Welcome to Wynwerod — Playing to Play, an international discussion space focused on reflecting on the activity of roleplaying—beyond any label or kind of game—and helping each other engage with it authentically and maximise our enjoyment of this particular form of expression.

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Wynwerod is an Old English word that means “merry band”, in reference to a wandering troupe of musicians. I’m referencing the metaphor popularised by Ron Edwards of the system as musical instruments, and of the play group as sort of a jazz band, with play as folk art for mutual enjoyment of the players—rather than a highly produced or rehearsed piece for an audience. I hope it gives a good impression of the values that I want to impart on this place.

Regarding internationalism—you should feel comfortable posting here even if you’re unsure about your proficiency with English. In fact, there is no assumption that English has to be the language of your discussion, and North American users should also be aware that their default cultural assumptions are not automatically valid.

The way that I (@Froggy) plan to manage this space is rather unorthodox, but it’s based on my successful experience in managing the similar Italian-language forum La Locanda dei GDR (The Inn of RPGs).

If you have any expectations over how a discussions forum is supposed to be managed, erase them now. Shortly, you can expect active and present intervention in almost all discussion, while maintaining an ongoing public feedback loop with the users. I will read everything, and post when I think I can help make discussion more productive. I also expect users to self-moderate after they get the hang of the tenor of discussion that I want to encourage.

Three things will appear immediately obvious to anyone checking out how I work:

  • This place doesn’t have rules and never will. On almost all forums, rules are applied arbitrarily. The result is that the enforcement of rules is actually the result of a personal relationship between user and staff. I prefer not to hide behind rules and committees and flaunt false objectivity – when you post here, you interact with me directly.

  • Almost all decisions and discussions regarding forum organization and moderation actions are made in public and are subject to user comments and criticism – in fact, I am fallible and I will need and expect your feedback. In the rare occasion in which I’ll need for circumstantial reasons to keep a discussion private, I’ll post a summary later, anonymizing people’s names and identifiable details.

  • I frequently and arbitrarily make use of soft powers, while trying to avoid hard powers such as suspensions or permanent closures that have a high social cost (which sadly are sometimes necessary). With soft powers I mean tagging, slow mode, temporarily closing threads, splitting them, merging them, changing their titles, moving them to different categories, and in some cases hiding them from the feed on the main page.

In the absence of strict rules, the equivalent primer for this place is our agenda, guidelines and manifesto.

  • The agenda expresses the main goals of this space. Generally, what furthers them is welcome and encouraged, adjacent activities that don’t hinder them are allowed, and whatever hinders them or puts them second to the personal goals of the users is frowned upon.

  • The guidelines identify a set of basic behaviors that all users should have to keep discussions productive. They are explicitly defined vaguely, and are applied more or less narrowly depending on context, need, and the complexity and seriousness of the discussion.

  • The manifesto explains my values to help you understand how I reason and manage the place, and with what rationale I apply the soft powers mentioned above. You don’t have to agree with all its points to participate, but if you strongly disagree with it, chances are you will not fit in here.

The whole thing is designed so that the most important information is presented first. Reading only the agenda is enough to understand the purpose of this space. Reading the guidelines helps to understand the approach to discussion that I expect from users. Reading the manifesto is an insight into how I think.

Agenda

The goals of Wynwerod — Playing to Play are:

  • Reflect on and analyse our own role-playing activity, to improve as players, engage authentically, and maximise our enjoyment and sense of purpose.
  • Act as an international cultural crossroads for role-players of any background or nationality.
  • Archive interesting material, or valuable conversations made on more ephemeral platforms.
  • Promote the making of games and play material, with the understanding that games can only get better as a by-product of great play.
  • Discuss to find out what others have to say.

Whatever is not listed above is not a goal of this space. Attempts to influence the space towards other goals, overtly or covertly, are unwelcome.

Guidelines

Don’t promote extreme ideologies

I don’t need to make the usual list. Authoritarian, murderous, or terrorist ideologies of any color—you know what they are. Don’t do it, even ironically or as a joke.

Also, this forum is located in Germany, so don’t get me in trouble with German authorities.

Dialogue, don’t debate

One of the goals of the forum is to show real differences in experience and opinion among users. The result I expect is a dialogue that leads to greater mutual understanding.

Don’t use discussions as fights or debates where you show your opinions to the audience to decide who is right, nor as a platform to propagandise your ideas.

When you express criticism or disagreement:

  • Try to contribute something new to the discussion, and improve it instead of making it worse.
  • Make it clear whether you are challenging the accuracy of what you are responding to, or presenting an alternative view of your own.

When someone criticizes you or expresses disagreement, review what you wrote:

  • If it’s mistaken, or needs revision, own up to it.
  • If the disagreement seems productive, take the conversation in the right direction.
  • If you’re not sure what they mean or how it relates, say so nicely enough so they try again.
  • If they’re taking it in a bad direction, then notify me by flagging the post and let me handle it.

Once each side has clarified their positions, it’s no longer necessary to try to convince each other. Let the views stand as they are.

Credit where credit is due: this section is heavily inspired by the Adept Play posting guidelines.

Communicate assertively

Be assertive and clear in your communication. Avoid passive-aggressive behavior, and also sarcasm when it is likely to cause misunderstanding. The more thorny the discussion, the less appropriate it is to make use of humor, irony, rhetoric, or sarcasm.

Report problems you see proactively using the flag icon on each post.

Stay on topic

Respect the theme of the forum, categories and discussions.

A few things are explicitly banned:

  • Discussion of community drama, celebrity adulation, or how the RPG community outside this forum is to be shaped.
  • Consumerist hype regarding new product releases—as opposed to sober and informative news.
  • Soapboxing on religion and current politics in a way that doesn’t address or reference play—your play reports on Stonewall 1969 or Dogs in the Vineyard are welcome.

If you feel the need to do any of these, there are plenty of other places where they’re allowed or encouraged.

Don’t play status games

Don’t appeal to your status or notoriety, accumulated here or elsewhere. We are only interested here in your experience as a player, and it’s as valid as anyone else’s, regardless of whether you’re a famous author, a theorist, an academic, an influencer, or simply a highly respected person within a subculture.

Don’t engage in social politicking—i.e. use your contributions here to attempt to garner status and influence, or to push some agenda different from the site’s.

Keep your language simple

Always try to express yourself using language that is as common and simple as possible to make the forum accessible. In some cases, you will need to use abstract concepts and use uncommon words to refer to something: whenever you do, consider whether you can express the same concept in simpler language. When you can’t, make it clear what you mean by the words you use.

Role-playing jargon used outside this forum is not considered common language. It is itself fraught with confusion and misunderstanding. We don’t “all know what it means”. Don’t assume others know what you mean when you say things like immersion, sandbox, roleplaying, incoherent, story games, traditional, osr, neotrad, investigative scenario, story oriented – and others.

Don’t try to develop a standardised jargon related to this forum. Attempts to do so, whether from the standpoint of inside-jokes and banter or new technical jargon, are frowned upon. You’re free to express yourself as you choose, but you’re also responsible for explaining yourself and making yourself understood.

Read charitably

If you are unsure of another user’s intentions, always try to read their posts in the most positive light that you can.

In case you feel that a user is abusing your charitableness and acting in bad faith, continue to act as above and flag the post.

Respect others’ privacy and presented identity

There are many reasons why a user might chose to present themselves on the forum in a certain way, none of which are your business. Address users how they present themselves in their profile. Don’t reference other personal information of that user without their permission.

Don’t be an asshole

It’s commendable to have passion for a topic, but don’t forget to watch your temper. If it’s possible to express the same ideas by moderating your language, do so. Keep the conversation civil and on topic.

Discourtesy towards people is not allowed. You can be as colourful, profane, nonconformist, or idiosyncratic as you want with your language, as long as that’s not directed towards people.

If there are problems, it’s not considered an issue of tone to point them out, if done in a direct, clear and assertive manner. Tone policing is not allowed as a counter-argument.

Manifesto

The manifesto is currently being drafted and will be posted soon.