In before people who spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on toy tanks that they play with in comic book stores or basements mock people who dress up like idiots and pretend to shoot lightning from their hands.
That first video is from a comedy show called "Reno: 911" - the supposed LARPer is actually a really funny comedian named Patton Oswald.
...And I'll freely mock LARPers, thank you. If they had any balls, they'd be beating the crap out of each other with rattan swords in the SCA, not prancing about in tights with foam "boffers."
I've LARPed, at The Gathering in Derby many years ago, there were bloody thousands of people at it and I had a great time.
Anyone who mocks it whilst at the same time collecting and painting and playing with tiny toy soldiers is a gakker. Lower even than the mindless drones who mock our hobby and have no more interesting things in their lives than American Idol... since they should know better.
MeanGreenStompa wrote:I've LARPed, at The Gathering in Derby many years ago, there were bloody thousands of people at it and I had a great time.
Anyone who mocks it whilst at the same time collecting and painting and playing with tiny toy soldiers is a gakker. Lower even than the mindless drones who mock our hobby and have no more interesting things in their lives than American Idol... since they should know better.
It's almost like how everyone was mocking twilight!
It depends on whether you think LARPing or Twilight or 40K or Avatar invests your life with inner meaning
In other news, it is legal to purchase an airsoft gun in the UK if you are over 18 and have it 50% spray painted with yellow, orange or pink. Otherwise you have to be a member of a registered club for three months.
MeanGreenStompa wrote:I've LARPed, at The Gathering in Derby many years ago, there were bloody thousands of people at it and I had a great time.
Anyone who mocks it whilst at the same time collecting and painting and playing with tiny toy soldiers is a gakker. Lower even than the mindless drones who mock our hobby and have no more interesting things in their lives than American Idol... since they should know better.
It's almost like how everyone was mocking twilight!
We can't mock Twilight now? ...Can we at least keep mocking the guys that wear Eyeliner?
MeanGreenStompa wrote:I've LARPed, at The Gathering in Derby many years ago, there were bloody thousands of people at it and I had a great time.
Anyone who mocks it whilst at the same time collecting and painting and playing with tiny toy soldiers is a gakker. Lower even than the mindless drones who mock our hobby and have no more interesting things in their lives than American Idol... since they should know better.
It's almost like how everyone was mocking twilight!
We can't mock Twilight now? ...Can we at least keep mocking the guys that wear Eyeliner?
MeanGreenStompa wrote:I've LARPed, at The Gathering in Derby many years ago, there were bloody thousands of people at it and I had a great time.
Anyone who mocks it whilst at the same time collecting and painting and playing with tiny toy soldiers is a gakker. Lower even than the mindless drones who mock our hobby and have no more interesting things in their lives than American Idol... since they should know better.
It's almost like how everyone was mocking twilight!
That's different, Twilight was gak.
LARPers and Wargamers are of the same subgenus of geekdom.
MeanGreenStompa wrote:I've LARPed, at The Gathering in Derby many years ago, there were bloody thousands of people at it and I had a great time.
Anyone who mocks it whilst at the same time collecting and painting and playing with tiny toy soldiers is a gakker. Lower even than the mindless drones who mock our hobby and have no more interesting things in their lives than American Idol... since they should know better.
It's almost like how everyone was mocking twilight!
That's different, Twilight was gak.
LARPers and Wargamers are of the same subgenus of geekdom.
While I'm generally all for egalitarianism, I must insist that there is a nerdy, geeky pecking order...
LARPers are WAY down the "dork chain" from more established and genteel nerd pursuits like miniatures and comic books. In fact, while they're barely above "furries," at least LARPers don't try to play "hide the salami" while they're dressed up in their dork costumes.
MeanGreenStompa wrote:I've LARPed, at The Gathering in Derby many years ago, there were bloody thousands of people at it and I had a great time.
Anyone who mocks it whilst at the same time collecting and painting and playing with tiny toy soldiers is a gakker. Lower even than the mindless drones who mock our hobby and have no more interesting things in their lives than American Idol... since they should know better.
It's almost like how everyone was mocking twilight!
We can't mock Twilight now? ...Can we at least keep mocking the guys that wear Eyeliner?
As soon as you sell the tiny toy tanks.
What about if they play with toy tanks AND wear eyeliner? Then can we mock them?
Commissar Molotov wrote:LARPers are WAY down the "dork chain" from more established and genteel nerd pursuits like miniatures and comic books. In fact, while they're barely above "furries," at least LARPers don't try to play "hide the salami" while they're dressed up in their dork costumes.
MeanGreenStompa wrote:LARPers and Wargamers are of the same subgenus of geekdom.
I have to say I heartily disagree with that.
The difference is that I can explain wargaming and have someone generally get it. "Remember those green plastic army men you played with when you were a kid? Basically it's a strategy game with sometimes complicated rules using something like those as playing pieces." Easy, right? They think I'm a geek, but hey, they figure it's my hobby.
Trying to explain grown adults running around in costumes screaming "Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!" and not have them clam up, get that look in their eye and slowly ease away from you is a much bigger challenge.
To follow on Molotov's point, you could still explain it if it was SCA. "Yeah, we get in armor and smack each other around with swords." Again, they think you're a geek, but they'd kinda get it because hitting other people with sticks would appeal to a decent amount of the male population, even if they didn't get all the dress-up part.
But "Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!"? Yeeeeah. Different thing.
Edit: Was going to make the "LARPers rank barely above furries" point, but figured it was a little harsh. So thanks to Molotov for saying what I was thinking.
metallifan wrote:
We can't mock Twilight now? ...Can we at least keep mocking the guys that wear Eyeliner?
No one can tell when I wear eyeliner. I'm very subtle and it looks almost natural (no raccoon-looking thing). I give you permission to mock me wearing eyeliner if you can catch me in the act
Commissar Molotov wrote:While I'm generally all for egalitarianism, I must insist that there is a nerdy, geeky pecking order...
LARPers are WAY down the "dork chain" from more established and genteel nerd pursuits like miniatures and comic books. In fact, while they're barely above "furries," at least LARPers don't try to play "hide the salami" while they're dressed up in their dork costumes.
*shudders*
Thank GAWD for that.
Miniatures gamers are better than larpers? Hardly. They spend more, get less, typically have lesser social aires and graces with significantly worse hygiene and the magic ability to somehow think that they aren't the bottom head on the nerd totem pole. Larpers at least get some exercise and don't spend hundreds of dollars on their plastic pretend pokemon gak.
Commissar Molotov wrote:While I'm generally all for egalitarianism, I must insist that there is a nerdy, geeky pecking order...
LARPers are WAY down the "dork chain" from more established and genteel nerd pursuits like miniatures and comic books. In fact, while they're barely above "furries," at least LARPers don't try to play "hide the salami" while they're dressed up in their dork costumes.
*shudders*
Thank GAWD for that.
Miniatures gamers are better than larpers? Hardly. They spend more, get less, typically have lesser social aires and graces with significantly worse hygiene and the magic ability to somehow think that they aren't the bottom head on the nerd totem pole. Larpers at least get some exercise and don't spend hundreds of dollars on their plastic pretend pokemon gak.
Uhhhh i bet you anything some of the chainmail those guys wear cost over 1000US....
I will admit, i have seen some majorly hot chicks LARPing, have yet to be wowed by a chick playing tabletop games
Commissar Molotov wrote:While I'm generally all for egalitarianism, I must insist that there is a nerdy, geeky pecking order...
LARPers are WAY down the "dork chain" from more established and genteel nerd pursuits like miniatures and comic books. In fact, while they're barely above "furries," at least LARPers don't try to play "hide the salami" while they're dressed up in their dork costumes.
*shudders*
Thank GAWD for that.
Miniatures gamers are better than larpers? Hardly. They spend more, get less, typically have lesser social aires and graces with significantly worse hygiene and the magic ability to somehow think that they aren't the bottom head on the nerd totem pole. Larpers at least get some exercise and don't spend hundreds of dollars on their plastic pretend pokemon gak.
And considerably more 'no tails' LARP than play tabletop.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And Shuma, when I make lines in the sand, the Maginot Line gets an inferiority complex.
I'm agreeing with Shuma again that it's no good having division within an already divided social group. It doesn't make anyone better, it just makes some people feel worse. You might otherwise befriend someone with a hobby "weirder" than yours
Cannerus_The_Unbearable wrote:I'm agreeing with Shuma again that it's no good having division within an already divided social group. It doesn't make anyone better, it just makes some people feel worse. You might otherwise befriend someone with a hobby "weirder" than yours
Commissar Molotov wrote:While I'm generally all for egalitarianism, I must insist that there is a nerdy, geeky pecking order...
LARPers are WAY down the "dork chain" from more established and genteel nerd pursuits like miniatures and comic books. In fact, while they're barely above "furries," at least LARPers don't try to play "hide the salami" while they're dressed up in their dork costumes.
*shudders*
Thank GAWD for that.
Miniatures gamers are better than larpers? Hardly. They spend more, get less, typically have lesser social aires and graces with significantly worse hygiene and the magic ability to somehow think that they aren't the bottom head on the nerd totem pole. Larpers at least get some exercise and don't spend hundreds of dollars on their plastic pretend pokemon gak.
And considerably more 'no tails' LARP than play tabletop.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And Shuma, when I make lines in the sand, the Maginot Line gets an inferiority complex.
The maginot line takes it's roll seriously. Miniatures wargamers aren't allowed to make fun of other hobbiests for their hobbies. It's like a clown making fun of a fething mime. The world would break in half with confused laughter.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Cannerus_The_Unbearable wrote:I'm agreeing with Shuma again that it's no good having division within an already divided social group. It doesn't make anyone better, it just makes some people feel worse. You might otherwise befriend someone with a hobby "weirder" than yours
Commissar Molotov wrote:While I'm generally all for egalitarianism, I must insist that there is a nerdy, geeky pecking order...
LARPers are WAY down the "dork chain" from more established and genteel nerd pursuits like miniatures and comic books. In fact, while they're barely above "furries," at least LARPers don't try to play "hide the salami" while they're dressed up in their dork costumes.
*shudders*
Thank GAWD for that.
Miniatures gamers are better than larpers? Hardly. They spend more, get less, typically have lesser social aires and graces with significantly worse hygiene and the magic ability to somehow think that they aren't the bottom head on the nerd totem pole. Larpers at least get some exercise and don't spend hundreds of dollars on their plastic pretend pokemon gak.
And considerably more 'no tails' LARP than play tabletop.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And Shuma, when I make lines in the sand, the Maginot Line gets an inferiority complex.
The maginot line takes it's roll seriously. Miniatures wargamers aren't allowed to make fun of other hobbiests for their hobbies. It's like a clown making fun of a fething mime. The world would break in half with confused laughter.
That's "Little Monster" to you, bub And I've actually made IRL friends off Gaga forums. I've only made "guys I game with" on nerd forums. One's more valuable than the other.
That's "Little Monster" to you, bub And I've actually made IRL friends off Gaga forums. I've only made "guys I game with" on nerd forums. One's more valuable than the other.
and the magic ability to somehow think that they aren't the bottom head on the nerd totem pole.
Ah, but our magic ability doesn't consist of prancing about screaming "lightning bolt!" "Lightning bolt!"
Miniatures gaming was invented by H.G. Wells and used by the German General staff to train their officers ("Kriegspiel")
LARPing was invented by Chuck and Danny in their basement while wearing mom's pantyhose and whacking each other with duct tape and foam and arguing over who gets to be the wizard.
and the magic ability to somehow think that they aren't the bottom head on the nerd totem pole.
Ah, but our magic ability doesn't consist of prancing about screaming "lightning bolt!" "Lightning bolt!"
Miniatures gaming was invented by H.G. Wells and used by the German General staff to train their officers ("Kriegspiel")
LARPing was invented by Chuck and Danny in their basement while wearing mom's pantyhose and whacking each other with duct tape and foam and arguing over who gets to be the wizard.
...Pretty much speaks for itself, dunnit?
Not really. Improvisational acting and theatre dates back thousands of years, as do social games and role playing scenarios. Selectively attempting to justify a ridiculous and sad hobby by mocking another one isn't really helping anything.
Still, if you're scoring truly "majorly hot" women at LARP events, then you should have the required skill set to score even more majorly hot women at clubs, etc., which is where you'll find about 10,000x greater concentration of majorly hot women. So why LARP to score?
I'm going to pretend there are no gay bashing undertones there and post the following for the sake of amusement from Urban Dictionary:
Faboosh
1. A dumb word which is supposed to mean "fabulous", used tackily by Perez Hilton.
"OMG....Lady Gaga is FABOOSH!"
2. The name of a fabulous vendor who sells fun accessories both online and at various markets in Vancouver, BC
3. A smelly haggis eating scottish girl whom likes sleeping with her managers (regardless of age, gender or sexuality)
Person one: Did you hear about elle?
Person Two: I know! That faboosh slept with the rare values manager just to get a promotion.
4. The sound made when you accidently poop your pants.
I was walking behind my grandmother and heard "faboosh" and I decided not to say anything.
Still, if you're scoring truly "majorly hot" women at LARP events, then you should have the required skill set to score even more majorly hot women at clubs, etc., which is where you'll find about 10,000x greater concentration of majorly hot women. So why LARP to score?
Never said scoring, just seen from random larp video's and what not.... Course they could have been paid to help the cause!!!!
ShumaGorath wrote:Not really. Improvisational acting and theatre dates back thousands of years, as do social games and role playing scenarios. Selectively attempting to justify a ridiculous and sad hobby by mocking another one isn't really helping anything.
Wow. You're claiming that LARPing dates back "thousands of years?"
...I've touched a nerve with you, haven't I? Methinks you're getting a bit defensive about LARPing. Don't worry - your secret is safe with US!
ShumaGorath wrote:Not really. Improvisational acting and theatre dates back thousands of years, as do social games and role playing scenarios. Selectively attempting to justify a ridiculous and sad hobby by mocking another one isn't really helping anything.
Wow. You're claiming that LARPing dates back "thousands of years?"
...I've touched a nerve with you, haven't I? Methinks you're getting a bit defensive about LARPing. Don't worry - your secret is safe with US!
I've never larped in my life and I stated that improv theatre dated back thousands of years. Since, y'know, it has. If you're going to pretend that german generals pushing figures around a table and making battle plans is the equivalent of how your space marines beat up some dudes tau than my improv example works just as well. I think my big issue is that I don't generally like war gamers, not that I generally like larpers. I really have almost no exposure to larpers outside of knowing one or two in my life and seeing things on youtube.
ShumaGorath wrote:Miniatures wargamers aren't allowed to make fun of other hobbiests for their hobbies. It's like a clown making fun of a fething mime.
Uh... why wouldn't one? Clowns are pretty soundly superior to mimes, although obviously neither can compare to a magician.
ShumaGorath wrote:Miniatures wargamers aren't allowed to make fun of other hobbiests for their hobbies. It's like a clown making fun of a fething mime.
Uh... why wouldn't one? Clowns are pretty soundly superior to mimes, although obviously neither can compare to a magician.
I've never seen a clown manage to get out of an invisible box. Dude wouldn't know what the feth to do.
To me, it's all in how much a person lets any of this stuff take over their life. If someone is constantly into LARPing, role playing, or miniatures gaming to the exclusion of almost all else, then they are a pretty sad speciman.
Lots of successful people on the other hand, do this kind of thing as a hobby.
Since it seems that I'm the only one reading this thread who has tried LARPing (Part of an effort to say yeah I've done that), I must say that it is theater meeting RPG gaming like Shuma says. You've never really seen something strange until you see two grown men stand-off in full costume like they are going to wrestle but them crouch down and pull out dice to see who won their fight, the guy who won here was at least a foot shorter and 60 lbs lighter.
Then you have people who are more into the realistic stuff and play combat like they are actors at a renesance fair, I have to admit the boffer thing gets interesting. I never really understood the 'wizards' it seems too much like cowboys and indians "I got you first!". The wizards are the only ones I've seen problems with in the few times I've attended.
The thing that gets me the most about that community is the social order and enforcment of rules. Where we as TT gamers fight over petty interpertations of written rules they as a community agree on things that have never been discussed, whats more is that when there is a disagreement about their world they don't fight or argue like we would it's like the most inteanse peer preasure you can imagine from anyone who is not involved to resolve things peacefully or through their 'fights' and people don't take sides or do anything to split up the group.
It really is increadible to see for anyone who is interested in culture, for others though it does seem a little cultish. And yes they are always a little out of character around outsiders luckley for me the one who 'brought me in' was pretty well respected and I got to see the real thing.
One more thing there are without a doubt more hot girls at any one LARP gathering then all of the rat hole downtown clubs full of proj-rats 'gittin dur dayance ong' and looking for some poor dumb sap to buy them $10 drinks all night. Or trying to get two guys she has no intention of going home with to fight over her before she gets her trashy self dragged out by what ever friends they didn't alienate that night. As long as you like the cute nerdy ones, which I really do, then LARP is only topped by art conventions and one or two annual hippy festivals.
Karon wrote:Live Action Role Playing and Wargaming similar...lets not.
Wargaming is similar to Chess, as it requires strategy.
LARPing is similar to running around with plastic swords, and yelling "FIREBALL, ICEBOLT"
I think we can go ahead and cut the difference there.
Not really. Chess doesn't require strategy, it requires the ability to think and react. Something all people can do. The interesting difference between chess and 40k though is that at its highest levels chess players think six moves in advance, in every step engaging the enemy. In 40k the ard boyz winners use a bunch of collossi and cheap ass chimeras and just table the opponent turn 2 without interactivity.
It's amazing how much the war-gamer will seek to aggrandize his hobby when he seeks to defend it rather than deal with it realistically.
Of.. you are missing an 'of' in there somewhere. 'In what does this consist', just sounds strange...
My guess though, would probably involve not painting your miniatures, and not caring that anyone else took the time too either. I am not sure why Shuma has taken it upon himself to be the threads knight in shining armor though... that confuses me a bit.
Re-enactments are on another level man...
My main problem with larping (and I guess I have more than just a few), is the fact that most of the costumes are flat out dumb. Not dumb like a kid who made their own costume for halloween, because I think that is awesome; dumb like having literally no style and looking like cheap-ass costumes. Which is whatever, I'm not hating, just stating my opinion, and it is definitely not one in agreement that larping is fun or cool.
If I were to do anything related to larping, I would probably just get into acting again, or get involved in some re-enactments.
Well a realistic approach would be the understanding that a fictionalized dice driven scenario game using little tanks and men you paint isn't particularly dissimilar between a dice driven scenario game that uses full sized men in costumes you make. Both are abstractions of reality inside of social settings to allow for collective fantasy role playing. Objectively the 40k player is by necessity more of a shut in than the larper given the pre conditions of his hobby. By contrast the larper is usually more extroverted, though both can be equivalently awkward and prone to a lack in social graces or basic hygienic care. Both are forms of escapism and hobbyism, and both are trapped by the same general loci (fantasy, sci fi, starwars, vampires, etc). A realistic approach by a wargamer in reference to a larper would be to understand that the hobbies are both equally unacceptable by a more general social consensus. The wargamer must understand that while he is not going outside and looking ridiculous while interacting with strangers or the odd passer by, were those people in the wargammers basement they would no doubt think that the aging man or the pimpled teen looks equally awkward all alone with his big pile of toys.
A realistic approach would be to get some humility.
My guess though, would probably involve not painting your miniatures, and not caring that anyone else took the time too either. I am not sure why Shuma has taken it upon himself to be the threads knight in shining armor though... that confuses me a bit.
I started posting in here while I was at work. Printing 48 300 dpi documents on an old inkjet involves spending 15 minutes instructing everything to print than waiting six hours for it to actually do so.
My main problem with larping (and I guess I have more than just a few), is the fact that most of the costumes are flat out dumb. Not dumb like a kid who made their own costume for halloween, because I think that is awesome; dumb like having literally no style and looking like cheap-ass costumes. Which is whatever, I'm not hating, just stating my opinion, and it is definitely not one in agreement that larping is fun or cool.
Those peoples costumes are basically the LARP equivalent of dipped miniatures.
Shuma wrote:Those peoples costumes are basically the LARP equivalent of dipped miniatures.
After spending about an hour or so looking into larp costumes, since this thread opened, I will flat out disagree with you.
Those are not only standard, but better than average. There are many really cool costumes (truly awesome really), but they are far, far, far from being any sort of standard. The average costumes appears to consist of curtains or a bedsheet turned into a cape, along with some sort of face-paint. I would say that most larpers are not in it for the aesthetics, or that their tastes in design stray a long distance from what I would consider cool.
Re-enactments share the fact that the cool costumes, are almost always bought and paid for, but larping doesn't seem to have any standard at all. Which again, leads me to believe that larpers just don't care about their costumes all that much; at least on average.
Here is one of my favorite costumes though, and it appears to be a WHFB design. I doubt that this is used for larping, but I find the influence radiated from the awesomeness, that is the Warhams universe, quite funny. The average Warhams costume is much more awesomer than the average larp, and I support my nerd-hybrid brothers, in their effort to purge the non-believers.
Perhaps playing a game with professionally sculpted miniatures is equivalent to LARPing with well-made costumes, and playing a game with nickels and Lego men is equivalent to LARPing with a pot on your head for a "viking helm"?
At any rate, here are the rankings as I personally see them:
Magicians > Wargamers > Good LARPers > D&D Folk > Normal People > Pepsi-box LARPers > Clowns > Wargamers Who Play Tau > Mimes > Twilight Fans > Chairman Mao > Furries > People Who Liked Avatar
I used to LARP for quite a while when I was a young lad of 16/17 - it was based around Vampire: The Masquerade. We did it in a room above a pub, and it was actually a pretty good laugh - and let me tell you, I got super-laid. There is usually a SERIOUS amount of fanny at those sorts of things. Chicks who like vampires like shagging. True story.
I would echo Shuma in that I have yet to meet a wargamer IRL, who wasn't at least partially a tool. I was actually surprised that so many people on here were fairly cool.
ShumaGorath wrote:Not really. Improvisational acting and theatre dates back thousands of years, as do social games and role playing scenarios. Selectively attempting to justify a ridiculous and sad hobby by mocking another one isn't really helping anything.
Wow. You're claiming that LARPing dates back "thousands of years?"
...I've touched a nerve with you, haven't I? Methinks you're getting a bit defensive about LARPing. Don't worry - your secret is safe with US!
No matter what you say, you always touch a nerve in shuma, apparently has a nerve for everything.
ShumaGorath wrote:Not really. Improvisational acting and theatre dates back thousands of years, as do social games and role playing scenarios. Selectively attempting to justify a ridiculous and sad hobby by mocking another one isn't really helping anything.
Wow. You're claiming that LARPing dates back "thousands of years?"
...I've touched a nerve with you, haven't I? Methinks you're getting a bit defensive about LARPing. Don't worry - your secret is safe with US!
No matter what you say, you always touch a nerve in shuma, apparently has a nerve for everything.
Like I said previously, I generally dislike war-gamers and had time on my hands.
Marshal2Crusaders wrote:Shuma WTF do you play, man? Did you just stumble onto Dakka one day and decide to take up the role of the Devil's actual Advocate?
Marshal2Crusaders wrote:Shuma WTF do you play, man? Did you just stumble onto Dakka one day and decide to take up the role of the Devil's actual Advocate?
ShumaGorath wrote:In before people who spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on toy tanks that they play with in comic book stores or basements mock people who dress up like idiots and pretend to shoot lightning from their hands.
Inb4 wanna-be /b/tard self-righteously comes to the defense of LARPing due to personal self enjoyment and attempts to troll a Wargaming hobby website by comparing their hobby to dressing up like elves pretending to be people they aren't. O wait... I guess not before.
LARPers are funny, SCA at least have some nads, but sand-bag lightning bolts and fat-buggy horses are just hilarious.
Go into a bunch of those guys with a real sledgehammer and smack them around. Then when they say im hitting to hard or its not real yell " DAMN CASUAL LARPERS, GO HARDCORE OR GO HOME!"
Haters are gonna hate, larping is fun. Atleast in sweden where the level is a bit more advanced.
Don't really know rolplaying wise but equipment is miles away
Bla_Ze wrote:Haters are gonna hate, larping is fun. Atleast in sweden where the level is a bit more advanced.
Don't really know rolplaying wise but equipment is miles away
If you could get a good group together and everything that actually wrote scenarios and stuff it looks like it could be a lot of fun.
However a lot of what i see is people with buckets on their heads, a bedsheet for a cape running around with wooden rods yelling and hitting gak.
Discussion I’ve had at least three or four times online in the last ten years…
First off, I am surprised and disappointed that no one has yet linked the Brunching Shuttlecocks’ Geek Hierarchy Chart, which officially documents which geeks look down on which other geeks.
Secondly, Shuma isn’t even trolling in this thread. He’s just right. Other folks are right too, in that a lot of LARP involves cheap costumes and looks absolutely ridiculous from the exterior.
I larped from around 1993 until about 2001.
Started off with Vampire: The Masquerade-type stuff, and did that off and on through most of the 90s. As Albatross pointed out, there is a significant chick factor in vamp larps, or at least there used to be. Overall the folks are a trifle pretentious and dramatic (though a bit less so than the main goth and fetish club/social scene), but there is a strong connection to improvisational theatre and to traditional roleplaying games. You do run into folks who take it too seriously, and folks who can’t take it seriously enough, and sabotage good scenes through bad acting or breaking character. IME good games are pretty rare, as the folks who are seriously good actors are more into actual Acting, but there are some good ones out there. I played at one hosted at Boston University in the 90s which had a big overlap with their medieval studies and drama departments, and some good events. The vampire-type larps usually use a combined numeric stat & rock/paper/scissors (believe it or not) conflict-resolution mechanic, though I’ve seen a couple of others, like dice or playing cards.
I first tried a couple of live combat (boffer weapon) larps in Seattle in 1991 or 1992, then got out of them for a while and after I moved back to the East coast started playing NERO in 1995, and played it until 2000 or 01. Also briefly tried out Amtgard and a Realms offshoot, Imperium. These are fun, though certainly look silly from the outside. Costume quality varies widely, with newer players often pretty minimal, and more experienced ones usually having fairly nice gear and armor. All the combat required physical skill and athletic ability. Spellcasting required both the recitation of a verbal incantation and striking the target with a thrown beanbag. The spell packet design was such that better arm strength and skill would give better accuracy; a friend of mine pitched baseball in high school and it definitely helped him play a better caster in NERO. When I was playing NERO I primarily played a fighter, as the combat was definitely a substantial part of the appeal. I knew a couple of “teams” or adventuring groups which specifically recruited jocks and athletes from their high schools or colleges as they made better fighters. It was actually kind of nice to have a hobby where athletes and gamer geeks crossed paths and shared interests more. NERO wasn’t as chick-heavy as the vamp larps, but still way ahead of wargaming or even tabletop RPGing. The costuming, semi-theatrical and social aspects definitely draw them.
LARP has its own charms and fun. The athletic aspect is certainly one of them. Getting out in the woods and camping. Running, climbing, fighting and sneaking around the woods in the day or the middle of the night. No 40k game yet has been as viscerally exciting as sneaking up on a group of 20+ “bad guy” NPCs in the middle of the night, trying to get to a captive or assassinate their leader. Or running pell-mell through the woods from a “death knight” with good prosthetics and LED glowing eyes, which (I found out later) projected enough light that they actually worked like little headlights and helped him see in the dark. I’m dead certain that if I was still doing LARP I wouldn’t have the incipient gut I’ve been growing the last few years. Eventually I didn’t want to commit the time (particularly weekends) or effort to it anymore, but that’s a reflection of my changing desires and commitments, rather than a failing of the games.
People may want to bear in mind, also, that there are a significantly wider variation in LARP events than just the couple I’ve described above. A lot of the European ones I’ve read about and seen pictures of have higher standards for costuming and props, and look really impressive. There’s also a big sub-set of games which are played at Sci-Fi & F conventions, at hotels, and which are often more mystery & clue-gathering games, with no real physical component and minimal (if any) costuming. There are others which are more like a “How to Host a Murder” party mysteries. I read about a really neat one which was held at a hotel and set on the Titanic, with period costuming and the climax held in the pool area, so they could have water effects and even lifeboats.
Anyway, as noted, it’s just another geeky hobby. And it is one which does tend to involve more females and a greater level of social interaction than others. We can certainly laugh at it, just as we laugh at our own hobby. That Reno 911 scene is some funny stuff. But pretending to social superiority or meanspirited mockery is silly and counterproductive.
Bla_Ze wrote:Haters are gonna hate, larping is fun. Atleast in sweden where the level is a bit more advanced.
Don't really know rolplaying wise but equipment is miles away
If you could get a good group together and everything that actually wrote scenarios and stuff it looks like it could be a lot of fun.
However a lot of what i see is people with buckets on their heads, a bedsheet for a cape running around with wooden rods yelling and hitting gak.
How can you larp without what you just mentioned? In sweden atleast its standard even for the "beginners larps".
Shuma was just attempting to diffuse some of the ridiculous amounts of nerdrage elitism. If anything, the people mocking something they refuse to even try and understand who continually attempt to belittle stuff based on what the "cool kids" are doing are the trolls. This community really gets on my nerves sometimes. Why can't people just be nice and get that others have "weird" hobbies. there's a difference between joking about something and dismissing it and anyone who participates in it.
Cannerus_The_Unbearable wrote:Shuma was just attempting to diffuse some of the ridiculous amounts of nerdrage elitism. If anything, the people mocking something they refuse to even try and understand who continually attempt to belittle stuff based on what the "cool kids" are doing are the trolls. This community really gets on my nerves sometimes. Why can't people just be nice and get that others have "weird" hobbies. there's a difference between joking about something and dismissing it and anyone who participates in it.
Well said mate
when I was about 15 I used to have a bunch of older mates who were really into there histoical re-enactment, many a weekend was spent camping in different parts of the country and hitting each other with blunted weapons, it was a great laugh, if sometimes a little painful. For me I see little diiference between re-enactment, LARPing, Paintball and Air soft et all. The bottom line is that it all involves running around the woods with fake weapons pretending to kill each other. Its a good way for people to let off steam without any huge risks of getting seriously hurt.
I am sure that we all take the pee out of others hobbies and interests, even certain types of people who share the same ones we do, but it should always be done in a friendly way, otherwise you just come across as a complete tool.
Are US Civil War reenactments not LARPing? If so, that seems pretty mainstream in the south. Sort of a double-standard then, no?
Here in BC we have a number of old Gold Rush towns that have been turned into... well, for lack of a better term, Museums. They employ a wide variety of people to work in the shops and pretend to live in the various houses. These people dress up and act like it's the 19th century. No one considers it LARP, but isn't that what it is?
metallifan wrote:Are US Civil War reenactments not LARPing? If so, that seems pretty mainstream in the south. Sort of a double-standard then, no?
It's a bit of a fine line.
The Civil War reenactments are usually done by professionals or military personnel who studied the history of the battle and they set it up as more of an entertaining spectacle for the people viewing it. They generally strive to make it 100% as historically accurate as possible(based on the accounts they have to work from), and don't(generally) really hit each other.
Kanluwen wrote:So actors in a historical film are LARPing too?
You might say that, yes. Isn't LARPing just acting something out? Cameras and a Script don't really change things. I would say that yes - films and plays are a form of LARPing. There's just no wierdo with a wizard hat running around yelling out 'spells'.
Kanluwen wrote:So actors in a historical film are LARPing too?
You might say that, yes. Isn't LARPing just acting something out? Cameras and a Script don't really change things. I would say that yes - films and plays are a form of LARPing. There's just no wierdo with a wizard hat running around yelling out 'spells'.
The big difference is precisely what Mannahnin said.
The actors/participants are playing a role--but it's not a game for them. A large number of them do it as a hobby, but some are professionals and appear in films, documentaries, etc.
Kanluwen wrote:So actors in a historical film are LARPing too?
You might say that, yes. Isn't LARPing just acting something out? Cameras and a Script don't really change things. I would say that yes - films and plays are a form of LARPing. There's just no wierdo with a wizard hat running around yelling out 'spells'.
I suppose I can't disagree with you on the film element (Save for Indie filmmakers), though I think the earlier Civil War/Rush Town example I gave sticks just fine.
There is a difference between a game (like D&D) and an acting job. A historical re-enactor can be sort of like a LARPer, but generally they’re not playing a character with defined game stats the way a gamer is. In a LARP you have a rules structure in which the characters interact, and under which one can kill another, or gain new abilities or levels, or accumulate treasure, or whatever. In a historical re-enactment you may have a character, but it's much more like a character in a play. You interact with other characters/actors, but it's a purely cooperative activity with no competitive aspect, and if there were to be a conflict between your characters (like a battle scene at a Civil War event) it'd be scripted. If I were to fight another player at NERO, we'd have strict combat rules, our weapons would do a defined number of damage points, and we'd each have a certain number of hit points/armor points. Then we'd actually fight it out within those rules.
metallifan wrote:Well, they're roleplaying a Civil War battle aren't they? And it's in Live Action. To me, that's Historical LARP.
yea Civil War geeks are geeks to, not professionals, unless by professional you mean fat balding guy who's really really redfaced from huffing about. great fun to watch and participate in I'd imagine. But great fun to watch.
Not the furries again.
That's one of the problems when you live in Pittsburgh...
Well that and the fact that there are only 45 days of sunlight
each year, and that Jack Frost always covers the city in about
five or six inches of snow.
Orkeosaurus wrote:At any rate, here are the rankings as I personally see them:
Magicians > Wargamers > Good LARPers > D&D Folk > Normal People > Pepsi-box LARPers > Clowns > Wargamers Who Play Tau > Mimes > Twilight Fans > Chairman Mao > Furries > People Who Liked Avatar
Mannahin wrote:Started off with Vampire: The Masquerade-type stuff, and did that off and on through most of the 90s. As Albatross pointed out, there is a significant chick factor in vamp larps, or at least there used to be. Overall the folks are a trifle pretentious and dramatic (though a bit less so than the main goth and fetish club/social scene), but there is a strong connection to improvisational theatre and to traditional roleplaying games. You do run into folks who take it too seriously...
Hells yes, this. There was one guy who started coming to our group who claimed to be a 'wizard' and used this to groom young girls - like 14/15. He was in his early 30s, IIRC. He claimed he was mentoring them in 'the dark arts', teaching them rituals etc. I stopped going not long after he joined. He was a creepy fether.
But for the most part, I had a wicked time doing Vampire LARP. It was great fun - it even has it's parallels with tabletop wargaming, in that there were 'cheesy' ways to generate your character. A disproportionate number of our group members played Gangrel with Protean at at least lvl 2, because you get claws, and in our system claws caused Aggravated damage (agg) which was the easiest way to kill another character. Me? I was more 'fluffy'. I played Ventrue or Tremere, even though they are les powerful at lower levels - simply because they are the political class, and thus should be more common at Elysium.
Wow, it all just came flooding back! I actually quite miss it! Saying that, I bet it would be FULL of Twilight fans - and as far as I'm concerned they can gag on my nuts.
Putting a kilt, going to castlefest, eating only meat for 3 days, and drinking only mead and beer. And listening to some awesome folk bands and such... and buying weapons because I can...
Daemon-Archon Ren wrote:LARPers are funny, SCA at least have some nads, but sand-bag lightning bolts and fat-buggy horses are just hilarious.
It cuts both way with SCA people. I've seen some fairly impressive fighters, but I've also seen the guys that are happy to be on welfare while they sit home all day making themselves chainmail out of coathangers while quoting lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
I'm consistently impressed by how mature all these wargamers behave in looking down on another group of people doing what they love and enjoy. It's like we're all in High School all over again.
Get over yourselves and realize that to the average person, you're just as(and in some areas even more, thanks to LARP being recommended by some acting classes) nerdy as LARPers.
I'm consistently impressed by how mature all these wargamers behave in looking down on another group of people doing what they love and enjoy. It's like we're all in High School all over again.
Most wargamers never truly leave highschool. They get their diploma and stop going, but they end up hanging out with the same people in the same town anyway.
I'm consistently impressed by how mature all these wargamers behave in looking down on another group of people doing what they love and enjoy. It's like we're all in High School all over again.
Most wargamers never truly leave highschool. They get their diploma and stop going, but they end up hanging out with the same people in the same town anyway.
That's part of why I'm glad I married my wife, actually. She's an USAF officer, so in addition to the hot wife, I got a ticket out of Louisiana.
Everyone's got their own standards of geekness but imo and probably for most people/geeks; LARPing is on another tier of geekdom than wargaming even for pencil and paper veterans in a similar way that video gamers may view tabletop wargamers. At least everyone can poke fun at the furries though.
Kinda like being a fan of a sport. Some will casually watch, play fantasy leagues, some heckle the players/fans/etc, others buy a jersey, get autographs, others collect everything they can, and some will show up to a game half-naked covered in paint while getting drunk to the point of running on the field.
metallifan wrote:Are US Civil War reenactments not LARPing? If so, that seems pretty mainstream in the south. Sort of a double-standard then, no?
Here in BC we have a number of old Gold Rush towns that have been turned into... well, for lack of a better term, Museums. They employ a wide variety of people to work in the shops and pretend to live in the various houses. These people dress up and act like it's the 19th century. No one considers it LARP, but isn't that what it is?
metallifan wrote:Are US Civil War reenactments not LARPing? If so, that seems pretty mainstream in the south. Sort of a double-standard then, no?
Here in BC we have a number of old Gold Rush towns that have been turned into... well, for lack of a better term, Museums. They employ a wide variety of people to work in the shops and pretend to live in the various houses. These people dress up and act like it's the 19th century. No one considers it LARP, but isn't that what it is?
Technically that is acting.
Isn't LARP just acting though? The folk in those gold rush towns don't run off scripts - it's all improv. Unless I'm mistaken, isn't LARP just people doing improv in a medieval setting rather than a 19th century one?
LARP is role playing. You want to BE the person. An actor acts the role from a script, a character invented by an author, a LARPer makes his own alternate personality. Thats where it gets creepy.
I could stand to help mentor some hot college age coeds in the Dark Arts though....
Marshal2Crusaders wrote:LARP is role playing. You want to BE the person. An actor acts the role from a script, a character invented by an author, a LARPer makes his own alternate personality. Thats where it gets creepy.
Wrong.
LARPers don't want to BE the person, they are merely acting in the character for a period of time, in the same way tabletop roleplay works. LARPers don't make their own alternate personality, they create a character according to a set of rules and employ those rules during game encounters like combat or spellcasting. LARP sits midway between tabletop RP and Improv theatre.
As I've said, I went to The Gathering, held by the Lorien Trust, about 10 years ago. It was a great event, held over the August bank holiday weekend, several thousand people there. Kind of like a fancy dress music festival with plots and incidents and factions. There were families there and about 60/40 mix of men and women. Taking part in the battles required a level of physical fitness and mingling with that many people required a level of social competency.
Don't delude yourselves that collecting toy soldiers and arguing about dice rolls puts you higher up on the 'acceptability of nerd' scale than the people I met there, you'd be quite wrong.
Marshal2Crusaders wrote:LARP is role playing. You want to BE the person. An actor acts the role from a script, a character invented by an author, a LARPer makes his own alternate personality. Thats where it gets creepy.
Wrong.
LARPers don't want to BE the person, they are merely acting in the character for a period of time, in the same way tabletop roleplay works. LARPers don't make their own alternate personality, they create a character according to a set of rules and employ those rules during game encounters like combat or spellcasting. LARP sits midway between tabletop RP and Improv theatre.
As I've said, I went to The Gathering, held by the Lorien Trust, about 10 years ago. It was a great event, held over the August bank holiday weekend, several thousand people there. Kind of like a fancy dress music festival with plots and incidents and factions. There were families there and about 60/40 mix of men and women. Taking part in the battles required a level of physical fitness and mingling with that many people required a level of social competency.
Don't delude yourselves that collecting toy soldiers and arguing about dice rolls puts you higher up on the 'acceptability of nerd' scale than the people I met there, you'd be quite wrong.
I dont put myself on any 'nerd scale' and I dont consider other hobbies 'inferior', I just think its kind of creepy to pretend to be Lord Skornax of Lackadaemon, Avenger of the Gods every third saturday of the month, and have his 'traits' and 'personality' carry over IRL. Of course I did watch Darkon, and that reallly soured my views on LARPing. Role Models made up for it though, and made it actually look fun. I used to play scenario paintball, and STX lanes are essentially RP, so Im not unfamiliar with it, I just didnt take it so serious to consider it a massive part of my life. I play 40K for the tactical challenge (I use alot of homegrown rules and scenarios), not because I imagine that I am on the field. Though I do like to write backstory, but then again, I like to write for schittzengiggles anyway.
Marshal2Crusaders wrote:and have his 'traits' and 'personality' carry over IRL.
I've only ever seen this happen ONCE to someone, and it wasn't a LARPer, it was an internet roleplayer(he thought he was actually a Gargoyle and jumped out of a second story window to try to fly and broke his leg). The vast majority of these people can separate fantasy from reality(and in fact, most of them sit around and talk OOC most of their downtime to begin with, probably only half a LARP event is even spent "In Character"). That's a phenomenon that happens in ALL forms of acting and RP, NOT just LARPing. Learn the facts, don't just stereotype because you think that's how it is because of a movie.
metallifan wrote:Are US Civil War reenactments not LARPing? If so, that seems pretty mainstream in the south. Sort of a double-standard then, no?
Here in BC we have a number of old Gold Rush towns that have been turned into... well, for lack of a better term, Museums. They employ a wide variety of people to work in the shops and pretend to live in the various houses. These people dress up and act like it's the 19th century. No one considers it LARP, but isn't that what it is?
Technically that is acting.
Isn't LARP just acting though? The folk in those gold rush towns don't run off scripts - it's all improv. Unless I'm mistaken, isn't LARP just people doing improv in a medieval setting rather than a 19th century one?
Not true. Alot of the historical sites that have actors on the premises have set 'scripts' to follow, depending on the time of day.
They have guidelines, but the dialogue with visitors is improv. I've been to one - Barkerville, and the most they have for script is that each person gets issued the background of someone that once lived there during the rush, and that's it. Everything else is improv. All they really work off of is background. There are some scripted 'shows' that the town puts on from time to time, but a lot of it is just people role-playing inhabitants of the town.
Platuan4th wrote:And if the South Park episode "Super Fun Time" is any indication, they never break character while it's open.
EVER.
Nope, they sure won't. Tried asking this smokin' hot girl that was playing a wife in one of the houses wher she was from and she said "We came all the way here from Fort Nelson in the bloody dead of winter with an HBC caravan. It was the longest damned trip I've ever been on. You couldn't get out either, because you'd end up with a skirt full of snow, and then the soldiers would laugh at you."
Right then I decided that I wouldn't get a straight, out of character answer from this girl so I forgot trying
Marshal2Crusaders wrote:and have his 'traits' and 'personality' carry over IRL.
I've only ever seen this happen ONCE to someone, and it wasn't a LARPer, it was an internet roleplayer(he thought he was actually a Gargoyle and jumped out of a second story window to try to fly and broke his leg). The vast majority of these people can separate fantasy from reality(and in fact, most of them sit around and talk OOC most of their downtime to begin with, probably only half a LARP event is even spent "In Character"). That's a phenomenon that happens in ALL forms of acting and RP, NOT just LARPing. Learn the facts, don't just stereotype because you think that's how it is because of a movie.
Dont ever tell me to 'learn the facts' again, when clearly, as was documented in the DOCUMENTARY, that players in the Darkon club, use the club as a means of advanced escapism from everyday life. The stay at home dad, the main character, specifically mentions that he likes being his character because of his 'leadership role'. The main 'bad' guy said that playing his alter ego has helped him become a better business owner and man. The one girl with the kids said she prefers it because it lets her have unprecedented control over her own life. That wasn't just 1 random case from across the world, that was THREE fething PEOPLE in the SAME CLUB, with more in the movie!!!! I didn't watch Role Models and stereotype LARPing, I watched a movie that did a damn good job of going out there and trying to show LARPing as detailed as possible, flaws and character flaws and all.
Using actors who get 'stuck' in character really doesn't hold, as actors(the ones that count at least) are professionals, their job is an art, and is far different from someone refusing to come out of a character THEY made up. Actors act from a script, written by a writer, who writes, for profit, to make MOVIES, or PLAYS. A LARPer LARPs for a good time, not because its their professional calling. Its recreational.
And your fething example was a guy who jumped out a window because he thought he could fly? And you saw it happen? Really?
Marshal2Crusaders wrote:and have his 'traits' and 'personality' carry over IRL.
I've only ever seen this happen ONCE to someone, and it wasn't a LARPer, it was an internet roleplayer(he thought he was actually a Gargoyle and jumped out of a second story window to try to fly and broke his leg). The vast majority of these people can separate fantasy from reality(and in fact, most of them sit around and talk OOC most of their downtime to begin with, probably only half a LARP event is even spent "In Character"). That's a phenomenon that happens in ALL forms of acting and RP, NOT just LARPing. Learn the facts, don't just stereotype because you think that's how it is because of a movie.
Dont ever tell me to 'learn the facts' again, when clearly, as was documented in the DOCUMENTARY, that players in the Darkon club, use the club as a means of advanced escapism from everyday life. The stay at home dad, the main character, specifically mentions that he likes being his character because of his 'leadership role'. The main 'bad' guy said that playing his alter ego has helped him become a better business owner and man. The one girl with the kids said she prefers it because it lets her have unprecedented control over her own life. That wasn't just 1 random case from across the world, that was THREE fething PEOPLE in the SAME CLUB, with more in the movie!!!! I didn't watch Role Models and stereotype LARPing, I watched a movie that did a damn good job of going out there and trying to show LARPing as detailed as possible, flaws and character flaws and all.
Using actors who get 'stuck' in character really doesn't hold, as actors(the ones that count at least) are professionals, their job is an art, and is far different from someone refusing to come out of a character THEY made up. Actors act from a script, written by a writer, who writes, for profit, to make MOVIES, or PLAYS. A LARPer LARPs for a good time, not because its their professional calling. Its recreational.
And your fething example was a guy who jumped out a window because he thought he could fly? And you saw it happen? Really?
So those people listed the things they had gained, in part, from taking part in a social activity and you think that's weird...?
What does that have to do with 'being stuck' in their character? I don't get it.
That did sound more like a pro-LARP post that spoke of the benefits of it. The only thing that had to do with being 'stuck' In-Character was the kid jumping out the window. But lets face it - Some people aren't exactly the brightest bulbs in the pack.
Marshal2Crusaders wrote:Just watch it, brother, it'll make more sense. Taking skills learned from a social activity, and doing it how they did it are two different things.
All roleplaying comes from wanting to be different, for some reason or the other, they just take it to a weird level.
As a roleplayer of many years, it's not about wanting to be different, more the trying on of another pair of shoes for a little while and then taking them off. I have no desire to be an east-end vampire criminal but for several years, on a weds night, I sat at a table and took part in a RP game and it was great fun.
It is escapism, but no more that than reading a book or watching a movie and being engrossed in the plot.
RP games are the same whether sat down at a table or running about in costume. They are also the cousin of tabletop battle games.
All these games have an 'odd' element in them population wise, if you consider the 1 in 10 people on the planet have a mental condition of some form, then these games, with their notions of escapism and fantasy, can attract those people. When you then look at films like Avatar and Twilight, and read about their fangroups on the internet, then you can see LARPers are not the fruitloops you've got them pegged as. If you then listen to those guys who tatoo themselves with their football team's colours and are unable to communicate about anything else and even miss their own child being born because 'the match is on' you can see that any passtime or interest can have unhinged people in it.
I will try to watch the documentary you've cited, but I wonder at it's agenda and how things will be portrayed. It's like saying 'if you want to know about Baptist beliefs, come watch this show about the guys from Westbro...', all I can tell you in return is that I work with 4 LARPers, all of whom are in long term relationships and happy with their lot in life (or as happy as the rest of humanity), have well paid jobs and enjoy a beer after work. At least two of them boggle at tabletop wargaming, especially the prices and the constant rereleasing of the rules and codices and think I'm round the twist to continue paying for all that.
Marshal2Crusaders wrote:Just watch it, brother, it'll make more sense. Taking skills learned from a social activity, and doing it how they did it are two different things.
All roleplaying comes from wanting to be different, for some reason or the other, they just take it to a weird level.
You should probably learn to separate groups you see on documentaries from groups you don't when you are seeking to review multitudinous and heavily varied groups of people with highly diverse hobbies and interests.
Watch it for free. I was always referencing those who take it too far. Look back to my first post in the thread. For Christ sake I play VG RPGs all the time, and I dont imagine that I am commander Shepherd etc...
Correction, look at my first REAL post with actual content.
Watch it for free. I was always referencing those who take it too far. Look back to my first post in the thread. For Christ sake I play VG RPGs all the time, and I dont imagine that I am commander Shepherd etc...
....
There are numerous logical fallacies at work here. I do not care enough to point them out.
Watch it for free. I was always referencing those who take it too far. Look back to my first post in the thread. For Christ sake I play VG RPGs all the time, and I dont imagine that I am commander Shepherd etc...
....
There are numerous logical fallacies at work here. I do not care enough to point them out.
Like? LOL. Dude, just watch it man. Specifically the Gorgo guy.
Watch it for free. I was always referencing those who take it too far. Look back to my first post in the thread. For Christ sake I play VG RPGs all the time, and I dont imagine that I am commander Shepherd etc...
....
There are numerous logical fallacies at work here. I do not care enough to point them out.
Like? LOL. Dude, just watch it man. Specifically the Gorgo guy.
I mock twilight because I'm a fan of vampires. I mock wargaming and larping to people in person to see them get ticked off then confused when they find out I do both. A geeks a geek regardless if the garb is chainmail and leather or t-shirts and cheeto dust.
rocklord2004 wrote:I mock twilight because I'm a fan of vampires. I mock wargaming and larping to people in person to see them get ticked off then confused when they find out I do both. A geeks a geek regardless if the garb is chainmail and leather or t-shirts and cheeto dust.
Commissar Molotov wrote:While I'm generally all for egalitarianism, I must insist that there is a nerdy, geeky pecking order...
LARPers are WAY down the "dork chain" from more established and genteel nerd pursuits like miniatures and comic books. In fact, while they're barely above "furries," at least LARPers don't try to play "hide the salami" while they're dressed up in their dork costumes.
*shudders*
Thank GAWD for that.
Where the hell do i go then I'm a furry who LARPS plays war-games and RPg's and for added fun i'm a programmer. I must be Uber dork bow down before me
I actually want to give LARPing a try one day I mean what's not to like, beating up people with blunt objects, running around in forests, camping, socializing, gaming under structured rules and meeting new people. I totally can see the
attraction in this, besides how can you criticize something if you've never tried it.
Commissar Molotov wrote:While I'm generally all for egalitarianism, I must insist that there is a nerdy, geeky pecking order...
LARPers are WAY down the "dork chain" from more established and genteel nerd pursuits like miniatures and comic books. In fact, while they're barely above "furries," at least LARPers don't try to play "hide the salami" while they're dressed up in their dork costumes.
*shudders*
Thank GAWD for that.
Where the hell do i go then I'm a furry who LARPS plays war-games and RPg's and for added fun i'm a programmer. I must be Uber dork bow down before me
You being a furry negates all of of the other things you do, regardless of how redeeming they might be....
Commissar Molotov wrote:While I'm generally all for egalitarianism, I must insist that there is a nerdy, geeky pecking order...
LARPers are WAY down the "dork chain" from more established and genteel nerd pursuits like miniatures and comic books. In fact, while they're barely above "furries," at least LARPers don't try to play "hide the salami" while they're dressed up in their dork costumes.
*shudders*
Thank GAWD for that.
Where the hell do i go then I'm a furry who LARPS plays war-games and RPg's and for added fun i'm a programmer. I must be Uber dork bow down before me
You being a furry negates all of of the other things you do, regardless of how redeeming they might be....
Cane wrote:Everyone's got their own standards of geekness but imo and probably for most people/geeks; LARPing is on another tier of geekdom than wargaming even for pencil and paper veterans in a similar way that video gamers may view tabletop wargamers. At least everyone can poke fun at the furries though.
Kinda like being a fan of a sport. Some will casually watch, play fantasy leagues, some heckle the players/fans/etc, others buy a jersey, get autographs, others collect everything they can, and some will show up to a game half-naked covered in paint while getting drunk to the point of running on the field.
I think this is more honest than the "all geeks are equal" idea.
Personally, if I think of my non-gaming friends, it'd almost certainly be easiest to get them into video gaming. It's practically mainstream nowadays. Next hardest would be tabletop minis. It's really not for everyone. And most difficult would definitely be LARP. Even if I spun it around women and booze, there are other ways to meet women and party that don't involve costumes and acting.
Cane wrote:Everyone's got their own standards of geekness but imo and probably for most people/geeks; LARPing is on another tier of geekdom than wargaming even for pencil and paper veterans in a similar way that video gamers may view tabletop wargamers. At least everyone can poke fun at the furries though.
Kinda like being a fan of a sport. Some will casually watch, play fantasy leagues, some heckle the players/fans/etc, others buy a jersey, get autographs, others collect everything they can, and some will show up to a game half-naked covered in paint while getting drunk to the point of running on the field.
I think this is more honest than the "all geeks are equal" idea.
Personally, if I think of my non-gaming friends, it'd almost certainly be easiest to get them into video gaming. It's practically mainstream nowadays. Next hardest would be tabletop minis. It's really not for everyone. And most difficult would definitely be LARP. Even if I spun it around women and booze, there are other ways to meet women and party that don't involve costumes and acting.
I think you massively overestimate the size of the wargaming market.
Cheesecat wrote:I actually want to give LARPing a try one day I mean what's not to like, beating up people with blunt objects, running around in forests, camping, socializing, gaming under structured rules and meeting new people. I totally can see the
attraction in this, besides how can you criticize something if you've never tried it.
I proudly proclaim that I semi-larp, by this I mean that its larping with the most idiotic portions cut out, costumes and character names are a minimum unless you go to a huge event, and no spells, just the beating with foam covered portions of PVC. which you may think is stupid, and to you I say this 1) if 10 thousand people do it then it must have some merit, and 2) its a way for nerds to exercise and meet new people without playing, dare I say it, organized sports
Europe's Rape-Face is positioned slightly higher than the American Rape Face?
Are you saying that all European rapists rape while high? Corvus, that's a terrible overgeneralization. I'm sure there are several thousand rapists in Europe that rape while sober.
Albatross wrote:Wait... are we supposed to think it's cool that the guy spent that much on his costume or not?
I'm confused by that poster.
He didin't buy it. He made it.
I'm sorry my creativity did not please your humor. But its just for fun.
Could have used a pic of myself, but alas i am simply not as cool, even in plate. (yes i larp too, it's quite funny but i have actually roleplayed against the guy in the pic)
metallifan wrote:Europe's Rape-Face is positioned slightly higher than the American Rape Face?
Are you saying that all European rapists rape while high? Corvus, that's a terrible overgeneralization. I'm sure there are several thousand rapists in Europe that rape while sober.
They're not rape faces, they're TROLL FACES! GET IT RIGHT lol
Albatross wrote:Wait... are we supposed to think it's cool that the guy spent that much on his costume or not?
I'm confused by that poster.
He didin't buy it. He made it.
I'm sorry my creativity did not please your humor. But its just for fun.
Could have used a pic of myself, but alas i am simply not as cool, even in plate. (yes i larp too, it's quite funny but i have actually roleplayed against the guy in the pic)
Which means he's living at mom's house...yea color me impressed...not.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Here's a better comparison
Cane wrote:Everyone's got their own standards of geekness but imo and probably for most people/geeks; LARPing is on another tier of geekdom than wargaming even for pencil and paper veterans in a similar way that video gamers may view tabletop wargamers. At least everyone can poke fun at the furries though.
Kinda like being a fan of a sport. Some will casually watch, play fantasy leagues, some heckle the players/fans/etc, others buy a jersey, get autographs, others collect everything they can, and some will show up to a game half-naked covered in paint while getting drunk to the point of running on the field.
I think this is more honest than the "all geeks are equal" idea.
Personally, if I think of my non-gaming friends, it'd almost certainly be easiest to get them into video gaming. It's practically mainstream nowadays. Next hardest would be tabletop minis. It's really not for everyone. And most difficult would definitely be LARP. Even if I spun it around women and booze, there are other ways to meet women and party that don't involve costumes and acting.
I think you massively overestimate the size of the wargaming market.
How so? Video games (large) => tabletop minis (quite small) => LARP (even smaller).
Never said there wasn't a very big dropoff from video gaming to tabletop. That's obvious. It's also obvious to me that I'd have an easier time convincing a non-gamer to general a High Elf army on the tabletop than to dress up and play the role of Indel Sogbottom, high elf warrior-mage at a LARP event.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Albatross wrote:Pah!
Aston Martin Vanquish. How cool is that name, by the way! 'Vanquish'!
A while back I made a comparison between GW games and British cars. Both have style and charm, but are always in the shop because of little niggling problems. Some find this a charming quirk, others find it annoying.
[/How so? Video games (large) => tabletop minis (quite small) => LARP (even smaller).
Never said there wasn't a very big dropoff from video gaming to tabletop. That's obvious. It's also obvious to me that I'd have an easier time convincing a non-gamer to general a High Elf army on the tabletop than to dress up and play the role of Indel Sogbottom, high elf warrior-mage at a LARP event.
Oh? Because I'm not so sure. One doesn't require a ludicrous monetary and time investment at the outset as well as a support group of similar players within (at least) driving distance. But then you don't actually have the numbers for either and you seem to discount a significant amount of live action role plays (Do you count costuming of any other form at all? Cosplay? Social games? Or do you only count the dudes in bad wizard costumes shouting blue magic blue magic).
[/How so? Video games (large) => tabletop minis (quite small) => LARP (even smaller).
Never said there wasn't a very big dropoff from video gaming to tabletop. That's obvious. It's also obvious to me that I'd have an easier time convincing a non-gamer to general a High Elf army on the tabletop than to dress up and play the role of Indel Sogbottom, high elf warrior-mage at a LARP event.
Oh? Because I'm not so sure. One doesn't require a ludicrous monetary and time investment at the outset as well as a support group of similar players within (at least) driving distance. But then you don't actually have the numbers for either and you seem to discount a significant amount of live action role plays (Do you count costuming of any other form at all? Cosplay? Social games? Or do you only count the dudes in bad wizard costumes shouting blue magic blue magic).
I dont consider the money you put towards a Wargaming army to be ludicrous... 300$ isnt that bad to be honest. Most MMORPG's cost 50 bucks for the game plus around 180$ in monthly fees per year.
Plus the computer to play said games can easily run you over 600$.
Going to the movies is easily 10-15 bucks a person with snacks...
The thing about wargaming is once oyu have your army your done for the most part. So that 300$ investment could last you years.
I dont consider the money you put towards a Wargaming army to be ludicrous... 300$ isnt that bad to be honest. Most MMORPG's cost 50 bucks for the game plus around 180$ in monthly fees per year.
Plus the computer to play said games can easily run you over 600$.
Going to the movies is easily 10-15 bucks a person with snacks...
The thing about wargaming is once oyu have your army your done for the most part. So that 300$ investment could last you years.
Yes, but at the end of the day it's still largely upfront costs for unmade plastic sprues which you then have to paint (gotta buy that!) get rules for (gotta buy that) glue (gotta buy that) and find others with the same hobby. Sure, 500$ (300 is an extremely conservative estimate) for something that can last years isn't a bad investment, but the investment doesn't stop at the point of purchase and 500 dollars for something you don't even get to use right away is. Who cares if it's barely more expensive than an xbox. You can watch movies on an xbox. All you can do with tiny plastic sprues is look at them and dream.
This is an aside however, and you didn't address my actual point.
I tend to concur with the assessment that it's tough to judge whether more or fewer people LARP v. wargame in the US. Neither is anywhere near videogaming; both are tiny niches in the larger gaming market.
[/How so? Video games (large) => tabletop minis (quite small) => LARP (even smaller).
Never said there wasn't a very big dropoff from video gaming to tabletop. That's obvious. It's also obvious to me that I'd have an easier time convincing a non-gamer to general a High Elf army on the tabletop than to dress up and play the role of Indel Sogbottom, high elf warrior-mage at a LARP event.
Oh? Because I'm not so sure. One doesn't require a ludicrous monetary and time investment at the outset as well as a support group of similar players within (at least) driving distance. But then you don't actually have the numbers for either and you seem to discount a significant amount of live action role plays (Do you count costuming of any other form at all? Cosplay? Social games? Or do you only count the dudes in bad wizard costumes shouting blue magic blue magic).
Note that you're adding another factor here that takes the conversation in a different direction. I'm not discussing price of a hobby going forward -- just which hobby a non-gamer/non-geek would be more likely to try first. Imagine you can loan them either a tabletop army or a costume, if that helps.
No doubt it's hard to determine real numbers at work. FYI, my working definition of LARP in this context includes those that are more gaming events -- so wizards throwing bean bags, vampires playing rock-paper-scissors, etc. and not those simply dressing up as their favorite Naruto character or whatever to show their fanhood. If this was 10-15 years ago, I think the vampire LARPers would be a bigger factor, but my impression is that they've dwindled quite a bit.
My opinion remains though that your average non-geek (call him "Norm" the norm) would be more likely to be willing to push some tanks around the table than wear a costume and roleplay. Norm probably isn't interested in either, but if he had to pick one, I think that's how it'd tend to go. LARP has a more immersive quality that I think is more likely to raise people's eyebrows -- whether that's fair or not.
I don't disagree that both wargaming and LARP are small niche geeky hobbies, just so we're clear here.
My opinion remains though that your average non-geek (call him "Norm" the norm) would be more likely to be willing to push some tanks around the table than wear a costume and roleplay. Norm probably isn't interested in either, but if he had to pick one, I think that's how it'd tend to go. LARP has a more immersive quality that I think is more likely to raise people's eyebrows -- whether that's fair or not.
I disagree with that thought, and i believe that you're letting your more intricate knowledge of the wargaming market influence your opinions of one that you do not have such knowledge of.
My opinion remains though that your average non-geek (call him "Norm" the norm) would be more likely to be willing to push some tanks around the table than wear a costume and roleplay. Norm probably isn't interested in either, but if he had to pick one, I think that's how it'd tend to go. LARP has a more immersive quality that I think is more likely to raise people's eyebrows -- whether that's fair or not.
I disagree with that thought, and i believe that you're letting your more intricate knowledge of the wargaming market influence your opinions of one that you do not have such knowledge of.
Actually, I'd suggest it's because I have a healthy number of non-gaming friends and have a pretty good idea of what they'd be more likely to try.
My read on them that is that LARP would have more of a chance if it dropped the "RP". As a game of paintball with sticks instead of markers, it might have a chance. But playing a character, in character, in costume, etc. would likely make it a no go.
My opinion remains though that your average non-geek (call him "Norm" the norm) would be more likely to be willing to push some tanks around the table than wear a costume and roleplay. Norm probably isn't interested in either, but if he had to pick one, I think that's how it'd tend to go. LARP has a more immersive quality that I think is more likely to raise people's eyebrows -- whether that's fair or not.
I disagree with that thought, and i believe that you're letting your more intricate knowledge of the wargaming market influence your opinions of one that you do not have such knowledge of.
Actually, I'd suggest it's because I have a healthy number of non-gaming friends and have a pretty good idea of what they'd be more likely to try.
My read on them that is that LARP would have more of a chance if it dropped the "RP". As a game of paintball with sticks instead of markers, it might have a chance. But playing a character, in character, in costume, etc. would likely make it a no go.
Your group is not the world. I could point out the same type of anecdotal evidence from my non-gaming group that was more likely to get into LARPing than tabletop. Why? Because the idea of dressing up and playing Live DnD or Steam punk Cowboys(yes, there was a western LARP in Louisiana) appealed to them far more than pushing around little army men. Also, in my experience, any female interested in geeky notions is more likely to do LARP than tabletop(especially if they're anime fans that are into cosplay to begin with).
Platuan4th wrote:Your group is not the world. I could point out the same type of anecdotal evidence from my non-gaming group that was more likely to get into LARPing than tabletop. Why? Because the idea of dressing up and playing Live DnD or Steam punk Cowboys(yes, there was a western LARP in Louisiana) appealed to them far more than pushing around little army men. Also, in my experience, any female interested in geeky notions is more likely to do LARP than tabletop(especially if they're anime fans that are into cosplay to begin with).
No, of course my world isn't the world.
But Norm the norm isn't into steampunk, anime or cosplay. You're starting with a presumption of geekiness. I'm approaching this from the outside of geekdom looking in, not inside looking inside. I don't really see any point in arguing this any further, because I stand by my opinion.
All I'm saying is that joking or not, I absolutely hate the USA vs EU grudge match. Seriously we have enough problems without adding xenophobia to that list
Soladrin wrote:And I'm saying I think it's funny anyone takes it seriously.
I don't take it seriously, but it's a giant image in the middle of a text thread and it's pretty annoying. LOLDERPUSAFAT is annoying whether it's ironic, sarcastic, or truthful because it's annoying. Not because of the content.
Corvus wrote:Im not saying you make fun of us because you're a xenophobe, I'm saying that turning US/EU relations into an us vs them scenario breeds xenophobia.
bs. Amuricans have Tex-Mex and Chicago Style Pizza. Europe has snails and blood pudding. No contest. USA Wins!!!!!
you're talking to a Monk 1/Cleric 9/Sacred Fist 10 DMM Codzilla here.
