RPG Evolution: The Coming Social Collapse

The trend of letting social media platforms manage engagement for gaming communities is coming to an end. What's replacing it?

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Picture courtesy of State of Create

The "State of Create 2025" report, published by ConvertKit, offers a valuable snapshot of the evolving creator economy, revealing both the challenges and opportunities facing content creators today. For tabletop role-playing game creators, these shifts have profound implications, demanding a renewed focus on community building, direct fan engagement, and strategic diversification.

It All Falls Apart​

We're going through an unprecedented change as social media platforms who have long dominated discourse are beginning to collapse:

The major platforms are going through a lot right now. TikTok is fighting with Washington, YouTube and Instagram are fighting to win back attention from TikTok, X-née-Twitter is fighting to keep advertisers. And yet, unexpectedly, all of this volatility has actually helped creators by encouraging them to turn toward more stable, direct-to-fan revenue streams like subscriptions and sales of digital goods.

The report highlights the dominance of algorithm-driven "For You" pages on social media platforms. While these algorithms can offer creators a pathway to wider exposure, they make creators vulnerable to their whims. The "broad but shallow" approach to fandom becomes the default. Indie game creators, like their counterparts in other creative fields, often find themselves chasing fleeting trends, pressured to create short-form video content, constantly at the mercy of shifting algorithmic priorities. This makes it incredibly challenging to cultivate a stable audience base. The emphasis on engagement metrics over genuine connection can lead to creator burnout and a feeling disconnected rom the very communities they seek to serve.

From Broad to Deep​

In stark contrast to the algorithmic rollercoaster, the report underscores the growing importance of direct-to-fan relationships. This is in line with the Thousand Fan Theory, which states that rather than trying to engage a large audiences, creators are better served building a loyal following of 1,000 superfans.

It's becoming increasingly clear that cultivating a smaller, highly engaged community of superfans is far more valuable than a vast, but passive, following on social media (how many of these massive accounts ask questions of their fan base on social media and get no answer?). Dedicated fans, on the other hand, directly purchase products and act as passionate advocates for the creator's work. This deep connection empowers creators to build sustainable business models that are less dependent on the whims of platform algorithms. It's a shift away from the "broad" approach to fandom and towards a "deep" approach.

This "deep" approach is where focused online spaces become critical. Message boards like EN World offer a dedicated space for in-depth discussions, feedback, and community building. Similarly, platforms like Patreon provide a direct avenue for creators to offer exclusive content, behind-the-scenes glimpses into their creative process, and even opportunities for playtesting and direct input from their most dedicated supporters. Emerging platforms like Bluesky, with their emphasis on community ownership and control, offer another potential avenue for creators to build tighter, more engaged communities. These platforms allow for deeper engagement than the fleeting interactions on mainstream social media, which is increasingly seems to not be worth the effort.

What to Do About It​

The report also emphasizes the critical need for diversification. TTRPG creators can no longer rely solely on the sales of core rulebooks. A wide of revenue streams helps, including digital supplements, miniatures, merchandise, streaming content, and even organized play programs. Furthermore, they must be willing to experiment with new platforms, formats, and engagement strategies.
  • Embrace the Direct-to-Fan Model: TTRPG creators can build strong relationships with their fans by offering exclusive content, such as digital products, physical products, or access to private communities. This can help to generate more stable income and foster a sense of belonging among fans. Crowdfunding tools like Kickstarter and Patreon are all a path forward here.
  • Focus on Community: Building an engaged community is essential for long-term success. TTRPG creators can create opportunities for fans to interact with each other, such as online forums, Discord servers, or in-person events. This helps foster a loyal fan base. My experience with Bluesky has proven that the community is very receptive to discussing and supporting creative content, including RPGs.
  • Leverage Social Media Platforms Strategically: While the "For You" page can be challenging, social media platforms can still be valuable tools for reaching potential fans. I stopped paying for Facebook ads to drive traffic to my page and instead shifted those dollars to Buffer, which allows me to schedule posts out throughout the year on multiple platforms.
It's becoming clear that just "grinding it out" to grow a fanbase is no longer a viable option as the bigger social media platforms have given up on rewarding content creators in favor of monetizing their platforms with dollars from much larger brands.

Conclusion​

In some ways, the State of Create confirms what those of us who have been struggling on social media have always suspected: things are getting worse. By embracing the direct-to-fan model, building strong communities, and leveraging social media strategically, TTRPG creators at least have a path forward. The "For You" page might be fleeting, but a loyal fanbase -- unlike social media -- is forever.
 

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Michael Tresca

Michael Tresca

In re Forums...
I think they were for maybe a decade after Internet had become broadly available, but before Facebook really took off and smartphones became a general - so roughly late 90s/early 00s until early 10s. But if you weren't exposed to forums in that time span, it became increasingly unlikely that you would consider them relevant. Which coincides with a lot of later GenX and early GenY people hanging around in the forums.

Plus, as @VHawkwinter and @aiouh mentioned, there was/is also both technical and social barriers to forum use (I have a few more thoughts in this regard, but I'll have to postpone that until tomorrow).
Back in the dial-in BBS days (mid 80s to late 90s), most BBSs were single line or dual line (plus console access), served from the home, and the popular software was discussion boards that looked not too different from modern BBS internet, save for being all monospaced font text - sometimes with colors.

vBulletin and XenForo are modern implementations with graphics and nicely tuned stylesheets, but the basic forums functionality goes back 40+ years.

Chat based "BBS" systems (Galacticom being the big local-hosting one in the 90's) were usually 8-16 line, pay for access.

National level BBS/Email systems were early 80s onward: Compuserve Information Service (CIS or CI$), GEnie, later AOL added internet connectivity in the early 90's - CIS was routing into Fidonet, and Fidonet was connected to ARPANet/DARPANet.

Internet BBSs go back to about 1990... but you had to use Telnet, not HTTP. Many of the 90's were actually on FidoNet, and you could dial in directly, or take your chances getting the needed real time upconnect for telnet, but either way, the experience was similar once connected.

UseNet goes back to the 1980's... and still is going, but the portals now seem to want to get paid. I started on UseNet in 1989 through non-live portals at my uni... especially alt.rec.frp.misc. It's not so easily used, but some BBSs in the dialup boards were likewise just a singular board without individual forums within. (Imagine the kind of content of just TTRPG-General here, but all the posts in one big thread, by time they hit the system.

EMail Lists were (and still are) single-forum stream, with threads ID'd by title and reply-to fields. I was on several in 1989, as well.

The nicest thing about 90's BBSing was the .QWK "Quick Packet" - you'd log into the BBS, upload any replies/new posts you made since last packet, download your subscribed forums new content, and get off line. Repeat daily, or if time essential, later that day.

BBSs have been a backbone (pun intended) of online communications since the late 80's. Email lists similarly.

I'll note that a bunch of dialup BBSs from the 90s were relaunched from archives in the 2000's and 2010s as telnet login systems. (IIRC, WWIVnet added internet connectivity in about 1997; Galacticom in about 1991 as an experimental capability.)
 

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Reddit is only good for asking simple questions. It’s utter lack of moderation and longevity makes it worse than even discord for tracking a discussion. Also, it’s like people are paid to crap post as frequently as possible there. It’s near chaos all the time.
Moderation is 100% on the sub reddit owners and most of the smaller ones are very well run. As for longevity I can still find posts from 10 years ago so not sure thats a problem.
 



This is my main issue with discord, if its popular and busy its pretty much unusable unless you live on it 24-7.
Yeap, ive noticed that. If it wasnt for video and voice id probably not work with it. Though, the low rate of ads and intrusive nonsense that a lot of social media has is a bonus for Discord.
 





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