Heartbreaking Works of Staggering Fandom
The Role-Playing Games hobby didn't just happen. Grognardia does an excellent job of exploring the literary, pulp-fantasy roots of the hobby, but I'm interested in a bigger picture. Conventions for science fiction fans started in the '30s, but -as near as I can tell- "fan culture" started its march to the mainstream at the same time gaming and personal computing were starting to make waves: Avalon Hill was founded in 1958, 3M's Bookshelf game series started in 1962, The Merriam-Webster Dictionary dates the word "zine" to 1965, Dungeons and Dragons came out in 1974, the Blockbuster Era began in 1975 with Jaws, and general purpose microcomputers hit in the mid 1970s, too.
Apparently, people have been saying stuff like "to play is to create" in the context of role-playing games for years, or at the very least equating game-mastering to game design. I actually expected that. "There's nothing new under the sun," and all. I'm much more disappointed to find out that there's an essay I'll probably never read at The Forge about looking at play as ritual behavior (the link's to my work, not The Forge), but I digress.
There's something alluring and fascinating in the DIY ethic. RPG campaigns, low-fi music, "software libre"... they all have love as their primary ingredient*. I want to celebrate the kind of love it takes to do something ridiculous and great just for the sake of doing it. I want to catalog the greatest fan-projects and talented amateurs.
I have a few projects in mind already, but I definitely need help. Tell me what's out there and What's moved you!
*with apologies to Clay Shirky for the paraphrase.
Apparently, people have been saying stuff like "to play is to create" in the context of role-playing games for years, or at the very least equating game-mastering to game design. I actually expected that. "There's nothing new under the sun," and all. I'm much more disappointed to find out that there's an essay I'll probably never read at The Forge about looking at play as ritual behavior (the link's to my work, not The Forge), but I digress.
There's something alluring and fascinating in the DIY ethic. RPG campaigns, low-fi music, "software libre"... they all have love as their primary ingredient*. I want to celebrate the kind of love it takes to do something ridiculous and great just for the sake of doing it. I want to catalog the greatest fan-projects and talented amateurs.
I have a few projects in mind already, but I definitely need help. Tell me what's out there and What's moved you!
*with apologies to Clay Shirky for the paraphrase.