Breaking News: D&D Promotes gang violence in prison

Zoombie · Feb 8, 2011

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/dungeons-and-dragons-board-games-d-and-d,news-9895.html

I wish I was joking. First we take away their meditation, now we take away their D&D? While I don't think prisoners should be made cushy, I don't think that essentially removing them from anything that could help rehabilitate them - and yes, I do believe that learning to play nice with others, cooperate toward a common goal, and generally become more creative will help rehabilitate people - is the right thing to do.

And moreover, this ruling is...stupid!

If you're going off THIS logic

Bruce Muraski, disruptive group coordinator for the Waupun Correctional Institute in Wisconsin stated, "During D&D games, one player is denoted the 'Dungeon Master.' The Dungeon Master is tasked with giving directions to other players, which Muraski testified mimics the organization of a gang."

Can't we say that playing ANY kind of sport at prison is gang-like activity? I mean, they all have a team captain and they work toward a goal!

And DMs don't give directions to players! Anyone who played D&D would KNOW that.

Argh, this is Mazes and Monsters all over again.

Shadow Dragon · Feb 8, 2011

And here I thought D&D only promoted Satanism.

This is an idiotic ruling. It good to give them something to do while in prison. And like Zoombie said, this could help rehabilitate them.

LOG · Feb 8, 2011

billythrilly7th · Feb 8, 2011

When I first heard about the game Dungeons and Dragons in summer camp probably circa 1980 or something it sounded like the greatest game ever.

And then they handed me dice and people were drawing and there were no dungeons or dragons or swords.

It's horrible.

And goes on forever.

I went back to sports during free play.

The end

billythrilly7th · Feb 8, 2011

Shadow Dragon said:
And here I thought D&D only promoted Satanism.

This is an idiotic ruling. It good to give them something to do while in prison. And like Zoombie said, this could help rehabilitate them.

They need to learn a skill or get an education. So they can get a job.

Thats the only way to get rehabilitated and be able to make it on the outside.

Now...during their free time, if the nerdier cons want to play dungeons and dragons, I got no problem with that.

Don · Feb 8, 2011

I never touched the stuff until Zork came along, although I played Colossal Cave Adventure on a PDP-10 a few times before that.

frimble3 · Feb 8, 2011

"The Dungeon Master is tasked with giving directions to other players, which Muraski testified mimics the organization of a gang."
It also mimics the organization of pretty much every job I ever had.

Monkey · Feb 9, 2011

Except, like Zoombie said, that's not the Dungeon Master's job at all.

The DM sets up a scene, and each player describes what their character does within that scene. They can work together or choose not to. If they don't like the location, they can say their characters go somewhere else.

SPMiller · Feb 9, 2011

Allowing inmates to play D&D and similar games enables the guards to identify evil min-maxers and deny their petitions for parole.

Zoombie · Feb 9, 2011

Minmaxing shall be punished by solitary confinement.

Smiling Ted · Feb 9, 2011

If you're worried about making inmates violent and dangerous, take away their WEIGHT SETS, not their D&D. Anyone remember who got beaten up in high school? Hmm?

Torrance · Feb 9, 2011

"I fire a magic missile into the dark!"

Zoombie · Feb 9, 2011

What we should be doing is getting them to play Diaspora.

Because Diaspora is *awesome*.

Don · Feb 9, 2011

As long as they don't start teaching them magic tricks, like escaping from a locked box, I'm fine with it.

LOG · Feb 9, 2011

Zoombie said:
Minmaxing shall be punished by solitary confinement.

But...but..but...but I love minmaxing!

Mara · Feb 9, 2011

Dungeons & Dragons is the biggest threat to prison security ever. People who play this game can learn spells that let them control the minds of prison guards or hurl fireballs that do at least 5d6 damage to everything within twenty feet of the target. Not only that, but since the fourth edition of the game came out, players will gain the ability to inexplicably move 50% faster when going diagonally, giving them an advantage when fleeing from the bloodhounds.

Prisoners should be banned from unhealthy games like this. It's much better for them to spend their time getting stronger, organizing mega-gangs, reading the works of megalomaniacal dictators, and joining extremist fringe religions or racist groups.

GeorgeK · Feb 9, 2011

Won't someone think of the halflings!

Monkey · Feb 9, 2011

GeorgeK said:
Won't someone think of the halflings!

Best post of the thread.

Zoombie · Feb 9, 2011

As a fan of halflings, I find that offensive.

They are perfectly capable of making reasoned decisions about their own futures.

Now...gnomes! Gnomes you have to babysit, or else they blow themselves up!

Celia Cyanide · Feb 9, 2011

Shadow Dragon said:
It good to give them something to do while in prison. And like Zoombie said, this could help rehabilitate them.

Until I see proof that either of these statements is true, I'm not going to care about any of this.

thothguard51 · Feb 9, 2011

Back in the 80's they said D&D could lead players to commit suicide...

I must of skipped over that rule in the Players manual...

LOG · Feb 9, 2011

thothguard51 said:
Back in the 80's they said D&D could lead players to commit suicide...

I must of skipped over that rule in the Players manual...

Well there's always the option to charge head-long into the monster's lair naked...but then you might wind up rolling a 20 on charisma and they decide you're too beautiful to kill. I don't wanna go further than that... <.<

Zoombie · Feb 9, 2011

Celia Cyanide said:
Until I see proof that either of these statements is true, I'm not going to care about any of this.

I have no studies, but I think it'd be an interesting thing to study...

Mara · Feb 9, 2011

Celia Cyanide said:
Until I see proof that either of these statements is true, I'm not going to care about any of this.

I don't really know about rehabiliation, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that it gives them something to do to pass the time.

Anyway, having known of some rather anti-social gamers who didn't get much better over time, I can't really say it rehabiliates people. But I don't think it makes things any worse, either, and it's definitely better than some alternative uses of time.

Celia Cyanide · Feb 10, 2011

Mara said:
I don't really know about rehabiliation, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that it gives them something to do to pass the time.

And why does a prison need to give its prisoners something to do to pass the time? They're being punished. I don't really care that much if they're also bored.

Breaking News: D&D Promotes gang violence in prison

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