Dungeons & Dragons Inducted Into Toy Hall of Fame (npr.org) 51
Snowgen writes: NPR reports that Dungeons and Dragons has been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY: "The nomination process for the Toy Hall of Fame is open to the public -- but to get in, a toy has to be approved by 'historians, educators, and other individuals who exemplify learning, creativity, and discovery through their lives and careers.'" "More than any other game, Dungeons and Dragons paved the way for older children and adults to experience imaginative play," says Curator Nic Ricketts. "It was groundbreaking. And it opened the door for other kinds of table games that borrow many of its unique mechanics. But most importantly, Dungeons and Dragons' mechanics lent themselves to computer applications, and it had a direct impact on hugely successful electronic games like World of Warcraft." The report adds: "The list of 12 finalists for this year's honors had included bubble wrap, Care Bears, Clue, the coloring book, Nerf ball, pinball, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Transformers and Uno. When it emerged in 1974, Dungeons and Dragons was groundbreaking, says curator Nic Ricketts of The Strong. In addition to its own merits, the game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson established a pattern for how similar role-playing games might work -- both on table-tops and, eventually, on computers and other devices."
Cool list of past winners (Score:5, Insightful)
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Jarts ftw.
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The list of 12 finalists for this year's honors had included bubble wrap, Care Bears, Clue, the coloring book, Nerf ball, pinball, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Transformers and Uno
to call it a toy and pit it against carebears and uno
no comment
as far as roleplaying goes id rather call it an invention and mod the stats and moral axis system insightful but glad to see its no longer the work of the devil
Ob (Score:5, Funny)
It would have got in last year but it made a terrible roll against CHA.
MotD seems apt for this story (Score:2)
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"You have been drained"
Obligatory... (Score:3, Funny)
Obligatory message from Jesus [chick.com].
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Re:Glad someone recognizes D&D for what it is (Score:5, Funny)
A toy. For children. Anyone past mental age of 14 still playing this has BIG issues.
Wow a 9th level Chartered Accountant!
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I'm a 10th level Vice President!
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Chartered accountant/lion tamer.
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I blame you for not making your saving throw.
Mixed Feelings (Score:2)
The report adds: "The list of 12 finalists for this year's honors had included bubble wrap, Care Bears, Clue, the coloring book, Nerf ball, pinball, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Transformers and Uno.
I spent many an hour playing D&D back in the day, but this is a travesty. Literally all of those things are more deserving than D&D except for bubble wrap. (WTF.)
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So you're saying that toys that neither require nor inspire "learning, creativity, and discovery" should get an award that is specifically linked to "learning, creativity, and discovery". I'm not saying that creativity wasn't required to invent, say, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, but exactly what do you learn playing it? "Hit faster than the other guy and you'll win!" Isn't really that difficult to understand, I'm pretty sure you know that halfway through the commercial.
Clue and Uno at least exercise memory an
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Adding to that D&D is as simple or as complex as you can make it.
A productised, pre-made adventure for ages 10 and up with some back story, save the world sort of adventure with simple dice rolls...
Or build your own world for adult players; looking into forms of government, currency, trade, dominant cultures, races, deities as well as technology.
Your game can be very logical and futuristic, looking into issues like time dilation when approaching light speed or make it simpler with star trek-like s
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I wouldnt' go so far as to say it saved my life, but as a pretty shy kid, being able to play a character like a brave and charismatic Palladin who ultimately lead an army against an evil Sorcerer King somehow gave me a few tools to deal with situations where my introverted nature would otherwise have me running for the door.
My high school was really great that way. One of the teachers let us form a roleplaying club and gave us the lunch time access to his classroom, and it really was a safe haven for four o
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Or more correctly, social activities should be promoted at a young age.
There's nothing special about a D&D group playing than say, a group of kids playing football. They both are playing, and interacting with each other in a social setting. Just because the D&D players aren't making friends with the whole ne
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Bubble wrap is sure to win next year. It's the definitive safe-space toy for ages to come. Well, except for that choking hazard problem.
I'm waiting for "envelope", "cardboard box", "wrapping tape", "styofoam peanuts" and "shipping container" to make the list.
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http://www.toyhalloffame.org/t... [toyhalloffame.org]
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And the following year, all of the cats were removed from the selection committee.
so it wasn't so bad after all then? (Score:2, Interesting)
I was at most a casual and occasional D&D player in the 70's and 80's, but I remember D&D being blamed for everything under the sun, from teen suicides to cult formation and widespread brainwashing. There was a bit of moral panic in the popular press, and social outrage from certain religious types due to the game's references to demons and magic.
This was all in spite of the fact that D&D players always seemed cooler to me to hang out with and more intellectually inclined and curious than its v
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My mom definitely thought D&D was pure evil and I was brainwashed to believe it.
To this day when I hear someone reference it I have a few milliseconds feeling of taboo.
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I grew up in a Jehovah's Witness household, and believe me, the evils of D&D were loudly pronounced by members of my church and my family. Of course, my best friend (also a JW) and I were fanatical roleplayers. He wouldn't touch D&D, so we played such fine upstanding God-fearing games as the post-apocalyptic war game Twilight 2000 and a few Palladium games. When I was 13 or 14, I started hanging around some other kids who did play AD&D, so I got my fix that way. When I was just about 16, I got a
and there was much rejoicing (Score:2)
Does institutional acceptance mean it's passe'? (Score:2)
All hail the dark lord (Score:1)
Satan must be pleased to see his beloved devil-worshipping game inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame!
What? (Score:2)
There is a Toy hall of Fame?
Seriously? (Score:4, Insightful)
That might be the most popular thing in the past few years but these games definitely lack the imaginative qualities being praised, they just borrow mechanics to create hallow shells that are themed interactive TV. The old tabletop dungeons and dragons games were not a hack and slash run through of canned content with miniatures, they were imaginative journey's authored by the DM and players in collaborative fashion.
Of course, eventually the DM gets writers block and nobody else steps up and the game falls apart. Hack and slash adventures/box modules were the less interesting cruft DM's tossed out for filler between good ideas. Games like World of Warcraft are nothing but the lowest of D&D content, pure hack and slash with no real imaginative content from players and the editions of the table top after WoTC took over were pretty much the same where min/maxing made sense because combat success was overplayed.
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That's why you graduated to AD&D and then, if you wanted a sane system, something like Gurps. In the long run, I've moved on to a very light version of Fudge, but the PBEMs I run (one a Harn game and the other a Palladium Rifts game) are narrative in structure, and the Harn game in particular has virtually no exposed mechanics at all.
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Yes, yes I did but you are dating me here. In later editions they merged the two and dropped AD&D.
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First was D&D. Then came supplements.
Then was AD&D
Then was D&D basic and AD&D.
Now it's just D&D again, but show up with the 3 books and supplements and the kids won't know what they are.
Mazes and Monsters Forever... (Score:1)