Leave the Kids alone!

[RPGPundit]

RPGs are very unlike those other things you've mentioned.

Anyways, its not reverse psychology.  The idea isn't to run around telling them "RPGs are the Devil's Work" or something like (though apparently that particular parental technique has certainly unwittingly created more than a few roleplayers over the years). The idea is to tell them "This is a really cool thing that you can play at by yourself right now, but you'll get to do it with me only when you're old enough".  Then it becomes a rite of passage, and something that the kid will be eager to get to be a part of.  Its sort of like the first time you get to go on a fishing trip with your dad, or the first time your parents let you drink with them, or something along those lines...

Hey, I'm not saying every single 10 year old that plays D&D with his/her dad will end up despising it as a teenager or won't ever play it as an adult. I'm just saying many of them will end up including it in the long list of things they thought was cool to do with mom and dad when they were little that they will  run like hell away from later on to try to establish their "adulthood" and independence, and would thus ironically create the opposite from the desired end result (to create a lifelong gamer).

This is especially likely given that RPGs aren't exactly famed for being something "Popular kids" do, and probably the only thing that sounds more geeky than saying "I play RPGs" would be saying "I play RPGs with my mom!" Its like the ultimate teenage popularity repellant.

RPGPundit

[Dominus Nox]

I approve of the title and substance of this message, and wish people would apply it to religious types as well. In my locality, and many parts of america, christian nutz used halloween as an attempt to terrorize children into bowing to christianity, hating gays, becoming good little conservative robots, et al, thru using the "hell house" charade.

[jhkim]

I approve of the title and substance of this message, and wish people would apply it to religious types as well. In my locality, and many parts of america, christian nutz used halloween as an attempt to terrorize children into bowing to christianity, hating gays, becoming good little conservative robots, et al, thru using the "hell house" charade.

I think the problem here has more to do with the message rather than a general moral of "No one should ever do anything with kids".  Right??  Speaking as a father -- No, I'm not going to leave my son alone.  Actually, I'm intolerant of parents who think it's best for their kids to grow up on their own instead of spending time doing things with them.  

And I don't think playing RPGs is any different than playing sports with them, or board games, or going to movies, or playing card games, or reading books with them.  It's a potentially fun thing to do with your kids.  I don't have overwhelming statistics here, but most of the half-dozen parents that I know who are gamers have gamer kids.  

Yes, it's different for RPGs to be a family activity rather than a rebellious teenage thing to do as it was for us in the seventies and eighties.  Times change.  If your kid is really rebellious and they know you role-play, they'll think it's uncool regardless of whether you played with them or not.

[Dominus Nox]

I think the problem here has more to do with the message rather than a general moral of "No one should ever do anything with kids".  Right??  Speaking as a father -- No, I'm not going to leave my son alone.  Actually, I'm intolerant of parents who think it's best for their kids to grow up on their own instead of spending time doing things with them.  

And I don't think playing RPGs is any different than playing sports with them, or board games, or going to movies, or playing card games, or reading books with them.  It's a potentially fun thing to do with your kids.  I don't have overwhelming statistics here, but most of the half-dozen parents that I know who are gamers have gamer kids.  

Yes, it's different for RPGs to be a family activity rather than a rebellious teenage thing to do as it was for us in the seventies and eighties.  Times change.  If your kid is really rebellious and they know you role-play, they'll think it's uncool regardless of whether you played with them or not.

Well of course parent's shouldn't 'leave their children alone", at least not too much. I wish religious leaders would leave other people's kids alone tho, and for that matter I wish advertisers would leave kids alone. In fact I'd ban advertising aimed at kids if I could. We have too much advertising aimed at kids in america and the west, constantly telling them what's good and cool and how they have to have this and that. Result? Millions of young, obese diabetics who are utterly materialistic and self centered, because those people make Ggggg-reat consumers. Sure, they suck as people, but they sure as hell buy a lot of jumk....

[RPGPundit]

What the fuck are you talking about Nox? Over here, in my thread, we're talking about people trying to push RPGs (swine and non-) on pre-adolescents.

Meanwhile, on your planet, fuck only knows what you're talking about.

RPGPundit

[Dominus Nox]

What the fuck are you talking about Nox? Over here, in my thread, we're talking about people trying to push RPGs (swine and non-) on pre-adolescents.

Meanwhile, on your planet, fuck only knows what you're talking about.

RPGPundit

Damn, pundy, that time of the month again?

(BTW, are you capable of making a post, or even a complete sentence, without using the word "fuck"? I'm just curious as I've never seen any evidence of you being able to.)

As to what I was talking about, I was expanding on your thought. People should not push games on kids, not all kids are potential gamers or want to get into it. I agreed, and added that a lot of things should not be pushed on kids. While I was on that track, I decided to add in that advertising to kids is generally a bad thing that does a lot of harm. Why not, while we're talking about "leaving kids alone"?



I also

[Nicephorus]

In my locality, and many parts of america, christian nutz used halloween as an attempt to terrorize children into bowing to christianity, hating gays, becoming good little conservative robots, et al, thru using the "hell house" charade.

Something Positive had short storyline about that recently.
Starting here:
http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp10042006.shtml

[James McMurray]

What the fuck are you talking about Nox?

He's talking about exactly what he said he's talking about, and he gave a pretty good explanation of his segue when he made it. It looks like you've gone from reading things that weren't written to not reading things that were. I'm not sure which is better, but hopefully you'll swing like a pendulum and eventually settle down in that zone where the rest of us like to live.

And I gotta agree on the fuck question. Really man, it's getting old. If you're going for a tag line or catch phrase, look for one that's not overdone and actually makes it look like there a brain between your ears.

[RPGPundit]

As to what I was talking about, I was expanding on your thought. People should not push games on kids, not all kids are potential gamers or want to get into it. I agreed, and added that a lot of things should not be pushed on kids. While I was on that track, I decided to add in that advertising to kids is generally a bad thing that does a lot of harm. Why not, while we're talking about "leaving kids alone"?

He's talking about exactly what he said he's talking about, and he gave a pretty good explanation of his segue when he made it.

No one asked him to fucking "segue".

If you were curious, Nox, into why you are so disliked, it might just be because you don't actually seem to give a fuck about what a thread is about, you just come into it with your own little pre-made rants taken from the same old stupid-as-fuck list of personal grudges, because you know that if you were to post said little rants on their own threads no one would pay any attention to them.
So instead of starting a thread where you say "Andy Hackard is a fucktard" or "I hate religious people"; you keep finding other threads, like this one, and posting one of your very short fucking list of very stupid fucking complaints, hoping (almost universally in vain) that the conversation will veer your way.  Its the same reason why, back before I took over this site and you decided you would be safely permitted to infest it with your catpiss-reek, you would regularly write letters to me trying to convince me to rant about SJG on my blog for you, because you were too much of a nancy-fuck and an incompetent to be able to fucking do it yourself, and have anyone care.

Occasionally, you get a prattling ostrogoth like Jimmy here to use your argument as an excuse to make some half-witted rhetorical argument of his own, but for the most part, you just annoy the fuck out of people.

So here's the thing: I know that on your homeworld these problems you have with Hackard and SJG and organized religion are really big significant things that matter; but down here on earth I couldn't give a two-penny fuck about your moral conundrums, you meat-headed shit-sack. That's pretty much the fucking thing, right there.

RPGPundit

[James McMurray]

Ah, good ol' pundit. He never ceases to bore.

Here's a tip: bolded curse words are not a replacement for thought and a honed ability to express it. What are you, about 13?

No one asked him to fucking "segue".

Hey Dominus Rex, could you please post in all of Pundit's topics with things that are related to but not 100% the same as what he's blathering about?

There ya go Pundit. Now he's been asked.

[Vellorian]

(BTW, are you capable of making a post, or even a complete sentence, without using the word "fuck"? I'm just curious as I've never seen any evidence of you being able to.)

He's just been watching a lot of Quentin Tarantino movies lately...  

[dar]

The only rpg I've played in close to a decade was with FireFly Games "Faery's Tale". It certainly seems like one of those 'Indie' games. My boys wanted to RP and so did my daughter (six years old).

I think we broke from the indie play mold. She wanted to play a dragon, yes she likes the faeries, but she liked burning down the bean stalk in order to drop the giant, more. Then her and my youngest son continued to play 'hunt down where the giant crashed and take his gold'. A dungeon crawl of a sort.

It was very much more like a 'lets pretend' kind of event and my older son wasn't as entertained.

I dunno, if "Faery's Tale" is a result of the 'indie movement' I think they may be getting some things right, maybe in spite of the 'movement'.

Me, I prefer GURPS. I would enjoy D&D. I have an instict to despise what RPGPundit describes as the swine.

Pundit, would you put "Faery's Tale" on the trash heap of 'swine' output?

[RPGPundit]

I'm not actually familiar with that game at all.

RPGPundit

[James McMurray]

I recently found an old copy of the Marvel Superheroes game (ca. 1984). My five year old son saw it and pulled the rule books out. As soon as I get the time to read them I'll be running him in a game. He already says he wants to play Spiderman, and the adventure that came with the set is Day of the Octopus, so that works out well.

[dar]

I'm not actually familiar with that game at all.

Faery's Tale

It might be worth it to buy another copy just to have you review it. It might....


btw is there some SOP for SENDING someone a purchased PDF? So that the recipient can download it... etc... ? Or is email the only real general option?