The Gypsy Train	Druids: 15th level +	Campaign design	Ecology: Eye of the Deep	Jumping (#93) (WSG)
Pronunciation Guide	Thinking for Yourself	-	-	Dragon

Thinking for yourself
A guest editorial by E. Gary Gygax

The fanatical elements are at it again.
Those groups who are convinced that they
must decide for everyone are again attacking
role playing games in general and the
D&D® game system in particular.
Hopefully, most do so out of ignorance. If
you know of anyone such as this, why not
explain what role playing is, that games are
not reality, and the play is both fun and
useful in many ways. Of course, some
detractors will be convinced that such
games are basically evil, and there is little
which can be done about that. Obviously
objects are neither good nor evil, so just be
polite to such individuals.
The worst of the lot are those cynics who
seek to use a famous activity to further their
own ends. By attacking role playing, they

bring Attention to their ?cause? ? and
donations, too. It is worth mentioning that
those proclaiming that they know the absolute
truth do not appreciate people who are
able to think and judge for themselves. The
world has had its share of narrow-minded
bigots, thought-controllers, and bookburners.
It seems that they crop up periodically,
just as noxious weeds do.
The United States is still the land of
liberty. We have the freedom to choose.
Those who demand that we think and act in
the way they do know this, so they attempt
to suppress by pressure campaigns and
smear tactics. If you know of such activity
in your area, please counter it! If some
game outlet is being pressured to remove
role playing games, write and let them

know that you support their business.
Please let us know too. Drop us a line and
we?ll help all we can. Your letter will get the
fastest service if it is addressed as follows:

Corporate Public Relations Director
TSR, Inc.
P.O. Box 756
Lake Geneva WI 53147

It is interesting to note that educators,
psychologists, and psychiatrists seem to find
role Playing games to be helpful tools for
learning and communicating, at the very
least. Why, then, are certain elements seeking
to deny you the right to play such
games? The answer appears evident. They
do not find free thinking desirable. You
draw your own conclusions!

Misleading movie

Dear Editor:
After seeing “Mazes and Monsters” on nationwide
television, I wonder what in the
world people think gamers do in the backs of
gaming shops, in schools, and at conventions.

I have never heard of role-playing games
going so far as to act out an entire dungeon
adventure. Occasionally, my DM will ask me
to explain how my character would do something,
and I may have to demonstrate — but
never to the point of endangering anyone.

I explained to my parents, friends, and relatives
what the D&D game is about, and they
know that gaming will not lead me to the life of
a “crazed killer in New York” as the movie
depicted. I believe that D&D is a great pastime
and a great way of self-expression. Gamers
know what D&D is really like.

Marc C. Matthews
Knoxville, Tenn.
(Dragon #71)

THE FORUM

I agree with the guest editorial by Frank Mentzer,
in POLYHEDRON™ issue #26, about the
negative publicity the D&D® game has received
from the media (60 Minutes, Today Show,
Newsweek, etc.). As Frank Mentzcr says, “We
encourage you to get the facts yourself, and do
your own thinking. We think that all this
noise will die down if the cold light of reason and
Truth shines upon it.” It is time we get some facts
together!

I am a D&D player and a pediatric psychiatrist.
It’s my hunch that the D&D game and other
role-playing games are not only fun, but they
offer a way to develop new knowledge and skills,
and to make good friends. For most, gameplaying
is a positive experience. With your help,
I would like to gather facts about D&D gaming,
facts that go beyond the “opinions” which everyone
seems to have plenty of! Please take half an
hour and write up (in as much detail as you can)
an exciting adventure you have had playing the
D&D game and send it to me. The story should
describe the game from beginning to end, especially
your own experience. With a number of
such stories, we can get beyond “opinions.” By
the way, this is strictly voluntary, and you don’t
need to sign your name. Just write down your
age.

So please — take half an hour and help do
some real research to shed light, and hopefully
understanding, on D&D gaming!

Dr. John F. McDermott
1356 Lusitana Street
Honolulu HI
96813
(Dragon #109)

Quote:
Originally Posted by palleomortis
Not sure if this has been asked before, but have you ever taken much flack for being tied so heavily to a game that so many consider to be "evil"?

Back in the mid-80s when the media was exploiting the "dangers" of the D&D game for sensationalist reasons, there were a number of crackpots that sent me death threats by mail.

That's is some flack indeed.

Thomas Rideki and Patricia Pulling also sought to exploit the unfounded fears of the "dangers" of D&D gaming by making money attacking it, and that some were duped by them didn't help.

Cheers,
Gary

Quote:
Originally Posted by Valdur
Gary,
Glad to see you're still active in the gaming world and communicating regularly with fans. I hope you are able to do so for many more years.

Thanks

As I am semi-retired, don't do as much creative work as I did previously, I have more time for posting on boards and to my email list groups.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Valdur
Without getting into a religious discussion, how did you feel about the accusations and attacks on D&D by religious groups back in the 80's ? Were you ever contacted by any of them in a sincere effort to find out about the game or to discuss it? Has time changed your view of the situation any?

Only one such group contacted me personally, whichever one it is that published the magazine, Cornerstone. the young lady that interviewed me was very sincere, polite, and reasonable. Although the subsequent article was not favorable to the game, it was written feirly from a basically fundamentalist position, did not attack me personally, rather came near to praising me with faint damns <laughing>

Otherwise, all of the so-called mental health advocates and their ilk stayed far away as well.

All of it was a load of rubbish, of course. either the detractors could not tell the difference between make-believe and reality or else they were cynically exploiting the ignorance of others in order to gain from attacking the game.

<trim>
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZuulMoG
Tsk, tsk, Mr. Gygax,
Do you have any idea how much trouble your game got me into as a kid? My parents are devout Witnesses, and it was an uphill battle to get to play. Besides the whole '25 years of entertainment, lifetimes in alternate realities, and the accolades of mythic populations', I'd like to thank you for my mind. Playing every version of D&D from Basic to AD&D has not only kept my math skills up to date (Alas for ThAC0, it kept the riff-raff out of our game!!), it also kept me reading.

When kids can be using drugs, having sex with each other, or actually killing each other with real weapons, the idea that parents can object to a group of their children sitting peacefully at a table reading and doing math is...well, it's infuriating, that's what it is. I'd like to thank you for providing an educational form of entertainment to millions of kids (and adults, we never stop learning!).

That said, I can't really think of a question... Sorry to spam the thread.

My former wife was a JW, as was I for a time, so I can relate to your difficulties <paranoid>

Thanks for the good words about the side benefits of playing the games.
Their primary purpose is fun and entertainment, but there are many other beneficial aspects to them, indeed!

Interesting and useful comments are by no means spamming <wink>

Cheers,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by blackshirt5
Mr Gygax,

Why do you think it is that gamers have gotten such a bad rep in the general media as stalkers and freaks?
 

News media seeks the sensational in order to attract viewers, sell air-time ads, make money. Initial publicity for the D&D game, that pre-1981, was not broad, but several newspapers of good repute, such as the St. Louis Post Dispatch wrote articles about the game that were informative and positive.

The James Dallas Egbert III case was the turning point. Thanks to the publicity-seeking DI brought in, and the following ill-informed news media coverage--sensationalist to the extreme--there was a barrage of inaccurate stories and further biased charges of baseless sort. These in toto brought forth suicide, Satanism, and mind-control as supposed dangers of the game. Add to that the difficulty of the ignorant in understanding the RPG form, and what can one expect? Certainly the mass of people are not motivated to put forth any effort to discover the truth. Coupled with the nature of the people playing RPGs--generally above-average intelligence, given to imnaginative literature, creative and non-conformist, interested in technology such as computers, and often not concerned with social "norms"--that making for an easy target for cheap shots from "reporters" (you know, that group of intellectual giants who talk about "honing in" on something, and "ratchet up" rather than raise; the group that doesn't know that "enormity" isn't synonomus with wonderful or considerabe and think "momentarily" means in a moment)--expressions of ignorance can be expected to come from the news media,

Again, given all that, what can one expect from the general populace? Certainly not an informed and reasonable view of the RPG!

Cheers,
Gary
Col_Pladoh is offline
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe123
Gary,

You said here once before that you believe people who play D&D have above-average intelligence. I’m wondering, what makes you say this?

Heh!

The fact that the entry bar to playing RPGs is above average intelligence.
Consider the amount of reading necessary, the reasoning called for in understanding the game and the play of it.
If one begins with an audience whose intellect is necessarily above average, the norm for the participant group will be higher than average.

RPG enthusiasts actually read, often broadly.
It is also apparent that the creative level of the RPG audience is wel above the average.
demonstrable from the output of writing and game creation coming from it.

Finally, most gamers are college graduates, or going to college and will graduate.
Most are highly literate in regards to computers too 

Cheers,
Gary
 
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Elton
I'm putting the two together in this post. Sue me! <cool> <devious>

Mr. Gygax,

I've been thinking on the benefits of D&D, and I've decided to turn RPG Activist for a while. I'm thinking that the benefits of playing RPGs are highly overlooked by the Education Establishment thanks to Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD!). In fact, you're welcome to read my essay. <very happy>

From the correspondence i have received from gamers, I have no doubt that there are many positive benefits associated with participation in RPGs. I ran a survey on my website asking if the RPG was positive, neutral, or negative in regards several aspects of their life--social, educational, and work. Over half said highly positive, over a quarter said moderately positive, about 10% siad that gaming had no effect, and less than 5% had negatives regarding it, uners 1% of over 1,000 responses rathe the RPG as hightly negative. Sadly, the poll results were lost in a server crash.

Back around 1980 I directed TSR to advertise in professional educators' perioricals asking for the reader to registed with the company if ther were intersted in learning about RPG modules designed for classroom instruction, We received over 3,000 requests. In the course of this we hires a Ph.D in Educational Psychology to assist with the creation of the modules. Just as we were ready to begin prodiction, the Blumes canned the project<frown>

BADD was a bad joke. The woman who attempted to exploit the organization she founded had to drop it, ended up being an "expert" speaking to small town police departments on the "dangers" of RPGs and Satanism.

I'd appreciate receiving a copy of your essay.

Quote:
I've even gone a step further, and I'm translating the myth of the Agronautica into an actual adventure module intended for kids. I'd like to know your opinion on this matter.

Yours,
Elton Robb

My opinion is that your efforts are well-founded. I wish you great success.

Cheers,
Gary