Terra Nova takes a gander at Seeking legitimacy among game scholars and how the scholars hope to affect future games in some way but in reality don’t affect much at all. The problem is that we tend to be marginalized from that which we study, intended to comment upon but not participate in. More scholars need to be gamers in addition to scholars. Designers need to be scholars of their fields and scholars need to understand what’s really going on in the design.

Legitimacy is important. I know some of the bits in this one resonate well with me as I often felt isolated when doing my doctoral dissertation on interactive drama (freeforms, Live Action Roleplaying Games, and the like). We’re so often talking to ourselves and our colleagues who may not be in the know seem to think we’re just playing games or pursuing frivolity rather than behaving like real scholars. Grrrr.

We seek to have a sense of legitimacy for our study, our pursuits. Coincidentally – or not – I am just now in the throes of beginning the initial stages of a new Journal of Interactive Drama which purports to seriously discuss live action roleplaying games, one of my own passions. Hmmm.

When the CFP is done, I will post it here along with the web address. It will be archived on my LARP scenario archive site which is also going to undergo a big ol’ facelift.

It’s not really so much that we feel we have to justify ourselves to designers or others it is a feeling that we want to that it’s important for us to believe that someone out there cares and is listening and that what we’re doing really does matter.