People do pick it up from an official book but it's also a folk tradition, in a way that few other things are.

It's both product AND folk tradition, I suppose, and maybe that's what's different about it?

Yeah and that's the thing that I think is sort of interesting! Maybe just because it's such a new form, you do see that happen.

(Newness relevant because you're less likely to have an existing community in your area than say theater, music, etc)

And anecdotally, I think that aligns with how many people enter TTRPGs! I've heard it referred to as the "cool older cousin" model. But of course it's preferable to producers of games for their work to be accessible from the game itself.

I think that is how it generally happens, yes - people encounter/get involved with a community of practice and expand from there. Occasionally someone discovers a book about the topic or similar and starts from there, but IME that's rare.

I think another challenge is (possibly?) that RPGs require enactment and come with a whole set of only-sometimes-articulated assumptions (per the original post here). Books, movies, recorded music all exist in the world to be encountered in a way that analog RPGs don't, quite.

...because they didn't want AI users coming in to talk about it to get their feelings hurt. 🙄

Jackassery, regardless of motivation, though.

I've only ever been peripherally around that subreddit, but I think it's actually less "liking it" (though I think the mod does) and more of the AI equivalent of enlightened centrism/jackassery. Basically most of the sub was so VOCALLY anti-AI that they made a rule against that...

The inclusion of THE GREEN KNIGHT in here delights me. Wholesome Christmas tale