LARP
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not being a nerd on here I try to be open minded about most of the nerdy activity discussions on here. but with out doubt LARPing is one of the most pathetic infantile excuses for a hobby I have ever come across in my life. it was said in the original post that it was like games in the playground as a child. and no matter how much anyone argues for it I will never think it to be acceptable "fireball fireball, health potion!!" similarly to people who think it's okay to watch hentai.
Sir Thomas Beecham once said "You should try everything once except for incest and Morris dancing" I think it should be amended too incest and larping.
Sir Thomas Beecham once said "You should try everything once except for incest and Morris dancing" I think it should be amended too incest and larping.
First quote is wrong, it was me saying thatSeppo said:
And the second part I must disagree with. LARPers, at least in some places (like here) are a respected part of the community.
On several occasions I, and friends of mine, have been approached by people offering us jobs. Extras on TV-shows, to help out with team-building excercises and a few times to promote movies or culture weeks or whatever it's translated into. And I'm not talking about small movies or small TV-shows either.
There's also a childrens show involving LARP, called Barda, going on the second season now, I think.
So, there is hope. Maybe not in America, but there's hope. Even for LARPers.
That said, I'm quite unused to this much prejudice towards the hobby, comments like those from Zirnitra, Elgringobandito and others are foreign to me.
And that's despite the fact that we have an actual crusaders (christian and all) doing her best to have LARPers burned at the stake. She used to get a lot more spotlight in the media 10 or so years back, when she released a book and was consulted as an expert in regards to the "roleplaying murders" that was all the rage back then. Of course, it turned out that while the murderer did engage in roleplaying, that wasn't the problem, the problem was that he was a lunatic, a real whack job. She didn't really accept that.
Really, it's not that weird a hobby. Most sane people would be able to see that, but most of you here are so filled with prejudiced ideas it's no use whatever we say.
You basically asking us to meld with the internet and become one with it? DOn't know what Ultrajoe did to the place?? It's a wasteland of destruction....and pop up ads.
Are you joking? Infantile as opposed to what? Theatre? Dance? Singing? I suppose you think those are infantile too? All I can see is a group of people getting together for a little improvisational roleplay, where's the harm in that?zirnitra said:
no those are art forms different mediums for for an artist to express emotion, a concept, tell a story, or merely to entertain an audience.GothmogII said:
LARPing is a bunch of IT consultants in a forest just behind a motorway services in Shropshire with toy swords pretending they're knights to get the sense of satisfaction and success they can only get in a pretend life because they so lack it in reality. well that's my opinion of it anyway.
Uhuh...so, if you don't get any solid reward out of something, be it money, the adoration of fans, something isn't worth doing and therefore bad? Do you not think for just a moment, that you may be imagining the -worst- case scenario as occurring in all LARP events?zirnitra said:
I mean...what would you think of someone declaring most internet users as socially inept losers with no lives or any 'worthy' skills? And keep in mind, millions of people use the internet, and you -are- going to notice the idiots, they stand out. However, that still doesn't make the statement any more true than if I were to declare most sports fans drunken, loud, violet hicks with no social skills other than a bastard form of pack mentality.
I can see where your coming from that it's just another past time, with no rewards, like video games, the internet etc etc. but what LARPing is is undeniably infantile. the original poster stated it is indeed like when children play in the playground. most adults grow out of this as their minds develop and find interest in other things. so ether it's that the people who do it are man-children or as I said earlier they use it to get a feeling of satisfaction they don't get in the real world so they must resort to the realms of fantasy to get it. which is why I consider it to be bad.GothmogII said:
See, that's prejudiced. And not a reflection of reality.zirnitra said:
That's like saying all computer gamers are duplicates of the angry german kid, screaming and breaking computers and sitting inside playing all day.
You know it's not true, I know it's not true. Why is it so hard to accept that the same might be true for LARPers?
Oh, and yes, I did say it was like kids playing. It is, just like roleplaying is just like that but with stricter rules, or football is just like kids playing it with their friends.
It's the same thing, just scaled up a bit.
I've seen footage of LARPing and to be honest, it seems kind of lame. I see the potential in it, by all means, but the way it's executed is just embarrassing. It worries me when I see those players flailing padded sticks at each other with a disgusting lack of technique and efficiency, and to add to that, some of them, presumably the ones with enchanted weapons, yell out stuff like "2 magic, 2 magic" upon contact. I hope the majority of LARPers aren't like that, because if that is the case, holy shit.
Good. I still think it's just as nerdy as before, but not nearly as pathetic given this knowledge.Silver said:
FFS, what's with all the prejudice against LARPing, seriously...Have gamers learned nothing by the way gaming is always shooting ground for blame when kids goes postal and happens to have played games within their lifetime? Now we're supposed to pass judgment too?
What the fuck happened? when did this become okay? you think larping is sad or for losers? Don't you recognize those words being thrown after you? In case people have forgotten, Gaming was not exactly the popular hobby back in the day, I'm from before Gaming became "in", and my pride as a gamer would slap me senseless, if I ever were to judge another form of fantasy escapism like that.
What the fuck happened? when did this become okay? you think larping is sad or for losers? Don't you recognize those words being thrown after you? In case people have forgotten, Gaming was not exactly the popular hobby back in the day, I'm from before Gaming became "in", and my pride as a gamer would slap me senseless, if I ever were to judge another form of fantasy escapism like that.
I know you probably already know but LARPing, at least in the US, was invented in the 1980s by some people in El Paso, Texas.DannyDamage said:
Don't take people's stupidity personally. Humans are moronic narrowminded idiots with less foresight and perspective than a blind mouse.DayDark said:
No matter what they experience themselves, they will never be able to apply that to other situations or other people. Just give up, sit back and enjoy the ride. Or you'll go nuts.
Zirnitra, you're creating a false dilemma - by your account, whatever is not one of the "recognized" art forms must therefore be infantile and unworthy. But that's not true - art is very seldom an either/or situation, it's a spectrum with a number of different styles and mediums represented along its length. You're saying that formal acting is an accepted medium because it allows artists to express emotion and tell a story. I'll grant you that some people simply attend LARP to hit other people with sticks, but they tend to get bored and move on quickly - the majority stay interested in it because it allows them to play a character and participate in an ongoing story. Those characters laugh, cry, get angry and otherwise express emotions in reaction to ongoing stories. Where's the difference, exactly?
If it's a professionalism argument - "the difference is real actors get paid and you don't" - then that would also make community theatre, video blog shows, some indie films and all other forms of unpaid professional acting not count, by your logic. If it's a subject matter argument - "real actors don't pretend to be hobbits in the woods" - then Peter Jackson might argue with you. (And really, how much better is it to pretend to be Mr. Mistoffles in CATS?) If it's a "adults shouldn't pretend to be things so childish" argument, what about all the adults on children's film and television shows? Are they not acting too? That would likely be a shock to them. And anyway, childishness is dependent on the material being presented in a LARP - some LARPs have intricate storylines, political intrigue, moral dilemmas and other sophisticated scenarios, not just simplistic "save the princess and defeat the evil bad guy" plots.
In taking a death grip on Silver's post about LARP being like children playing pretend on the playground, you're missing the point - all forms of acting are essentially grown-up versions of playground pretend, not just LARP. After all, just because one actor is paid $1 million to pretend to be an elf in a movie, while another does it for free as part of a game, doesn't mean that the first is acting and the other isn't. The first is a professional, the other's an amateur, but they're both still acting. Getting paid and putting it in front of a camera or an audience doesn't suddenly transform it into "legitimate" acting; it's just different points on the spectrum.
If it's a professionalism argument - "the difference is real actors get paid and you don't" - then that would also make community theatre, video blog shows, some indie films and all other forms of unpaid professional acting not count, by your logic. If it's a subject matter argument - "real actors don't pretend to be hobbits in the woods" - then Peter Jackson might argue with you. (And really, how much better is it to pretend to be Mr. Mistoffles in CATS?) If it's a "adults shouldn't pretend to be things so childish" argument, what about all the adults on children's film and television shows? Are they not acting too? That would likely be a shock to them. And anyway, childishness is dependent on the material being presented in a LARP - some LARPs have intricate storylines, political intrigue, moral dilemmas and other sophisticated scenarios, not just simplistic "save the princess and defeat the evil bad guy" plots.
In taking a death grip on Silver's post about LARP being like children playing pretend on the playground, you're missing the point - all forms of acting are essentially grown-up versions of playground pretend, not just LARP. After all, just because one actor is paid $1 million to pretend to be an elf in a movie, while another does it for free as part of a game, doesn't mean that the first is acting and the other isn't. The first is a professional, the other's an amateur, but they're both still acting. Getting paid and putting it in front of a camera or an audience doesn't suddenly transform it into "legitimate" acting; it's just different points on the spectrum.
Its like this, the thought of running around in armor with padded swords and "gently tapping" people does not appeal to me any more than ballet, or figure skating.Wicky_42 said:
The thought of me running around asserting my dominance, and physical + mental superiority on people by giving them a clear-cut way of understanding my excellence in the activity... now that appeals to me.
There is no argument afterward about if I "cheated" because he hit me in the arm, so I can't use my arm anymore, but I did. No no no, there is a definitive, I win, you lose, scenario.
So then it's not LARPing that appeals to you, since that's so much more than just hitting people with sticks, but rather that you're looking for a tool, an outlet to help you with your insecurities and tell you that yes, you are worthy of being alive, and there are people out there that are worse off than you, by allowing you to become less than worthy of being alive and making people worse off than you since you're beating them up?
May I suggest boxing?
May I suggest boxing?
