Here’s an interesting post about larp in Denmark from the RPG.net larp forum:
[quote=“Claus_Raasted”][warning: this is how things are in Denmark - NOT in the U.S]
The scene
95% of all larp in Denmark is boffer-based fantasy larp for kids. Lots of action, lots of weird fantasy mythology, few rules and costuming ranging from none to excellent.
clausraasted.dk/pics/kids.jpg for an example from a 300-person game.
The rest is split between in-crowd Vampire campagins and one-shot scenarios across the board (mostly fantasy, but also a little other stuff). Rules are light to non-existent, immersion is a key factor and games exist in both the “20-30 players for an evening” range to the “300+ players for 5 days” range.
So far, so good. Nothing really exciting about it so far.
The numbers
We usually estimate that somewhere around 100,000 people larp in Denmark. This isn’t a lot, but considering that Denmark only has 5,45 million people (at least, according to the CIA), it’s quite a high number…
In fact, we have more people larping than we have playing tennis and basketball combined, and this easily establishes Denmark as the country in the world with the highest “larper/population” ratio.
And what does that give us?
The outer world
When I started larping ('93) approx. 500 people nationwide played. Now, as noted, numbers are quite different. This means a few things.
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Most people think of larps as being something kids do. But everybody knows what it is. We have TV-commercials making fun of larpers… how mainstream is THAT?
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Larp is “hot” in the sector dealing with children. People are realizing its immense use as a tool for education and for teaching children values. On a sidenote, this means that for 4 years I’ve been a prof. larper, and my work at the moment consists mostly of actually teaching larp to teachers and pedagogues.
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As a consequence of 1+2, a lot of people are surprised when you approach them about a larp project for adults. Luckily, you usually only have to convert people once, and more and more people (outside the scene) are realizing that larp doesn’t have to be kids with elf ears and latex weapons, but can also be 47 dressed-up adults in an old submarine pretending to be Russians in 1963.
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It’s sexy. Oh, of course kids doing boffer battles aren’t sexy! And of course if you tell people that all larps consist of freaky teenagers yelling “Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bol!” it isn’t sexy. But more and more “sexy” projects are emerging. Art larps. Political larps. Good-looking larps which change perceptions. Last year’s most high-profile larp was a 300-person political game set in a fictional 2043 and played out in a container city in the middle of Copenhagen (weekend length). It had coverage from national TV and received tons of funds because it was a project about democracy, values and youth participation. (I missed it sadly, but that’s another story). The main point however is, that it’s not something people scoff at. Every time I tell people what I do for a living, and what my burning passion is (and having a past in a reality TV show I meet a shitload of people who want to talk) they say “Wow… that’s interesting…”
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Needless to say, the picture I’m trying to paint isn’t all glorious. But it’s slowly getting there. Our biggest problem these days is getting the teens to stay on and bridge the gap from kid larper to adult larper. But we’re working on that. My two next projects are a humoristic pirate larp and a Beverly Hills 90210/Grease-inspired teen comedy about a high school. Some team-building companies specializing in larp exist and the field is expanding.
And even the simple boffer-based larps have grown in popularity among “outsiders”, due to the fact that while they once looked hilarious, now they look impressive…
The future
But the most interesting thing isn’t what’s happening right now. The most interesting aspect of this is what is going to happen in 15-20 years, when all those kids have grown up. A lot of them will have quit larping. But they’ll all remember the hobby they once had. And maybe some of them will come back into the fold as adult larpers. Hopefully the rest will at least remain positive and make things easier for the rest of us when we’re doing our projects.
The bottom line
Ten years ago larp was unknown in Denmark save to the few enthusiasts who dressed up and yelled “Lightning Bolt!” (and we did), and people who knew of them thought they were geeks. The freaks and geeks still exist (I for one am still alive). But they’re not alone any more. The only place where larp is still considered geeky is among teenagers… and we’re working on those…
So don’t despair. And remember, that the rest of the world sometimes sings to a different tune. In the case of larp popularity in society at least, America is a 3rd world country.
Claus[/quote]
I guess the most interesting thing to me is how quickly the amount of larp activity can change in a small country.
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