Dungeons & Dragons controversies
Controversies concerning the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), which receives significant attention in the media and in popular culture, has been the subject of numerous controversies. The game sometimes received unfavorable coverage, especially during its early years in the early 1980s. Because the term D&D may be mistakenly used to refer to all types of role-playing games, some controversies regarding D&D mistakenly pertain to role-playing games in general, or to the literary genre of fantasy. Some controversies concern the game and its alleged impact on those who play it, while others concern business issues at the game's original publisher, TSR. The game is now owned by Wizards of the Coast.
At various times in its history, Dungeons & Dragons has received attention for allegedly promoting Satanism, witchcraft, suicide, pornography, and murder. The moral panic[1][2] about role-playing games peaked in the 1980s.[3][4] In 2016, The New York Times reported that moral panic over Dungeons & Dragons had subsided.[4]
D&D has been accused of portraying Caucasians, Asians, and Africans in racist ways. This criticism extends to D&D's portrayal of racial stereotypes in some of its "monsters", such as orcs and drow elves. Attempts were made to fix some of these issues in the release of certain D&D 5th edition supplemental rulebooks.
D&D is banned by Wisconsin's Waupun Prison for "promoting gang-related activity", and by the Idaho State Correctional Institution as part of its blanket ban on role-playing games. Some have criticized D&D on religious grounds, including Peter Leithart, George Grant, and William Schnoebelen.
D&D has been involved in some licensing and trademark disputes, and some material had to be changed or excised to comply with intellectual property law. For example, hobbits were renamed "halflings" to avoid copyright issues with J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.
There were internal disputes at D&D's parent company, TSR Inc. Some of them involved game creators Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. There was also a dispute between Gygax and business partner Brian Blume.