Violence and (Geek) Entertainment

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

It was a brief anecdote related to the topic, not a detailed analysis of the situation. It appears I may have made it seem more extreme situation when it was.

While my basic reaction to his response was, "you reap what you sow", I did take his comments on board as a reminder not to go too far.

If it had actually been an ongoing issue, both of us are quite capable of speaking up and hashing it out - - however, it was not an ongoing issue.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. "You reap what you sow" is actually a valuable life lesson. In this scenario, your brother's response was well justified though. Your counter-response was spot on too.

 

[Scribe]

There's an argument there, but I think that'd be more about the focus on action-adventure fiction as a basis in general, not why violence is so prevelant. Some other forms of fiction are more difficult for group play, which probably doesn't help, but its hard to say what it would be like if the initial major game in the medium had been something else.

Sure, but that is the foundation. You can look at a whole bunch of other things that also contribute, but the root of it is the root of it. Wargame, Western, Manifest Destiny, there's quite a lot of that in D&D, and that is the root. I'm not going to argue that it isnt, and yes if we have that as our basis, then the glorification, abstraction, and downplaying of violence, when interrogated, doesn't look quite so good.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Sure, but that is the foundation. You can look at a whole bunch of other things that also contribute, but the root of it is the root of it. Wargame, Western, Manifest Destiny, there's quite a lot of that in D&D, and that is the root. I'm not going to argue that it isnt, and yes if we have that as our basis, then the glorification, abstraction, and downplaying of violence, when interrogated, doesn't look quite so good.

I think the problem is some other games that still feature violence don't derive much of their approach from Westerns or Manifest Destiny. The derive it from particular types of fiction. I suppose you could argue those types of fiction might derive from those, but at least some of them actually predate those particular concepts.

Truth is, heroic fiction with a heavy violent tendency goes back a very long time, and that's what most RPGs are based on to one degree or another. That's why I say it might be more useful to ask exactly why so much of the hobby is based on heroic fiction. Its always possible that that can be layed at D&D feet of course, at least to some degree.

 

[Scribe]

I think the problem is some other games that still feature violence don't derive much of their approach from Westerns or Manifest Destiny. The derive it from particular types of fiction. I suppose you could argue those types of fiction might derive from those, but at least some of them actually predate those particular concepts.

Truth is, heroic fiction with a heavy violent tendency goes back a very long time, and that's what most RPGs are based on to one degree or another. That's why I say it might be more useful to ask exactly why so much of the hobby is based on heroic fiction. Its always possible that that can be layed at D&D feet of course, at least to some degree.

I'm not suggesting that violence has its roots in only those things. Violence has existed as long as a being has desired something that another being has.

Why do we have these strong ties to violence in heroic fiction? Because our myths and stories grew from the same soil as our history and its littered with violence.

The 'hero' is just the guy who got to write the tale.