Fact and logic are not the tools of anyone out to save the world from RP. They claim that gaming is devil worship because the words 3demon2 and 3evil2 appear in rulebooks. (And because some games use six-sided dice. Anyone remember Yahtzee?) What about dictionaries, and encyclopedias, studies of Greek mythology, available at the school library nearest you? Mrs. Pulling pointed to roleplaying as a cause of suicide and violence, because players confuse fantasy with real-life.
Research has proven time and again that roleplaying is healthy and - egads - educational. Not to mention fun. An open, thoughtful mind yields the same conclusion. Let1s take a look at some games gathering dust in the closet:
Monopoly: Become the player with the most money at the end. Grab choice properties before anyone else. In other words, greed is good.
Risk: Not only take over the block, take over the world. Battle your opponents into submission. In other words, war is good.
Tic Tac Toe: Two players, one winner. In other words, competition is good. Winning is everything.
Video games: The ones where two characters batter each other and the ones where you shoot things into bloody spatters come to mind . . . In other words, violence is good.
Now consider roleplay. All right, sometimes RP involves fighting and character slaying, and some adventures are treasure hunts. But I have yet to see a game where either was the entire objective. Or a game where one player lost so another could win. Or a game where cooperation and creative problem solving wasn1t intrinsic to finishing the scenario.
Do gamers blur reality and make believe? We live in a culture that sells massive numbers of theme merchandise based on popular television. A child dresses in the logos of his favorite character, carries the lunch box, sleeps in a room wallpapered with scenes from the show - isn1t this encouraging the same problem? No one suggests that it does.
The fact is, gamers, like most people, have no problem telling reality from fiction. We don1t think Tom Cruise is actually a vampire or even suspect him of being a blood-drinking satanist because he played Lestat. An actor playing a role, a person playing a character - it1s not hard to separate the two. Any well-written, entertaining story, whether a book, a movie or a scenario, pulls you into its world. If we can1t empathize with the characters, the story isn1t doing its job - to teach you about other lives.
Go To Page: 1 2
