In the old days, back when it all began, people had a thing called imagination. Then came the age of televised propaganda. As technology developed so did society, so too did culture. Gradually over generations The Imagination was whittled away by faster and more portable digital dopamine hits until those blessed with it became regarded social lepers.
The only entertainment people have become capable of accepting is the same endlessly regurgitated routines which televised propaganda has deemed safe for their enjoyment. Anything outside of this is branded as potentially dangerous. It is shunned for being too weird.
Back when it all began the people who enjoyed roleplaying games were deemed too weird for the general culture but they did it anyway. Now thanks to televised propaganda having finally absorbed the roleplaying hobby into mainstream after only half a century, what was too weird for the older generations is now considered acceptable.
Unfortunately in 2023 those who are considered too weird for the new older generations are still considered too weird, are still shunned.
This is why you have heard of the outdated, clunky and mechanical monstrosity which is D&D but have not heard of sleeker post-modern equivalents made by indie hobbyists who do not dominate the corporate marketplace and cultural sphere.
Simultaneously the dumbing down of society means anything too different from the acceptable normalisation process of televised propaganda is regarded as irrelevant at best and at worst it is socially acceptable to scorn it.
In the eighties was Satanic Panic over D&D 1st edition. That discrimination and prejudice has not gone away. It still targets the same demographic; those blessed with imagination and with intelligence to see through the restrictions of The Machine State. Outside-the-box free-thinkers which televised propaganda frequently casts into hero roles are in real life persecuted for being too different to accept.
I’m not endorsing any morally-dubious extremist groups latching onto recent social movements in attempt to normalise themselves, such as has happened with the now-emerged LGBT movement which universally and rightly shuns TRIGGER WARNING the P word.
I am simply talking directly about The Imagination and its role and impact in our lives.
For us it was therapeutic, coming-to-terms with whatever within us vs pressures from society beyond us. Finding a place to fit our emotions and express self-discovery into a world often unfathomable in its coercion conforming us all to apparently insane and contradictory delusions nevertheless accepted as normality.
It used to be that roleplaying games were a safe-zone to explore taboo topics such as emotions and those considered anti-social by the televised propaganda machine such as originality. It used to be a fertile place to encourage and develop The Imagination for all involved.
Now it’s not. Now the copyright owners who did not invent the concept of freeform storytelling which our prehistoric ancestors enjoyed for free while gathered around a campfire beneath the stars, have become cultural gatekeepers for what you do in your own house.
Now people resonate with written texts created by machines, which have passed corporate safety tests to avoid being sued for endorsing the wrong thing.
What people do not resonate with is humans blessed with intelligence and imagination. Genuine creatives.
Back in the day, we would create and encourage genuine creativity around the tabletop in groups of developing friendship circles. It was fun.
A GamesMaster would make up the story as he went along, using the players suggestions to bounce from. Railroading players into pre-created adventures was considered a mistake of mindless amateurs. Sometimes we did not even use dice.
It was not ever about funding the fledgling rpg industry, which is now one of the largest growth industries in the western hemisphere after fast food and military weapons.
We could argue that consumer communications devices has stagnated in its development at this time and that voice-activated AI will soon replace it all.
Will there be AI storytelling GamesMasters?
Yes there will.
Will we pay a premium for doing what we used to do for free?
Yes we will.
Will we consider ourselves doing it the right way because of that?
Yes we will.
Will we have as much fun doing it that way?
Arguable.
Will we be developing human skills doing it that way?
No. We won’t.
Is Imagination still a valid thing for human consciousness, evolution and culture?
Fuck Yes.
Yes it is and more than ever.
“Imagination is not imaginary.” Samuel Liddel MacGregor Mathers, founder of the Order of the Golden Dawn (pre-Crowley).