Day 17: RPG with an Engaging Community
Ah, now then. I'm the wrong person to really ask about this. Despite the fact that I write a blog, I use social media very little. So if we are, as I suspect, talking about an online community, I have very little experience. I really need the online equivalent of The Diogenes Club.
I am a member of a couple of active Facebook Groups, Rivers of London and D&D for Old Dudes. There's a generally respectful tone on these, especially the former, but I don't interact much with them.
I used to be fairly active on Yogsothoth.com, which again, was a pretty friendly and helpful place.
Most of my online RPG interactions have been through The Piazza, but this covers a wide range of games, so I can't really nominate it for any particular RPG. I was particularly involved in the Mystara boards when I was running my 4E campaign, and I still look in on the Nentir Vale stuff as that is relevant for my 5E campaign*.
I do find that I'm prone to spending too much time online if I let myself, and RPG forums are particularly addictive. I'm also aware that not everyone is at their best online, so there's always the danger of taking or giving offence. I have left Facebook groups in the past when I felt the general tone of posts had deteriorated, regardless of where the unpleasantness was directed.
If I consider more face to face interactions, then in the past I've been a regular attendee at various games shops and clubs. These tend to have a reasonable community of players (and far fewer GMs), and they can be pleasantly welcoming and inclusive.
It's been a while since I took part in any of these local groups though. The pandemic forced my RPGs online, and for geographic reasons I'm still there.
MEGAforce (the Monday Evening Gaming Association), which played through the 4E campaign, is now a (highly enjoyable) card and board game group.
It sounds like I'm not really part of a wide gaming community, but I've met many great people through RPGs, some of whom are still good friends. I'd never have met the likes of Bodvoc, T'Other One, Grim or Andy but for gaming, and I'm still in contact with a couple who I met, and who met each other, back in the seventies through gaming.
So thank you RPGs for introducing me to some wonderful people.
* Yes, I am aware that neither of these editions are the ones for which the campaign worlds were developed. This might tell you a lot about my attitude to gaming. Or life in general.
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