPGs "reduce accountability and substite raw power for legitimate authority"

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Uh, JG, isn't how one feels about this issue pretty contingent on how one feels about the US criminal justice system?

Lump me in with people who look at this and refuse to get worked up. Prison's for punishment and rehabilitation. What it ain't is a big concrete dorm hall. I'll leave the decisions as to what is appropriate after-hours fodder for convicts to people who have to deal with them everyday: wardens, guards, and judges. I'd frankly be much happier if convicts spent some time in the prison library trying to educate themselves than rolling dice anyway.

BTW, JG, very poor form. If you don't like the thread, flag down a moderator, don't pretend you are one.

 

[Eosin the Red]

Although I respect the judges decision, I do think that blanketly saying that "this is bad" is not as good as saying "this is bad if." Just as some crimes are worse than others and some punishments are harsher to match the crime, there are also some people who probably shouldn't be allowed to game just as there are some who should be allowed. Part of being a good judge is knowing what's appropriate: I hope he was being a good judge. I don't think I have enough information to create a balanced opinion about this.

joe b.

What oversite commitee is going to review the applictions of incarcirated gamers in America? I think what you are wanting extreemly niave. Do the judges have time to sit and listen to each case of Gamers who want their mags? No. Do you even want them doing so? I bet not.

People in jail are bad. Even ones who just smoke a little grass and got caught. Bad people do not deserve the benifit of the doubt. Maybe in 50 years some of them won't be criminals, so let them get a subscription in 50 years. Today they are criminals and they don't need Dragon or White Wolf.

 

[Eosin the Red]

How you feel about the criminal justice system is most definitely politics.

Your views on de-criminalizing pot are a-political I assume?

Watch it kettle. I think he might be calling us black.

 

[jgbrowning]

Uh, JG, isn't how one feels about this issue pretty contingent on how one feels about the US criminal justice system?

Nope. You can talk about this guy and this judge and roleplaying without taking the conversation into unfriendly to EN-world areas.

BTW, JG, very poor form. If you don't like the thread, flag down a moderator, don't pretend you are one.

You can talk about the justice system and not be political. Saying, "It's not perfect." is not political, saying a great many more different things are.

I did flag down a moderator. Reported two posts in fact. I also didn't pretend I was a moderator. I don't think it's bad form for mentioning the rules of EN world and reminding people to think about what they're posting in a thread that's going to get locked if it keeps up.

joe b.

 

[jgbrowning]

Your views on de-criminalizing pot are a-political I assume?

Watch it kettle. I think he might be calling us black.

I was pointing out that not everyone in prison is a mad killer rapist and is unsuitable for roleplaying for mental/social reasons.


I never made any statement of my political beliefs concerning legalizing drugs. My opinions on pot, you actually don't know, do you?

I said, "Not everyone is as bad." Therefore I did say using pot was bad..

However, one would also have to admit that drug laws have a posiblity of changing in 50 years and as such, things that are criminal now, won't be considered criminal then.

That was my point. I'll ignore the personal attack. Again which seems to not be folowing EN World rules. See, this is why we don't talk about politics here.

joe b.

 

[Dragonblade]

The topic is very political. You cannot talk about a ruling regarding RPGs in prison without talking about what that means in terms of the nature of crime and punishment.

 

[jgbrowning]

What oversite commitee is going to review the applictions of incarcirated gamers in America? I think what you are wanting extreemly niave. Do the judges have time to sit and listen to each case of Gamers who want their mags? No. Do you even want them doing so? I bet not.

There could easily be a system applied to where certain types of criminals can't role-play while others can. Role-playing can be dealt with in a graduated way just like many other things in prison are dealt with currently.

Someone who's in there for smoking pot isn't nearly as bad as the rapist you mentioned as determined by our legal system (regardless of what we personally think). Part of our justice system is determining who and how much for what. We can do the same thing with who has access and who doesn't with role-playing, and to what extent.

joe b.

 

[Michael Tree]

The problem with crime in our society is that there is no true punishment anymore. Prison is a joke.

You've never actually been inside a prison, spoken to anyone who has, or read books by/about people who have, have you? Prisons are hellholes (well, the high security ones anyway, not the relatively cushy ones they reserve for white-collar crimes). Virtually everyone that ever gets out of one vows that they would do anything to not go back. Unfortunately, prisons also breed habits of paranoia and violence (they're adaptive in prisons) so former prisoners tend to get back.

Thats just extortion. "Give us what we want or we'll do something terrible."

You wanna keep them from rioting? Shoot any who riot. You are only out the cost of the bullet. Much cheaper than cable TV.

It's not extortion, it's a simple manner of keeping people distracted and occupied. It's not as if the prisoners say "give us TV or we'll riot". Rather, prisoners who have activities to occupy their time, like lifting weights, watching TV, reading library books, and so on are generally much better behaved and easier to manage than a group of bored and restless people with violent tendencies.

It's the same reason why sailors in the age of sail were given lots of rum: Better a bunch of half-unconscious drunk sailors than a bunch of restless awake ones.

 

[DrZombie]

About the truth of "d&d deaths
http://www.tabula-rasa.info/Roleplaying/RoleplayingMyths.html
might be a good read (sorry, i hardly know how to log on, nevermind posting an url.....)
I've been looking for a thesis i once read about comparisons between crime- and suicide rate of gamers and non-gamers but I can't find it at the moment.

Edit : cmon guys, i do some looking up on the net for my posting, and this turns from a nice discussion into a slugfest. Stay nice and keep your temper or all we can talk about is knitting socks or pizza stuffings (btw anyone wanna know how to make a really good peanut-ansjovis pizza?)

 

[Dogbrain]

"Roleplaying games are prohibited," they said, "to prevent inmates from plaing themselves in fantasy roles that reduce accountability and substite raw power for legitimate authority."

I'm just trying to figure out what in the hell that means.

It means that the 9th Circuit justices all play Vampire or some other munchkin game a lot.