Week long LARP - Would you do it?

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#1

Would yout attend a week long LARP (in character the entire week)

  • YES! Yes! A thousand times YES!
  • No, I couldn’t be someone else for an entire week!
  • Maybe, if there were chances to leave the game & rejoin during the week.

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So, I was in the shower yesterday, washing away the woes of life, when I thought about a concept for a week long LARP. My wife was watching a SuperNatural episode, with a LARP presence, she said “you’d like to do that right, a week long LARP?” - yeah I would, but most of the big ones are overseas. Although she also later said “ok, no more LARP for you! they keep inviting people back to their tents for “Some fun”” - Apparently I’ve been doing LARP wrong! - LOL!!

So, the question I put to the masses,

“IF there was a LARP, once a year (probably February, but up for discussion) - that would be Game start Sunday Afternoon, game finish Saturday morning following”

My basic idea is that there is an OOC Lunch on Sunday, then the afternoon / evening would be a lead in period, characters “arrive” at the IC location. Most game plot stuff would be monday > friday, then saturday morning, players “leave” the game environment, gradually, then a final game end call just before lunch.

I have a concept, I won’t say anything about that, because secret squirrel, might just end up being a bunch of single games instead.
Also, please don’t consider location when answering, I know it can be a big factor in regards to expenses etc, but at the moment i’m just trying to gauge interest in the overall concept.

Thanks all.

#2

Sounds awesome. Like combining camping with LARPing.

Is this a mostly PvE scenario or a mostly PvP scenario? (i.e. will there be a large number of crew required who will drive the plot, or will crew just help facilitate factional and interpersonal interactions?)

#3

In theory I’d be happy to spend a week playing a high quality larp. It would have to be my dream larp, with 360 degree immersion and deep characterisation to warrant that amount of commitment.

I had signed up for 5 days of Dragonbane in Sweden before they postponed it a year. I’d already booked my flights, so went to Maelstrom instead.

In practice it’s unlikely I’d have the time these days. I find it hard enough to free up a weekend.

#4

The SCA have a couple of events that run for about a week: Canterbury Faire in Christchurch and Rowany Festival in Australia.

They’re really amazing events to attend and I recommend them to everyone. I doubt I’d go to a week long larp at the moment because I have a family that don’t larp. But I think other people should :mrgreen:

#5

I really enjoyed the ones we went to in Germany which was two 5 day larps back to back (which was actually in hindsight almost too much). The only factor that might inhibit would be cost for me.
It would have to be very immersive and engaging, but I think if done right could be really awesome!

#6

In theory yes, I’d be totally for it however in reality probably not achievable for me given family and such forth. Being a contractor I don’t have to ‘take’ time off as such but when is a consideration… such as November, I’ll be away from home for nearly 3 weeks with work.

#7

I’m much like some of the other people I think. I love the idea, but I’m afraid I’m not sure I could commit to an entire week (and I don’t even have a family to think of).

#8

So, given I flew to Germany to do this, of course I answered yes :slight_smile: But this is conditional on it being really immersive, with a compelling setting and an tightly run game and all the usual things like that …

Also, I think the week of LARP in Germany was doable because of the sheer amount of stimulation to keep a person occupied. The scale of it was such that you could spend a week and barely scratch the surface of getting to know every faction, every area, etc …

I think to make a week-long game truly engaging and immersive for 5 days would require a massive GM team, heaps of resources, and some real creative thinking to make it be a big draw card.

I’d also suggest you’d run it Weds-Sun, with the possibility of people getting there Mon or Tues purely OOC if they wanted to, but with the game kicking off Weds PM.

An idea that came to me was something like trying to combine your larp with a major re-enactor event. Like, having the two in tandem, and working out a way to blend the two somehow. Re-enactors are really good about creating the ‘living village’ feel, and that’s what was super compelling about Mythodea. And of course they’re bad ass fighters and have awesome costumes etc … I know many don’t like LARP or the LARP scene, but I also know many do.

Maybe you could create some kind of blended event? IDK. It’s not a well-formed idea, but I’m trying to think outside the square and also think about how to increase the scale of things.

#9

I answered no, but for reasons other that listed. I have no problem being someone else for a week, and I’m sure I could organise time off once a year for something like this. However, making event longer you would have to spread things around, have more quiet time in between something actually happening, otherwise everyone will get exhausted very soon. After 48 hours of larp you can usually see all the posts on facebook how people are so tired, feet sore, crawl home and collapse, that kind of stuff. This is the way I personally prefer it, concentrated 48 hours of exhausting fun, and after that - online roleplaying, IC little meetings, IC correspondence and all other bits that enhance the experience and fill downtime till the next big event. I just don’t want to spend a whole week in a more relaxed environment of “larpy here, larpy there, now just hang out for the rest of the day, repeat tomorrow” because I would rather have a shorter but intense adventure :slight_smile:

#10

You should give one of the massive 5 day games overseas a go. Their size makes for endless opportunities for adventure, and it doesn’t all have to be exhausting fun - simply wandering to other areas and meeting people opens up plenty of opportunities for excitement, and there is always stuff going on, so you can engage at your own pace.

#11

[quote=“Aiwe”]I answered no, but for reasons other that listed. I have no problem being someone else for a week, and I’m sure I could organise time off once a year for something like this. However, making event longer you would have to spread things around, have more quiet time in between something actually happening, otherwise everyone will get exhausted very soon. After 48 hours of larp you can usually see all the posts on facebook how people are so tired, feet sore, crawl home and collapse, that kind of stuff. This is the way I personally prefer it, concentrated 48 hours of exhausting fun, and after that - online roleplaying, IC little meetings, IC correspondence and all other bits that enhance the experience and fill downtime till the next big event. I just don’t want to spend a whole week in a more relaxed environment of “larpy here, larpy there, now just hang out for the rest of the day, repeat tomorrow” because I would rather have a shorter but intense adventure :slight_smile:[/quote]Personally I disagree :stuck_out_tongue:

Many of the people I know and would call either friends or friendly acquaintances take part in LARP, and I personally quite enjoy just sitting around relaxing with friends. The idea of a week of going between LARPing and relaxing with friends (IC or OOC) is quite appealing to me. As an example, because they were so focused on the night-time activities, I believe the old Nightmare Circle games tended to spend the day time until after lunch time OOC, and people had a good time just hanging out.

But to each their own :slight_smile:

#12

I think the pacing would change quite substantially.

There’d be more of a “The world exists, all these things are happening, but I don’t have to get in on every little thing. I can be my character… asleep in his tent… or at the bar relaxing with his friends.”

It’d be a lot of fun I think, but you’d need a pretty significant investment in terms of plot and crew and worldbuilding to make it happen. I definitely wouldn’t be up for planning it, but playing or crewing in it for sure =)