I find it amazing that NZ has managed to resist the trend of the rest of the world so long. They reject about 80-90% of their player base, but we still have games in NZ that try to embrace the majority of players. This is mainly down to three people. Though there may be a fourth joining the fold.
I know your point here is obvious and profound but I don’t get what you’re saying here. I’m not being dense, I actually don’t know what you’re talking about (I guess that means I am being dense, thinking about it 
). Can you spell it out for people that don’t understand the situation as well as you do? What international trend? Which three people? Who is “they” in your second sentence?
My telepathic powers have deserted me, perhaps because I’m 1,500 km away and the relay stations are still being built…
Viperion
This is absurd. If there were so many people wanting larps that avoid an emphasis on costume and characterisation, that supposed massive majority of people would run larps like that. There is no conspiracy stopping people running such games, and the reality is that most larpers rather like the costumes and immersive aspects of larp.
There are groups like Amtgard in the US who focus on battles. They still do costuming, but not so much with the roleplay. It’s a decent-sized scene, but a minority of larp overall (many Amtgarders don’t even consider it to be larp).
There are groups like NERO who have a big focus on power-up gaming, very much like D&D. But many of their players are also reportedly into costuming and depth of roleplay. Which makes sense, because there is no conflict between the two things. 
So what is an “Auckland style game”? The awesome thing I see in Auckland larping at the moment is the sheer variety of games being run.
Can you tell how exactly so many people are excluded can you quantify with example? I would like to know exactly what you mean Alista.
Kind of curious about this myself. I’ve run larps in Hamilton, helped run others, and visited games in both Wgtn and Akld. I’m currently living in Akld and really enjoying the variety available and the level of players (in the most part anyway 
). Like everyone else, if any of them don’t interest me for any reason I don’t have to have to go. 
However, atm, I’m finding the Akld players and games to be of quite a high standard!
I’ve even come to respect some players I used to not like. Eventually I’ll figure out if this means they’ve grown up … or I have lol.
Alista, are you saying that 80-90% of potential larpers would prefer a non-immersive larp experience ?
Here in Auckland, we do have a non-immersive, costume-optional, roleplay-light game. It’s called Skirmish and has been running since 1995. We played a game in the summer and attracted only 7 participants. Ergo, I don’t think your assertions are accurate.
The only way you could get the numbers you are talking about would be if you swapped public parks for leased private land, costumes for camo, and larpsafe weapons for paintball markers. And then if you called it Ultimate Paintball you might be onto something. But could you still call it larp ?
One of the awesome things about Chimera is the possibility of running any kind of larp you want and seeing who wants to play.
That is indeed a bonus of conventions that are loose on their requirements for LARP games.
Here in Auckland, we do have a non-immersive, costume-optional, roleplay-light game. It’s called Skirmish and has been running since 1995. We played a game in the summer and attracted only 7 participants. Ergo, I don’t think your assertions are accurate.[/quote]
In all fairness - i know a few people that would have attended it on another day.
Outside of that I did get targeted by comments for lack of costume despite the fact that for one game:
I was gming
and the other game
I was in costume…
The thing that bugs me the most was that in the second case it was not limited to two or three people it was 20+ people who asked things like ‘when are you getting into your kit?’
So - costume does bug people in Auckland - enough that they are happy to ask someone why their costume is not up to scratch.
On the flip side - i do not feel that we are missing many people by being fussy about immersion / costume.
Ther’s also WoD games which are closish to Tabletop in their rules, and their modern setting makes the costume less of an issue. I gave one of these games a go and it didn’t really work for me, but there’s plenty out there to choose from, so didn’t really bother me.
I guess its just a case that if there is a void that you can see, then fill it. It takes a lot of organising to run a game, and so those that run them are going to run the kind of game that interests them, which won’t necessarily appeal to all. I don’t think its fair to get grumpy that events aren’t being offered of the particular kind of larp that an individual wants. If there’s enough people wanting something, make it happen! From what i’ve seen the Larping community is very accepting of all sorts of ideas.
But this is coming from someone who was personally attracted to LARP because of the costume and immersion, so maybe I can’t quite see where your coming from.
[quote]I was in costume…
The thing that bugs me the most was that in the second case it was not limited to two or three people it was 20+ people who asked things like ‘when are you getting into your kit?’[/quote]
Sorry, dude. Didn’t mean to make you feel bad. Just, Doctor Who t-shirts don’t really say ‘Security’ or ‘Space Opera’ to me. I honestly thought you’d be getting into something else before the game started.
**
Getting a bit more into the communicational side of this, would it be reasonable to expect the GM to give an idea of what’s important to the game in its blurb? Ie. “High emotional intensity, low costume requirements, may be thrown cream pies…”
I may be stating the obvious, here. I do favour strong GM/Player communication over premises that make you expect cups of tea and domestic drama and then bring in the space aliens, though.
That being said, how do you prepare someone for a surreal horror game without spoiling the surprise?
I’d honestly rather know it was a horror game before I got so far as to agree to play. This is mostly due to my dislike for almost inevitable nightmares afterwards.
Although more on the topic of GM to player communication, I’m all for a clear set of expectations being supplied to the players. It certainly makes it easier to decide whether to attend a LARP or not.
[quote=“theamazingcatherine”][quote]I was in costume…
The thing that bugs me the most was that in the second case it was not limited to two or three people it was 20+ people who asked things like ‘when are you getting into your kit?’[/quote]
Sorry, dude. Didn’t mean to make you feel bad. Just, Doctor Who t-shirts don’t really say ‘Security’ or ‘Space Opera’ to me. I honestly thought you’d be getting into something else before the game started.
[/quote]
Thats ok - to be honest I am super annoyed that the latest episode was not out before chimera as I have everything needed to do that costume (when he goes to join the gate crashed restaurant) and I would have done that! As it stood i was going for a more relaxed look (9th Dr).
I think a lot can be said for costuming - I totally support Zara with her costuming crazy moods - even when the sitting room is obliterated by cut off’s 
I do disagree that it is essential - sure it helps. However I do not see that 90% of people are put off by costume… that’s a little absurd.
nWoD Mage: The Awakening runs monthly, and runs scenes weekly… do those “80%-90%” of people know about this?
A lot of people have had negative experiences with WoD games, so avoid them with good reason not realising that a game is as good as those who run it, not as good as the system. Speaking of system, they also have a bit much of that and too high a complexity level especially on the political side for a lot of people so are not everyone’s cup of tea.
I personally find that too much costume actually interferes with ability to roleplay with other people tending to play the player not the character, but not everyone sees it that way of course. I’ve always thought that if you can imagine someone is a space alien and that the plastic thing they’re holding is a blaster, you can imagine that they look a bit different too.
Though I dislike excessive costuming I’m not exactly going to not play in a game based on that. If other people want to look shiny, that’s fine so I’m not seeing the put-off factor there. In fact, with the advent of these high costume LARPs we’ve been drawing on sources of players that we were previously unable to access, appealing more to those from an acting/performance side. There are still plenty of low-costume games for those not keen on large, showy games to play in.