Straight Talk about Dark Dungeons
Well, you got that right. This statement, the author's own, simply invalidates his whole rant against the gaming industry. And I say the gaming industry, because that's what it is, an industry. It is not a cult, nor is it a sect, nor a devil-worshipping black mass orgy of evil. It is a company, or rather several companies that produce fantasy role-playing* games. TSR, the former producer of Dungeons and Dragons, stands for Tactical Studies Rules- a war-game association. Hardly satanic. You couldn't even be accurate in portraying it as violent! It was a strategy-based game company. The whole thing was, of course, based on H.G. Wells' game Little Wars. Wizards of the Coast, the company who bought TSR, thus saving it from bankruptcy, (due to a decline in interest thanks to hateful propaganda such as Schnoebelen's and Chick's) is a subsidiary of Hasbro, a company well known for producing family games. White Wolf is a gaming company whose games are based less on combat and violence, and more on plot, story telling and role-playing.
What I want to know is: does Milton Bradley, makers of such fine games as RISK and CLUE, get shit like this? RISK must surely incite it's players to try to take over the world, while CLUE is a game in which one of the players has murdered someone! Dear, God! Get me William Schnoebelen! He'll help us destroy the makers of these evil, mind-bending games! Jack T. Chick** can illustrate it! And get Rona Jaffe*** on the phone, I'm sure she'd love to write about it!
Which brings me to the author himself. This gentleman, who claims to have played the game himself for a number of months, couldn't have been paying much attention.
"As a former witch high priest, and one who worked with game writers for D&D back in the 1970's, I could hardly be called ignorant. And I am only "dangerous" to the wallets of the moguls of the FRPG industry and to the devil." - Schnoebelen
Well, for a former witch high priest, (whatever that is,) Mr. Schnoebelen must have been participating in another big fad during the seventies to get all this information so terribly, terribly wrong. Namely: mind-altering substances resulting in chemical-induced euphoria. In layman's terms: getting fucked up.
"if it were true that the writers of the eighties were overstating the case, (and I have NOT seen this satisfactorily demonstrated)" - Schnoebelen
Well forget that! I haven't seen it satisfactorily demonstrated that D&D does cause all the shit Mr. Schnoebelen blames it for. The burden of proof belongs to the prosecution, Schnoebelen. Are you new to America?
This brings me to the facts and references that this gentlemen uses to argue his case against D&D.
The first thing I want to know about this guy's so-called "facts" is the reference to what page Adolf Hitler**** is mentioned on, in Dungeons and Dragons. I have been through and though my manuals on the game and not once have I seen the name "Hitler." Since Mr. Schnoebelen is so hot and bothered that Mr. Freeman, (a D&D defender), didn't provide enough references and footnotes, where is the footnote explaining why Shroeben mentions Hitler seventeen times a minute? I also want to see his reference page that tells him that "They (the typical D&D player) often have below average social skills." Where did this guy do his research? He makes bold, and blatantly ridiculous statements like this, and later goes on to bash Mr. Freeman for not citing exact references in his argument in favor of Dungeons and Dragons. The balls on this guy!
"Again, he has offered no substantial proof for this rather broad statement. This kind of nonsensical reasoning continues as he claims that those Christians, such as this writer, who speak out against D&D are ignorant and dangerous!" - Schnoebelen
Yeah, Bill. That's because they usually are. Ever heard of Jerry Falwell, anyone? Pat Buchanan, perhaps? Shit, I'm a Christian conservative, and even I think these guys are fucking nuts.
Schnoebelen's shoddily composed rant sickened me as he continually bashed a game, which was designed to bring people together in a social group to have fun and be creative. Gary Gygax, along with Dave Arneson, wrote the original rules for Dungeons and Dragons. On the Sci-Fi Channel's special TSR: The Fantasy Factory, Mr. Gygax spoke at length about the origin of the game in an interview, and made it clear that the original game was written on the reading level of, and duly intended for college-age people (18-25 and up). Yet Mr. Schnoebelen continues with his "facts" which he seems to be making up as he goes along.
The typical D&D player is described as follows:
1. Between 13-20 years of age
2. A large majority are male
3. They tend to be sensitive and shy individuals
4. Often they have below average social skills
5. They are often people who "march to the beat of a different drummer".
- Schnoebelen
Now anyone you ask on the street would probably describe someone who plays D&D as a basement dwelling social-pariah, not because it's true, but because it's the popular view. This is the appearance of D&D players as it has been taught to us by television, movies, newspapers, and people like William Schnoebelen. If it weren't for Schnoebelen's inaccurate descriptions and sleazy half-truths, we wouldn't be seen this way.
I'm going to tell you the truth (since you won't find it in Schnoebelen's rant). Here is the reality of the role-player.
1.) Role-players come in all shapes and sizes, with ages ranging from ten to fifty, (and up!).
2.) Over 65% of all video game RPG's are sold to, and played by, women. As far as table-top RPG's are concerned, the sexual ratio is almost 1:1. (50/50)
3.) They tend to be of above average intelligence. This often causes shyness and sensitivity because of the American way of life, which caters to the idiotic.
4.) They are among the friendliest and most polite people you could ever wish to meet.
5.) They tend to be independent thinkers and non-conformists. (Exactly what the church people hate.)
(Above information was taken from columns in Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine, Game Informer Monthly, Dragon Magazine, Wizards of the Coast, and my own real life experiences. Reference that, Schnoebelen!)
Another horrendous half-truth is the assumption that D&D leads to Satanism and suicide. Schnoebelen cites twelve cases of suicide that have been "attributed" to D&D (which means that one guy on one of the cases once speculated about occult influence.) One of those twelve, a fourteen year-old boy, was convicted of murder and executed.
"D&D player (14 years old) Sean Sellers was convicted of killing his parents and a convenience store clerk in Greeley, Oklahoma (1/11/87). He was the youngest inmate of death row in the country before being executed for his crimes. His involvement in hard-core Satanism began with D&D, according to his own testimony. Praise the Lord; he became a Born Again Christian some time before his execution!" - Schnoebelen
To be fair, I think you'd have to juxtapose those twelve people, with the millions of role-players in the world who have never committed any crime. The results are staggering. On one hand you have eleven sucides, and one killer. On the other, you have an uncountable number of innocent, game enthusiasts. A dozen versus millions - I'd put those odds up against any other group of people in the world.
There was one case where a young boy had run away from home, and was found in the steam tunnels a few days later. (This was the inspiration for that insipid book/TV movie Rona Jaffe's Mazes and Monsters***.) He was questioned when the police found him. He readily admitted that D&D had nothing to do with his disappearance. He was having some family problems at home and wanted to get away from it all, but because he also happened to play D&D, that was immediately blamed for his "aberrant behavior." It's nice to have a scapegoat isn't it, Schnoebelen?
Getting back to Mr. Schnoebelen's description of the "typical D&D player," I ask you: Are people social outcasts for playing Monopoly? That's a game. Hell, Parker Brothers could have been accused of committing the deadly sin of Greed for inventing this game. What about Gluttony? Hungry-Hungry Hippo's! Sloth? Don't Wake Daddy! Lust? The Dating Game! Pride? Jeopardy! Wrath? Sorry! Envy? The game of LIFE!
What grievous sin do D&D players commit, other than not giving enough money-money-money to the church? That's what it's all about anyway. Schnoebelen, Chick, and other religious fanatics are scared shitless that this game is pulling people away from church, (not God, mind you, but the church) and that it's hurting their pockets. That's all that really matters to these people.
These people believe in the Bible, but not in God.
Proof? How about "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." They break this commandment daily with their lies and slanderous propaganda!
Love thy neighbor as thyself... unless he's a D&D player.
*Role-playing- as in, not real. Does this guy send angry letters to every actor in Hollywood, as well? That's all role-players are. Amateur actors looking for an outlet!
** The guy who set me off on this rant in the first place. Chick illustrated a horribly researched comic strip (an apt name for it since it is, indeed, comical), which depicted Dungeons and Dragons players as homicidal, suicidal, Satanist psychopaths.
*** Rona Jaffe- Author of Rona Jaffes Mazes and Monsters, upon which a "monstrously" inaccurate film was based in 1982. Pun intended. Thank you.
A short quote from an interview with Ms. Jaffe follows. It is unaltered.
Dearest: Rona, how did Mazes and Monsters come about? A bit of a departure from your usual genre, yes?
Rona Jafe (sic): I read in the newspapers about a group of college students who were playing dungeons and dragons (sic) in the campus steam tunnels and one person disappeared, so I liked the concept of getting carried away by a fictional character. It was a departure. Also it became a TV movie starring Tom Hanks, which was very nice.
Right. Never mind about such things as "research" and "reality." They're not important! Only the almighty dollar is, apparently. Notice how the capitalize the proper title Mazes and Monsters but not the proper title Dungeons and Dragons. Interesting!
**** Finally, after much searching, a reference was made to where this name can be found in D&D. Apparently, in the chapter about character statistics, Adolf Hitler was used as an example of someone in real life who had charisma. I looked it up and it is true, he is referenced like this in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - The Dungeon Master's Guide E1. However, I stand by my argument that you have to hunt this information down because Shreoeben does not make this clear and then goes on to bash someone else for doing the same.
And besides...
I do not see how this is offensive to anyone. Of course Adolf Hitler had charisma. How else would he have nearly taken over all of fucking Europe sixty years ago? The only people who would take offense to this are people who are completely ignorant of the definition of the word "charisma". Does this mean I like Hitler? No! He is not someone who should be looked up to or followed, in my opinion. But the fucker had charisma. Bill Clinton had charisma too, and anyone who knows me knows what I think of him. Saying someone has charisma is not necessarily a compliment.
Millions of gamers inhabit Earth, according to the Wizards of the Coast website. This is indeed a very vague number to be sure, but no matter how hard I tried, I could get no idea more descript than that, of how many role-players are out there. I even "asked Jeeves."