Monday, March 26, 2007

Weekly Review Mar. 18th to Mar. 24th

This week has seen further growth of discussion forums, including the Iris Network, a site for feminist-oriented gamers.

Hypnotic Immersion

Over on I Would Knife Fight a Man are two discussions about the relationship between hypnotic techniques and the process of immersion. Multiple perspectives as to the ease and safety ofhypnosis in RPGs are presented, related to the social structures and comfort levels among the group.

Power and Social Contract

Based on an essay by Gary Johnson about social contracts in RPGs and how they serve as the basis for the RPG as a shared enterprise, Elliot Wilen discusses how power structures and communication are developed within a gaming group. He also mentions the difference between power and authority in the context of RPGs , including the subordination (pretend or otherwise) to power structures - using character immersion as an example. From a different perspective, Fang Langford "disproves" the gamemaster, by showing that the power distribution of creativity in RPGs isn't generally authoritarian.

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