RPGs in High School Society

by Chase Davis

Ask a typical teenager nowadays if they play video games, and I'm sure that you'll pick out quite a few that will respond yes. However, their gaming knowledge will not extend much further than knowing a couple trademark moves from Midway's Mortal Kombat. Now ask a typical teenager how many RPGs they've played through in the last year. Those who actually know what the acronym RPG means will probably dismiss you with nothing more than a dirty look or a harsh laugh. I'll bet that more than one of us have asked ourselves the seemingly rhetorical question of 'why' in this situation, though all of us know the answer well enough. For reasons that are painfully obvious, RPGaming is just not accepted in the closed minded teen culture of today. The fact that gaming in such a way requires one to think, and not only that, but understand the plot of complex games such as Xenogears, or Final Fantasy Tactics is more than enough to shut the RPGamer out from the rest of society.

Maybe it's just in my school, I don't know, but the vast majority of people would find sitting in front of a television for a combined total of 50+ hours clicking thumbs against some buttons for enjoyment a ludicrous waste of time. "Get a life!" they will say. But I ask you, my friends, what exactly is a "life?" If this life they speak of involves running straight to the hair stylist and getting my tips frosted, followed by a jolly excursion to the mall to purchase some grossly overpriced designer clothes, I would take indulging my imagination through a spot of RPGaming any day.

Perhaps this negative view of RPGamers is due to simple stereotypes. Put yourself into the shoes of the "cool kid" and imagine that the concept of RPGaming was just brought up to you. You've heard of AD&D, and other stereotypical games dealing with the heroic defeat of bizarre dragons and crazy monsters, and you've seen things on TV about how these people are usually either overweight comic store clerks, or underweight nerdy kids with glasses. What are you going to think? "Woah, that's a stupid idea. Only losers do that kind of thing." But they fail to see beyond the stereotype. They fail to see that many of us are simply looking for a captivating story, or even just looking for 50 hours or so of good, quality entertainment. Instead, they see people wrapped up in a fantasy world, wasting their lives away locked away in their homes with a pet Chocobo living in the garage.

I realize that I don't speak for everyone, and I in fact hurt my own cause by playing on stereotypes in this editorial, but my point remains the same. I know that not all teens are hostile toward RPGaming, and I'll bet that some of the "cool kids" even pay a little visit to Midgar now and then. I also plainly realize that my descriptions of teens is riddled with stereotype. However, I speak only of what I see, and stereotype or not, it is a big part of teen culture today. This may have been just a desperate cry of the loser, but in a society ruled by mass media, a window for the imagination should be smiled upon, not fed to the Imps.