Overview

Since the release of Dungeons & Dragons in 1974, role-playing games (RPGs) have spawned a vibrant industry and subculture whose characteristics and player experiences have been well explored. Yet little attention has been devoted to the ways RPGs have shaped society at large over the last four decades. Role-playing games influenced video game design, have been widely represented in film, television and other media, and have made their mark on education, social media, corporate training and the military. This collection of new essays illustrates the broad appeal and impact of RPGs. Topics range from a critical reexamination of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, to the growing significance of RPGs in education, to the potential for ""serious"" RPGs to provoke awareness and social change. The contributors discuss the myriad subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways in which the values, concepts and mechanics of RPGs have infiltrated popular culture.

Full Product Details

Author:   Andrew Byers ,  Francesco Crocco
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.445kg
ISBN:  

9780786498833

ISBN 10:   0786498838
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   04 March 2016
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Introduction Part I. The Player’s Guide: The Psychological and Cultural Impact of a Game Genre The Satanic Panic and Dungeons & Dragons: A ­Twenty-Five-Year Retrospective (Andrew Byers) Psychological Effects of Fantasy Games on Their Players: A ­Discourse-Based Look at the Evidence (Andreas Lieberoth and Jonas ­Trier-Knudsen) Building the Culture of Contingency: Adaptive Choice in Ludic Literature from ­Role-Playing Games to Choose Your Own Adventure Books (Tim Bryant) Part II. The Tome of Knowledge: Playing to Learn in and across the Disciplines Raiding the Last Frontier: Overcoming the Language Barrier in the ESL Classroom (Timm Woods) “Do you want to be Dr. Frankenstein or Edna Pontellier?”: How Getting into Character Enhances Literary Studies (Jonathan M. Bradley) Playing Between the Lines: Promoting Interdisciplinary Studies with Virtual Worlds (Reneta D. Lansiquot, Candido Cabo and Tamrah D. Cunningham) Part III. The Book of Change: Enacting Social Transformations Teacher as Dungeon Master: Connected Learning, Democratic Classrooms, and Rolling for Initiative (Antero Garcia) Playing for Change: FreeMarket and the Rise of Serious Tabletop ­Role-Playing Games (Troy Leaman) Leveling Influence: Klout and the Introduction of Social Leveling (Joseph B. Meyer) Part IV. The Manual of Play: Seeding New Avenues of Gaming Shapers, Portals and Exotic Matter: Living Fiction and Augmented Reality in Google’s Ingress (Kai-Uwe Werbeck) Descent to Munchkin: From ­Pen-and-Paper to Board and Card (Cathlena Martin and Benton Tyler) The RPG Classroom: ­Re-Purposing Game Mechanics for the Gamification of Education (Francesco Crocco) About the Contributors Index

Reviews

"""examines how role-playing games, and especially Dungeons & Dragons since its introduction in 1974, have changed or affected individual's behaviors, lifestyles, educational growth and more...some of the articles, especially ones focusing on education, have significant ideas to impart and make for fascinating reading""--Bookgasm; ""engaging and easy to read""--Analog Game Studies; ""Byers and Crocco have put together a volume that both moves the field of RPG studies forward and increases its value to scholars of American culture.""--The Journal of American Culture; ""examines the impact role-playing games (RPGs) on society""--ProtoView."

examines how role-playing games, and especially Dungeons & Dragons since its introduction in 1974, have changed or affected individual's behaviors, lifestyles, educational growth and more...some of the articles, especially ones focusing on education, have significant ideas to impart and make for fascinating reading --Bookgasm engaging and easy to read --Analog Game Studies examines the impact role-playing games (RPGs) on society --ProtoView examines how role-playing games, and especially Dungeons & Dragons since its introduction in 1974, have changed or affected individual's behaviors, lifestyles, educational growth and more...some of the articles, especially ones focusing on education, have significant ideas to impart and make for fascinating reading --Bookgasm; engaging and easy to read --Analog Game Studies; Byers and Crocco have put together a volume that both moves the field of RPG studies forward and increases its value to scholars of American culture. --The Journal of American Culture; examines the impact role-playing games (RPGs) on society --ProtoView.

examines how role-playing games, and especially <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> since its introduction in 1974, have changed or affected individual's behaviors, lifestyles, educational growth and more...some of the articles, especially ones focusing on education, have significant ideas to impart and make for fascinating reading --<i>Bookgasm</i>; examines the impact role-playing games (RPGs) on society --<i>ProtoView</i>.

Author Information

Andrew Byers is a visiting assistant professor of history at Duke University. His research interests include popular culture, biopolitics, and the history of geek culture. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia. Francesco Crocco is the associate director of the online writing lab at Excelsior College. His research interests include game-based learning, gamification, and utopian studies. He lives in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions