Social Media & Role Playing Games

Dragons, & The Dungeons They Live In

This April marked the death of Dungeons & Dragons co-founder, David Lance Arneson.  It was only last year I remarked on the loss of the other, perhaps more profiled co-founder, Gary Gygox.  Rest in piece, mate.

Listening to a recent podcast by the games publisher, Wizards of the Coast, one theme consistently came up: that both Dave and Gary wanted the game to be shared and evolved. This where I think we can learn a lot about our social interactions online from role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.

Firstly, role playing games are -  at their core – a means for collaborative story telling – where it is up to the participants come together to guide the events and activities.

Secondly, an essential element to the game is multiple participants.  By bringing together a group of people it dramatically changes the dynamics of communication and discussion.  It suddenly takes a story or quest into a public space, and forms a micro-community with highly engaged participants.

And finally, role playing games, regardless about the medium (Dungeons & Dragons versus Call of Cthulhu) – or in social media’s case, the technology/platform – it’s about the people. The people sharing their passions with one another.

For the love of dice, keep rollin’.

Please note I fully understand the lack of dates that may occur since filing this post.