# D&D Bashing in this Day and Age **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 19, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638 "2010-02-19T16:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/1 "2010-02-19T16:22:35Z")
Aaron Williams (aka, the [Nodwick guy](http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/index.htm)) mentioned a Boston Herald Article linking the UAH shootings to Dungeons & Dragons: [Suspect in slays fan of ‘Dungeons’](http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1233150) Seriously? What cave have these people been sleeping in for the last 30 years? Yes, you’re right: things cost more than they used to, young people use curse words. But you know what? D&D turned out just to be a fucking game, one that may inspire [dorky behavior](http://www.foxtrot.com/2010/02/02072010/), but nothing like [the kind of disgusting behavior displayed by sports fans](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-november-2-2009/clash-of-the-cretins). I lived in Huntsville for over a decade, and I’m here to tell you that you’ve got a lot more to fear from people who give a shit about the Iron Bowl than from people who liched out their 20th-level necromancers. Where in the spectrum of warning signs about Bishop’s instability does D&D fit? Somewhere between the school shooting and shooting her own brother? Between shooting her own brother and sending a pipe bomb? Between sending a pipe bomb and conking a stranger at IHOP over an inconvenience? How about so inconsequential as not to be worth fucking mentioning, much less an entire article? > [@](#): > > “They even acted this crap out,” the source said. Well, okay. LARPers are a scary breed. The run around with foam swords, lobbing bean bags at eachother. _Dī meliora!_ Tell you what, you start counting deaths that can be linked to games and I’ll start counting deaths that can be linked to religion, and we’ll see who gets to seven figures first. Then we’ll see which is scarier. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/2 "2010-02-19T16:33:18Z")
Wow. Scary that there is still so much ignorance about that game. And scary that “police siezed books.” I can kind of see some normal amount of stupidity and ignorance about it 30 years ago, but still? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/3 "2010-02-19T16:45:39Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > What cave have these people been sleeping in for the last 30 years? [Colossal cave](http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/), naturally. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/4 "2010-02-19T17:03:18Z")
Fortunately it seems the comments section on that article are universally tearing the Boston Herald a new asshole. I hope the editor and/or the reporter (depending whose bright idea this was) get a mark on their permanent record for this unless they make a Save vs. Idiocy on a d20. As for more idiotic D&D bashing apparently it is [dangerous to left prisoners play it](http://boingboing.net/2010/01/25/no-dd-for-us-prison.html). ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/5 "2010-02-19T17:09:29Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > As for more idiotic D&D bashing apparently it is [dangerous to left prisoners play it](http://boingboing.net/2010/01/25/no-dd-for-us-prison.html). I viewed that incident as a step up for D&D in the social hierarchy. In a different article I read, the officials made the point that, whether or not it’s actually dangerous, the prisoners are no longer entitled to the privileges of civilized living. This may be the first time I’ve seen D&D officially declared one of the privileges of civilized living. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/6 "2010-02-19T17:24:13Z")
That piece sure has a heavy editorial bias. Particulary the phrase “egghead escape” to describe D&D - isn’t that kind of unprofessional? Is the Boston Herald always like that? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/7 "2010-02-19T17:28:07Z")
“Egghead escape?” Is that something new in the 4th Edition rules? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/8 "2010-02-19T17:41:48Z")
from the comments section of the article in the OP: > [@johntheobscure](#): > > My name is John Ruch. I freelanced for the Herald for years, during which I played D&D regularly, as I still do. > > This article is the exact type of hateful, incompetent, fraudulent, lazy and incorrect “reporting” that convinced me to stop associating myself with the Herald. > > So, obviously, playing D&D not only turns people into murderers; it also turns people into fools who let their name appear in a paper alongside those of integrity-free morons. Oh, the horror. says volumes, i think ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/9 "2010-02-19T17:45:02Z")
Bet she liked Marilyn Manson too. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/10 "2010-02-19T17:49:13Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > That piece sure has a heavy editorial bias. Particulary the phrase “egghead escape” to describe D&D - isn’t that kind of unprofessional? Is the Boston Herald always like that? I’ve never regarded the Herald as quality journalism. I basically think of it as a right-leaning tabloid. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/11 "2010-02-19T18:58:26Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Colossal cave](http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/), naturally. Who can blame them. That maze of twisty little passages is a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/12 "2010-02-19T19:02:41Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > I viewed that incident as a step up for D&D in the social hierarchy. In a different article I read, the officials made the point that, whether or not it’s actually dangerous, the prisoners are no longer entitled to the privileges of civilized living. This may be the first time I’ve seen D&D officially declared one of the privileges of civilized living. Until you’ve done hard time, brother, you’ll never know what it’s like to \*truly \*miss playing Gnip Gnop or Uncle Wiggily. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/13 "2010-02-19T19:02:43Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > Who can blame them. That maze of twisty little passages is a bitch. Yeah, those twisty little passages are all alike. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/14 "2010-02-19T19:28:30Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I’ve never regarded the Herald as quality journalism. I basically think of it as a right-leaning tabloid. Definitely. You wouldn’t be surprised to see the words “Bloodfest” or “Goon Squad” in the headlines. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/15 "2010-02-19T19:46:45Z")
Good thing he wasn’t into GTA. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/16 "2010-02-19T20:12:11Z")
[I’m attacking the _DARKNESS!_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHdXG2gV01k) Anyone want a soda? ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/17 "2010-02-19T20:28:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > Well, okay. LARPers are a scary breed. The run around with foam swords, lobbing bean bags at eachother. _Dī meliora!_ As a LARPer for over eleven years, I get this all the time. Two of my neighbors will make fun of my hobby all the time. They’ll explain it to people (oftentimes while I’m not around, mind you) using condescending language and wild exaggerations. One of them will then turn around to me and say: “Hey, you wanna play some [Heroscape](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroscape)?” :rolleyes: They play at least once a week. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/18 "2010-02-19T20:30:16Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Yeah, those twisty little passages are all alike. Xyzzy 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/19 "2010-02-19T20:33:27Z")
Beware of the Grue. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638/20 "2010-02-19T20:53:40Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Until you’ve done hard time, brother, you’ll never know what it’s like to \*truly \*miss playing Gnip Gnop or Uncle Wiggily. If I was in prison I’d be very afraid of someone wanting me to play with Uncle Wiggily. Unfortunately, my wife is of the mindset that D&D players are all socially backwards nerds incapable of establishing and maintaining healthy relationships and refuses to let my 17 year old honor roll son play. I tried to remind her that I used to play and I turned out OK. Hmm. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t want him to play? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-d-bashing-in-this-day-and-age/529638.md?page=2)