This evening and yesterday evening, I spent quite a bit of time preparing an informational website to help GenCon attendees engage with Games on Demand.
At this point, there is more work to do. Most of work is in other peoples hands.
I still have to write some procedures. And complete a few technical chores (eg Cross-referencing games and times). So of course I’m writing this blog post.
I do all of this because I am passionate about gaming.
Gaming has strengthened and enriched many of my friendships and created an opening for many more.
Tabletop gaming is a powerful social activity with a dose of mental calisthenics. Powerful in that I am sitting around a table interacting with other people in a shared imagined space. Returning to the land of make-believe, where as I child I would delve. It is a place of learning, exploration, and creativity.
I can both game and metagame because I am fortunate. My resources are abundant:
- Spare time
- Education
- Adequate Income
I dwell in the upper echelons of Maslow’s hierarchy and relative to the world, the upper echelons of income and wealth.
So I do what I can to help ease the barriers of other people participating in this grand hobby of mine. Which has meant that I have had the privilege of interacting with a lot of people.
And I do my best to interact with each person as a unique individual. For the most part the people have been more similar than different – See: Not all that diverse.
So I am wondering how I can step beyond being a cheerleader to being an evangelist – To help show lots of different people why tabletop Role Playing Games (RPGs 📖) are awesome. To bring them into the larger community and help them find their group.
I want to increase diversity in tabletop gaming. People with baggage, privileges, and challenges so different from mine. I want creations in the larger gaming community that make me smile, think, empathize, and squirm.
I don’t need the larger gaming community to be comfortable nor echoing through a like-minded room. Because in this diversity, I can grow and see what this grand hobby of mine can do for me.