Category: Community

As KiwiRPG week 2023 comes to an end, our committee chair Liam Stevens writes to our community and also those from all around the world who have turned their thoughts to Kēmu Whakatau O Aotearoa this week.

Kia ora e te whanau!

KiwiRPG 2023 is coming to an end, and what a week it has been! We have seen a barrage of awesome KiwiRPG content, all across live streams, podcasts, game bundles, media etc. It has been an excellent week to be a part of and makes me so proud to sit within this community alongside you all. We truly are a community that performs at a world class level and can stand to get the world’s attention.

Full confession; I did not do a hell of a lot this KiwiRPG week. The joys of being a civil servant in election year has seen me consumed in work and work related travel to breaking point. Thankfully I needn’t have worried. KiwiRPG is greater than the sum of all of its parts, and so many of you stepped up to the plate and delivered throughout the week. The way everyone was able to come in and do their bit made everything come together smoothly and I am seeing all over the place nothing but positive responses to our collective celebration.

It’s hard to believe that our first KiwiRPG was just a year ago. And what a year! In that time we have organized, made KiwiRPG an actual thing as opposed to an idea, and have seen so many new people come into the fold. Hopefully that growth continues, and with it we see a more diverse range of voices and ideas enter the fold too.

So as the week winds down we are now planning to take time to consider how it went, what could be done better, what opportunities were missed and what should be further developed. We expect it will take several years before KiwiRPG week reaches its full potential so until then we will continue to analyze and learn from these sorts of event’s. I fully expect the community to be involved in that discussion. So get to thinking about what you think worked, what didn’t, what we could do better and what we missed out on. In Aotearoa we know you must look to the past to look forward, so let us all do that.

In the coming weeks here in Aotearoa we will be coming into Matariki, which is a time for reflection on the year that has been and planning for the year ahead. I encourage you to think back to where we were last year, a small discord group full of enthusiasm and hype to get stuck, and look at us now. Then imagine where you want us to be next year. Hold on to that thought, hold it near and dear but share it too. Dreams and aspirations work best when they see the light of day.

Lastly if there is anyone subscribed to this email who is not a part of KiwiRPG and you are wondering about joining; please do! If you live in Aotearoa, or are from here but live abroad, you are more than welcome. This is especially true of our marginalized communities but especially Tangata Whenua. This community simultaneously is about nurturing our hobby in NZ while also being Kaitiaki of the taonga of Aotearoa in the broader RPG sphere, a task that we have already had to exercise not long ago. So the more people we have, and the more diverse our membership, the lighter that load and the more well placed we are to make that happen.

If you subscribe to the mailing list and are not from here, welcome! Please stay subscribed to this mail list, as we are only getting started and it is going to get much bigger and better from here.

Ake ake ake kia kaha e!

Liam Stevens
Chair of the KiwiRPG Committee