The Metaphysical Meanderings and Whimsical Wanderings of Sagredo the Sage
When you talk with other people who do not play or do not know about role-playing games, what do you think about your hobby? What terms do you use to describe an RPG to a potentially disinterested non-gamer? When parents and friends ask what it is you do when you spend several hours playing a game, what do you tell them? Are you embarrassed? Flustered? Defensive? Why?
Wargamers have long faced confusion and animosity from those who do not play their games. They have suffered from barbs such as "warmonger" or "psychotic" or "barbarian". Others have difficulty understanding why the gamers enjoy the game. They see the replay of historical battles in a macabre way.
And yet, it seems the wargaming community enjoys a greater degree of tolerance than the RPG world. Wargaming conventions meet with little or no press animosity. Newspapers do not print stories admonishing a wargame for causing some small child's death. The hobby is blithely ignored, by and large, and flourishes in an environment that is wholly apathetic. Quite the opposite is true in the case of RPGs, however. Stories in the paper about D&D run with almost monthly regularity. Television attacks the foundations of the game on a national level. And some members of the Protestant clergy have gone so far as to label fantasy gaming a "crisis". What is the source of this tremendous discrepancy?
I think perhaps we view ourselves in too harsh a light. I think many of us feel some shame, some undefinable guilt, for practicing our art. We find it hard to encourage others to participate lest they later treat us with derision. Adding a new gamer to an existing group becomes an act whose intimacy is almost sexual. We feel awkward when the newcomer joins in. Our styles change subtly -- become more muted. We feel as if there are guests in our home who are tolerated, but not quite welcome, strangers. Yet if we feel this way about our own practices, is it any wonder that the rest of society sees us as aberrant -- or even dangerous?
It has been said that role-playing is more of an art than a game. A piece of "interactive fiction" in which the players are the suthors of the story. It certainly feels like much more than a game when we play, and this forms the basis for the unique appeal of RPGs. But because of this, we must be open and vulnerable when we play. We must be as actors on a stage. The "shame" and discomfort we associate with RPGs is that of performing in front of a crowd. The actor is disturbed when he thinks about the audience.
When you are next asked to talk about your campaign, think about your feelings. Do not try to hide behind conventional or technical descriptions of the game -- show the world your enthusiasm. Make those around you understand that role-playing is unlike any other kind of recreation. Show them the beauty and accomplishment that comes from the creativity one must demonstrate during play. Perhaps in this way, we may all feel more pride in our hobby -- and perhaps too we may earn the respect of those in society who do not yet understand.
(Sagredo the Sage was a nom de plume of Tony Valle.)
(Originally appeared in Re:Quests!, issue 16B, October 1988, p. 1; Mary H Kelly, editor.)
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