LARPing?

Re: Re: a different answer

Umbran said:

Come on. You, who engage in a hobby that has public image problems should know a lot better than to have that reaction.

Your points about calling people Norms and Straights are well-taken. My bad.

I consider myself very well-informed about LARPing. I did it all through my youth from age 5 until age 12 or so. And we played "Killer" in high school. You know, "playing pretend?" But since then I've been at Conventions (well, only one actually, a small one, and the only one...but that's another story) where you had to jump out of the way of the live-action Paranoia players running hither and yon in their get-ups.

Umbran said:

On the whole, they are no less weird than other gamers.

Correct. But they are also ten times more weird than other gamers.
 

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I wub nero. It's one thing to play a dual-axe wielding barbarian in D&D. It's another to go out there with two "nerf" axes and try mixing it up with a pole-arm wielding woman and a two handed swordsman at the same time.

Adrenaline.
 

I wub nero.
Thread hijacking, for a moment:
How did your guy come out, under the new rules set? Get to buy any of the new warrior skills?

And what does your group think of the new Earth spell list?
(We couldn't *believe* that they ended up with the only Light spell, or that the rules guys decided Chaos Storm was a good idea.)
 

I AM an old LARP'er (No scissor stone) and I can say with a deap insight view that some few LARP'er are below social average intellingence.

Most are just out enjoying nature or going to a party while trying to have a good time. But then there are those few exceptions that stand out so you don't know whether to laugh or cry.

The trick is only to play LARP with people you would enjoy also being around when you are not roleplaying. And just have a ....relaxing cosy time.
 

New rules set again? I haven't been back for a good while (wife and kids and Kung Fu San Soo) and didn't know they'd switched the rules set.

The last upgrade worked out well enough for me though. And in general I tend to have so few magical items that it's more a physical matter and me having fun than actual rules. Baddies keep calling "Phased" or "Reduced" at me and I keep going. Let's the big dogs get in pot shots of 20 magic per swing. :)

Fear the ankle-biting axeman! :)
 

Re: Re: Re: a different answer

Tom Cashel said:
I consider myself very well-informed about LARPing. I did it all through my youth from age 5 until age 12 or so. And we played "Killer" in high school. You know, "playing pretend?" But since then I've been at Conventions (well, only one actually, a small one, and the only one...but that's another story) where you had to jump out of the way of the live-action Paranoia players running hither and yon in their get-ups.

Mr. Cashel, if you think "playing pretend" and "Killer" are representative of modern organized LARPs, you are sadly mistaken. If you haven't played them, you really, really shouldn't be judgeing.

Pardon my slip - LARP players are no less or more weird than any other gamer.

And your point about Paranoia players at conventions ignores two things - people playing Paranoia in Tabletop style still tend to run around hither and tither. More importantly, people at most cons you have to dodge people running hither and tither in odd getups, even when they aren't playing a game. You haven't described behavior that is deemed strange at cons with that :)

In general, I suggest you ditch your ill-informed preconceptions. It doesn't matter if you stereotype another gamer or a non-gamer, it's still dumb.

And now, for a few other points...

The Furious Puffin talked aobut the behavior of Vampire LARPers. Well, you expect vampires to be friendly? :) The fact is that those folks standing there with their arms crossed were showing the in-game signal for "I am not visible". Would your D&D rogue carry on a conversation while trying to Hide? You can't blame them for continuing to play as you came in.

In general, people are talking as if "Live combat" (NERO-style, hitting people with padded mock weapons) and White Wolf are the only LARP games about. This is not true.

There is also "theatre style" LARP - the best way I know to become familiar with it is through LARPA. Theatre style games are generally not campaign games - they are one-shots (sometimes taking a weekend to run through), and so avoid the common problems that WW has with long-term, powerful players. There's also no hitting people with sticks, which turns off a lot of people.
 

don't get me wrong

Hey, Mr. Umbran :)...please don't feel that I'm trying to crap on this thread. The original question asked about LARPs, and right or wrong, I felt the need to state my opinion. And that's all it is. Sorry if I seem to be busting on people who play LARPs. But it is my opinion that the whole concept is over-the-top. For example:

Umbran said:

The Furious Puffin talked aobut the behavior of Vampire LARPers. Well, you expect vampires to be friendly? :) The fact is that those folks standing there with their arms crossed were showing the in-game signal for "I am not visible". Would your D&D rogue carry on a conversation while trying to Hide? You can't blame them for continuing to play as you came in.

At "University club market day"? I assume this is where the clubs on campus have a chance to recruit new members. And the members are playing Vampire during it, and giving the signal for "I am not visible"? That's not very good PR.

But par for the course from what I've seen of LARPers. Of course, there are many "pen-and-paper" gamers who seem to be in character all the time...which is also, IMO, a turn-off of the greatest magnitude.

I doubt my D&D rogue would carry on a conversation while pretending to hide, but our rules don't require us to act out what our character does, nor do they mandate that we inflict our game upon the general public.

And once again, this is all IMO. By all means, LARP if you want to LARP. No one is stopping you. And no hard feelings, Umbran... you're one of several reasoned and cogent voices I've encountered on these boards, and I'm not looking to make any enemies.

Cheers,
Tom
 

Re: don't get me wrong

Tom Cashel said:

And once again, this is all IMO. By all means, LARP if you want to LARP. No one is stopping you. And no hard feelings, Umbran... you're one of several reasoned and cogent voices I've encountered on these boards, and I'm not looking to make any enemies.

You aren't making any enemies, don't worry. I was simply trying to continue my reasoned and cogent behavior by pointing out how unreasoned it is to make a general statement about many people after encountering only a few of them.

You are entitled to your own opinion. With the freedom to state your opinions comes the responsibility to do so wisely.
 

Re: Re: don't get me wrong

Umbran said:
You aren't making any enemies, don't worry. I was simply trying to continue my reasoned and cogent behavior by pointing out how unreasoned it is to make a general statement about many people after encountering only a few of them.

You are entitled to your own opinion. With the freedom to state your opinions comes the responsibility to do so wisely.
WTF???!!

Umbran, these VERY impressive-sounding words baffle me.

You state that we should not make general statements about a group until we.. what? Encounter the majority of people that make up said group?

Give me a break - I don't have to visit every LARP society to come to the conclusion that they are very alike the 2 that I have seen.
I have read every LARP testimonial I've seen on the internet, and they also jibe with what I've seen a couple times.

Do I have to see a hundred before I come to a conclusion that is accurate enough for my comfort level?
NO.

And people DO have the freedom to state their opinions without being WISE, as you call it.
How do you think discourse, and a exchanging of ideas happens?

According your your absurd requirement of "wisdom" to have an opinion, noone but scholars would be able to talk!
 

reapersaurus:

Dude, switch to decaf. Or do whatever it is you do to relax.

I didn't say anything about needing to know a majority of a group to be able to characterize it.

I would say that one would need to meet a statistically relevant subset. Considering that Mr. Cashel mentioned two instances in which he seemed to have had minimal actual contact with the gamers, I'd say his sampling was not statistically relevant. Your 2 experiences also probably fall short of being statistically meaningful, I'm sorry to say.

Painting a large group with a broad, negative brush based upon minimal experience with them is unfair. Claiming that all LARP players are a specific way based upon 2 games is about as bad as deciding gaming is satanic based upon a couple of media-pathic instances. While lesser in degree than the multitude of politically touchy instances of invalid stereotyping, it is based upon the same faulty mental process, and therefore just as dumb.

As for my "absurd requirement" - you seem to like to jump to conclusions. I think in the future, rather than telling people what they mean, you should ask what they mean. You'd ruffle fewer feathers, and get to the truth more quickly. Having made up your mind already, now not only do I have to clarify, but I have to defeat your preconceptions.

I didn't say a person had to be wise to speak. I said they had a responsibilty to speak wisely - meaning with a little forethought and common sense. One can hold discourse and exchange ideas without acting like an expert on the topic when you aren't. One can think before speaking.

If Mr. Cashel had thought about how much (or little) his experience implied about other LARP palyers, he might have thought to include a phrase or two mentioning that his experience was limited. If he had thought for a moment about how his own hobby has been stigmatized by ignorance, perhaps he'd have changed his words. That would have been speaking wisely about a subject on which his personal knowledge was not great.

[edits: a couple of spelling mistakes]
 
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