NEWS

Heraldry of Stupidity
posted by Kattastrophe

 


Anyone remember that Tom Hanks movie, Mazes and Monsters? You know, the one where Tom plays Dungeons and Drag-- oops, I mean Mazes and Monsters-- and goes totally batshit. Yeah. I hated that movie.

Well, looks like the media wants everyone to remember how srs bsns the whole gaming thing is. The Boston Herald, that's right, guys, a "reliable" news source came out with this article about the murderess Amy Bishop just yesterday.

Kind of reminds me of that old Penny Arcade comic.

I frakking hate it when someone who knows nothing about something decides to write rubbish about it. I'll never understand how people come up with this crap. If making up a story can really turn me into a violent murderer, then it seems like Stephen King, Clive Barker, Harlan Ellison, and so many others would be filling up the jails.

Table-top RPG's are, like, the next logical step from those games of pretend we all played when we were kids. Someone's the hero, someone's the villain, and there's a big epic battle as you guys gallivant around the yard with sticks for swords or guns. The only difference is the addition of rules.

It's like the oral tradition from back in the day. Everyone sitting around a table instead of a fire (unless it's decent enough weather and we break out the firepit :P). Each person has their own thing to add, weaving a story together.

It's social. It's creative. And more than that, it's cooperative. You have to be able to work with other people to do it. Despite the stereotype of of the fat cave-nerd emerging from his mother's basement/womb to sit with his toad-like friends eating cheesy snacks and drinking mountain dew, the best gaming groups I've been a part of only bear a passing resemblance to that. Hell, GC doesn't even bring mountain dew to the game. And the chips of choice are usually barbecue or salt and vinegar.

The point is this: In any group of people, there's a nutjob waiting for a reason to lose their shit. There's ALWAYS someone ready to give the whole crowd a bad name. It's crap to label all of us because one geek went and shot a bunch of people. I've got a morality of seven. Don't try to paint me with your own derangements.