You Don't Talk Shop at the Dinner Table

[Aaron L]

I'm a bit surprised that no one has mentioned the blatant political overtones in Eberron yet, which is one of the reasons that I don't like the setting.

Terrorists destroying a tower in Sharn during the last war? Karrnath being accused of stockpiling necromantic arsenals?

I'd guess that WotC doesn't avoid politics?

Please tell me you aren't serious? PLEASE?! There is absolutely no connection, overt or covert, between Eberron's post "world war" atmosphere and modern America's political landscape. There was already a poster here who read waaaaaaay too much into some supposed religious symbolism in Eberron and all but declared it Satanic.


It's a magical fantasy setting taking place after a widespread war. Of course there were towers destroyed in the City of Towers both during the war and in it's rocky aftermath, for god's sake! Anything else would be completely nonsensical! Of course the most warlike nation is being accused of stockpiling weapons even after a treaty has been signed.


Seriously, this is like the people who tried to say that naming the second Lord of the Rings movie The Two Towers was using the World Trade Center attack as a marketing ploy for the movie.


Some people REALLY need to stop trying to inject contrived reasons to be offended into everything they see.

 

[Arnwyn]

So my question is this: Does anyone else have problems like this? Or, once again, is it just me?

Nope, certainly not. Because:

Everyone I play with has the same political and religious views and are friends outside of gaming, and I wouldn't want to game with them otherwise.

...this pretty much describes us.

In theory, everything is open for discussion at our table, but it just so happens that very little does (due to everyone being starved for gaming by the time we get around to it).

 

[S'mon]

I'm not in the U.S.

Well I'm not aware of any country with no class distinctions, though the Scandinavian ones are fairly egalitarian.

 

[Elrond Half Elven]

Actually we have a certain player who *should* only be allowed to talk about the game, he is a decent enough guy (or else we wouldn't be playing with him) but every so often his mind will gravitate towards the gutter and his input into the conversation will go like wise. Once in the gutter almost everyone else at the table attempts to either change the conversation or bring it up to a light-hearted level, less he breaks through the skum...

Hanx
Elrond

I imagine the analogy of "mind in the gutter" is universal...

 

[arscott]

Very few discussions about politics or religion at our table, but not by any established rule--we just prefer to talk about other things. And There is quite a bit of OOC discussion.

The only thing that really comes up is Kosher, simply by virtue of us eating together all the time.

However, the youngest player in my game (15. The rest of us are college age or older) got kicked out of a World's Largest Dungeon game when he called BS on some semi-racist political rant the DM went on. I'm pretty proud of him for having the guts to tell some guy 15 years his senior (and DM to boot) "shut up, nobody cares".

 

[Yttrai]

No no, I get very heated, and if someone spouts dogmatic, bigoted, Evil garbage, I will tell them that they are a dogmatic, bigoted, Evil jerk. I will not associate with such people, and I will definitely not game with them.

I prefer to treat my friends and gaming colleagues, and even random strangers on the internet, with respect even if our beliefs differ, but everybody has a different approach. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Melan]

In the weekly campaign I'm playing it, we talk a lot about politics - sometimes, sadly, seriously cutting into game time. In the other, where I am the DM and we meet far less often, we focus our attentions on gaming, and engage little in side conversation. Both approaches have their virtues and flaws. Fortunately, we get along and don't bite each other's heads off for dissenting opinions.

 

[Teneb]

Everyone else in my group is an engineer. I'm in the medical field. They start talking about chips and buses and throwing out non-sensical jargon all the time. I just grin stupidly and nod and wait for it to pass

The one thing that drives me absolutely stark raving insanely crazy mad is when there are discussion on math. They all do math, every day, as part of their jobs. Very complex math I would assume. We can spend 30 minutes debating how one arrives at a given attack bonus. 30 minutes. I've also had the experience of DMing some of the group and describing a room deep underground. I rough out the dimensions and then go on to describe all the evil goodness in the room, only to have the players immediately point out that such dimensions are not possible, that the structural integrity of the room would not support such dimensions, etc. etc. etc. That was (thankfully) a one-time occurance

 

[Arnwyn]

Well I'm not aware of any country with no class distinctions, though the Scandinavian ones are fairly egalitarian.

But enough to "discuss" them? You'll find many that don't.

Trying to discuss "class distinctions" in Canada, for example, as anything more than what another poster noted as "paycheque magnitude" will only get you funny looks.

 

[ssampier]

Such discussions I find fascinating. However there is a tight-rope to keep the conversations revelant without deeply offending someone.

... I've also had the experience of DMing some of the group and describing a room deep underground. I rough out the dimensions and then go on to describe all the evil goodness in the room, only to have the players immediately point out that such dimensions are not possible, that the structural integrity of the room would not support such dimensions, etc. etc. etc. That was (thankfully) a one-time occurance

I find this far more annoying than the twink who wants to have a half celestial demon/half celestial/half baboon/half elemental.

Have your players tried to use a real-world scientific device? My one engineering student was upset that I wouldn't let him use magnesium to burn the undead horde.