Battlecry video online: mostly about larp

Community Larp discussion
#1

Hey crew

TVNZ’s article on Battlecry is online now:
tvnz.co.nz/view/video_popup_windows_skin/1574611

I think this is a not-bad example of how the media can cut no slack - the breakfast host introduces the group with something like “some people never grow out of games” and one of the questions is “Isn’t that like ~geek alert~?”

I guess this was handled ok given the setup, and the fact that it was 7am or something, but I’ve found the best way to combat that is by making it funny or shooting down the question with an affirmative answer.

"Isn’t that, like, really nerdy?"
Well let’s face it yep. But have you seen the geek-girls they’re putting out these days?

Vanya (if a bit panicky) and Peter both look really good, and the costumes shown are great all-round.

Overall I think the hobby is shown as a youthful, kind of eccentric bit of fun, which is a pretty fair representation.

Promo videos
#2

That was some pretty poor journalism.

“Believe it or not, some people never grow out of playing games.”

What, like chess and so forth?

I’m not that big on the “power to the geeks” approach. But I think when you’re trying answer questions about wargaming, tabletop roleplaying, and larp as if they’re a single interest, all in a one minute interview, you’re pretty much doomed.

I’m afraid to say that coverage would probably put off at least as many people as it’d attract.

Given that Battlecry is 90% wargaming, it might have been best to stick with getting that covered in an attractive way. And that’s really not that hard a sell: show an attractive table in play and get a well-spoken player to explain what makes the strategy element attractive. Compare it to chess. Then explain the attraction of it being like a cool-looking representation of an interesting setting. Show some play taking place and being explained by a player, editing out the slow bits. Make sure they have a macro lense to show point-of-view shots from the figures’ perspectives and can do time delay to show a whole battle being waged with all the figures being taken out. Get the player to explain what happened quickly, and why their strategy worked or failed. That will attract people who might actually want to come and play. Just letting them wander around with a camera doing random interviews and asking stupid leading questions will result in coverage that is unlikely to attract or inform anyone.

#3

2 points

  1. The people it would have put off…probably wern’t going coming anyway… I’m gonna say that there was probably no one that said “i was thinking of going but now i won’t” the people that were put off would be the ones that said “i didn’t know that was on and wasn’t thinking of going and am still not thinking of going”. If any of the first group existed i’m going to say it was VERY FEW.

  2. The people that were going to come…They are going to come anyway…cause they know the hobbies arn’t as geeky as they are made out to be by the media or if they are that thats not realy a bad thing…I mean someone with a fully painted army, set of RPG books or who plays the card games isn’t going to have a devine moment of enlightenment and go “HOLY CRAP I’M A GEEK!!” and throw out their stuff.

The fact is that it did attract some people that didn’t know it was on or wanted to know more what it was about and of the people that were thinking of coming i’m gonna go out on a limb and say they probably wern’t put off…

So net gain of people attending.

So good thing.

So interview did job.

So good interview

Your points of how the interveiw or peice should be conducted are valid points…if it wasn’t a live breakfast show…or if it was a peice done after the fact…or if it was a war gaming instructional video.

#4

If it attracted people, I stand corrected.

#5

I’m not sure if anyone came from seeing it, but we did have a few more spectators come this time. Maybe we should have set up a “how did you find out about us” thing.

The show asked specifically for people in costumes, so there would be something visual going on in the background while we were being interviewed. I thought it went really well conpared with how it could have gone, considering it was live and we really didn’t know what she was going to ask.

I have, however, had a number of people tell me they saw it, people not in the usual loop of gaming or previous BattleCrys. And that has sparked off people asking what it’s all about, and when is the next one, so that in itself could have longer benefits.

I’m happy with how it went :slight_smile:

#6

However we did have someone turn up to play in the larp on the basis of the newspaper article, that was very cool.

#7

I actually think that they failed at making it look like some people never grow up. All they succeeded at is showing that it is not for everyone, just as soccer isn’t and pogramming isn’t. I imagine that if they did an article on one of the large LAN events they would have pitched it from much the same angle, and yet thousands upon thousands of peope around the world lug their computers over to their mates to shoot each other, much as we do the same, except with costumes.

I think they should have had the reporter play before doing the interview.