In conjunction with DiGRA 2014, we will be offering a summit for the discussion of all things role playing. The RPG summit’s call for papers is separate from that of the main conference, and has later deadlines. You still have time to submit!
For decades role playing games (RPGs) have been an active part of education, military and business simulation and, of course, entertainment. They exist within a variety of genres and utilize a wide variety of media. The focus of this conference will to enhance and expand the conversations that are already active in forums such as the DiGRA RP SIG, RP conventions like Knutpunkt, Gen Con and Intercon, and in academic conferences such as the Living Games Conference and the Games, Learning and Society Conference.
DiGRA 2014 will be held in Salt Lake City, and is hosted by the University of Utah’s Entertainment Arts & Engineering (EAE) program. The RPG Summit will be occurring in parallel with the conference, and will bring together international RPG experts. Want to get involved? You can sign up for DiGRA right now. If you are interested in presenting at the conference, the RPG Summit has its very own submission process for papers, workshops, and games. Use the form below for submissions.
We will be planning a night of role play Sunday August 3 and paper and workshop presentations throughout the conference. If you want to participate in Sunday night games, expect an email with more details and an invitation arriving early in the summer. If we have sufficient interest, we may expand our RPG offerings to other nights of the conference as well.
Presentation formats (deadline for all formats 5/16, response 6/1):
Abstracts are due quite soon! We apologize for the quick turnaround, but we need to give time for those presenting to be notified before DiGRA 2014′s early registration deadline. Submissiosn are short, so please
Papers: We are accepting 400-word abstracts for conference papers. The abstracts will be peer reviewed by RPG scholars and decisions will be posted on June 1. Papers could be on the theory or production of role playing games. Papers backed by research-driven data are always preferred, though exceptional pure research or practice-driven papers will be considered as well. Although we are looking toward the commonalities among role play experiences, it is expected that many of the papers will be focused within one of the genres of RP. Sample papers topics may include issues of design, production, community development, interaction, engagement, character, world, theme, differences between genres and forms, the boundaries and implementation of rules and mechanics, as well as experiences creating role play for learning, for good, and for profit. We will be particularly interested in papers that open up ground for collaborative discussion.
Workshops: Focusing on the techniques of role play, workshops will provide opportunities to learn new forms and methods of role play, and to enhance participant’s ability with familiar techniques. Workshop abstracts will should be more than 400 words and should identify the content of the workshop, the method of organizing activities within it, and the desired outcomes for participants. Workshops will be peer reviewed by RPG scholars and decision will be posted on 6/1.
Role Playing Events: We are looking for a few games to run on Sunday evening, August 3, the first day of the conference. Those who wish to run games should present their game in 400 word descriptions which include the type of game (ARG, tabletop, live action, or other), space requirements, game length, number of participants (not including the gamemasters), and a description of the game that tells potential participants what kind of experience they will have playing the game. RPG events will not be peer reviewed. The summit staff will work with potential gamemasters to find a diverse pool of experiences that work within the constraints of the conference. Decisions about official role playing events included in the program will be posted on 6/1.
Submissions can be sent to immersivelit@gmail.com or through a form on the RPG summit announcement (http://www.davidsimkins.org/Playground/rpg-summit/).
We are looking forward to your proposals, and to the event itself!
David Simkins, RPG Summit Chair