De-geeking role-playing games

[benlehman]

This comes up, maybe, every month or so in the online conversations I follow. "role-playing games need to be less geeky!"

I just wanted to record here that I think that the entire idea is ridiculous for the following reasons:

1) Perceptions of role-playing games by our culture at large are generally positive: that they are fun, but very time-consuming and potentially obsession forming. Which is about accurate.

2) Since, oh, 1996, geeky things have been hella cool. Hello gamers? I know that you live under a rock, unexposed to the culture at large. But srsly.

I'm posting here because I don't want to have to write this same post, like, 80 times only to have it fall (again) on totally deaf ears.

Comments

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

Yes. Pretty much my argument has never been to de-geekify things, only lower the barrier of entry. Like, comic books are low barrier entry geekdom, while reading plays in Klingon is high barrier. One is fun hobby, other is borderline scary.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

You're so far out ahead of the pack with respect to this I can only see you with a telescope.

yrs--
--Ben

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

Says the man making the game as a part of a fiction collection?