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36. It Takes a Village
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276 36 It Takes a Village Games do not exist in a vacuum. If there are fans of games, then those fans will create communities and support networks to not only stay in touch, but further the game or keep an eye on the company that produces the game. The following are some of the more unique communities when it comes to those who love playing games. 1. WIZARDS OF THE COAST COMMUNITY With over a quarter-million members, the official Wizards of the Coast Community site for all of the games produced by Wizards is arguably the largest area of support and fandom for their games. This area of the Wizards of the Coast website has it all. Numerous blogs, a photo and video section where members can upload almost anything (and leave comments) is just a portion of the whole. The area also features a “groups” section where members can sign up for updates on news and events within the game and group. In many respects, this is a social media site targeted specifically toward fans and players of D&D. Players can create a group for their current adventuring campaign and run the details in a way similar to sites like Obsidian Portal (also listed in this chapter). If you play another Wizards of the Coast game, you can use your group’s wiki feature It Takes a Village 277 to document house rules or other changes you’ve made to the rules. The site also features a chat function for fans to hang out and discuss. It’s rounded out by their own message board system, allowing even more interaction between players , fans, and members of the Wizards of the Coast staff. 2. RPGNET One of the oldest gaming websites, RPGnet has been around since 1996. A destination for almost every gamer at one point or another, the site covers board, role-playing, and video games. Home to numerous articles and advice columns , plenty of game reviews, and news releases, RPGnet serves as a very large one-stop shop. The site’s biggest draw are the message boards. Hosting over 13 million posts from more than 86,000 members, the boards cover all subjects related to games and gaming, and even some nongaming discussions, as gamers do tend to have lives beyond the gaming table. As these boards are often frequented by members of the industry, discussions on breaking into the business and finding work can also be found. The message boards on RPGnet has also become a popular place for debate about various games, with the developers of the games often becoming part of the discussion. For many years, the forums area had a reputation for being a place where rants, name-calling, and other nasty back-andforth between members would occur. These days, stricter moderation has toned down most of the rhetoric, allowing for more constructive discussions. 3. EN WORLD One of the largest changes to occur to the Dungeons & Dragons brand was the announcement of a third edition of the rules in 1999. For the largest and most popular game to undergo what was believed to be a radical transformation of the rules was nerve wracking for some and interesting for [100.24.20.141] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 17:38 GMT) 278 Games’ Most Wanted™ most. Numerous rumor websites appeared during that time, but Eric Noah’s Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News became the de facto leader in rumors and news on the upcoming changes to the rules. A year after the rules release, Noah stepped down and the site’s focus shifted from D&D to include other games and supplements that used the d20 rules (the rule system of the new version). This expanded the audience and scope of the site dramatically. The site is filled with content for both players and game masters. A paid subscriber option grants access to older pieces and even more exclusive content for players and game masters to use in their games. With over 132,000 registered members, the site’s influence and clout are hard to deny. To showcase that, the ENnie awards were launched in 2001 and have become a signature part of the Gen Con gaming convention. The awards originally covered d20-based products but have since expanded to encompass all games, supplements, and peripheral enterprises. 4. OBSIDIAN PORTAL In the early days of campaign design, GMs would compile all their notes and thoughts into a notebook. These were often random or unorganized scribbles where details on...