Dorkon "Darkon" Gets Buzz

Saints preserve us, the dorkwads are getting press.

What draws people to the game is its ability to tap into something almost atavistic in human nature, the same need for belonging that Sigmund Freud would tell us birthed the world’s religions. In fact, the players feel it fills a deficiency found in today’s culture, which Andrew Mattingly (aka Shapwin of Laconia) sums up best in the movie: “Everything that was once noble and good in this world is gone, and it’s been replaced with Wal-Mart.�

And, Neel says, “These outsiders found and created this sort of social utopia.�

Populated by blue-collar stiffs, white-collar number pushers, lawyers and doctors, and ex-military seeking to regain the camaraderie they had in the service, Darkon is “a testament of the imagination,� Smith insists. “Everything you see in the movie is an accumulation of 20 years of people’s imaginations. What I really love about it is you feel like you’re 5 years old again. People kind of live their lives like they’re born with a finite amount of imagination, and they use up most of it when they’re little, and they use less and less and less of it the older they get. Darkon really does put you back in that mind-set of a little kid when you’re enveloped in your own world of make-believe. Nothing else really does that.�

Lipman, a poster child for men who never grew up, calls Darkon an “escapist hobby� that can, at times, cost players more than it should. “Some people are running away from their real-life problems, whether it be with their families or an inability to put things together in real life and hold down a job, or school’s not going well,� he says. “And sometimes Darkon can just be a part of that negative thing, because they push away their real life and they focus too much on Darkon, rather than it being a positive experience where at least there’s someplace where I’ve got my shit together. It can be an anchor for those who are adrift.�

“Every once in a while you see someone [in Darkon] and you think, You really should pay a little more attention to your day-to-day life,� says Meyer, who is soft-spoken and so intimidated by interviews that he has a habit of stammering. “But as a whole, it’s not a major problem. No one’s getting carried away.�

I guess this is no dorkier than Civil War re-enactors getting together to "refight" the Battle of Antietam. Trouble is, that's pretty damn dorky too. And no one there is dressing up like this:

I think it was Steven den Beste who noted that America has a big advantage over repressive, unfree socieites, because people have both the leisure time and freedom to pursue hobbies-- hobbies which, in some circumstances, can actually be useful in war.

So, if Iran decides to smuggle in an atomic bomb guarded by an "adventuring party" of epic-level cleric-assassins, we should be able to combat them with an Army of Dorkwads.

Thanks to Craig.

Related: Sexy "Booth Babes" Banned From E3 Expo: In an event dedicated to debuting new video games, isn't a bit of real, non-pixelogenic cleavage the healthiest thing on display?

Thanks to The Wardrobe Door.

posted by Ace at 11:51 AM

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