D&D Player Kills Co-Worker with Homemade Sword

[Shannon]

www.courttv.com/trials/flemons/102406_background_ctv.html

Ugh. Just what we need, more bad PR. I thought we'd just gotten over the furor of the 90's and D&D being considered "ebil," but, I see a second wave coming.

[Daos]

Ah, let 3rd Edition take the slack for this one. I'd like to see how they respond.

Back in the 80s, when 2nd Edition came under fire, they wound up changing a lot of things. The words "devil" and "demon" were removed entirely (replaced by baatzu and tannar'ri), and wizards were called "mages", and so on. When 3E came out, they change it all back. I wonder if they'll change it again now.

[Shannon]

It's still rediculous, either way. D&D doesn't make people crazy -- it's just something some crazy people get too involved in. The same person who becomes obsessed with D&D could easily become obsessed with a president, a movie/ television star, or, even some random person they saw on the street, yet, we still have presidents, stars, and people still risk meeting a psychotic serial killer who will become obsessed with them on the streets. It's even arguable that some people become "obsessed" with the Bible to the point of murder (Andrea Yates, anyone?)

[Daos]

Sure, it's ridiculous. It's because people love their scapegoats. That's why 2nd Edition made all those changes to begin with. That's why Jack Thompson is trying to get that new game, Bully, banned (like he tried with GTA and The Sims 2).

People don't want to take responsibility for their own actions. Those kids shot up Columbine not because their parents didn't pay attention to what they were up to, but because of Duke Nukem and Doom. This absolves them of any responsibility.

Like the South Park Movie. "Blame Canada, before someone thinks of blaming us."