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Comment by torginus | Hacker News Reader

Honestly I think socially awkward people quickly get ostracized, and socially isolated early in life.

Due to this, they get less chances to practice social interaction, something they were somewhat worse at in the first place, and fall even further behind on these skills.

DnD allows them to practice these skills, such as high-stakes social conflict, bargaining, and just plain old getting along, in a relatively safe environment.

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It's not just lack of practice, when these people get picked on they internalize low self value, so even if they practice social skills enough to get the hang of it they're still going to be awkward because they tend to act from a "loser" frame. That internalized low self value can be incredibly hard to fix, much harder than just developing social skills.

Also known as "Loser's Lose" and "Winner's Win". A lot of social dynamics run on this principle.

Yes, this is correct, I think. It is a painful but true fact that the world is constructed according to the preferences of the majority neurotypical population, and if you want to survive in it you need strong masking and coping strategies if your brain doesn't work the same way. It is not fun developing or using these strategies but it's vitally important.

It also gives people a framework in where to learn how to communicate. They can try different approaches, the stakes are low (in real life terms) if they fail, their companions and the DM will not only serve an example but give hints on how to do that better.

Anyone with problems in social communication could make use of it as a great resource.

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