Those of my readers who know me will be aware that my #1 hobby is role-playing games, and specifically the Dungeons & Dragons game. (Yes, I am a geek; that's pretty much a matter of public record.) The major reason I haven't mentioned it here before is that I in fact had another blog entirely dedicated to the subject, the now-defunct ruleslawyers.
(There is a certain controversy surrounding the game, which has been blamed for causing suicides, and even been accused of being Satanic. Obviously, if there was a shred of truth to these accusations, I wouldn't be playing.)
I first started playing in 1988, courtesy of a club run in the school. And, of course, I got into the game in a big way. The following summer I discovered Dragon magazine, one of the two official magazines supporting the game. Since then, I have read the magazine on and off (mostly on), and between the issues I own and a CD archive they did of the rest, I now own all but a handful of issues. I even read the magazine in those spells when I wasn't actually gaming, as has happened a couple of times. So, that's almost eighteen years, and more than half my life.
Yesterday, the publishers announced the cancellation of the magazine, and also the sister-publication Dungeon.
I'm just stunned by this. The magazines were actually in a golden age, and the sales figures were doing really well. And despite this, cancellation. And to think that, come September, they'll just be gone...
3 comments:
I am struggling to express my sympathy in a way that doesn't sound like it is just taking the piss, but rest assured you have it.
Can I ask how D&D could possibly be considered Satanic?
It's not something I fully understand, much like I fail to see how rock music, video games, and the Matrix films are inherently Satanic.
However, I believe a large part of it is that certain of the character types worship 'gods', where those 'gods' are not God. Those making that accusation seem to have omitted to consider that this is a deliberate decision to not include any real-world gods (of any active religion) in the game to avoid belittling those faiths.
One more ridiculous objection is that there are several hundred uses of the words 'demon' and 'devil' in a very short block of pages in the Monster Manual. Said book being an encyclopedia of opponents for the heroes to oppose, and those pages being the letter 'D'.
One argument that does have a tiny shred of merit is that some of the named demons and devils in the game are actually real-world demons and devils (such as Pazazu, of "The Exorcist" fame). The argument goes that by invoking their names you are somehow 'inviting them in'. That's an argument I reject out of hand, but can really articulate why.
I'm not sure you really have to articulate why, it is just plain stupid.
But you know, that is a poor argument, and can be rebutted fairly simply with "of course it isn't stupid", so reluctantly I must agree with you.
Would it not, however, be a corollary to discourage use of the word "Satanic" to describe such things. Satan is one of the ones we want to avoid "inviting in" is he not?
Oh, and finally, I have noticed that a lot of RPGers wear a lot of the various shades of black. Hmm, coincidence, I think not!
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