Mercurius
Legend
While browsing through the preview for the 40 Years of Gen Con book I was overwhelmed by a wave of nostalgia. It wasn't for the early years of Gen Con in the late 60s, for I didn't start gaming until the early 80s and have never been to Gen Con; certainly, my early days of gaming did come to mind--and endless hours pouring over Deities & Demigods, Fiend Folio, and the Dungeon Master's Guide--but the nostalgia was more of a speculative imagination of the feeling of discovery, of newness--of being part of something at its inception, not only discovering something for the first time, but being among the first to discover it. It must have been a wonderful thing, gaming with Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in the early 70s.
Which got me thinking. What is the next big thing, not only in role-playing but in the wider sphere of what I'm calling "Imaginative Play", or the wider realm of fantasy in general? There have been many waves in role-playing, as in other aspects of the fantasy and science fiction world--influential novels, movies, miniature games, etc. But I'm talking about something more, an actual quantum leap or evolutionary jump, akin to the first fantasy novels or the early days of role-playing.
Let me back up a bit, so that what I'm pushing for is put into a clearer context. In terms of imaginative play or fantasy (in the broad sense of the word) in general, I see two basic streams or movements: One towards increased use of imagination, internally generated images, and creativity that is self-created; and one towards decreased use of imagination that relies upon external generation, whether movies, video games, etc. The former is imagination, the second simulation.
It is a spectrum, really, from simulation to imagination. A movie or video game requires less (self-generated) imagination than a book--it is more simulative; a book requires less than a role-playing game, which requires less than a personal artistic project like a story or a painting. The spectrum, again, describes the degree to which one flexes one's own imaginative muscles, how much images and ideas come from within rather than are supplied from without.
So when I ask this question, what the next big thing in imaginative play, or fantasy, is, the answer is not "It is already here: look at video games...and the next thing will simply be fuller immersion." That is going the other way, the other stream that I spoke of--that of simulation. What I am looking for is greater, or at least equal, use of self-generated imagination as RPGs.
What do you think? What could be next? And what could generate the kind of excitement and relative longevity that role-playing games have?
Considering that I am setting the criteria of more use of imagination rather than less, or at least no less than RPGs, I would think this next thing would be based in internal spaces, or "mindscapes". It could involve bringing individual visions into a common arena, one that is manifest and "visible" in some way. That sort of sounds like RPGs, but my point is that it would be more of the same but "deeper," more full-fledged, a flip-side to virtual reality--imaginative reality.
This seems related to psycho-spiritual modalities such as shamanic journeying, Jungian active imagination, and other visionary practices. But I'm getting ahead of myself--this is supposed to be about play, not spirituality. I am thinking of a movement similar to RPGs, but even more imagination-based, or more deeply so--taking it to another level, so to speak. And, perhaps, in reaction to the deepening (or shallowing, really) of simulative fantasies as experienced through movies and video games. On the other hand, I could be a terrible Romantic and role-playing games--rather than a harbinger of a deeper imaginative movement to come--are merely a dying gasp of human imaginative capacity as we get swallowed by the inevitability of virtual worlds.
Anyone have any ideas?
Which got me thinking. What is the next big thing, not only in role-playing but in the wider sphere of what I'm calling "Imaginative Play", or the wider realm of fantasy in general? There have been many waves in role-playing, as in other aspects of the fantasy and science fiction world--influential novels, movies, miniature games, etc. But I'm talking about something more, an actual quantum leap or evolutionary jump, akin to the first fantasy novels or the early days of role-playing.
Let me back up a bit, so that what I'm pushing for is put into a clearer context. In terms of imaginative play or fantasy (in the broad sense of the word) in general, I see two basic streams or movements: One towards increased use of imagination, internally generated images, and creativity that is self-created; and one towards decreased use of imagination that relies upon external generation, whether movies, video games, etc. The former is imagination, the second simulation.
It is a spectrum, really, from simulation to imagination. A movie or video game requires less (self-generated) imagination than a book--it is more simulative; a book requires less than a role-playing game, which requires less than a personal artistic project like a story or a painting. The spectrum, again, describes the degree to which one flexes one's own imaginative muscles, how much images and ideas come from within rather than are supplied from without.
So when I ask this question, what the next big thing in imaginative play, or fantasy, is, the answer is not "It is already here: look at video games...and the next thing will simply be fuller immersion." That is going the other way, the other stream that I spoke of--that of simulation. What I am looking for is greater, or at least equal, use of self-generated imagination as RPGs.
What do you think? What could be next? And what could generate the kind of excitement and relative longevity that role-playing games have?
Considering that I am setting the criteria of more use of imagination rather than less, or at least no less than RPGs, I would think this next thing would be based in internal spaces, or "mindscapes". It could involve bringing individual visions into a common arena, one that is manifest and "visible" in some way. That sort of sounds like RPGs, but my point is that it would be more of the same but "deeper," more full-fledged, a flip-side to virtual reality--imaginative reality.
This seems related to psycho-spiritual modalities such as shamanic journeying, Jungian active imagination, and other visionary practices. But I'm getting ahead of myself--this is supposed to be about play, not spirituality. I am thinking of a movement similar to RPGs, but even more imagination-based, or more deeply so--taking it to another level, so to speak. And, perhaps, in reaction to the deepening (or shallowing, really) of simulative fantasies as experienced through movies and video games. On the other hand, I could be a terrible Romantic and role-playing games--rather than a harbinger of a deeper imaginative movement to come--are merely a dying gasp of human imaginative capacity as we get swallowed by the inevitability of virtual worlds.
Anyone have any ideas?
