You Don't Talk Shop at the Dinner Table

[Nightfall]

Nik,

Nah cause a) everyone realizes it's a game and b) killing stuff is more fun than "talking shop."

 

[Ranes]

Well, I know I'm not bigoted,

Huzzah!

but there's plenty of topics I know would anger many people if I discussed them, and it's not because those people are bigoted in any conventional sense, maybe more the opposite. Anything that would prompt an "If you think X, then you must hate Y, which makes you a Z" stuff.

I understand that. And I don't go to any social engagement with an agenda about who to upset and how. What I was trying to say, in my original response to the OP, was that we've set no table rules, we've discussed issues that might be considered sensitive territory (other posters and this board remind us of the potential pitfalls of religion and politics) and we've all come out of it okay. So far. In truth, most of our conversation has been game-centric and I'm happy with that, because that's what we're all about, as far as I'm concerned. To paraphrase yet another poster, I'd rather discuss games than argue politics.

But you're in London and so am I. Send me a pm. Let's game or get ratted or both and maybe solve the world's problems to boot. You can lay any opinion you like about any subject on the table. If you're up for a discussion about that, fantastic.

 

[Mean Eyed Cat]

Yeah, we have a house rule about this:

Code of Conduct

1. Out-of-Character - Here are the guidelines for Out-of-Character performances:

a. Real World Stuff - Please do not talk about current real world political and/or religious situations at the gaming table. However, people can talk about these subjects during the breaks - but should use caution not to offend anybody. In addition, as the GM, I will not include references to current real world political or religious situations in the campaign world. Furthermore, it's okay to talk and joke about some Real World topics (comic books, movies, etc.) during the game, but please try to watch these conversations when interacting with NPCs

 

[Oryan77]

I've banned discussions about soap & living quarters. I got tired of hearing about my bad hygiene and I don't care what anyone says, I like living in my parents basement...the rent is cheap & mom cooks me dinner every night.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I made a mistake of TELLING another player that his political views were immature and ridiculous, instead of just thinking it. The guy is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do... but you don't play D&D as long as I have, and not learn a thing or two about bravery.

On the one hand, there's bravery. On the other, there's the anticipation of the satisfaction of watching the legal ramifications of assault and battery take hold.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I never got in so much trouble as when I made a joke about class at the game table, Tallarn thought I was accusing him of looking down on a lower-class player. I have noticed though that the English now say "class doesn't matter anymore", but that doesn't mean they're happy to discuss it, quite the reverse.

Edit: I noticed how with the whole Shilpa Shetty/Jade Goody thing, the class angle was studiously ignored by the media.

Do they seriously still have classes in England? Weird. Here in N. America, when we say "class" we mean "paycheque magnitude." Or is that what you meant?

 

[khyron1144]

My most recent group is composed largely of agnostics, atheists, pagans, and similar folks with a relaxed take on religion. We also all tend towards the liberal end of the political spectrum. Most of us would rather game than talk about real world issues.

 

[Kaodi]

Isn't that a generally accepted rule of etiquette amongst non-friends? Don't discuss politics, religion, or money. Those three things lead to the most arguments. If you are not gaming with friends, its probably a good idea to stick by. On the other hand if you regularly are talking about this stuff at the gaming table, you may be gaming with friends, even if you didn't realize it.
-cpd

See, in my humble opinion, it is actually a bad sign when it becomes taboo in a society to not be able to publicly debate things that actually matter. Not to say that you should completely disregard others, but to function properly a society needs to communicate.

I don't think we really talked religion or politics in my group, we were mostly just happy to pass the time talking about game related stuff. That is why we got together, to game, so it we didn't really need to fill up the time with terribly off-topic discussions.

In any case, having rules on things like forums is different than general society. Here, we are supposed to tread lightly around religion and politics (So far I think we're doing OK safely skirting the edges of the danger zone here, hehehe...), and on the political message board I frequent, many might take a dim view of me posting about D&D (though I have suspicions that at least one other person there has played D&D, probably quite a few more). Public though, is public. Everything is the domain of the public.

 

[Nyaricus]

My most recent group is composed largely of agnostics, atheists, pagans, and similar folks with a relaxed take on religion. We also all tend towards the liberal end of the political spectrum. Most of us would rather game than talk about real world issues.

This is more or less my group, actually, with maybe one guy who might be Christian and who might be conservative, and a guy who's a Deist (just getting into choosing his flavour, basically), and the Wiccan got booted a long time ago (for unrelated reasons).

In any case, I don't really care what gets talked about when we are OT, so long as when we are in the game, the gaming's good!

cheers,
--N

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Hmmm, I have long mixed political and religious discussion when playing and running games. As a result I have had some wonderful arguments with people that I like and admire greatly, in spite of, and sometimes because of, our differing opinions. (One of the players in the first game that I ever played in, and the first game that I ever ran, was a Catholic priest of Jesuit leanings, who was also one of my teachers... I swear, you could get better grades by disagreeing with him, and defending your position, than by just quoting his classes back to him. I come to my argumentative nature in part because of him. )

Then again, most of the people that I get along with are also given to discussions upon the matters deemed unsafe here at E.N.World. For some folks this counts as fun.

The Auld Grump