Troupe Berkeley

The mission of troupe_berkeley is to try out different games with different people.

Maybe you’ve got a certain game on your shelf that you’ve always wanted to play, but you can’t find anybody to play it with. Or you’ve heard of some game that sounds cool, you want to try it out, but you’re not sure the people you know will give it a shot.

Troupe_Berkeley is for you!

The three things that are most important for troupe_berkeley’s mission:

• Recruiting
• Focus
• Inclusiveness

Recruiting
We need enough people in our network so that anyone who wants to game can find other people with similar interests and compatible geography and schedule. However, we don’t want to form a “monoculture” centered on a single game, or create a sense of a “core group of insiders”, or disparate groups that never really mix. To keep things fluid and encourage a culture of experimentation, when you recruit for the group you should actively seek out people who are interested in trying out a variety of games. Also, make sure your recruits know the goals of the group. Pointing them to this mission statement is a good idea; we’ll be sure to include a pointer as part of our welcome-to-the-list message.

We can also foster a culture of experimentation by encouraging one-shots and short-run games as opposed to open-ended campaigns. In fact, think of this group as an “ongoing mini-convention”, with each game sort of like an “event”. The idea is to give people a chance to try out different games. Or even if they’re playing a game they know already, they can mix things up by playing with different people. Social activities on the periphery of RPG playing, such as board and card games, also fit into the “ongoing mini-con” concept.

Focus
To keep the groups' focus, and to avoid a monoculture or a sense of "insiders and outsiders", we should keep the list from being dominated by discussion of any ongoing game. Once a game gets going, discussion should be moved to a sub-group off the troupe_berkeley hierarchy.

One issue that has come up is whether troupe_berkeley is an "indie gaming group". The simple answer is, not really. Some of us might like to use the group to set up some seriously old-school gaming. The experimental focus of the group, however, means that there will be a strong interest in small press games, new games, and games that “break the mold.” Like all other games they are welcome here.

Inclusiveness
We want to cultivate the sense that people who are interested in the group’s mission are welcome and their participation is encouraged. Among the ways that we can accomplish this:

• Encourage new members to give personal introductions when they join up. (People should at least make their real names known in an intro or their email settings.)
• Get people to talk about their games, describe cool moments from their game sessions, post amusing quotes, and bring up ideas about mechanics and gameplay.
• Treat your fellow list-members as colleagues. Try not to give offense. Give other people the benefit of the doubt even if they say something that irritates you. If you need to sort something out with someone, take it to one-on-one email as soon as possible.
• Don’t rag on games. Talk about what you like about games and what you don’t, but try to keep it positive and explorative. “Game X is a piece of crap” isn’t going to fly. Try, "Here’s where I have trouble with Game X: Reason A. Reason B. Reason C.” That way, people can give advice on how to play the game that addresses those problems or gives insight into the type of play the game works well with. Or they can suggest another game that you’d like, based on your A, B, & C. However, bear in mind that the group isn’t a place for discussing the merits and drawbacks of any game in the abstract. Keep it grounded in the game’s relationship to your tastes and/or to actual play experiences. (I.e. “I had THIS problem playing THIS game” is better than “THIS game has THIS problem.”)

One other thing--basically about jargon: I prefer to avoid it, especially if the concepts behind it are contentious or incomplete. In any case, please try to go the extra mile in understanding what people mean, regardless of how they say it. If you really don't understand what someone means, ask them to rephrase. Otherwise, please give people the benefit of the doubt.

last updated 1 year ago # edit history