Did people really make a big deal out of people playing Dungeons & Dragons in the 80s?

Some people still make a big deal out of it today, especially if you game on Friday or Saturday night instead of going out and partying every weekend.

I however have put a lot of skill ranks into "Not giving a fuck", so I'm good.

There are people who view D&D as demon worship or something. That when you 'cast spells' in the game, you have to actually cast spells irl. And to get out of dying, DM's make their players give them sexual favors of one kind or another.

in 2007, I was shown a comic from a church organization, where they showed these exact things happening. Thankfully, they insinuated the sexual favors thing, and stopped before that started happening. But the comic actually showed fire/ice leaping from a players hands, and a pentagram with the players playing around it. I didn't believe people believed this, until I saw that comic.

I wish I could say I was joking here, but I'm actually not. Thats why teachers can't post about the games they play on social media. Parents might think they're actually doing devil worship or something.

Edit: mind you, I've never actually met one of these people.

Not in Canada, as far as I know. My husband played DnD in high school in a club organized by one of his teachers. In the States, maybe?

Americans are ridiculous. Christian Puritanism has ruined more good things than Herpes

*shame intensifies* 

if you were into lit rpg or just rpg you were a social pariah in every other circle, consequently most of the geek groups gravitated towards becoming something new and feared for "weird factor"

it amazed me that for playing fantasy games we became socially despised and as a consequence had to hide our involvement (this then inspired the real loons to start dressing up for games nights....) now as an adult i don't care i play whatever game takes my fancy and enjoy it as a kid i moved between game groups based on which bit of skirt i fancied XD, i was already a social pariah for being a nerd who lived on a farm went shooting, rode horses, and was a canoe instructor through the scouts held a mixed martial arts certificate and refused to fight people.... my entire year group wanted to murder me or fuck me or both, and when i became the school cross country champion with a staggering 11 minute time lead that only got worse:P
when i suffered an illness in the senior year and took 7 months off school literally the only people i saw were my doctors and my parents for 4 months... when i passed enough exams to get a degree course in electromechanical engineering (at a time when robotics meant ladder logic and cnc meant c+ because nothing else had hit the mainstream, oh such joys) i was accused of cheating... i neglected to mention i was taking the exams a year early just to get out of school because i hated it,
i loved games groups because nobody there cared about you they just cared for the escape, when i joined the military i left all those teenage joys behind, when i left the military the first thing i did was plug in to some major time sink mmorpg's.....

You can check it out for yourself on Twitter. It's on mostly during the weekends but some play during the weekday also. A lot of the people that play look like your daily run of the mill ordinary folks. I dabbled in it during the late 80's but never really got in to it.

With my group it's more like:

You find a secret door in the eastern wall of the tomb, what do you do?

Paladin: I run up and open the door!

Me whispering to GM: I'm gonna check for traps real quick

GM: It's trapped, wanna warn him?

Me: Nah I'm good. He'll never learn otherwise.

GM: The Paladin falls into a pit of spikes


Remember kids: Always let the Rogue check for traps first.

I was pretty into pencil and paper RPG's and strategic board games, but was already a "social outcast" before that

and yes always let the thief/rogue check for traps first

i sold my eclectic collection of rare games pieces and cards when i was first in the military, some of the really into it nerds were paying more than a months salary for a single piece, i spent pretty much all of it enjoying life to the full, of course i got in trouble for having more money than a young bucko private should have had access to, for reference my wage was £450 take home, and i was dumbly spending roughly 10 x that amount for a few months... if only i'd kept some of it i might of had a nicer wedding.... then again if i hadn't been such a party animal maybe i wouldn't of settled down as fast as i did and been married at 19 lol... of course were still together so i must have gotten something right even if i was shit with money  

if only i had kept them that gear would be worth millions on the market today / of course had i kept it chances are it would of been stolen or destroyed in one of the 20 house moves i went through during my career/ 

D&D got mainstreamed about the time Wizards of the Coast bought TSR in 1997

Speaking of second edition it's a trash heap of a game module. It was third and 3.5 that kept me playing throughout the 2000s

Though I admit given I took a decade-long Hiatus from the game I do somewhat appreciate 5th edition as well

It was more heroquest and warhammer in the UK I think.