Israeli army worried about RPG threat--Role Playing Games, that is...

EllisDTripp · Mar 9, 2005

The Israeli military is apparently asking new recruits if they play "Dungeons and Dragons", and anyone who does is automatically disqualified for high security positions:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3052074,00.html

Lobbing the OTHER kind of RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades) into Palestinian villages is still perfectly OK, of course...

Army frowns on Dungeons and Dragons

IDF says players are detached from reality and automatically given a low security clearance

By Hanan Greenberg

Does the Israel Defense Forces believe incoming recruits and soldiers who play Dungeons and Dragons are unfit for elite units? Ynetnews 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 role-playing 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.

Dungeons and Dragons (also known as “D and D”) has been a popular role-playing game for decades and is based on a fantasy world.

One player assumes the role of “Dungeon Master” which entails directing the game and controlling the labyrinth, while the others select from a large selection of characters that includes warriors, magicians, dwarfs and thieves.

The game focuses on the results of decisions made by the players as determined by the roll of the dice.

In a more "active" version of the game, players leave the table and go out, dressed as the characters they assume for the game, along with the requisite equipment of swords (not real) to play outside, usually in the forest or woods.

'Simply detached from reality'

Thousands of youth and teens in Israel play "D and D", fighting dragons and demons using their rich imaginations. The game has also increased in popularity due to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

However the IDF does not approve of this unusual hobby and prevents "D and D" players from being considered for sensitive army positions by labeling them with low security clearance.

"We have discovered that some of them are simply detached from reality," a security source told Ynetnews.

Game enthusiasts are aware of their problematic image in the army and prefer to maintain their anonymity. Many of them are from the former Soviet Union where the game is very popular.

In Israel there are thousands of players, between the ages 16 to 35, and include lawyers, high-tech workers and businessmen. Matan, 22, and Igor, a 21-year-old IDF soldier, organize activities for groups of players. 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.

"It's not a game of winners and losers," Matan says,
"but rather entry into another world with stories and plot changes."

He is aware of the game's problematic reputation, especially in the IDF. The army is not indifferent to the unique hobby and is trying to locate soldiers who in their free time dress up as witches and play in forests.

'The game indicates a weak personality'

A security official tells Ynetnews there are specific criteria for deciding the level of a soldier's security clearance.

"One of the tests we do, either by asking soldiers directly or through information provided us, is to ask whether they take part in the game," he says. "If a soldier answers in the affirmative, he is sent to a professional for an evaluation, usually a psychologist."

More than half of the soldiers sent for evaluation receive low security clearances, thus preventing them from serving in sensitive IDF positions, he says.

Igor says exposing soldiers who play the game could result in the soldiers being sent to a military psychologist or even being kicked out of the army.

"Exposing them could also harm their chances at being accepted to other military courses," he says.

Matan says he has personally met soldiers whose military career was harmed due to their connection to the game. Most soldiers who play Dungeons and Dragons simply do not admit to it while they are in teh army, he says.

Why does the IDF believe the game is so dangerous?

"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."

Unsurprisingly, Igor, Matan and thier friends do not approve of this IDF policy. They say the game is only a colorful, non-violent hobby.

"Many people who play served in the most classified units," David says. "They are intelligent and any attempt to label them as 'weird' is incorrect and unfair."

But in the struggle between the Lord of the Rings and the Minister of Defense, the latter wins, or at least this is the case in the real world of the IDF.
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homebudz · Mar 9, 2005

Hmmmmm.It sounds to me like the IDF is afraid of people who have the ability to think "outside the box".If our military takes that stand,we'll have few if any people to man the guns as it where.Guess they would have to call off the war.

Xac · Mar 9, 2005

Well i think it is about time... if you cant drop acid and join the FBI then you shouldnt be able to play D and D and join the army... seriously tho i didnt think people still actually played that game.

jesuswasamonkey · Mar 9, 2005

Oh geez. What a load of crap. I wonder if the D&D computer games count? I haven't played pen and paper D&D for years, but I play Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic quite often. I guess that makes me unstable

I hope that nobody tells them about Grand Theft Auto. If they have a problem with D&D they're really not going to like that game.

gEo_tehaD_returns · Mar 12, 2005

For the military? They'll LOVE GTA. Shit, you run around killing people with guns and smashing up their bodies with cars. What better way to prepare a military recruit for the killing he will be responsible for?

BraveSirRubin · Mar 12, 2005

That's top rate bullshit. I have spoken to dozen of recruters for the IDF, and that is just plain silly.

darrellkitchen · Mar 13, 2005

homebudz said:

Hmmmmm.It sounds to me like the IDF is afraid of people who have the ability to think "outside the box".If our military takes that stand,we'll have few if any people to man the guns as it where.Guess they would have to call off the war.
Click to expand...

Take it from an Ex-GI (VN-Era) ... The military does not ... I repeat ... does not want soldiers who can think for themselves, but who can follow orders ... A soldier who can think for themselves are a danger to their unit ...

Darrell

Angel_Headed_Hipster · Mar 13, 2005

The Israeli army going against D&D is the last thing i would worry about. What I am worried about is how Israel makes the United States invade any country they want or feel is a threat to them, and how they used our soldiers to die for them. Israel is one sick country.

Peace and Love,
Dan

darrellkitchen · Mar 13, 2005

darrellkitchen said:

Take it from an Ex-GI (VN-Era) ... The military does not ... I repeat ... does not want soldiers who can think for themselves, but who can follow orders ... A soldier who can think for themselves are a danger to their unit ...
Click to expand...

I really don't agree with that philosophy. Yet, unfortunately, that's the way it was when I was in. You were never allowed to use the phrase "I think" or "I thought" unless you wanted to be yelled at right in front of everyone for "thinking" when you weren't told to "think" ... Oh ... another thing ... anticipation was a big taboo also ... I got my butt chewed out two times for anticipating a command or order ... twice was all it took.

Darrell

jesuswasamonkey · Mar 13, 2005

I don't know Darrell. I know that soldiers are expected to follow orders and work as a group, and for an efficient army that really is neccesary, but D&D is a group activity. Yes, it encourages imaginative thinking and creative solutions to problems, but I don't know if those are things the military frowns upon, and a D&D game is a group activity, and to play a good game the players must be able to work together as a team. I think the IDF policy stems from the silly demonization of D&D more than anything else, apparently lots of people who have never played the game are convinced that because a few imaginative kids get together in the woods with cardboard armor and wooden swords, every person who plays D&D has a loose grip on reality, and since magic plays a large part in the game, everybody who plays it must be a satan worshipper or something.

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