Affinity space 1 - An exercise in distance and frustration

Affinity:  n. 1. a spontaneous or natural liking or sympathy for someone or something.

Not how I would describe my first Affinity space meeting/get together. I think I may have underestimated RPGer's for this topic. Apologies for the late posting, I thought I already had posted this long ago and far away.

How did your participation in course activities this month contribute to your understanding of games (generally) and the relationship between games and learning?
This month was a time of trial and error and a few disappointments. The affinity space I started did not go as planned. The face to face was unfortunately a fairly typical RPG experience with a niche/non DND game experience. My love of horror games and vampire genres comes under the heading of fringe for some people and those fringe people do not always (rarely) play well with others not of their own personality/degree of dedication type. At the face to face, everything went well until a certain prospective member showed up. I am pretty non-confrontational and easy going when it comes to gaming, preferring to let the potential story unfold and to give basic parameters for players to operate within. After no more than five minutes of others' introductions, this player spent the next 12 minutes expounding on his own gaming virtues and whom he'd gamed with in the past that were veritable celebrities in this gaming genre. For those not savvy with Vampire: the Masquerade, this would be the equivalent of saying you worked with Spielberg or Cameron before they were famous. We call this gamer archetype #1. "I gamed with Gygax's brother's ex-girlfriend" type gamer. It is a gaming nightmare that is all too common and tends to discourage new players from wanting to play. On top of that, this player wanted to rewrite the story listed on the group's page into something completely different and of his own choosing. Bad form if you are not the GM/storyteller. What I learned from this was to be even more specific about LARPers and the desire to not have any and to advocate more for those that are too shy to speak up. Even good coffee wasn't enough. I'm just glad it was held in a neutral place.

What preconceptions about games, play, and learning have you changed because of your course activities so far? I am usually under the impression that when looking at new RPG people in person that they are trying to be on their best behavior. This is not always the case and I need to be more prepared for these situations. As far as learning and play, I rekindled my love of the story, learning about players, and incorporating their ideas into the experience and restored my love of character background research and choices pre-game time.

How have you relied upon networks – with peers, via social media – to advance your learning in our course? This month, I researched new ideas based on a digital version of the game I am trying to promote/participate in via the affinity space. But I am starting to remember why I only played this game with people I knew or those that friends had already vetted. 

What are your ongoing curiosities about games and learning, and how might you pursue these interests? I am still curious how others begin new groups and try to maintain meaningful discourse about the game and inspirations without it devolving into a one-up match. How do I emphasize trying something new and really pulling your own driven character research within the parameters of the story you are given into being a consistent thing? Still trying to drive this more effectively with strangers.