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| Israel-Palestine |
| IDF frowns on Dungeons and Dragons |
| 2005-03-10 |
| Does the Israel Defense Forces believe incoming recruits and soldiers who play Dungeons and Dragons are unfit for elite units? Ynet has learned that 18-year-olds who tell recruiters they play the popular fantasy game are automatically given low security clearance. "They're detached from reality and suscepitble to influence," the army says. Fans of the popular roleplaying game had spoken of rumors of this strange policy by the IDF, but now the army has confirmed that it has a negative image of teens who play the game and labels them as problematic in regard to their draft status. So if you like fantasy games, go see the military psychologist. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #18 Inductees who are proficient at bin Laden's Liquors should be considered for commando school. :) |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-03-10 9:36:56 PM |
| #17 LH -- your history is close, but off on a few things. The first RPG was not for "historically realistic scenarios", but rather for Conan-esque fantasy battles. More realistic rules and settings didn't come along for quite a while; I can't think of anything that tried to be "historical" until the late '80s at the earliest. I'd also place the peak of D&D a bit before the advent of "The Forgotten Realms", but that's probably nitpicking. The IDF should definitely get over it, though. I'd be more worried about the greedy and those with unfortunate ideologies. This is as bad as the US government appearing to reject out of hand any Jewish Arabic speakers for translation duties. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-03-10 9:18:14 PM |
| #16 That shit's almost as annoying as "geek codes"... |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-03-10 5:45:44 PM |
| #15 Don't have the foggest... I feel ever so much more mainstream! Thanks! (it's a rare thing) |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-03-10 5:06:33 PM |
#14 Let's have some more... Khatamm the Mystic Cleric S:9 I:12 W:12 D:9 CN:15 CH:17 Allign:CE HP:30  Le Francois S:8 I:12 W:10 D:12 CN:15 CH:9 Allign:NE HP:20  Gerhard the Clueless S:7 I:13 W:10 D:10 CN:14 CH:10 Allign:CN HP:30  Blair of the Isles S:9 I:15 W:12 D:10 CN:12 CH:12 Allign:NG HP:35  The Duke of Sharon S:18/00 I:18 W:18 D:18 CN:18 CH:18 Allign:LG HP:1001 1 Remember this is an IDF training scenario... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-03-10 3:48:31 PM |
| #13 From: http://qdb.us bloodninja: Baby, I been havin a tough night so treat me nice aight? BritneySpears14: Aight. bloodninja: Slip out of those pants baby, yeah. BritneySpears14: I slip out of my pants, just for you, bloodninja. bloodninja: Oh yeah, aight. Aight, I put on my robe and wizard hat. BritneySpears14: Oh, I like to play dress up. bloodninja: Me too baby. BritneySpears14: I kiss you softly on your chest. bloodninja: I cast Lvl. 3 Eroticism. You turn into a real beautiful woman. BritneySpears14: Hey... bloodninja: I meditate to regain my mana, before casting Lvl. 8 Cock of the Infinite. BritneySpears14: Funny I still don't see it. bloodninja: I spend my mana reserves to cast Mighty F*ck of the Beyondness. BritneySpears14: You are the worst cyber partner ever. This is ridiculous. bloodninja: Don't f*ck with me bitch, I'm the mightiest sorcerer of the lands. bloodninja: I steal yo soul and cast Lightning Lvl. 1,000,000 Your body explodes into a fine bloody mist, because you are only a Lvl. 2 Druid. BritneySpears14: Don't ever message me again you piece of ****. bloodninja: Robots are trying to drill my brain but my lightning shield inflicts DOA attack, leaving the robots as flaming piles of metal. bloodninja: King Arthur congratulates me for destroying Dr. Robotnik's evil army of Robot Socialist Republics. The cold war ends. Reagan steals my accomplishments and makes like it was cause of him. bloodninja: You still there baby? I think it's getting hard now. bloodninja: Baby? |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-03-10 3:41:56 PM |
| #12 Hilarious thread at Ace. |
| Posted by: someone 2005-03-10 3:18:51 PM |
| #11 Sorry - I am reminded by a coworker that neg HP are dead, proper HP be listed as positive*10--- Haven't played in 20 years... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-03-10 11:57:30 AM |
| #10 Isralei NPCs that Could be encountered... THe IDF should incorporate the real world into the game instead of fighting it...  Osama of the Caves S:12 I:17 W:15 D:9 CN:18 CH:18 Allignment : CE HP : -5  B. B. I. Doc S:9 I:16 W:9 D:12 CN:9 CH:6 Allign : LE HP:-1 |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-03-10 11:39:48 AM |
| #9 my 'shining blade of allan slashing' (+3 magic) beats your 'cudgel of hate-da-joo' (-3 charisma). So give me Palestine and we will call it quits , ok ? |
| Posted by: MacNails 2005-03-10 11:18:26 AM |
| #8 of course the irony is that RPGs were invented wargamers, for use in a realistic historical scenario, but only took off when they adopted the Tolkienish Forgotten Realms. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-03-10 10:24:59 AM |
| #7 And no real men certainly dont play Myst - LOL! |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-03-10 10:23:48 AM |
| #6 this aint about satanism, more its a clash of cultures - IDF retains an old Zionist pioneer SERIOUSNESS - a deep distrust of fantasizing of any kind - there are reasons Israel, while producing great writers, produces nothing like the magic realism of Latin America. This is historically a society that is focused on the pragmatic, the results oriented, the real (one of many reasons its so alien to the rest of the region, I might add) But Israeli society is changing, the pioneers are dead, and its becoming more like any Western society - Israel now has rappers, and all sorts of stuff. Its not only the Orthodox who look at that and are shocked - its those sectors of secular society that are still rooted in the old pragmatic, this worldly, social democrat, pioneer ethos who look on their children and are perplexed. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-03-10 10:22:33 AM |
| #5 Dayum, didn't this theory go away in the '80s? Hey IDF! Make sure they're not listening to heavy metal, too. They put backward prayers to Satan on the tracks. One time, my brother's girlfriend's sister's boyfriend's cousin played a Twisted Sister record backward, and they found him the next day hanging in the attic. Whoa! |
| Posted by: BH 2005-03-10 10:11:53 AM |
| #4 No, real men play Myst, Riven, Exile, Uru, and Reveltion. (And End of Ages when it comes out this fall) |
| Posted by: Steve from Relto 2005-03-10 10:02:24 AM |
| #3 Soon hundreds of fans are expected to meet in a forest in the southern part of Israel for a two-day game of pure fantasy. They appear to be confusing D&D with LARPing or perhaps an offshoot of the SCA. Besides, real men play GURPS. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-03-10 9:47:50 AM |
| #2 "'These people have a tendency to be influenced by external factors which could cloud their judgment, a military official says. "They may be detached from reality or have a weak personality - elements which lower a person’s security clearance, allowing them to serve in the army, but not in sensitive positions.'" Hmm. Wonder if the Greek Army has the same sort of attitude. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2005-03-10 9:04:31 AM |
| #1 Don't ask. Don't tell? |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2005-03-10 8:54:32 AM |