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<blockquote data-quote="KoshPWNZYou" data-source="post: 3886687" data-attributes="member: 56415">Well, when we were growing up, my brother and I thought Darth Vader was cool. We'd mimic his respirator voice and make grasping motions toward people's necks while saying 'your lack of faith disturbs me.' I've thought the Grand Theft Auto game series was cool from the very first PC version that came out back in 97 (I was in my late teens). Neither one of us has ever assaulted another human being or stolen a car or invaded and toppled another civilization ... nor would we ever consider doing so appropriate. That's the key thing, the ability to make the distinction between fiction and reality.People who decry the bad influences that games and films have on children usually use the argument that they blur that distinction. But as been pointed here already, that shortcoming is usually brought to the table. The original 'D&amp;D victim', Dallas Egbert, turned out to be your typical troubled teen, dealing with depression and drug addiction caused by many other factors even before he stumbled onto D&amp;D. It's no surprise that an escapist game would have appealed to him.If you're talking about -really- young people, like 8 year old kids, I'd see no more harm in their believing in magic than I would in their believing in the Easter bunny. It's something they'll grow out of.If you're talking about adults ... well, those beliefs go much deeper than anything that D&amp;D or any other influence can cause or discourage. And they may not even be harmful -- just different beliefs, of which there are thousands and thousands in the world (there's a catalogue of them somewhere on the Internet). If they're leading productive lives and not causing anyone any harm, more power to them.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KoshPWNZYou, post: 3886687, member: 56415"] Well, when we were growing up, my brother and I thought Darth Vader was cool. We'd mimic his respirator voice and make grasping motions toward people's necks while saying 'your lack of faith disturbs me.' I've thought the Grand Theft Auto game series was cool from the very first PC version that came out back in 97 (I was in my late teens). Neither one of us has ever assaulted another human being or stolen a car or invaded and toppled another civilization ... nor would we ever consider doing so appropriate. That's the key thing, the ability to make the distinction between fiction and reality. People who decry the bad influences that games and films have on children usually use the argument that they blur that distinction. But as been pointed here already, that shortcoming is usually brought to the table. The original 'D&D victim', Dallas Egbert, turned out to be your typical troubled teen, dealing with depression and drug addiction caused by many other factors even before he stumbled onto D&D. It's no surprise that an escapist game would have appealed to him. If you're talking about -really- young people, like 8 year old kids, I'd see no more harm in their believing in magic than I would in their believing in the Easter bunny. It's something they'll grow out of. If you're talking about adults ... well, those beliefs go much deeper than anything that D&D or any other influence can cause or discourage. And they may not even be harmful -- just different beliefs, of which there are thousands and thousands in the world (there's a catalogue of them somewhere on the Internet). If they're leading productive lives and not causing anyone any harm, more power to them. [/QUOTE]

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