It’s fascinating — annnnd a little horrifying — to watch new converts to story-games come rushing in, gushing with the (justifiable) excitement they have over the games, only to hit a brick wall, face first, as soon as they stray from the topics related to the games themselves.
I suppose it’s not any different than any other specialized group that gets in new members on a regular basis who have ONLY the stated interests of that group’s charter in common with the other participants. Writing groups. Biking clubs. Quilting circles. Whatever.
But I’m not able to observe those groups, and I *am* able to observe large groups of gamers, online, and watch this sort of thing happen.
“What do you mean you voted for Obama? You wrote such a funny Actual Play post about your Primetime Adventures game session…”
“How can you be for universal health care and still claim to be a legitimate fan of 3:16?”
“You marginalize the convicts in the US prison system at the same time you claim to be all about Story Now. Hypocrite.”
United in our obsessions? Not exactly. Kind of hilarious.