Culture Wars or Communication Break down

[jeregenest]

Is that really what we're in for gaming? Is what jhkimrpg talks about, or what peaseblossom makes reference too, really indicative of culture war or communication issues? Whats the break point? Is this going to continue to get worse (as it has in a lot of other places) and if so is it truly the internet's fault?

I'd like to be more optimistic personally. I personally see a lot of the stuff that folks like ozarque have written about (and I need to get her book out from the library and reread it again).

And if there is a culture war where do I fall? I'm not a Forge-adherent, I don't do D&D, I'm not really a WoD type. Where do I fall? This is actually a big issue for me as I've said elsewhere I'm earnestly looking for good community space to discuss the stuff that is important for me in gaming. And I find myself feeling mooe and mroe that I have to go local face-to-face again for my theory discussions (which ahs its own negatives, not least of which is scheduling).

I do know this is taking up a lot of my thought space and that peaseblossom and I seem to be discussing it a lot lately.

Comments

[redtint.livejournal.com]

Finding a online community that fits is a pain. I still haven't managed it myself. Gave up on the Forge, rpg.net is a joke and I don't fall into any of the regular 'slots' that most others do.

Sadly I don't follow in your interests either from reading you blog. You seem to be a lot more of a 'deep thinker' on gaming ideas then I.

I do fall in stride with you on it hard getting face-to-face gaming going because of scheduling. Between work, family and necessary functions it's hard to get that free time that is anywhere near the free time of those I want to game with.

[jeregenest.livejournal.com]

I have no trouble with face-to-face gaming, I got more of that than I know what to do with. What I don't have right now is a "theory" group that is willing to test specific issues. We once had a group like that but a lot of them moved away.

[redtint.livejournal.com]

Ah okay, understood.

Here discussing game theory can be hazardous. There are only two people that am able to toss ideas around with. Max Hattuer and The Black Dog are great for it and we each seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum of game thought. Black Dog is old school gaming, I'm rules light and setting dependent and Max is all over the map moving his flag around.

There are others that always want to talk game ideas but aren't really good at the discussion part. They are simply looking for "Listen to me talk about my idea and you tell me how great it is" result.

Too much thinking?

[mtfierce.livejournal.com]

I've tried to participate in various gaming fora, but they either start trotting out Vocabulary or get involved with the picayune details and stop seeing the forest. I think that my idea of what's fun to talk about is just too different. So I usually find 3 or 4 topics to contribute to on each forum and stay quiet the rest of the time (except as I blog bits.)

[locke61dv.livejournal.com]

As I've said before: you have a organically grown network of people on LJ, and you should leverage that to slowly grow out the community you want. (Or gather people you trust to make a clique re-invasion SG! I seriously do think that community will work best with a more heterogenous community, and even now it's not really a mass of MNYPushCore players, even if some of the most frequent posters are. But I understand that SG may not work you.)

I honestly have felt *positive* recently about some of the Push/Pull aftermath. While I really disliked that Problematic Thread, the seperate attempts to re-rehash it and understand afterwards started seeming fruitful. Maybe some of the "clash" is when from an outside model idea the domain of a pre-existing idea, which to some extent which is what the P/P stuff was getting to. I definitely feel like there's fruitful stuff to come, even if not everyone is ready to get a piece of it.

[unquietsoul5.livejournal.com]

Trying to discuss design theory is always hard. Even if you can get some great theorists/thinkers together, nine times out of 10 they are going to bang heads like crazy.

I have enough trouble with conflicting concepts and desires in my gaming group, never mind in discussions. I sort of gave up on theory discussions back when we shut down Interregnum APA for the most part, as most of the folks I know just aren't in to design theory on any level.

And, generally, I find that although lots of what you post on theory to be interesting, I'm not in the same design circles that you are. I deal mostly with the nuts and bolts of design theories, not the complex social engineering models that you seem to specialize in. I'm just not an academic, don't think in academic terms and don't design games that appeal to academics. I also don't fit in the White Wolf Crowd, Forgers nor the D&Ders.