Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security • Hacker News Board

Re: Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security

#31

Post by w1ntermute » Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 12:49 AM UTC

electromagnetic wrote: post #24

w1ntermute wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They got an exception because of the all the rich/famous people they have.

So the defining characteristic of a religious entity is how much that entity can extort from its followers, and because Scientology extorts from the rich rather than the poor they attained this status faster. Now where's my chapel in the Apple Store? I suppose the Genius Bar may constitute, but I'm smarter than those people so it doesn't provide me any solace.

> So the defining characteristic of a religious entity is how much that entity can extort from its followers, and because Scientology extorts from the rich rather than the poor they attained this status faster.

Wrong, the definining characteristic of a governmentally recognized religious entity is a religious entity that has enough wealth to successfully lobby the government into recognizing it.

> Now where's my chapel in the Apple Store? I suppose the Genius Bar may constitute, but I'm smarter than those people so it doesn't provide me any solace.

Believe it or not, the vast majority of Apple users don't consider Apple to be a religious entity or follow its every move with anything approaching religious fervor. They're just riding the technology pop culture wave.

Re: Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security

#32

Post by Tycho » Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 1:06 AM UTC

I misread the title as 'Dungeons & Dragons used to test prison security'. Like some sort of walkthrough/role-play testing

    You are in a room with 2 prison guards
    The guards are armed with batons
    A mase spray can has been left on the ground
    There is a fold up chair in front of you ...

Re: Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security

#33

Post by philwelch » Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 1:11 AM UTC

pjscott wrote: post #20

What happened to the idea that D&D led to Satanism and suicide? This was a big deal back in the 1980s. You never hear about it anymore, and yet I haven't heard any of the old scaremongers actually admitting that they were wrong. Ditto for Satanic ritual abuse, which used to scare people out of their wits.

It's called a "moral panic", and they happen all the time. There have been moral panics about rock music, comic books, teenage sex parties, fictitious drugs, and video games.

Re: Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security

#34

Post by redthrowaway » Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 1:27 AM UTC

endtime wrote: post #19

tomjen3 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlikely, courts tend to take a dim view on religions that aren't several hundreds if not thousands of years old. It is a legal hack to prevent situations like the one you described.

Doesn't Scientology have the status of an accepted religion in the US?

They have an army of lawyers, and getting themselves declared a non-taxable religion in every country they operate in is their first priority.

Re: Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security

#35

Post by johngalt » Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 1:29 AM UTC

pjscott wrote: post #20

What happened to the idea that D&D led to Satanism and suicide? This was a big deal back in the 1980s. You never hear about it anymore, and yet I haven't heard any of the old scaremongers actually admitting that they were wrong. Ditto for Satanic ritual abuse, which used to scare people out of their wits.

They moved on to the next scapegoat. Generally whatever they didn't do as a kid, and is now practiced by small numbers of smart introverted kids.

Re: Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security

#36

Post by code_duck » Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 1:31 AM UTC

burgerbrain wrote: post #3

tzs wrote: post #2

The arguments the gang "expert" made about similarities between D&D player organization and gang organization would apply equally well to many organized religions, such as Catholicism. I wonder if a prison could get away with banning that?

Leads to the question: if Singer and his fellow players just got a little more "serious" about playing DnD, to the point where they could argue it constituted a religion, would they then be allowed to play?

Oh dear... the groups that were going around in the 80s warning parents that D&D was satanism would have a field day with that.

Re: Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security

#37

Post by harisenbon » Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 1:32 AM UTC

jlesk wrote: post #27

Related to D&D and startups, my current project is a web-based virtual tabletop for roleplaying, built on node. =) http://tabletopquest.com

why did you choose isomorphic over a top-down view? It looks interesting, though.

I had made a RPG mapping/gaming thing in flash WAY back in the day, and had always thought about making it into a web version. Never got around to it, though.

Good luck with yours. =)

Re: Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security

#38

Post by phenylene » Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 1:44 AM UTC

Relevant: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/1/27/

Re: Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security

#39

Post by burgerbrain » Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 2:26 AM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #16

burgerbrain wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He made it pretty clear it was self-depreciative humour. If this blog post actually offended you, instead of merely making you think that others might be offended, then I suggest that you lighten up a bit.

I'm offended by such bad writing.

Remember, you can't give offence, you can only take it. If you are offended by something, you have nobody but yourself to blame.

Re: Dungeons & Dragons ruled a threat to prison security

#40

Post by jlesk » Mon, Jan 24, 2011, 2:27 AM UTC

harisenbon wrote: post #37

jlesk wrote: post #27

Related to D&D and startups, my current project is a web-based virtual tabletop for roleplaying, built on node. =) http://tabletopquest.com

why did you choose isomorphic over a top-down view? It looks interesting, though. I had made a RPG mapping/gaming thing in flash WAY back in the day, and had always thought about making it into a web version. Never got around to it, though. Good luck with yours. =)

All of the top-down approaches just look ugly to me. You're either looking at the top of people heads, or tokens of disembodied heads. This also gives it a pseudo-3d look, with a bit of clutter to add that homey tabletop atmosphere.