Israeli Defense Forces frowns on D&D Players

The IDF has apparently taken the position that Dungeons & Dragons players are detached from reality, need psychiatric therapy, and are not eligable for anything other than low-clearance positions in the Army.

A security official tells Ynetnews there are specific criteria for deciding the level of a soldier's security clearance.

"One of the tests we do, either by asking soldiers directly or through information provided us, is to ask whether they take part in the game," he says. "If a soldier answers in the affirmative, he is sent to a professional for an evaluation, usually a psychologist."

from YNet News

I bet Jack Chick is so happy he's considering converting just to show his appreciation.

www.rpglibrary.org...

While nowadays D&D is considered GEEK material, for nerds & losers, when I grew up in Conservative Saskatchewan; D&D was considered Satanic and lumped in with heavy metal music, long hair, drugs, booze, & premarital sex. Yes D&D was a tool of the devil. So of course one had to play the game to rebel against their parents. But now you can get peircings, tattoos, bi-sexual sex, & more powerful drugs to rebel against your parents.
The world is getting crazier all the time. Oh the good old days.
I'm worried what my 1 year old is gonna do to rebel against me when he is a teen ager.

Interestingly enough, there are a ton of studies that show roleplayers to be in the top percentages of IQ, and that such games are excellent in teaching young people math skills, critical thinking, imaginative thinking, and believe it or not, social interaction.

The media propogation of such games as "satanic" or evil is absolutely ridiculous, as in most such games, players portray the "heroes" against such evils, just as protoganists in movies do.

I suspect the IDF is screwing themselves out of some good officer material...

What a crock!

Well, as long as they don't include Everquest, I guess I would have no problem with it

I don't see anything wrong with what the IDF is doing. They need to scrutinize their recruits in such a way for security reasons.

I wouldn't trust someone who is so wrapped up in a fantasy game to a point to where it becomes a part of their lives.

Good move IDF, now go and attack Iran!

Originally posted by Intelearthling
Good move IDF, now go and attack Iran!

No IDF, please stop.
Don't attack Iran and return the occupied lands.


By the way same concerns have been reported a few years ago wrt raves which are big thing in Israel. Ravers=bad soldiers. This I believe.

Well, for those of us who have played RPGs in the past, we all knew one person who was just way too into it. However, that person was rarely the sort who would go completely off the deep end, they were just terribly annoying with their stories of their level 15 psionic half-elf assassin and his matched +5 (one ice dmg, one fire dmg). This person would go on and on about this character like it was their personal friend and hero. The same as those who have played Magic The Gathering all know Mr. Suitcase who insists on telling everyone how he took out his opponent on the first turn of the game.

But I have never known anyone or even met someone who knew anyone who ended up joining a satanic cult or began to think they were the character. I don't even know anyone who's LARPed (Live-Acttion RolePlayed) Dungeons & Dragons like the guys in the pictures.

In point of fact, most roleplayers I've ever known were pretty much just guys (or girls) who didn't particularly care for sports, liked to read, and had some form of creative expression. I can't say that they were neccesarily better than anyone else, but they tended to be more intelligent, gave more consideration to their situation before taking action, and had better problem solving skills than those I know who didn't.

I can sort of see the "detached from reality" comment to an extent, because in a well-run RPG, one is usually looking for what's outside of the immediate perception. If you enter what looks like a big empty room, there might be a trap, there might be an ambush waiting, the building may be about to crumble... in a similar vein to chess, one must always be thinking several steps ahead of the present, and accounting for all possibilities. So the person isn't so much detached from reality as trying to account for near-future probabilities. But I can see how someone unfamiliar with something like "thinking ahead" would consider this a detachment from reality.

I would think this to be an asset to the military, but I guess not. I can't recall anyone ever saying the military encouraged thinking.