LARP

[Silver]

Okay, so I was asked about it in another thread, but it seemed as if it would be a bit too off-topic to answer there. Especially as my rants usually get pretty long. I haven't seen any other threads about the subject, so this can be kept as a general purpose LARP thread, to share experiences or compare the different forms of LARPing in the world. The scandinavian version of LARPing is pretty unique, compared to the English, American and German style that seem more common. The Russian style is also quite interesting, though I'd argue it's closer to Reenactement that actualy LARPing.

I am so confused by that LARP thing. It sounds like a cross between a How To Host A Murder party and lunchtime at primary school.

I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with both of the things you use in the first paragraph. How to host a murder party seems to be a mystery game, but I'm not sure how that would figure in. Lunchtime at primary school needs explaining too, I must admit that I don't know what years primary school is, or what you mean by lunchtime. I could hazard a guess at it being small children running around playing make-belief, and if that's the case then yes, that's exactly what LARPing is. Except proffesionally and with firmer rules.

Well, in more depth, LARPing is to experience another culture. Another life. (At least here in Sweden) A lot of focus lies on creating a belieavable illusion. To create a lifelike scenario, to live as the people of a medieval village (or whatever else the scenario is). You take on the role of another person, as in theatre or a roleplaying game (with a lot more focus on role than usual), you live as that role completely, you talk as that role, you act as that role, you interact with other people as that role, and you live and die as that role. Everything else, and everyone else is also keeping this illusion alive. Houses are built, clothing, weapons, beds are all things that would exist in the scenario. If it's a medieval world people live in pavillions, in wooden houses, etc. Food is cooked over and open fire, and all modern things, electricity, chocolate, mobile phones are banned.

I could keep ranting, but hopefully you've gotten the idea by now. There's a lot of interesting reading on wikipedia on the subject, or you can just ask and I'll clarify.

Now I guess this is enough for a first post. If no one says anything I'll give it one more shot and write some more and if that doesn't work weep a little and realise not everyone is as passionate about this as I am. Perhaps other people don't need to run away from their lives so completely, or can't shake the image of the abomination that is American LARPs... Character sheets. Bah.

 

[Asday]

I've wanted to get into LARPing for quite a while now. Living in the UK, I think my choices are limited a little, but hey.

What did you mean, in the other thread, by "awful american and german"? What makes it bad?

 

[DannyDamage]

I've been larping a few times and it IS fun.......until some fool runs over to you and tells you're not allowed to smile because you should be in character and you would smile when about to be attacked by monsters.

But yeah, it's fun as long as people go to have fun. Some people take it too seriously, love the power that comes with it and should really just finally give in and go pay for sex - Busting your cherry will probably make you feel a lot better about yourself and you don't have to run around quoting the rules 24/7.

 

[curlycrouton]

What on Earth is LARPing? Eh?

 

[Rednog]

What on Earth is LARPing? Eh?

Live Action Role Play.

 

[curlycrouton]

What on Earth is LARPing? Eh?

Live Action Role Play.

Ah, well it sounds alright enough. Yeah, sounds alright I suppose. I don't quite see what the problem is here.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

The only LARP groups in Calgary are lame Vampire ones.

 

[blackcherry]

What on Earth is LARPing? Eh?

Live Action Role Play.

As it sounds. In the UK that means far people dressing up as wizards and warriors and hitting each other with fake weapons.

I've wanted to get into LARPing for quite a while now. Living in the UK, I think my choices are limited a little, but hey.

What did you mean, in the other thread, by "awful american and german"? What makes it bad?

May just be the area I live in, but there is a lot going on. Try searches for 'Mayfest' and 'Augfest'

 

[DannyDamage]

Forgive me, is LARPing basically WoW just real?

Lol. Yes, it was invented 5 years ago because of Warcraft. No one had thought of it before then.

 

[Seppo]

[This response is directed mostly at Silver's original post.]

Your post reminds me of a famous (and perhaps apocryphal) conversation between a young Robert DeNiro and an older and wiser Sir Laurence Olivier. The two acting legends met at an awards ceremony, and DeNiro was simply starstruck by Olivier's presence, so much so that he started gushing about how much he had prepared for his latest role (Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver"). Supposedly it went something like this:

Olivier: [paternal] What was it like preparing for that?
DeNiro: [ranting] It was crazy. I lived on the streets for a week. I didn't eat regular meals for a month. I lost almost eighty pounds. I started shaving with a broken razor. I went to the [Veteran's Administration] hospital and sat with the really crazy guys, the ones who just babble all day long, until I started babbling like that too. I didn't sleep for days, so I started seeing things. It was a nightmare ride, man.
Olivier: [taken aback] My dear boy, have you tried ACTING?

In other words, while I totally respect your position about immersion, truth is that there is no "superior" way to LARP - there's just the way you like, and perhaps just as importantly, the way that works for the game setting. I'm all for as much immersion as possible when I play fantasy LARP - I don't want our warrior stopping combat to answer his cell phone, or hear people talking about their grades or their WoW alts while my friends and I are discussing the latest dire turn of events in the game world. Foam/latex/"boffer" weapons are innately a bit silly, I'll grant you, but since the alternatives are real weapons (yikes!) or resolving things with dice or cards or something (yawn), I'll trade a little bit of nonreality for fast, intense combat.

At the same time, though, I'm perfectly willing to sacrifice some immersion when the alternatives are needlessly dangerous, overly time-consuming, or just plain silly. For example, my friends and I play an Aliens-style space marine LARP that involves running around in the woods with guns, shooting horrifying alien monsters. I know some similar games that use paintball for this, and I can't necessarily argue with it, but we decided on using Nerf/Airsoft/water guns and other harmless weapons for our game, for the following reasons: 1) We wanted to avoid having to wear safety gear all the time; 2) Even with safety gear, we didn't think the potential for game-stopping injuries was worth the increase in "realism" (if you can call shooting balls of paint at people "realistic" when it's supposed to represent high-caliber, mass-detonating armor piercing bullets); 3) Buying paintball gear would make the game too expensive for some of our friends who didn't already own it, and we wanted them to play. You can argue that we were too cautious, and I could see some merit in that I guess, but we enjoy the game and if there are complaints, they are few and not about the choice in weaponry.

And sometimes there's simply convenience. Total immersion is wonderful, but often time-consuming and involved to set up. Sometimes it's just a group of friends hanging out who decide they want to play a game for a few hours, and so we LARP. This is especially common with White Wolf's stable of MET games, because they work so well in the modern world. Depending on the game, we can even go out in public and play with no one the wiser, and without having to spend a tremendous amount of time propping up an illusion. It exists in our minds and in our interactions with each other, and that's good enough (hence the name Mind's Eye Theatre, I suppose). Naturally we can get more involved if we like - we've done grand changeling revels, werewolf moots around the fire, etc. - but we don't need to in order to play, and I like that a lot. It's not better or worse than your preferred style of play - just different.

If someone isn't into LARP, that's cool. Whether it's RPS, cards, boffer weapons or whatever else is involved, it's definitely not for everyone! One thing I hate about some LARPers is that they get really snooty and superior, like LARPing was a religious calling and not just a fun, goofy hobby like most everything else gamers do. If you are into LARP, well, let us all LARP in the ways we enjoy, and leave it at that.

 

[Berethond]

Forgive me, is LARPing basically WoW just real?

Lol. Yes, it was invented 5 years ago because of Warcraft. No one had thought of it before then.

No, they've been around forever. In Norway they have a huge one, except they use real weapons.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Sounds a bit like the Harry Potter party in the Movie Yes Man starring Jim Carrey.

 

[Seppo]

Since it seems to be a little confused here, let me offer the simplest explanation of what LARP is and what it isn't.

LARP always involves...
- Players take on the role of a character and act as they feel that character would.
- There is a controlling authority, such as a Gamemaster, or in large games, a staff of them.
- There are specific rules for resolving social conflicts, supernatural powers, fights, etc.
- Costumes, props, makeup and other theatrical elements are encouraged, if not required.

LARP can involve...
- Boffer/latex/foam weapons. With a few exceptions, this is generally only found in high fantasy, sword & sorcery LARP games that use campgrounds or other large spaces to recreate a fantasy or medieval world. On the other hand, White Wolf's MET games, set in the modern time, specifically forbid players carrying weapons of any kind, even fake ones.
- Character sheets, dice, playing cards or other means of tracking character stats and resolving conflicts. Just like regular old tabletop gaming, games need a way to decide the outcome when the players can't agree on what happens, though the ways they do this are as different as the games themselves. Not all games carry these sorts of things around, though. Some work on an honor system and require players to carry nothing at all.
- Total immersion. In these games, players are expected to be in-character at all times, and to not "break character" (stop acting as their chosen persona) unless confronted with an injury, personal crisis or other dire out-of-game emergency. This is done to maintain the illusion of the game world as vigorously as possible, and to avoid having real-world intrusions that break the mood. Not all LARPs are like this; many reserve a "reality room" where players can go and take a break from playing while the game is still running, or employ hand signs or certain phrases to indicate that a player is acting/speaking out of character.

LARP is not...
- Cosplay/Dressing up at conventions, whether it's as Inuyasha, Harry Potter, Goku, Klingons, Imperial storm troopers or what have you. Putting on a costume might be a good start to prepping for a LARP, but unless that person is part of a game with specific rules, plot threads and narrative controls, it's just fun dress-up for the people involved.
- Furries/plushies/etc. Are they playing characters? I guess. Are there rules? Yes, but those are social standards for their subculture, not game-style conflict resolution rules. Again, wearing a costume does not mean it's LARP.
- Murder Mystery Theatre. Again, people take on the roles of characters and work through a story, but they generally don't have the freedom to explore any/all possible options that a real LARP involves - they're stuck following one specific plot to one predetermined conclusion. Fun? It can be, and it's real close to LARP, but it's not truly there yet.

It's kinda incomplete, but I hope that helps.

 

[Iampringles]

It does sound rather interesting.

If not slightly eccentric.

 

[Easykill]

There WAS one of these threads, once... But I don't think you need to worry, cause I was pretty new then. I'm neutral.

 

[Seppo]

Now, to be fair, do we we REALLY want to start a "looks stupid" fight among a geek-slanted community? I mean, you're right, I'll be the first to admit that LARP looks prety dumb from the outside, but so does playing tabletop games, MMO raiding, slapping down CCG cards, moving miniatures around a board, fiddling with keyboards/console controllers for hours and other geek-type activities. Sin, first stones, all that.

 

[rottenbutter]

I once saw a documentary on this (I think it was called Darkon), and it seemed a bit... pathetic.

But, to each his own, I guess.

 

[Seppo]

Darkon was a pretty good depiction of the fantasy style boffer LARP. (Some of the scenes actually captured the energy that makes good boffer fighting fun, silly-looking or not.) What I liked about it was that the director didn't editorialize - they simply let the players talk, and if that made them seem pathetic, well, that's on the player, not the director. No doubt, some of those people scared *ME*, and I've been doing this for years and I'm about as sympathetic an audience as you could hope for. The way some of them use the game as an escape from lives they obviously need to spend more time on is kinda sad - gaming is escapism, sure, but when your real life is totally in the toilet, put down the ears and the bean bags and do something about it. The game will still be there when you get back.