Eric Martindale, the man who is the genius behind Roleplay Gateway, is ever one to promote the advancement of the online RolePlaying community, and it seems his next venture will be very interesting.

The RolePlay Academy is the brainchild, in truth, of Eric Martindale, Zhelir Darkfall and myself, and it has grown in potential in the year and a half or so since its inception. The basis of the RPA was to help assist those that either wanted, or needed, help in RolePlay. Whether it be in creating storylines, characters, or simply being able to write more proficiently.

It was in a rush of largely illiterate RolePlayers new to RolePlay Gateway that we sat and decided to build the RPA, in order to maintain the quality of RolePlaying on the site. And, when it has been active, in those taking part in lessons, improvement has been evident. Lessons, to begin with, were on a one-to-one basis, with each tutor having one or several students, and tasks would be given to help the student to grow in whatever area/s they needed growth.

Whilst I took original charge over the RPA, some other people must be noted as also taking that mantle. Azmodai2 was my initial successor, followed by Edge, and finally Vexar, though it seems that, at the moment, Eric has taken responsibility over the RPA.

From its humble beginnings as a simple sub-forum on the Gateway site (Which actually still exists), RPA now holds its own domain and website. And though it started out as a forum based site, essentially an extension of the sub-forum it started as, changes are under place that seem to be kept under wraps and rather secretive.

Perhaps, given this fact, I am no longer eligible to claim foundership, however, I think that is of no real import. The amazing thing about the idea of an RPA is that there is not much like it out there. Sure, sites may well have the occasional little section where people can 'practice' or learn. But the RPA is an entire site now, dedicated solely to the betterment of RPers. Knowledge that was so often kept among the 'higher ranks' of the RP world now is being shared, and it can only be good.

Given the level of illiteracy that abounds on the internet among the generalised demographic of those who RolePlay, between 14 and 20, one can only see such a school as beneficial. And that is very much how it was designed, to be a school, though now, who can tell how it is going to work, save for those directly involved.

The RPA website itself gives no hint as to how things are now going to work. Though, the RPA Contact Page does give a small hint when it says: "Contact the authors soon. They’re not ready for you yet." Or, at least, it could be construed as a hint. Authors? I take that very much that the RPA could become an article based reference site. In which case, you do then have to wonder if it will run like a wiki, where everyone and anyone is able to post articles, or if just a select few will be able.

One thing, however, is for sure, whatever Eric is doing, it will certainly be beneficial to the RP community as a whole, and will be utilising technology and software that is of the highest standards. I, for one, will be eagerly awaiting the opening of this new, revamped RPA.

And I would highly recommend that anyone who is interest in RP subscribes to the RPA RSS feed, so as to keep up to date on events as they transpire.