(no subject)

[danaeris]

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have sent a clear message to would-be recruits who like playing fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons - don’t bother applying.

Um. Woah. Anyone have anything intelligent to say about this?

Comments

[rocketgeek.livejournal.com]

Don't ask, don't smell?

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

You did NOT just say that!

[dicedork.livejournal.com]

The basis for the question seems sound, but so would a hundred other OCD's and escapism hobbies so I think singling this out is lame. I've seen quite a few gamers wash out of the military in just a few years. (A lot.) Maybe they romanticize combat or something and the reality is pretty grim. Then again when they can keep their shit together I suspect that gamers would have a better grasp than some dryer people on subtlties, nuance and even possibly imaginative solutions to problems.

[evergrey.livejournal.com]

Welllll the soldier I know best, who is an E-6, preparing to become a drill sargeant, a veteran of two wars and usually top of his class in anything they send him off to, training-wise, has been playing D&D for 18 years. He's been in the army for 16 years.

Oh, and he is a very clean person.

sounds bogus

[agnosticoracle.livejournal.com]

Sounds like someone didn't do fact checking before writing a story. Service in the Israeli military is MANDATORY for Israelis.

National military service is compulsory for Jewish men and women over the age of 18, although exemptions may be made on religious, physical, or psychological grounds (see Profile 21). Israel is the only country which currently has female conscription.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Defense_Forces#Service_and_manpower

Perhaps some elite force with the IDF uses D&D as a filter but playing D&D won't get you out of military service in Israel.

Re: sounds bogus

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

It will, however, get you bottom-of-the-line security clearance and absolutely no chance at promotion.

Re: sounds bogus

[tocityguy.livejournal.com]

I wonder if I might rise through the ranks if I use my rod of lordly might...

Re: sounds bogus

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I'd think a shadowdancer would make a pretty good spy, wouldn't you? A +34 in Hide is no small potatoes. *Nods* I'm going to apply to the Canadian military as a spy, using my Velvet persona.

It's just so ridiculous. Why does no one ever worry that fantasy AUTHORS are going to lose themselves in their work to the detriment of their mental health? Why don't people worry about ACTORS? No one seems to think these people are going to be unbalanced because of what they do with fantasy worlds. And I'm downright insulted that anyone would assume that I can't separate fantasy from fiction in order to do my job.

Re: sounds bogus

[tocityguy.livejournal.com]

I know they don't allow people in jail to play D&D. Probably they use the same reasoning there as they do in the military.

Re: sounds bogus

[elf]

Last I heard, it's not because of psych problems, but because of the dice, which are tagged as "gambling implements." I had a friend who smuggled a couple of dice (d6, IIRC) in to a friend in prison; he swallowed 'em, and said later it wasn't worth the pain to get them out.

Someone could probably get away with Amber or Everway or some other diceless RPG. Maybe even something that figured out how to use cards as a randomizer.

Re: sounds bogus

[zebediah.livejournal.com]

Ummm....if dice are disallowed as a "gambling elements," then decks of cards... well, there's either confusion of hypocracy going on.

Re: sounds bogus

[elf]

Prison rules are not known for their overwhelmingly consistent logic. Prisons are the most Discordian institutions active in America today; they have rules chosen at random by petty bureaucrat's whim, mangled & rephrased by lawyers and "advocacy groups," and enforced to the understanding of ignorant, prejudiced guards.

Had a friend with a husband in prison. She was always amazed at what got through & what didn't, when she sent him a package. (A letter with two sentences in French was rejected as being "in code." Similar letters with Elvish poetry were fine. The mind boggles.)

Also, maybe they think they can limit cards to games in public-viewable areas; it's hard to run a quick game of poker under the table at lunch.

[sassy-fae.livejournal.com]

Wow.
Well, no one in authority likes D&D! They're always leery of people who think and imagine for fun.

[angel-thane.livejournal.com]

It applies to LARPers, not roleplayers.

And it just means that they have to go through a psych eval (half of them pass and get full clearance) and not that they automatically fail.