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This web site is dedicated to the research of the role playing games (RPG) subculture, which is a project conducted by a group of students of anthropology, ethnology and sociology from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Zagreb, Croatia.

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Although the subcultural groups are, as the word itself says, minority groups, they are sociologically and anthropologically extremely interesting, none the less for the increasing importance the subcultural belonging gains as one of the determinants of the contemporary (postmodern) identity.

It is commonly held that we live in the age in which family and neighbourhood are losing the importance they once had as the primary determinants of individuals' social identities. However, their place does not remain vacant; the role of "determinants" is now taken over by our choices. The contemporary technologies have significantly decreased the limitations of space, and we are much more capable of choosing the community to which we want to belong. Of course, this does not mean that there are no structural limitations anymore (conversely, they still influence our choices to a great extent), but they are not everything there is. Voluntary communities to which we choose to belong are the new sources of individual's social identity to the extent to which they respond to our need for group belonging and to which they are able to replace the primary intimacy links we no longer find in a sufficient amount within family or neighbourhood.

The relevancy of subcultures is in their role as one of the creators of new "guidelines". The social scientists have been interested in subcultures since the 1920's, when they were studied by sociologists of the Chicago School (although, at that time the concept "subculture" was not yet used). Today, for their greatest visibility, most subculture theorists are dealing with music and similar subcultures.

However, by this research we want to pay attention to a very specific, although publicly less visible subculture: the subculture of the role-playing games (RPG) players. These are people who dedicate a sustainable amount of time and energy to a game, which is among general public rather marginal, thus transforming it to a rather important aspect of their lives. In the process, they create complex social networks which go beyond the game itself, and often satisfy some social and emotional needs of actors.