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<blockquote data-quote="Scion of Vyshaan" data-source="post: 978114" data-attributes="member: 12120">A bit of group dynamicsBefore I get into this, let me just state that I love LARPing.&nbsp; With that said, I can say with some statistical certainty that there are more &quot;freaks&quot; in LARPs than at a table-top.&nbsp; Regardless of the definition of &quot;freaks,&quot; the effects of expanding a population will tend to increase the representation of a minority group.Follow me.&nbsp; Lets say that gamers are tennis balls, some of them red (normal people) and some of them blue (freaks).&nbsp; Only 20% of the balls are blue.&nbsp; In a starting group of ten balls, the distribution will be something like this:8 red (80%)&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 2 blue (20%)Now, lets say we want to add balls to group, with an effort to KEEP THE CURRENT RATIO (this is to represent the tendency of a group of people to resist change to the status quo).&nbsp; As long as we add to the group five balls (or ten or fifteen) at a time, we can maintain the ratio, but if we add four balls, or three balls, we are going to skew the percentage.&nbsp; In order to keep the percentage as close to the orginal as possible, it is necessary to skew the percentage towards the minority.&nbsp; Observe adding three balls:10 red (77%)&nbsp; &nbsp; 3 blue (23%) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; a change of 3 % as opposed to a change of 5% for&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 11 red ( 85%)&nbsp; &nbsp; 2 blue (15%)But now we have a problem:&nbsp; the group's population no longer mirrors the population from which it is drawn, and will continue to attempt to maintain that percentage.&nbsp; As the group now grows in more discrete increments, the shift will occur until the minority element is effectively exhausted from the original population.&nbsp;&nbsp; So, in short, if I increase the size of a group of people (assuming that the group dynamic will favor the status quo) and assuming some barriers to entry (in order to keep a discrete flow of people into the group),&nbsp; the group itself will tend to favor minority populations.&nbsp;&nbsp; This explains why LARPs, (a smaller community amongst roleplayers that develop from subsets withing the general roleplayer community) may have more unusual characters than a normal gaming group.That said, I would have to throw my two cents in and say that labelling any behavior as &quot;freakish&quot; will probably be considered offensive from people who practice that behavior.&nbsp; It will probably not reduce the the offense significantly by saying that it is merely an opinion either.&nbsp;&nbsp; Finally, as society tends to view role-players in general as &quot;freaks,&quot;&nbsp; we should be careful before we attempt thus label members of our own community</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Scion of Vyshaan, post: 978114, member: 12120"] [b]A bit of group dynamics[/b] Before I get into this, let me just state that I love LARPing. With that said, I can say with some statistical certainty that there are more "freaks" in LARPs than at a table-top. Regardless of the definition of "freaks," the effects of expanding a population will tend to increase the representation of a minority group. Follow me. Lets say that gamers are tennis balls, some of them red (normal people) and some of them blue (freaks). Only 20% of the balls are blue. In a starting group of ten balls, the distribution will be something like this: 8 red (80%) 2 blue (20%) Now, lets say we want to add balls to group, with an effort to KEEP THE CURRENT RATIO (this is to represent the tendency of a group of people to resist change to the status quo). As long as we add to the group five balls (or ten or fifteen) at a time, we can maintain the ratio, but if we add four balls, or three balls, we are going to skew the percentage. In order to keep the percentage as close to the orginal as possible, it is necessary to skew the percentage towards the minority. Observe adding three balls: 10 red (77%) 3 blue (23%) a change of 3 % as opposed to a change of 5% for 11 red ( 85%) 2 blue (15%) But now we have a problem: the group's population no longer mirrors the population from which it is drawn, and will continue to attempt to maintain that percentage. As the group now grows in more discrete increments, the shift will occur until the minority element is effectively exhausted from the original population. So, in short, if I increase the size of a group of people (assuming that the group dynamic will favor the status quo) and assuming some barriers to entry (in order to keep a discrete flow of people into the group), the group itself will tend to favor minority populations. This explains why LARPs, (a smaller community amongst roleplayers that develop from subsets withing the general roleplayer community) may have more unusual characters than a normal gaming group. That said, I would have to throw my two cents in and say that labelling any behavior as "freakish" will probably be considered offensive from people who practice that behavior. It will probably not reduce the the offense significantly by saying that it is merely an opinion either. Finally, as society tends to view role-players in general as "freaks," we should be careful before we attempt thus label members of our own community [/QUOTE]

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