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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
 Posted - 03/11/2005 : 17:09:42
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I would seem that playing Dungeons&Dragons does not make good soldiers.
quote:
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have sent a clear message to would-be recruits who like playing fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons: don't bother.
Here's the whole story.
Paranoid people have rationalizations for anything regarding their paranoia.
quote:
Soldiers discovered to be enthusiasts face further problems. "Exposing them could also harm their chances at being accepted to other military courses," an IDF soldier and D&D player was quoted as saying. Many of the Israeli D&D players are said to be Jews who arrived in Israel from the former Soviet Union.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2005 : 18:51:56 [Permalink]
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quote:
The official continues: "These people [role-players] have a tendency to be influenced by external factors which could cloud their judgment. They may be detached from reality or have a weak personality, elements which lower a person's security clearance, allowing them to serve in the army, but not in sensitive positions."
Right, because we all know how games which encourage people to imagine themselves in someone else's shoes can lead to empathy, and we can't have that emotion in a military man. That would lead to bad soldiering, like refusing to bulldoze your tank over a family's house when ordered to.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 03/11/2005 19:58:00 |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2005 : 15:34:59 [Permalink]
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I wonder if the restrictions are set for D&D only, or if it applies to other roleplaying games...
Strategic thinking is encouraged by some of the role-playing games, and could be an advantage. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2005 : 06:43:26 [Permalink]
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Most military organizations aren't looking for any people who are capable of creative thinking or real problem solving.
Most role playing games, atleast those with participation by people who could be considered adult, often deal with serious issues. The format of a game allows people to discuss topics that wouldn't usually come up in a typical conversation.
Many of these games also include an element of strategy, even if it is only outthinking the person sitting next to you in a hypothetical situation.
And yes, as H.H. said, they allow you to perform the thought excercise of assuming the role of another person.
My guess, just from experience, is that there is some religious motivation behind banning soldiers from playing role playing games.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 03/14/2005 : 08:33:27 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
I wonder if the restrictions are set for D&D only, or if it applies to other roleplaying games...
Strategic thinking is encouraged by some of the role-playing games, and could be an advantage.
It would be foolish to ban any role playing game. If they are based on alledged religious content, (D&D has spells) then they'd better ban Stormbringer (Based on the Elric series of books, to do spells, one conjures demons), Parinoia (crazy computer controlling the world and mutant powers), Alpha Flight (mutants), Shadowrun (magic users in this one, too), Vampire: the masquerade (immortal blood suckers and a game system deliberately mentally twisted), and Call of Cthtulu (A game based on H. P. Lovecraft's works, the players lose sanity points as they come in contact with mythical beasts.).
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Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 03/14/2005 : 14:23:45 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer
...and Call of Cthtulu (A game based on H. P. Lovecraft's works, the players lose sanity points as they come in contact with mythical beasts.).
Indeed.
A Call of Cthulu game isn't a good game unless half of the characters end up dead and the other half gets locked up in an Asylum somewhere.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
| Edited by - Dr. Mabuse on 03/14/2005 14:24:25 |
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2005 : 02:38:32 [Permalink]
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Did not play D&D much, phew! Dangerous game. quote:
...IDF describing enthusiasts of the game as "detached from reality and susceptible to influence."
This looks like a good description of religious people, but in Israel the real religious wackos are exempt from military service. (Why they are allowed to vote beats me)quote:
Originally posted by Dude
Most military organizations aren't looking for any people who are capable of creative thinking or real problem solving.
True, I had to leave my brain in a box at the gate when I did my service (we also have conscription).
I managed to be a nuisance anyway...
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2005 : 10:10:53 [Permalink]
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I have a feeling my D&D playing ass and the service would not mix. I have issues with authority if it done inefficiently, which of course would lead to my dismissal.
P.S. PM me if you want Smurf DnD stats. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2005 : 13:31:39 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by BigPapaSmurf
I have a feeling my D&D playing ass and the service would not mix. I have issues with authority if it done inefficiently, which of course would lead to my dismissal.
P.S. PM me if you want Smurf DnD stats.
Only if I can have a magic user cast Explosive Familiar on it. (From the April Fool's edition of Dragon Magazine from the early 90's.) |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2005 : 14:09:02 [Permalink]
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| No problem, but you'll have to deal with the wrath of a 400 year old wizard in Papa Smurf. My players were quite unprepared for him after they cooked smurfette for dinner. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2005 : 23:19:44 [Permalink]
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quote:
Soldiers discovered to be enthusiasts face further problems. "Exposing them could also harm their chances at being accepted to other military courses," an IDF soldier and D&D player was quoted as saying. Many of the Israeli D&D players are said to be Jews who arrived in Israel from the former Soviet Union.
Hmm, what would I have done with my weekends if it weren't for AD&D while I was in the Marines? |
...no one has ever found a 4.5 billion year old stone artifact (at the right geological stratum) with the words "Made by God."
No Sense of Obligation by Matt Young
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying and vile!"
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.
LtGen Thomas Holcomb, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1943
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2005 : 08:05:08 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer
Only if I can have a magic user cast Explosive Familiar on it. (From the April Fool's edition of Dragon Magazine from the early 90's.)
My favourite from the "Bazaar of the Bizarre" in Dragon is the magical weapon: Chain-sword.
A two-handed sword that makes massive dammage. But alas, too noisy to use in a surprise-attack.
We also have useless items table from "Murphy's Rules":
Ring of Invisibility: The ring becomes invisible when you put it on. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2005 : 10:32:33 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer
Only if I can have a magic user cast Explosive Familiar on it. (From the April Fool's edition of Dragon Magazine from the early 90's.)
My favourite from the "Bazaar of the Bizarre" in Dragon is the magical weapon: Chain-sword.
A two-handed sword that makes massive dammage. But alas, too noisy to use in a surprise-attack.
We also have useless items table from "Murphy's Rules":
Ring of Invisibility: The ring becomes invisible when you put it on.
My favorite spells from the Dragon April Fools edition were Locate Ground and Find Fire.
Locate Ground
Spell components: verbal and action
Mage points to the nearest ground: IE the spot beneath his feet and yells "There it is" followed up by dropping to his face to get a closer look taking 1d4 damage to his nose.
Find Fire
Spell components: highly flammable oil
Mage douses his hands in the oil, closes his eyes and thrusts his hands forward. Spell takes him directly to the nearest fire and ignites the oil. The spell does not impart immunity to fire or even resistance to fire. |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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