I’ve been RPing for past fifteen years. Six RP in-game guilds across four different franchises, two LARP communities and about hundred session altogether in DnD, Savage Worlds and STA. Not much, some will say, and they will probably be right. The most formidable task was accumulation, searching and understanding “the tribal knowledge” or the community lore. What happened when, how do events from 2415 reflect on events in 2419, of if some miniscule detail in the Battle of Axial Park had a deeper meaning than what the official lore had in mind or if the Aetheryte Crystals can be further weaponised.
If you only skim through Reddit, you might see the argument that this “tribal knowledge” is what turns folks away from joining any RP group. On the other hand, you also might see the argument that this same “tribal knowledge” is what keeps people anchored to some a RP community. They have invested time and immersed themselves. It would be a sense of loss to just abandon all that hard work and commitment. And I kinda fell in line with those two opposite ends of the same argument: Is “tribal knowledge” a condition to join, engage and stay in a given RP community?
Well, something happened at the end of July, beginning of August this year 2425(2025). Perhaps I did not pay sufficient attention before that, but it looks like as if, in that period, a critical mass of “something”/“someones” was reached. L’Vor had a few sporadic run-ins with Lakara and Tohi earlier and then we were suddenly pulled into The Dovarnis Initiative and The Whisper of Xylos. Now, we are Among The Stars and Shining Among them, while having a Tour of Duty and KDF Bar Trek. All these events, one-shot or episode arc-ish, have gathered more people than events in some rich-lore guilds.
And maybe that’s the thing - as I mentioned it a few times in Discord channel - perhaps the reason why this works is because of its decentralisation. We don’t have to dig through forums. We can drop in on some event (ofc, being aware of storyline is always helpful, but it’s not like you have to read a library of books to catch up on current events).
All that said, a big thanks to all GMs for organising mind-tingling events. And fellow RPers for attending. Looking forward to seeing more. 😃
And, of course, thanks to Brex for providing us with this general, unconstrained platform.
