Okay I'm going to break this down because I don't think it's been understood what I mean when I say "The TTRPG space isn't a community."

You might be part of a community of TTRPG people. I might be a part of a community of TTRPG people. We might know each other. We might be in the same community.

The communities we're in exist inside of and adjacent to the TTRPG space. That space is not a community. It's space.

A lot of people pretend it's a community, and it's sometimes a useful elision to say "the TTRPG community" when talking about the people we care about.

But the communities I'm in are not the same ones as the communities inhabited by everybody else.

The TTRPG space includes some people I like but don't agree with. It includes some people with problematic dead angles and enormous followings.

It also includes some abusers. People who probably should be in prison, if justice worked that way.

They're all in the space.

The problem with this space is that if someone reveals themselves to be an abuser, we can't just force them out of it. We can't stop them making or playing games.

And truthfully, it's a good thing that we don't have that actual power. Because no one should have that power, really.

But we need to be able to protect ourselves, and our communities.

By calling it a community, we give tacit membership to the people who would not be welcome in any of the communities we inhabit, membership that we have no ability to revoke. Calling it a community leaves abusers with the credibility to continue abusing people.

So don't call it a community. Instead, look at the spaces you choose to inhabit, the online and physical communities of people you know you can trust, that have rules of behavior, that have people who can stand up and kick the abusers out.

Look at whether or not you have the ability to leave a space if it becomes toxic for you, without losing the ability to keep making games if that's what you want to do.

The TTRPG space is not a community. And it shouldn't be one.

(This thread is okay to retweet if you find it helpful, but don't feel pressured)