Quote from: Exploderwizard;777468Have you forgotten poor BLACKLEAF!!  

If only shed quit before it was too late!

Quote from: Bill;777461Don't most humans learn the difference between fantasy and reality at a very young age?

How common is it for an adult to have an actual issue with fantasy and reality?

As in, a serious issue, not just the 'regular' quirks people have.

It's called Schizophrenia and it's a treatable brain chemistry disorder.  Sometimes Bipolar Disorder can also result in confusion of that sort.  Arguably religious conviction and superstition could fall under this category in extreme cases like Jack Chick.

Quote from: Bill;777494I love to be immersed in roleplay.

Don't larp, and I, as far as I know, have zero difficulty with confusing fantasy with reality.

Presumably its a tiny, tiny percentage of people.

Not tiny enough...

Some people are getting themselves surgically modified for elf ears... Which admittedly is pretty darn mild compared to what some others have done... And technically isnt game related... least I hope not... But still...

RPGs are one of the rare hobbies in which people seem to enjoy loudly proclaiming their limitations and personal requirements like badges of honour.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;777497Funny enough, I read a study a couple weeks ago that determined the more religious of an upbringing you had, the harder it is and longer it takes for kids to distinguish between fantasy and reality.

This isn't a dig at religion, just an interesting observable tidbit.  One that makes sense if you think about it.

Huh.  I was raised in an old time Roman Catholic family and school, and I never had any trouble.  I know, I know, the plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence."

But even at age 5 or 6 I realized that, unlike Wile E. Coyote, if I got an anvil dropped on my head, I would not walk away with my body going up and down and making accordion noises.

Quote from: Old Geezer;777641Huh.  I was raised in an old time Roman Catholic family and school, and I never had any trouble.  I know, I know, the plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence."

But even at age 5 or 6 I realized that, unlike Wile E. Coyote, if I got an anvil dropped on my head, I would not walk away with my body going up and down and making accordion noises.

I was raised in a Roman Catholic household as well.  But I think we nerds tend to be more of critical thinkers anyway.

Reality is overrated.

Quote from: Ravenswing;777025Well ... for some time now, I've thought we've been buffaloed by the Truth As Proclaimed By Online Forums.  Take the "GM Is The Players' Slave" riff.  Never mind what people blather about in various forums: how many of you have seen with your own eyes gaming circles that operate off of that paradigm?  I never have.

A whole circle? No. But I have had a couple players come to my table with this attitude.

Similarly, I very rarely see railroading happening any more. But I've had several players come to my table who have experienced various degrees of railroading in other groups they've played with.

Gaming is a pretty insular activity. My gaming is, AFAICT, less insular than many. (Through a combination of multiple GMs and open gaming tables, I've played roleplaying games with 30+ people not including con games in the last twelve months. I would guess that the typical gamer averages 6 people in a year... and that could easily be an overestimation.) But even with my slightly broader exposure to the local community, I'm still heavily self-selecting against experiencing bad gaming tables.

Quote from: dragoner;777648Reality is overrated.

Until someone drops an anvil on you...

Quote from: Omega;777764Until someone drops an anvil on you...

I think it would become really overrated at that point.