Clean drinking water saved from role-playing games!

[WordWolf]

Most of you have no idea who Gary Gygax was.

Gary Gygax was one of the main designers of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game.

(Along with D@ve Arnes0n, a twi survivor.)

The number of people who've played one version or another of that game must number into the

hundreds of thousands by now. Nearly all of them have gone on to productive lives since then.

A few still play that game, or other games. (A number of posters here, past and present,

have played it and other RPGs.)

Increased interest in the setting caused by Dungeons and Dragons increased sales of

Lord of the Rings, and an increased interest in books in that setting. So, all the movies in the

past decade with that sort of story owe a debt to D&D gaming, as do sales of all the books

they were based on. In addition, many games have been made as a result of interest in

gaming which D&D began- games about secret agents, Science Fiction, superheroes, cartoons,

just about anything you can imagine- including a game specifically marketed for Christians.

(Dragonraid, which is still sold.)

For those who wonder, yes, I'm one of the people who played it back in the 1980s. I RAN a

campaign with up to 7-8 players, all of whom happened to have been Christian. AFAIK, all of

them are still Christians to this day. I've also played a number of other RPGs which are not

D&D based.

Now then, March 4, 2008, Gary Gygax passed away.

One famous convention for roleplaying gamers is GenCon. It's run since 1968.

(It started with devotees of tabletop strategy and miniatures, and expanded into RPGs

over the decades.) Like many long-standing conventions, GenCon raises money for

charity during its convention. Since Gary Gygax's favorite charity was Christian Children's Fund,

they raised money in 2008 for Christian Children's Fund.

I'll let someone who is more familiar with the events explain the rest....

http://www.giantitp.com/index.html#MZvsP18xmNXpVDwvCRQ

"As has been reported by a few other gaming blogs and news sites, the Charity Auction at this year's GenCon Indianapolis was held to benefit Gary Gygax's favorite charity, which I will not name here for reasons that will soon become obvious. The fine folks at GenCon raised over $17,000 for this charity, which helps starving children in impoverished areas of the world--only to have that money actually turned down by the charity. The charity refused due to the fact that the money was raised partly by the sales of Dungeons and Dragons materials, which as we all know, puts an irrevocable taint of evil on the filthy lucre that us demon-worshipping gamers might want to use to, say, donate to starving children.

Not only is this a slap in the face to every gamer, but it is especially insulting to Mr. Gygax himself, who I understand donated to their cause many times over the years. Plus, I'm sure the children who would have gotten food or clean drinking water with that money would be sort of upset, too.

I bring this story to your attention not simply so that you might let the people at this charity know how you feel (especially if you have donated to it before, as many did in the wake of Mr. Gygax's passing), but so that you would be aware that there is an alternative charity that I would personally recommend (based on our own charitable giving) if you have a desire to donate money to help starving children. Plan USA is a worldwide charity aimed at helping those who live in poverty and/or have suffered from a natural disaster, particularly with monthly sponsorships of individual children. Since the money of D&D players is clearly not welcome at this other charity, I can't recommend Plan USA highly enough to those interested in giving anyway. At least if you choose to donate through them, there's no chance your generous gifts to the starving children of the world will be rejected due to your weekend hobby.

(Incidentally, GenCon was also able to find another worthy charity with an entirely different focus, the Fisher House Foundation, that was willing to accept the money given in good faith by GenCon attendees.)"

===============

Yes, Christian Children's Fund's management refused a donation, a no-strings-attached amount of

money, over $17,000, because it came from "those evil roleplaying gamers."

I used to think that Christian Children's Fund was a superior charity organization for giving to the needy,

since it supposedly uses little of its donations for infrastructure and upkeep.

However, if their management can MISmanage this badly as to turn this down,

I have no confidence they are handling other matters any better.

[WhiteDove]

Good for them, I applaud them for standing by their principles. Despite the fact that you think the offer came with no strings they felt otherwise If their belief is that those type of games are spiritually unhealthy then it seems logical that they would not want to profit for their sales or promotional events. Nor would they want to imply by accepting funds that they in any way supported their product. Apparently their ethics were more important, not everyone thinks the ends justify the means. They certainly are not the first or last to do so, many animal shelters refuse money from breeders, some refuse government grants because they don't want to kill the animals. I'll write them a note ,regardless of which side of the fence you fall on their beliefs, I find it refreshing that some still have integrity to stand for what they believe in.

PS It looks like they have enough funds to get some clean water anyway.........

Donor Partners (2007 Fiscal Year)

U.S. Government $7,600,000

ChildFund International (now ChildFund Alliance) Members $3,600,000

U.N. Agencies $6,500,000

Host Country Governments $2,000,000

Foundations and Corporations $515,376

Other International Non-Governmental Organizations $1,700,000

Edited November 4, 2008 by WhiteDove

[WordWolf]

By that logic, Flat Earthers who refuse to educate themselves and see

that they were basing their beliefs on incorrect information should

be applauded for sticking to their convictions,

and racists should be applauded for thinking that skin color makes a

difference in the quality of a person-and "sticking to their guns."

The "roleplaying games are evil" nonsense is fueled by urban myths,

misinformation, lies, and outright fabrications. Nowadays, a little looking

around the internet can give you the whole story in excruciating detail,

including what was distorted, who distorted it, and so on.

Me, I favor education and correcting misinformation. Cowering from

legends and fairy tails should have been ended back when they ended

the witch hunts.

[Oakspear]

Ignorance will never fade away.

[Seth R.]

Thanks WW for that insightful post. My Mom always told me that one of the guys who started D&D was a cop out, and that the game started out as a Way Corps training tool, but I never believed that. I might just get into it now it sounds like a really fun social setting.

Seth

[Seth R.]

Me, I favor education and correcting misinformation. Cowering from

legends and fairy tails should have been ended back when they ended

the witch hunts.

They ended the witch hunts? They just renamed witches, the current name is terrorists.

I agree though, closed mindedness breeds closed societies, and in a closed society the potential for cult mind control is overwhelming.

People should be educating them selves on "The Great Transition" what most christians fear the most, one world globalization. Not one world government, or one world bank or one world army, or an emperor, just a global community, built on a resource based economy. http://www.tellus.org/

Seth

[waysider]

My Mom always told me (SNIP) that the game started out as a Way Corps training tool

Seth

That's right up there with VP inventing the hook shot.

As early as I can remember (early 1970's) The Way was always vehemently opposed to anything that resembled role playing. According to TWI doctrine, role playing opened the "trap door" for devil possession. If there were even the smallest kernal of truth that it was developed for Way Corps use, it would present yet another very large dilemma trying to reconcile TWI practice with TWI doctrine.

[ChasUFarley]

Thanks WW for that insightful post. My Mom always told me that one of the guys who started D&D was a cop out, and that the game started out as a Way Corps training tool, but I never believed that. I might just get into it now it sounds like a really fun social setting.

Seth

In what I know about you Seth, I think you'd like D&D. It's the best of strategy, quest, story-telling, and skill all wrapped up in a game.

When I was Limb staff, my roommate was Dave's fiancee - she threw an original D&D game (dice, etc.) in a box to go to Goodwill on an Uncle Harry day.... I wanted to dive into that box in the worst way.... Whoever got that caged something worth a small fortune for a collector....