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DQPA article by John Rauchert as first published in the DQN v5n03
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THE DRAGONQUEST PLAYERS ASSOCIATION UPDATE
-- John Rauchert <john.rauchert@sait.ab.ca>
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The Mission of the DragonQuest Players Association (DQPA) is to actively promote the playing of the DragonQuest Roleplaying Game. This simple statement masks a huge amount of activity that needs to take place around it.
As a past, sometime contributor to the DragonQuest Newsletter, I am always struck by the sense of wonder that a RPG that has been largely out of print since the early 80’s could survive and thrive on the Internet, through the work of individuals that truly love this game.
The idea of DQPA began as a chance posting to the DragonQuest Forum at WebRPG (http://townhall.webrpg.com/index.phtml?groupid=59. I had noticed that many of us were undertaking projects in isolation, sometimes repeating work already done. So I commented that we should form an Association. However, I blame Ax'l Adams (AKA John Carcutt) for the original inspiration for DQPA.
The most commonly asked question I get is "what are the benefits of joining DQPA"? Right now, it is more of a case of "ask not what your association can do for you; ask what you can do for your association". Still. if I was going to answer this question, I would have to say that the main benefit you derive from the DQPA is helping ensure that the players of DragonQuest around the world are able to play this game for many years to come.
It is NOT the intention of DQPA to replace the good work of individuals taking place right now. I personally wouldn't want to take over the running of DQN! What DQPA brings to the table is an international group of members that are willing to help with these good efforts and the ability to promote the results to a worldwide audience through our web site. As well, acting as a single voice the players of DragonQuest will now be able to lobby in a collective manner for DQ.
As of this article our membership is 62 members from over 7 countries around the world. I am particularly surprised and happy to see the response that we have gotten from non-English speaking countries, such as Argentina, Italy, and Sweden.
Some of the activities that the Association is pursuing are: setting up a web site to act as a central point for people to come to find out about DragonQuest Activity on the Internet; developing a promotion strategy for the DQPA and DQ in general; and finalizing the Association structure and operation.
We have just registered a domain name dragonquest.org, but currently our web site is hosted by John Carcutt at http://www.carcutt.com/dqpa where you can read our draft charter and sign up for membership.
Membership is FREE. All expenses of the Association have currently been covered through member donations. So there is really no reason not to sign up!
-- John F. Rauchert
Acting President DragonQuest Players Association
