Politics + Role Playing = ZOMG BONKERS!
I know a lot of people have already commented on this on other blogs but I just felt I needed to chime in.
In case you missed it this is the quote that is popping around the internet.
βIt may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman’s memory of war from the comfort of mom’s basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others…β
The quote comes from Michael Goldfarb, an aid to John McCain, via CNN. It refers to a controversy over a story McCain told, and whether the story is Mr. McCain’s or comes from a book published in 1973.
What is really mind boggling is what Dungeons and Dragons and Obama have to do with one another. In all honestly, Dungeons and Dragons seems like one of the most apolitical games out there. Sure, there are some RPGs that deal with modern issues but D&D rarely is one of them.
I’m guessing that Michael Goldfarb is making some kind of connection not between Obama and D&D but rather between internet users and D&D, since a lot of the criticism was coming from blogs.
In the end, I guess all we can do is smile for the hobby we love, remembering that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
20080819 15:20
Guess their campaign really isn’t going to be reaching out for the gamer vote this year π
20080819 17:58
What does D&D have to do with Obama? What doesn’t it have to do with Obama? Pshaw.
20080819 18:44
With a good DM, D&D can be about ANYTHING!
20080820 09:27
It’s just so weird… someone needs to explain to this guy that the bloger community and the gamer community are not one and the same. (Says the guy that runs a game blog…)
20080820 21:17
In danger of veering uh, dangerously off topic, this reminds me of a post over at a sports-themed blog basically picking apart a piece of “real journalism” to long-winded but highly humorous effect. The journalist in question? At least as clueless, as is clearly illustrated.