Eric McTavish
01-27-2005, 09:27 AM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!
http://www.vvdailypress.com/2005/110666233295784.html
MIDDLE AGE(S)
Dungeons & Dragons is 30 years old, and its influence on culture is unmistakable
By ANDRE MOUCHARD/Freedom News Service
The cliches popped up nanoseconds after the first Dungeon Master asked the first half-orc, "What's your armor class?"
Dungeons & Dragons is for geeks!
It's possible — no, probable ... no, definite — that guys into 20-sided dice and calling themselves "Elf Assassin" don't date!
But the realities of how a geeky game have changed the world are fresher.
With D&D having just turned 30, it's clear that all those shy D&D lovers have been getting a lot more than just the last laugh. They rule Silicon Valley. They play bass in big thrash-metal bands. They take serious meetings in Hollywood. In our entertainment-based economy, the act of making stuff up — the heart of D&D — is a well-compensated skill set.
And, while D&D didn't start any particular artistic trend, the medieval imagery of the game touches us more than you might imagine. Everything from the art direction of "The Lord of the Rings" (the book was source material for the makers of D&D) to your standard-issue tattoo borrows a styling cue from D&D.
The game came to market the same year as the first personal computers, and some have argued that the mutual survival of the game and the growth of the computer aren't coincidence. Both reflect a shift in American life.
And, today, given that so many video game creators and movie screenwriters and comic-book illustrators are former (or current) D&D addicts, one could argue that the game has been among the more influential non-electronic innovations of the past 50 years.
"There was a time when a lot of (Dungeons & Dragons) aesthetic was the domain of geeks. But the geeks have grown up and made it pretty big, and now their tastes are called 'popular culture,'" says David Fitzgerald, 46, a longtime D&D player from Los Angeles.
The Seattle-based company that controls D&D these days, Wizards of the Coast, claims that 4 million people play the game at least once a month, and that the demographics of the players range from preteens to grandparents. If true, it would make D&D about as popular as bridge.
What's more certain is that D&D, launched in 1974 by war-game enthusiasts Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, has helped redefine our culture's idea of adult "play."
Though action is triggered by a role of dice (not unlike, say, Monopoly), players in D&D are expected to invent characters from a preset collection including wizards, elves, dwarfs and knights. The players, while in character, then talk their way into and out of scrapes during an imaginary trip through a fictionalized world, doing battle or casting spells or making babies.
The settings and house rules are created by an experienced player, known as the Dungeon Master, and the game ends only when the players tire or they run out of snacks. There is no winner or loser. Injuries are rare to non-existent.
"I don't happen to like football. So, for me, this was a way to escape into something," says Fitzgerald, who hosts a game, as a Dungeon Master, every other week or so.
"But it's really not that different from being a fan of something, except that we get to create the something we root for."
D&D, in essence, is theater as gaming. Though this didn't exist in many adult games prior to D&D, it's triggered a genre of role-playing games that Wall Street has identified as a $2.5 billion business.
"It's changed our expectations, I think, in terms of what we want out of entertainment," says Peter Archer, a former history professor who now runs the publications division for Wizards of the Coast.
"Other entertainment tends to kill imagination. It's passive. But this game, as entertainment, stimulates imagination."
It's also churned out a subculture of people who like the game enough that it's key to their lives.
Fitzgerald, who is married with two children, plays with his wife, among others. If she didn't love the game, they might never have hooked up.
"It was a deal breaker," Fitzgerald says.
There has been controversy, too, as some Christian groups have alleged that D&D encourages children to believe in Satanism or the occult. The company and enthusiasts deny that claim, and counter with claims of their own that playing D&D is more likely to spark healthy imaginations and defuse drug taking.
Still, the allure of the game raises the question of obsession, something that rankles some enthusiasts.
"It's not more of a lifestyle or whatever than other games," Fitzgerald says.
"If you show me 100 bowlers, I'll find one or two who live in a (bowling) alley and named their first kid 'Spare.'
"Liking things this way is part of being human, I think."
Whether lifestyle or mere diversion, D&D also helped start the trend of games that morph into mass entertainment.
In the 1980s there was a D&D animated TV show and, in 2000, there was a movie, "Dungeons & Dragons," starring Jeremy Irons. (It flopped, but another D&D movie is in the works.)
D&D, however, has been a more consistent engine for popular fiction.
Archer says his division at Wizards of the Coast published about 70 D&D-themed books last year, and hopes to grow to more than 100 books by 2006. One of the more recent books, from popular D&D author R.A. Salvatore, debuted as No. 4 on the New York Times best-seller list.
In December, Archer's division issued "30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons." The book, which includes a forward from D&D-player-turned-action-movie-star Vin Diesel, includes histories of the game and personal experiences from actors and writers and low-grade rock stars.
"The game has turned up everywhere, and from people of all backgrounds," Archer says. "'X-Files' did a show about the game. (Comic actor) Andy Dick has done bits about the game. (Pro football player) Lincoln Kennedy talks about playing the game.
"I don't know if the game shaped culture or reflects it, but the game and the culture are intertwined."
http://www.vvdailypress.com/2005/110666233295784.html
MIDDLE AGE(S)
Dungeons & Dragons is 30 years old, and its influence on culture is unmistakable
By ANDRE MOUCHARD/Freedom News Service
The cliches popped up nanoseconds after the first Dungeon Master asked the first half-orc, "What's your armor class?"
Dungeons & Dragons is for geeks!
It's possible — no, probable ... no, definite — that guys into 20-sided dice and calling themselves "Elf Assassin" don't date!
But the realities of how a geeky game have changed the world are fresher.
With D&D having just turned 30, it's clear that all those shy D&D lovers have been getting a lot more than just the last laugh. They rule Silicon Valley. They play bass in big thrash-metal bands. They take serious meetings in Hollywood. In our entertainment-based economy, the act of making stuff up — the heart of D&D — is a well-compensated skill set.
And, while D&D didn't start any particular artistic trend, the medieval imagery of the game touches us more than you might imagine. Everything from the art direction of "The Lord of the Rings" (the book was source material for the makers of D&D) to your standard-issue tattoo borrows a styling cue from D&D.
The game came to market the same year as the first personal computers, and some have argued that the mutual survival of the game and the growth of the computer aren't coincidence. Both reflect a shift in American life.
And, today, given that so many video game creators and movie screenwriters and comic-book illustrators are former (or current) D&D addicts, one could argue that the game has been among the more influential non-electronic innovations of the past 50 years.
"There was a time when a lot of (Dungeons & Dragons) aesthetic was the domain of geeks. But the geeks have grown up and made it pretty big, and now their tastes are called 'popular culture,'" says David Fitzgerald, 46, a longtime D&D player from Los Angeles.
The Seattle-based company that controls D&D these days, Wizards of the Coast, claims that 4 million people play the game at least once a month, and that the demographics of the players range from preteens to grandparents. If true, it would make D&D about as popular as bridge.
What's more certain is that D&D, launched in 1974 by war-game enthusiasts Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, has helped redefine our culture's idea of adult "play."
Though action is triggered by a role of dice (not unlike, say, Monopoly), players in D&D are expected to invent characters from a preset collection including wizards, elves, dwarfs and knights. The players, while in character, then talk their way into and out of scrapes during an imaginary trip through a fictionalized world, doing battle or casting spells or making babies.
The settings and house rules are created by an experienced player, known as the Dungeon Master, and the game ends only when the players tire or they run out of snacks. There is no winner or loser. Injuries are rare to non-existent.
"I don't happen to like football. So, for me, this was a way to escape into something," says Fitzgerald, who hosts a game, as a Dungeon Master, every other week or so.
"But it's really not that different from being a fan of something, except that we get to create the something we root for."
D&D, in essence, is theater as gaming. Though this didn't exist in many adult games prior to D&D, it's triggered a genre of role-playing games that Wall Street has identified as a $2.5 billion business.
"It's changed our expectations, I think, in terms of what we want out of entertainment," says Peter Archer, a former history professor who now runs the publications division for Wizards of the Coast.
"Other entertainment tends to kill imagination. It's passive. But this game, as entertainment, stimulates imagination."
It's also churned out a subculture of people who like the game enough that it's key to their lives.
Fitzgerald, who is married with two children, plays with his wife, among others. If she didn't love the game, they might never have hooked up.
"It was a deal breaker," Fitzgerald says.
There has been controversy, too, as some Christian groups have alleged that D&D encourages children to believe in Satanism or the occult. The company and enthusiasts deny that claim, and counter with claims of their own that playing D&D is more likely to spark healthy imaginations and defuse drug taking.
Still, the allure of the game raises the question of obsession, something that rankles some enthusiasts.
"It's not more of a lifestyle or whatever than other games," Fitzgerald says.
"If you show me 100 bowlers, I'll find one or two who live in a (bowling) alley and named their first kid 'Spare.'
"Liking things this way is part of being human, I think."
Whether lifestyle or mere diversion, D&D also helped start the trend of games that morph into mass entertainment.
In the 1980s there was a D&D animated TV show and, in 2000, there was a movie, "Dungeons & Dragons," starring Jeremy Irons. (It flopped, but another D&D movie is in the works.)
D&D, however, has been a more consistent engine for popular fiction.
Archer says his division at Wizards of the Coast published about 70 D&D-themed books last year, and hopes to grow to more than 100 books by 2006. One of the more recent books, from popular D&D author R.A. Salvatore, debuted as No. 4 on the New York Times best-seller list.
In December, Archer's division issued "30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons." The book, which includes a forward from D&D-player-turned-action-movie-star Vin Diesel, includes histories of the game and personal experiences from actors and writers and low-grade rock stars.
"The game has turned up everywhere, and from people of all backgrounds," Archer says. "'X-Files' did a show about the game. (Comic actor) Andy Dick has done bits about the game. (Pro football player) Lincoln Kennedy talks about playing the game.
"I don't know if the game shaped culture or reflects it, but the game and the culture are intertwined."