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Post by AxeMental on Aug 23, 2005 6:26:12 GMT -5
I realize that many of the classic games first runs, proto-types, like Monopoly, Risk etc. are already on display (Smithsonian, private museums etc.), but has anyone ever seen or heard of a museum that focuses on the collection of RPG material. I'm surprised that some curator someplace didn't grab all the RPG material that was left and stick it in storage if for nothing else. Perhaps at some point they could display it in a single room for fans to enjoy. Considering the crap thats on display (sometimes literally) I don't think this is unrealistic.
Instead this stuff is getting split up and sent all over the freakin' place. It's sad really, considering the impact the game has had on computer and video games, and it's influences in other unrelated fields. The very fact that D&D was the world's first game were you pretended to be someone in a controlled setting should seem important enough to someone to stick it all in one place.
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Post by Stonegiant on Aug 23, 2005 9:32:42 GMT -5
I believe if you do a google search for roleplaying museum there is such a site. They haven't built a physical structure yet but they do have a web presence.  |
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Post by rogattny on Aug 23, 2005 9:47:43 GMT -5
rdushay.home.mindspring.com/Museum/Index.htmlI don't know if this is a couple of guys in their basement or a 'real' museum. Their "award winning building" sure looks like a garage to me. Anyway, their essays on the products are nice, even if they are a bit... um... ambivalent about D&D. R.A.
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Post by cleaverthepit on Aug 23, 2005 13:25:44 GMT -5
Yes there is a plan to start a museum. Frank Mentzer and others have been talking about for some time. Several gentlemen in Chicago have been accumulating original art, manuscripts and other materials for the collection.
Frank and I have talked about it though not at length (I come from a archaeology/museum background). We are going to pool resources and contacts in order try to get the process to move along quicker than it is (which could still mean years).
Never-the-less, the initial idea is, I believe, a repository of sorts at first. That being more or less a place for storage of as much orginal or rare items as possible. This place would properly store and restore any items. This is exceedingly expensive.
The next would be to make items open for lending to other museums and then open to the public from one central local.
I hope that through some of my contacts and friends I can get ahold of 'pop culture' anthropologists to do research and/or add their particular expertise to the endevour. All this would help bring attention to a pop culture phenonmena that has swept the nation but still remains underneath the cultural radar.
As this idea develops we will move it into the public arena to let fans know what is going on. It could be some time though.
I think we can all agree that a central repository for all this material, that is open to the public would be nice (despite our various differences).
davis chenault
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Post by foster1941 on Aug 23, 2005 13:50:58 GMT -5
An rpg museum like this, that documented the history and development of the rpg hobby/phenomenon, would be interesting, as long as it wasn't blatantly biased and agenda-driven with the curator giving his personal views on what are and are not "good" and "important" games -- like that ridiculous site RA posted the link to above. ...and as long as they didn't include any of that C&C junk!  |
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Post by foster1941 on Aug 23, 2005 14:09:18 GMT -5
For anyone who's curious, more info from Frank Mentzer ("ExTSR") about the planned museum of gaming here |
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Post by cleaverthepit on Aug 23, 2005 14:23:35 GMT -5
The best museums try to remain neutral in presentation. Often they fail. Very often. Check out 'Theorizing Museums' if you would like to get into the crux of the matter. The best Museum I have ever been to in the entire world (out of perhaps 200 museums) is the Holocaust Museum in DC. At the end of the run it allows the viewer to reach their own conclusions. My idea is to get a pop culture person to do the anthropological side of the work (preferably one who does not game) to avoid bias. But we will see how it all comes out. Now, I could go on all day and night about museums (I generally detest the things) but need not do so as not a wee bit of bitterness at my colleagues in 'the field' might rear its ugly head. Yet presentatioin is a problem, and what information is to be conveyed and how it is to be conveyed is also an issue. and I see no reason C&C would be in a museum of this nature. OK maybe in a bookstore |
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Post by Thoth Amon on Aug 23, 2005 14:29:21 GMT -5
Obviously not an English background.... |
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Post by AxeMental on Aug 23, 2005 14:37:09 GMT -5
Yeah, no C&C junk! I'm sure you already thought of this, but it might be possible to get a grant to collect, store, referb. etc. My God the crap that gets funded, why not this? It wouldn't be hard to make the case for cultural importance. NPR ran a 10 minute or so segment on the origin of D&D last spring (anniversary?). So, if people still remember it enough for NPR to do a segment on it, I'd bet such a proposal wouldn't be laughed into the trash can. What location would be the best suited? |
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Post by rogattny on Aug 23, 2005 15:07:54 GMT -5
What location would be the best suited? Lake Geneva, WI would probably be most appropriate for obvious reasons. Other possibilities: Decatur, IL (home of Judges Guild) Bloomington, IL (home of GDW) Minneapolis, MN (Dave Arneson, M.A.R. Barker among others) Chicago, IL (home to more gaming companies and game creators than I can count at the moment) Note the Mid-Western-ness. Ron Edwards of the Forge refers to a Madison, WI to Springfield, IL "gamers' belt" as the area where the hobby really grew up. R.A. |
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Post by foster1941 on Aug 23, 2005 15:18:16 GMT -5
LG seems like the obvious choice, but is perhaps too D&D/TSR-centric for a museum intended to cover the entire hobby/phenomenon in as non-biased a manner as possible. Chicago is probably a good "neutral" location, or maybe Milwaukee (which I imagine is still feeling a little sting from losing GenCon). Definitely someplace in the Midwest, though. Or how about my mom's house in Evansville, IN? I'm sure she wouldn't mind sharing the place... |
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Post by AxeMental on Aug 23, 2005 15:34:57 GMT -5
Chicago might have a museum already willing to give it a perm. collection and room.
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Post by rogattny on Aug 23, 2005 16:50:27 GMT -5
Chicago might have a museum already willing to give it a perm. collection and room. Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry has shown a willingness to host pop-culture exhibits. They had a hip-hop exhibit recently, for example. R.A. |
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