For your enjoyment:
http://io9.com/5473500/did-dungeons--dragons-motivate-dr-amy-bishops-murder-spree
Lord! I'm from Boston, and you wouldn't believe how much press this ting is getting! Unreal. They've *got* to find some new angle on it...
-clash
Aw hell. Its hysteria like this that makes me want to take up spelunking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazes_and_Monsters).
I wonder if the game that encouraged her to take level advancement into her own hands was Mentzer red box, AD&D 1st edition, a tattered woodgrain set with an extra folder of extra-realistic rules or 4e. Hm. :hmm:
Same shit, different decade.
Does this mean it is too soon now for me to introduce my new Forge story-game, "School Angst" where you try to see how far you can get academically before you build up enough angst to go postal?
This might just make RPGs popular again. It was that way the last time, anyways.
RPGPundit
My favorite reader comment for the day, by a fellow named Yellowphant:
Quote from: YellowphantGrade school, college, you name it. School is the one thing all these school shooters have in common. We should do a study on the number of school shootings in third world countries without any schools. I'm willing to bet the number is close to zero.
I can't tell if that's intentional, or simply well intended, but that was funny as hell.
!i!
It's bread that makes people murder. 99.95% of murderers have all eaten bread. Most people who have never eaten bread have never committed murder. Clearly, bread is the culprit behind murders.
Bah. I can barely find the energy to sarcas. Real reporting is dead in TV and newspapers.
I've met far more rabid/scary sports fans in my time than insane game-geeks.
Quote from: Peregrin;361293I've met far more rabid/scary sports fans in my time than insane game-geeks.
Yeah, but, dude, they just beat each other up and tear down defenseless street decorations. We're talking cold-blooded, calculated murder.
See? I think it's the math. Pastimes that require number-crunching lead to sociopathy. That's why I switched to mechanics-lite gaming years ago.
!i!
The author of the io9 article is herself engaging in a little bit of sensationalism. I mean the Herald is a third tier paper at best, possibly more in the NY Post league. Nobody cares what they say.
(Incidentally Newitz was a friend of a friend at Berkeley. She wrote some really weird/bad articles for the anime club newsletter.)
Now, that I've read the comments if I ever do go on a shooting rampage I'll have to yell things like "NATURAL 20 BITCH" and "MAXIMUM DAMAGE" and "ARE YOU MINIONS OR BOSSES?"
Just to make sure they know it was because I played D&D.
Quote from: Ian Absentia;361296Yeah, but, dude, they just beat each other up and tear down defenseless street decorations. We're talking cold-blooded, calculated murder.
See? I think it's the math. Pastimes that require number-crunching lead to sociopathy. That's why I switched to mechanics-lite gaming years ago.
!i!
There is a man that never went to a Millwall away game.
Quote from: David Johansen;361321Now, that I've read the comments if I ever do go on a shooting rampage I'll have to yell things like "NATURAL 20 BITCH" and "MAXIMUM DAMAGE" and "ARE YOU MINIONS OR BOSSES?"
Just to make sure they know it was because I played D&D.
That's funny.
The Herald is a rag, on par with Pravda, and the Daily Mail as a venue for social entertainment. They have to sell papers somehow, and any sensationalization, even fabricated, or dredged up from the past, will do.
Newitz didn't help any though by propogating the original Herald story into new vectors.
This case doesn't have anything to do with D&D. What it does have to do with though, is the utter failure of law enforcement authorities to conduct a proper investigation, that of the original murder of her younger brother.
It's amazing this day and age that cronyism and nepotism remains prevalent in law enforcement. Behaviors and crimes that are inexcusable, and prosecuted within the general community, all too often are completely ignored or swept under a carpet within the law enforcement community right up until the time an International incident occurs.
I'd warrant the latter happens much, much, much... more often than a D&D player going off the deep end and wacking a bunch of mean college professors. I wonder why you don't see the Herald covering that?
Finally...
When it comes to college professors, they are amongst the most bitter of foes when it comes to determining tenure, and their rivalries are the stuff legends (and horror movies) are made of.
Quote from: GameDaddy;361345When it comes to college professors, they are amongst the most bitter of foes when it comes to determining tenure, and their rivalries are the stuff legends (and horror movies) are made of.
It's like that old joke - why are academic politics so cutthroat? Because the stakes are so low.
Quote from: Ian Absentia;361296Yeah, but, dude, they just beat each other up and tear down defenseless street decorations. We're talking cold-blooded, calculated murder.
See? I think it's the math. Pastimes that require number-crunching lead to sociopathy. That's why I switched to mechanics-lite gaming years ago.
!i!
True. I have an old roommate who was like a math/physics genius. Overall he was a nice guy, but he could be fucking creepy at times. He was way too soft spoken, and would get these weird silent moods...there was just a huge social disconnect.
If you were engaging in something game-related (he got into Magic during freshman year), he was perfectly fine or happy, but once you exited that sort of "play"/competitive social sphere, he just couldn't relate directly to other people, and I don't think he really had much empathy at all since he disregarded the feelings of other people a lot.
Quote from: Peregrin;361435True. I have an old roommate who was like a math/physics genius. Overall he was a nice guy, but he could be fucking creepy at times. He was way too soft spoken, and would get these weird silent moods...there was just a huge social disconnect.
If you were engaging in something game-related (he got into Magic during freshman year), he was perfectly fine or happy, but once you exited that sort of "play"/competitive social sphere, he just couldn't relate directly to other people, and I don't think he really had much empathy at all since he disregarded the feelings of other people a lot.
Damn, can you say Asperger's Syndrome?
Quote from: Peregrin;361435True. I have an old roommate who was like a math/physics genius. Overall he was a nice guy, but he could be fucking creepy at times...
Heh, I was only half-joking. And that's why I made the earlier joke about looking for a murderous pattern among fantasy football players. The obsession with maths and minutia is, if anything, even more intense than in RPGs.
This is, of course, all speculation without an ounce of scientific or statistical evidence. :)
!i!
Quote from: Ian Absentia;361466Heh, I was only half-joking. And that's why I made the earlier joke about looking for a murderous pattern among fantasy football players. The obsession with maths and minutia is, if anything, even more intense than in RPGs.
This is, of course, all speculation without an ounce of scientific or statistical evidence. :)
!i!
99.95% of the people who know what "Statistics" are, are capable of murder!
Quote from: Ian Absentia;361466This is, of course, all speculation without an ounce of scientific or statistical evidence. :)
!i!
Well sure. But looking at the track record of people who have won awards in the field of mathematics, it doesn't look so good for people with the "gift of numbers." I mean the last guy outright refused his award and went missing for god knows how long. And not just "I'm not coming to the door" seclusion, I mean he just up, packed, and left. Although I think he came out of hiding a few years ago.