Very, very worth it.

Something that people often overlook about things like this...is that once you learn the game, you can really play with anyone. If you move, you can instantly meet new friends, just by looking up your local game store and getting them to put you in touch with a group or two...or twelve.

And then, of course, you get all of them to join you on Napalm Riot.... Ahem. Sorry. It was just an example.

Anyhow. Dungeons and Dragons is more than a way to kill a weekend (without realizing that you've just been up for 57 hours straight...until you look in the mirror ). It encourages literacy, communication skills, math skills, imagination and creativity, problem-solving skills, and an "outside the box" mentality. This goes for all of the table-top (or pen-and-paper) RPG's as well.

There are no walk-throughs, no cheat codes, no god modes to help you get through like there are with video games. And it requires you to actually be in contact with other people, not just a console (something that -- with the explosion of in-game communication systems -- the gaming industry is JUST NOW figuring out what all of us 'old school' gamers learned long, long ago: interacting with people makes games better).

Sorry. Didn't mean for this to come out as one of my rants. Just agreeing with you that anyone who takes the time to learn the game can get a LOT out of it, if they choose.