3. Course of the Day
10.15-10.20 Welcome Introductions
10.20-10.35 RPG Studies Handbook: What, Why, How?
10.35-11.15 Mapping the possibility space
11.15-11.30 Next steps
4. 4
4
Introductions in 30 Seconds
• Use this template:
• “Hi, I’m First name Last name and I’m current
main occupation. My ideal RPG studies handbook
would be: a comparison for RPGs.”
• Correct: “Hi, I’m Sebastian Deterding and I’m a visiting
professor at RIT in Rochester, NY. My ideal RPG studies
handbook would be: a Cambridge Handbook for RPG
research.”
• Incorrect: “Hi, I’m Jose Zagal and let me tell you about
my favorite character…she’s a level 23 dwarf paladin…
and this one time the party was…”
5. 5
5
Why are we here?
To create the definitive
handbook for RPG studies
(yay!)
6. 6
6
Why care?
• Influence of RPGs is pervasive in games ( media
culture), but little appreciated
• RPG theory practice hold rich, unfulfilled promise for
game studies writ large
• Key texts and concepts of RPG research are scattered
across communities and media
• Consolidated handbook would give RPG studies (more)
visibility, coherence, impact in game studies
7. 7
7
What do we envision?
• Reference handbook quality coverage of key concepts,
issues in RPG research, 10+ years shelf live
• Integrative: multi-media (LARP, tabletop, …), multi-
authored, multi-national
• Review consolidation, no original research
• Broad appeal and relevance, beyond “by RPG scholars
for RPG scholars”
• English
• Affordable (max 50 US$)
8. 8
8
What is still unclear?
• Primary audience: Scholars, undergrad students, a
combination, …
• Form: Encyclopedia, handbook, reader, a
combination, ...
• Length and style of entries
• Publisher: First contacts with Pearson, MIT Press, but
open for more
• Actual contents authors
• Add your dimension here …
9. 9
9
Why are we here together today?
• Broadening scope: We all have partial expertise
• Increasing robustness: We all have perspectives
• Manpower: We all have busy schedules
10. 10
10
What you can expect of us
• Commitment and momentum: We‘re in this for real
• Openness and transparency: We want to make the best
possible book, and we can only do so with you
• Decisions: We don‘t want a “book by committee“ – and
neither do you, we guess :)
11. 11
11
Goals for today?
• Plausibility check: Is this worth pursuing?
• Develop shared broad vision of the parameters (what
not to do)
• High-level map of the possibility space (what we could
do)
• Initial signal of commitment by you
• Ideally, agreement on a basic model/gestalt for the
handbook
12. 12
12
Mapping the possibility space
1. We collect volumes we consider possible prototypes
for the book on post-ist: 1 post-it/volume, give
reasons why
2. We map the important dimensions and values along
which the book may vary: audience, format, ...
3. We map (clusters of) prototypes on these dimensions
4. We discuss pros and cons of the different values
• Ideally, we arrive at a strong shared preference for
each dimension
13. 13
13
Next steps
• Setup shared google doc with results (JS)
• Setup shared minigroup.com for tasks (JS)
• Get feedback on results from people who couldn’t
attend (JS)
• Decide on basic model of handbook (JS)
• Commit to role in handbook (all)
• Distribute questionnaire on topics (all)
• Draft final TOC w/ chapter authors (all)
• Draft prospectus for publishers (all)
