Spudeus | 12 Aug 2014 2:08 p.m. PST |
Came across an article a while ago about the new edition of the game that made this claim. The primary source of this conclusion? D&D has featured prominently in current hit shows like Big Bang Theory and Community. (I've only see the former, although it seemed more like dinner theater than an actual rpg. And why can't these geniuses paint their miniatures?). Just wondering if anyone agrees/disagrees? Or is it just a journalist trying to give her story teeth? Doesn't seem that long ago when parents were 'protecting' their children from a game some perceived as a gateway to Satanic cults. |
Night Owl II | 12 Aug 2014 2:15 p.m. PST |
I was in a Hastings yesterday and a young female , 19 or 20, had a handful of 4e books she was going to purchase. I would have liked to have explained that 5e was now out but she was on her cell phone trying to figure out which books to get. When she noticed me she scurried away and mummered "Oh, my brother is going to be so excited" So, yes, no and maybe? |
Winston Smith | 12 Aug 2014 2:23 p.m. PST |
Why would anyone want to be hip and trendy? If that's what you want watch the Kardassians or Miley Cyrus. |
RavenscraftCybernetics | 12 Aug 2014 2:32 p.m. PST |
That will kill it for sure. |
Ed Mohrmann | 12 Aug 2014 4:04 p.m. PST |
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Coelacanth | 12 Aug 2014 5:51 p.m. PST |
Wait, Miley Cyrus is playing D&D now? Ron |
ochoin | 12 Aug 2014 6:20 p.m. PST |
Has D&D ever been H&T? Not that that's a criticism. |
Spudeus | 12 Aug 2014 6:48 p.m. PST |
Er, no! That's why the article mildly interested me. A piece entitled 'D&D Considered Nerdy and Dweeby' wouldn't exactly represent a paradigm shift. |
DontFearDareaper | 12 Aug 2014 7:02 p.m. PST |
Hmmmmm can a game that came out in 1974 and helped define the 1970's definition of geek and nerd ever be hip and trendy?? |
DsGilbert | 12 Aug 2014 7:10 p.m. PST |
Yes, previous season's of Big Bang made it trendy, but the anti nerd vide from Big bang this last season is going to make D&D unpopular just as fast. |
Meiczyslaw | 12 Aug 2014 8:46 p.m. PST |
As a point of reference: on my last project (of about 50 people) I and a co-worker of mine (an ex-naval aviator) competed for the title of LEAST geeky member of the team. And I post here. (Which is a long way of saying that D&D no longer has any indie cred. You've gotta do something really different now.) |
napthyme | 12 Aug 2014 9:50 p.m. PST |
Its still the work of the devil in these parts. |
DontFearDareaper | 12 Aug 2014 11:38 p.m. PST |
Ah yes, the "mind-perverting devil game". Years ago, there was a local access cable show in Wichita Falls, Tx where a local pastor stood at a podium with the background walls painted like dungeon walls with the shadow of a cross on it. He would rail against D&D as the work of the devil and really thought folks who played it were closet Satanists trying to invoke actual demons and devils. It was hysterical, I never missed a broadcast. My mom for years referred to D&D as "that game" and would ask me when I would come home from college in her most disapproving voice and gaze if I still played, "that game". Dave |
alien BLOODY HELL surfer | 13 Aug 2014 3:17 a.m. PST |
If I hadn't played it, just the fact it was used in that tosh (big bang theory) would have put me off. However, given there are even adult film stars playing it and being open about it, I think it's definitely seen as less nerdy these days to say the least. 'Years ago, there was a local access cable show in Wichita Falls, Tx where a local pastor stood at a podium with the background walls painted like dungeon walls with the shadow of a cross on it. He would rail against D&D as the work of the devil and really thought folks who played it were closet Satanists trying to invoke actual demons and devils.' and then it was video games he railed against, then Harry Potter films yes? I love loonies like him :D |
Dynaman8789 | 13 Aug 2014 5:14 a.m. PST |
D&D was hip and trendy in the late seventies and early eighties and been on a downward slide ever since. Yes that means it was demonized at the same time it was hip and trendy, the two things often go together. |
Parzival | 13 Aug 2014 7:32 a.m. PST |
"Hip and trendy" is not the same as "popular among the geek community." D&D may have been a hugely popular fad back in the 80s, but it was never "hip" or "trendy" among those who define what "hip" and "trendy" are. "Hip and trendy" are defined largely by those whose primary concern is what clothing style one wears and what music one listens to; that is, the shallowest of the shallow. As these folks probably couldn't comprehend the rules ("Reading? Ewwww…"), in and of themselves they would never make D&D hip. However, these shallow fools are universally enamored of actors and musicians, emulating such people whenever possible. D&D, as a storytelling exercise, is highly attractive to creative people. Until recent years, such celebrated icons have kept their D&D hobby on the QT, so as not to risk "hip" status succumbing to the appellation of "nerd." But that's changing. Not only are actors admitting to and even declaring their personal involvement in gaming, many are turning the connection into a tool for career-building, sometimes even directly being involved in projects based on gaming and geek culture, including D&D. Also, the popularity of films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy and series like A Game of Thrones have attached "sexiness" to fantasy, which is quite possibly the highest "value" of the hip and trendy. To be "sexy" is all that really matters to them. So a connection with fantasy is therefore potentially sexy, and thus therefore potentially hip and trendy. But like all hip and trendy things, it won't remain that way long. There is no depth of feeling or time to the world of the shallow (that's why they're called "shallow"). It will fade from their minds like the memory of their last night out. |
nochules | 13 Aug 2014 7:54 a.m. PST |
I'm curious about the adult film stars that play the game. |
Dynaman8789 | 13 Aug 2014 11:46 a.m. PST |
Sorry Parzival, have to disagree with you. D&D was well outside of the Geek community back then. |
Klebert L Hall | 13 Aug 2014 6:31 p.m. PST |
It's certainly more hip and trendy than at any previous time. IDK if that means it actually makes the grade, though. -Kle. |
wminsing | 14 Aug 2014 7:53 a.m. PST |
I think I agree with Klebert; is it MORE 'Hip and Trendy' than it has been in the past? Probably yes. Is it actually on the radar of truly 'Hip and Trendy' folks? Probably no. That said, I think it definitely HAS crossed the threshold from 'this is something only real weirdos do' to 'this is just another hobby that people get into' in most places. -Will |
Rubber Suit Theatre | 14 Aug 2014 11:40 a.m. PST |
nochules – google "I hit it with my axe". |
David Johansen | 20 Sep 2014 10:09 p.m. PST |
Does anyone else feel weird that superheroes are mainstream for adults now? It's a strange world. |