Thesis Journal #1
As I start writing my thesis, I've been reflecting on a few different things. First, what it took to get me to this point. Second, everything that has happened in the Dungeons and Dragons community, both good and bad.
These past four years have felt like a lifetime (cliche, right?). However, my point still stands. As I think back to when I was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freshman exploring the wonders and freedom that college had to offer. I thought that I had everything figured out, but boy was I wrong.
I've had a lot of lows, falls, stumbles and other mistakes that I made the first two years of my college career. It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I even knew what I wanted to do with my life. Now that I've nearly finished college, I've taken a lot of classes. None of them had the word 'journalism' in it, but I'm not entirely sure what difference that would have made.
During my trips to England and Washington D.C., I've learned a lot about the world, for better and for worse. I was able to experience the results of the 2016 Presidential Election while abroad and was able to speak to people outside of the U.S. about how they felt about the results. While in D.C., I was able to work in a news station, which led to writing about the Valentine's Day school shooting in Parkland, Florida. I was also able to attend the March for Our Lives rally, where thousands of people from all across the country came together to speak out against gun violence and to advocate for gun safety.
A lot of eyes have been pointed towards the Tabletop Role-Playing Game (TTRPG) community in the past few weeks. First, a prominent member of the said community: a streamer, play-tester, artist, etc. was outed for inappropriate behavior. Apparently, there was also controversy surrounding the response from some of the lead members of Wizards of the Coast, the producers of Dungeons and Dragons. Overall, it proved that no industry is safe from those who choose to abuse their power.
There has also been some good that showed the camaraderie and togetherness of the same community. Critical Role, the most well-known actual play Dungeons and Dragons game, which gained its fame through the streaming service Twitch, and eventually found its way onto YouTube, recently achieved an astounding milestone. Just last week, they started a project on Kickstarter, a service that provides content creators to ask for funding from the public, offering tiers and rewards based on how much one chooses to donate to the project. The group of players that play in Critical Role started a project in the form of a short, 22-minute animation that would visualize their campaign. In just over a week, they have raised over eight million dollars. Their short film has now expanded into a mini-series, as a thank you to a large number of contributions from their fans, known as 'Critters,' that flooded in so quickly. In response to this, on Twitter, Critical Role reached out to its fans, using this opportunity to focus on less-known creators, and smaller production companies making their own content.
This was a good sign of the type of community that I have chosen to be a part of. Knowing that there is such a supportive community, on both sides, proves that I'm working to be a part of something that works to do good for the public.
These past four years have felt like a lifetime (cliche, right?). However, my point still stands. As I think back to when I was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freshman exploring the wonders and freedom that college had to offer. I thought that I had everything figured out, but boy was I wrong.
I've had a lot of lows, falls, stumbles and other mistakes that I made the first two years of my college career. It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I even knew what I wanted to do with my life. Now that I've nearly finished college, I've taken a lot of classes. None of them had the word 'journalism' in it, but I'm not entirely sure what difference that would have made.
During my trips to England and Washington D.C., I've learned a lot about the world, for better and for worse. I was able to experience the results of the 2016 Presidential Election while abroad and was able to speak to people outside of the U.S. about how they felt about the results. While in D.C., I was able to work in a news station, which led to writing about the Valentine's Day school shooting in Parkland, Florida. I was also able to attend the March for Our Lives rally, where thousands of people from all across the country came together to speak out against gun violence and to advocate for gun safety.
A lot of eyes have been pointed towards the Tabletop Role-Playing Game (TTRPG) community in the past few weeks. First, a prominent member of the said community: a streamer, play-tester, artist, etc. was outed for inappropriate behavior. Apparently, there was also controversy surrounding the response from some of the lead members of Wizards of the Coast, the producers of Dungeons and Dragons. Overall, it proved that no industry is safe from those who choose to abuse their power.
There has also been some good that showed the camaraderie and togetherness of the same community. Critical Role, the most well-known actual play Dungeons and Dragons game, which gained its fame through the streaming service Twitch, and eventually found its way onto YouTube, recently achieved an astounding milestone. Just last week, they started a project on Kickstarter, a service that provides content creators to ask for funding from the public, offering tiers and rewards based on how much one chooses to donate to the project. The group of players that play in Critical Role started a project in the form of a short, 22-minute animation that would visualize their campaign. In just over a week, they have raised over eight million dollars. Their short film has now expanded into a mini-series, as a thank you to a large number of contributions from their fans, known as 'Critters,' that flooded in so quickly. In response to this, on Twitter, Critical Role reached out to its fans, using this opportunity to focus on less-known creators, and smaller production companies making their own content.
This was a good sign of the type of community that I have chosen to be a part of. Knowing that there is such a supportive community, on both sides, proves that I'm working to be a part of something that works to do good for the public.
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