Professor Mike Sell (English Department) was recently featured in a New York Times article on the persistent popularity of role-playing games, even in the current pandemic.
Role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons figure fundamentally in Sell's teaching and scholarship on video game narrative. As an instructor of undergraduate and graduate English courses that feature them, and as the leader of the Digital Storygame project, now in its seventh year, Sell regularly involves students in playing and designing RPGs as a way to immerse them in the essentials of game play at the heart of its critical study.
The article, "Escape Your Reality with Role-playing Games" by Alexis Soloski, which appeared in the New York Times on March 7, points out that games like D&D, played online these days in virtual venues like Zoom due to the pandemic, provide players with compelling social experiences, even at a distance. That comes as no surprise to Sell, who says, as quoted by Soloski, "The ability to get together with friends and put on a show, that's a pretty amazing experience."