I suppose it’s a sign of how many topics I’ve covered on
this blog that I’m writing tonight on a more ‘meta’ aspect of roleplaying.
Specifically, I’m interested in talking about the idea of the roleplaying
community itself and what may or may not be an effective model. A lot of my
argument draws from my own experience, which I submit is far from
all-encompassing, but I’ve seen communities do well, and I’ve seen them do
poorly, and I don’t think it’s a matter of pure chance. Experientially driven
as my argument is, I believe there is a strong line of logic to follow here, so
let’s get down to business and defeat some Huns.
The idea of a “Functional Roleplaying Community” is an
important consideration because roleplaying is really a social activity. It
takes two to tango, and once you have two people, you can argue you have a
community. The larger the community, the more opportunities you have, and being
surrounded by a host of fantastic writers and brilliant creative minds does
good things for your own writing. A strong roleplaying community should help
foster new ideas, challenge your way of thought, and keep you on your toes. In
contrast, though, a weak and dysfunctional roleplaying community will do the
opposite. This might work best to walk through a simple “What—Why—How” structure.
