thread: 2005-09-02 : Meg on Ritual
On 2005-09-06, Meguey wrote:
Marco:
"I think the kind of 'safe' you are *talking* about is more like "no one really gets *real*—so it's safe"
I don't think so. The 'safe' I'm talking about is *specifically* the kind that makes it ok for people to be very 'real' in their gaming, handle messy internal personal issues and baggage, and come out with some insight. If I'm playing a character who is dealing with coming to terms with the alcoholism in hir home growing up, and I have clear Intent to push myself in this character, and can (to at least some extent) count on the game and my fellow players to support that push, great, and that's my goal.
That's a different sort of thing than if I'm in a session with a trained therapist and I'm role-playing a confrontation with my alcoholic stepfather. While I completely accept the notion of role-playing as a sort of group therapy, I also cannot be clear enough that your RPG group is probably not generally the best place attempt to process *all* your trauma. The average person just doesn't have the skills to do that. Plus, isn't part of the point of role-playing games to be fun/good for the group, and not just 'all about me'?
Marco:
"There needs to be certain things done to ensure that when someone is really the hell real in their role-playing experience it isn't a justifiable excuse for dumping on other people."
Exactly. I think having clear support of the 'I will not abandon you' type is part of that. What I mean by 'I will not abandon you' is, briefly and not completely, that there is system support, mechanical support, and interpersonal support built into the game so as to allow people to go deep in safety, without damaging others. I'm working on a more complete explanation right now.
