The Black Vault

Dungeons & Dragons makes no attempt to present itself as factual. It is fantasy, although some lunatics might believe otherwise.

This stuff talked about here... 9/11 inside jobs, aliens doing horrible experiments and whatnot, secret governments murdering and mind-controlling... I don't see conspiracy theorists clearly stating, "Hey, this is all just fantasy to entertain people."

So your comparison doesn't fly, regardless of whether some nerd goes nuts and stabs other players with his magic dagger. It simply doesn't compare because TSR/Wizards of the Coast are a game company clearly making games.

I don't see these conspiracy theorists saying anything like that. Everything they do is geared toward exposing supposed hidden truths, not to entertain with magical fantasy stories and settings.

I didn't say D&D is analogous to conspiracy theories.

I said that the likelihood of conspiracy theories damaging the young mind is as likely as D&D leading to criminal behavior.

Meaning, in other words, not very likely.

And I pointed out why you're wrong. People are more likely to die for and kill for what they believe is true. These subjects are not taken as lightly as a game of D & D. You're comparing the two as if they were both equivalently transparent in their fictitiousness and thus implying they're both equally impactful, and that simply isn't the case.

Your assertion is based on comparing apples to oranges. D & D is a game made to entertain. Conspiracy theories are not presented as entertainment. They are presented as explanations for actual events and situations.

If you think people are as likely to make decisions with deadly consequences from reading a D & D rulebook as they are from reading a book or site about actual world events, then YOU are out of touch with reality.

People have done insane things because of what some "holy book" says throughout history because of the power of belief and the desire for things to make sense. Whether it's actually true or not is irrelevant to the point of it having greater impact because it is presented as truth.

The mention of D&D was for the sake of making a comparison of the probabilities.

Apparently that went way over your head.

I could have said conspiracy theories lead to criminal behavior as often as two people in a room of three share the same birthday.

And I explained why you're wrong. That's still going over your head.

No reason to get all butthurt about it.

I agree.

I do wonder how much online stuff has to do with all the mass murderers of late, to be honest (spoke about in in the Conn. mass murder thread)

Reminds me of what an old online friend used to say about the net inducing psychosis...