Nerds Face Lawsuit Over 'Dungeons & Dragons' Handbook
'Dungeons & Dragons' -- the calling card of the nerd. Hunched over a table with pen and paper in hand, 'D&D' dorks spend hours, days, and, in some cases, years of their lives battling beasts and hunting for treasure in that most magical of realms: Mom's basement. When it comes to creating the perfect avatar, these folks are ruthless and dedicated. A 'D&D' enthusiast might let you steal a candy bar during his shift at the 7/11, but try and take some of his loot, and you'll face the fury of his mighty (imaginary) swords and arrows.
While they're probably battle-tested in what many consider to be the first RPG, eight nerds are about to find out if their powers hold up in the courtroom. According to MSNBC, Wizards of the Coast LLC is slapping eight devoted 'D&D' players with copyright infringement lawsuits, alleging that the crew illegally posted the newest 'D&D' handbook online for others to download and view for free. It doesn't sound like a dice roll and high ability points will save these nerds, either. The online handbooks feature electronic watermarks that forbid the use of copyright material in this manner. The three lawsuits, which were filed in Seattle's U.S. District Court, seek unspecified damages for illegal downloads of more than 2,600 copies of 'Player's Handbook 2.' There were over 4,200 views of the handbook on Scribd.com before Wizards of the Coast had it removed.
As for those named in the lawsuit, we think it is a simple case of nerds becoming mad with power. With all those imaginary treasures, weapons, and magic spells, the eight may have believed they could not be stopped. Looks like Wizards of the Coast is out to prove otherwise. In the end, we imagine the eight will flee to their lairs, tails tucked between their legs, to lick their wounds. [From: MSNBC]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ian said 2:29PM on 6-20-2009
i'm not saying what they did was right, but they are people too. do go and demean them for doing something they like
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Ian said 4:19PM on 6-20-2009
you're like the guy in Kentucky Fried Movie who puts on his stunt man protective gear and yells a racial epithet at the black guys pitching pennies. except you're yelling "nerds" at what are mostly just regular people. I mean, seriously - the "mom's basement" stereotype is so tired.
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Mike L said 5:28PM on 6-20-2009
Hey Caleb just come out and admit it. You typical bully and just thinking about anyone that doesn't look, act or agree with your very narrow little window in life is a threat to your ego. GET A LIFE!
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itzlic said 6:11PM on 6-20-2009
caleb = pwned by a few nerds. Let the guy write a humorous satire on the going-ons of nerds, and they revolt. They'll be protesting outside the Seattle courthouse with their homemade maces and swords and armor soon....then its on to Caleb's house, to "storm the disbelievers". They'll name it Nerd Crusade 09, and soon it will be an event just like Comic-Con.
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PrismaNegaMoon31 said 7:08PM on 6-20-2009
This article is crap. Just because these people enjoy playing this game doesnt mean they are "nerds". It's ridiculous that this article is even on this site. Yes, they did something illegal, but to go and basically make the statement that everyone who plays this game is hardcore about it and are nothing but nerds in mom's basement is really just sad.
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Jonathan said 8:01PM on 6-20-2009
Writing articles for Switched about how uncool D&D is < playing D&D
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NeX_KiTo said 8:41PM on 6-20-2009
This article is ridiculously offensive regarding people who play D&D, when it is supposed to just be about a lawsuit. I don't even play the game and I'm pissed off after reading this. I think Mr. Johnson should reconsider what he writes before he lets it publish. This was in very poor taste.
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John said 10:59PM on 6-20-2009
Holy crap, Johnson, what got up your butt? What a bag of douche....
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Wish Belkin said 12:23AM on 6-21-2009
This article is long on denegration and short on facts.
Thanks for wasting my time.
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Random said 8:19AM on 6-21-2009
Seriously, what the hell?
I'm going to go out on a limb here. I'm a gamer, old school pen and paper type, D&D among those I've played. You're free to think that my hobby's lame, silly, asinine, or a total waste of time. You're free to write the kind of schlock you wrote, and (though I seriously hope otherwise) get paid for it. That's what living in a free society's all about.
So now I'm going to exercise my right to free speech and say that you've got to be about the world's biggest douchebag. If you were talking about other races, women, or religious groups the way you just slandered us gamers, you'd be getting crucified left and right in the media. What makes you think that it's somehow acceptable to spew this kind of hatred and vitriol at us? Seirously, did the community do something as a whole to offend you, or are you just trying to prove how awesome you are by putting other people down? I'm as utterly baffled as I am offended. What possessed you to think that this was cool, funny, or otherwise something that people would want to read?
I've never met anyone that doesn't have some kind of hobby - they're the things that keep our heads screwed on straight. Just because we generally roll dice instead of being a living index of baseball stats, going fishing, or sipping a latte in a coffee shop somewhere doesn't mean we're some kind of freaks. Or if it does, maybe we're all freaks.
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Mr. Ed said 8:47AM on 6-21-2009
Horrible article written by a terrible writer. You just know this dork Caleb wanted to play D&D with the guys but was turned down for not being cool enough. Now he is bitter and jaded. When I was in school the biggest nerds were the people on the yearbook staff and student newspaper. You know, the ones that grow up to be like Caleb.
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Gil said 9:06AM on 6-21-2009
This is an obnoxious article. Look at you, you can make fun of DnD nerds. I bet you were the cool kid on the playground.
I'm a high school student and I've never played DnD (I don't know...how to play, as a matter of fact), but I'm friends with several members of the DnD club, which includes a lot of really bright kids, and several young, pretty girls. I like them; they're much more polite than Caleb on the whole.
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gangsta rappa in da jail said 6:53AM on 6-22-2009
what this guy wrote was the most offensive stuff i have ever seen, when i was going to the joe kubert school of cartoon and graphic art back in the 80's we would huddle in the basement of the old baker mansion (which use to be the school but then turned into dorms) we had great fun playing AD&D, why would be nerds for wanting to play a game? it exercised our minds, kept us sharp and made us good comic book artist. and some now work in movies. go bite it dude or are you a nerd? but now i play world of world warcraft the closest thing to AD&D and i think a dream came true for me playing it. im an old man at 48 but i still love the adventure of the games and reading conan by robert e howard. adios amigos
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Kathy said 12:12PM on 6-22-2009
This was such a demeaning article. I, for one, have been playing D&D for years. I am female, am married, and have a well-paying job. To portray every RPGer as a zit-faced nerd with no social skills and no concept of reality is unreal. Most people who play are completely normal. We're talking fathers and mothers, the popular kids in school, the local athlete who earned that wicked academic scholarship, the librarian, those movie stars. That's right, they're all sitting around that table rolling those dice. I'm tired of reading countless articles demeaning every gamer with such stereotypes, in part because even the person playing that harmless video game is one of us. Your children are one of us. The PS3, Xbox, even the random World of Warcraft player is one of us. Face it. We're way beyond those stereotypes. So Caleb, grow up and stop trying to pinhole us by making us look like we're a group of socially uncouth teens. Do some research before assuming we're some closeted losers who can't do anything but live in this dream world.
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Johnny Sane said 9:33AM on 8-21-2009
Badly written, lots of repetitive insults and usage of the term "nerd."
Funny thing is, some of the "nerds" who play D&D are people like Vin Diesel, Judy Dench, Robin Williams and NBA star Tim Duncan.
I'm hoping this article's tone is satire, because the irony of denouncing D&D on a site geared toward the geek crowd is just too much.
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pauljohnerickson said 6:38PM on 10-21-2009
ya you suck man
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