Seth Skorkowsky goes over three waves of moral panic that shook the TTRPG gaming world in the 1970s, 1980s, and apparently in the 1990s, and the social factors underlying each. Because D&D was and continues to be, by far, the most popular RPG, the moral panics really should be viewed in the context of D&D. No one ever argued that other popular games in the 1980s, like Traveller or Top Secret for instance, were satanic.
Unfortunately, he does not address the most recent moral panic to grip the TTRPG world: that the games (and, in particular, D&D) were not "inclusive enough" or were "racist" or too Eurocentric, and other leftist nonsense. The result is that Orcs are no longer evil monsters threatening to overrun humanity--they are now Mexicans with off-color skin and tusks. Dark Elves are no longer dark. And don't forget your safe words if things become too intense.
VIDEO: "The 3 Waves of the RPG Moral Panic - RPG History"
Seth Skorkowsky (1 hr. 15 min.)
It strikes me as funny that Gygax and friends were concerned about using the term "role-playing game" because it might be confused with the role-play used in therapy sessions, and now we've not only seen therapists briefly pick it up (and become disappointed that it is far and away more therapeutic the way that old-school gamers play it than the kind of role-playing that they like), but also that we've seen a growing confusion amongst the newcomers and DEI designers between role-playing games and bedroom games.
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