The Independent does larp

Community Larp discussion
#1

The Great Escape: Leaving the rat race behind

[quote]“First and foremost,” says the introductory bumf that accompanies the Live Action Role Playing event my family and I are currently heading towards, “Herofest is a weekend of fun designed specifically to escape the everyday rigours of life.”

Hmm. Right now, life’s everyday rigours remain particularly tenacious. Due to a) the location of Candleston Campsite in a hard-to-reach nook of Wales and b) an accident on the M4 resulting in its partial closure, our Friday afternoon journey has stretched on interminably, and it is gone 11pm by the time we find it. As we negotiate the exhausted car down the campsite’s pitch-black lane, a werewolf jumps out at us from nowhere, lit up like a lightning bolt in our highbeam, and sending me at least close to cardiac arrest.

“Greetings,” it says, now scurrying towards the passenger window. “You’ve made it.” [/quote]

#2

I was thinking about a new way that journalists could cover larp.

We’ve seen “go along and comment on the phenomena and community” and we’ve seen “go along and play in an existing game, and comment on the community” done in a lot of news articles. In both cases, a huge amount of the article ends up being about the people playing, not the experience of playing. It’s like doing an article about 10-pin bowling by attending a tournament full of strangers who are fully into it, rather than playing a casual game with your mates like most people do.

What we haven’t seen is a journalist playing or running a game with their friends. I think that would radically alter the reportage, helping it focus more on the experience of running/playing a larp, less on the larp community.

For example, I’d be happy to run The Black Hart of Camelot for a journalist and 10 of their mates, and fill out the rest of the player spots with experienced larpers who could also help lend the new players kit. That would much more closely resemble most people’s experience of larp than the usual “fish out of water” approach. They could get an appreciation for how larp can be a fun thing to do casually with your mates sometimes - like 10 pin bowling - rather than necessarily being a community or lifestyle.

#3

I like the way you think, Ryan. In fact, if my cousin-in-law is interested, she’s likely to be based in Auckland on her return to NZ later this year, and is a journalist. I can have a word, if you like?

#4

Sure (more detail in PMs).

#5

Brilliant, Ryan.

You’re right.

It’s about the sense of community and friendship as well as the epic scenarios and ass-kicking combat.

Sharing the experience with mates will make the journo much more comfortable and have a much better experience.