Chimera Creative

This discussion among Clyde Rhoer, Luke Crane, Clinton Nixon, and Jason Morningstar is very important to things I’m interested in. And, they do a good job explaining reasons that I approach this hobby the way I do, including my previous posts about the subculture and Gary Gygax’s death. To put it into a quick summation: I find the elevation of game designers above the social plane of the people who play games destructive. It harms the human interaction and collaborative creativity of the people who enjoy playing role-playing games, including the game designers! The hobby is so compelling precisely because the creative input of people playing the games is as exciting and interesting and surprising as the creative input that made the game in the first place.

Here’s the cool thing for me in the short term. In about four hours, I’m going to drive to Madison for Forge Midwest where I will hang out with friends, and probably meet some new people. We’re going to play games. And, we’re also going to be friends and talk. It’ll be fun. I’ve done this for the last two years. So far, we’ve managed to do exactly what I hoped — get together and play some games. That’s it. No awards. No special seminars. No “guest of honor” silliness. Just playing games with people who like to play them. Despite the lousy weather in store (snow!), I can’t wait.