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Tiberius Rex the snake vampire sounds awesome. Any other really funny characters? From a while back, please tell us about the drunk larper who puked and stole your trashcan.
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Aug 25, 2015 21:28
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feedmegin posted:From like 3 posts up - Also I feel this merits a more in-depth explanation. Is motorboating larpers' guts some horrifying vampire initiation? How does one break a foot doing this? So many questions.
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Aug 25, 2015 21:30
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feedmegin posted:From like 3 posts up - Oops, thanks. I remembered the boyfriend breakup part so I got confused.
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Aug 25, 2015 23:31
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lushka16 posted:I'm an old man on this forum and I can safely say that you should feel free to post openly. I can't even imagine why someone would advise you against posting here - GBS may have changed but A/T is still generally open to hearing about unique experiences. I'm gonna alternate between Deep Emoshunal Stuff and horror/funny stories, since those two seem to have the most interest. Before that though - my husband. Yes, he LARPed. Hated it. He was my best friend and did it because I badgered him to and gave him a really hard time if he didn't. He was not a Lifer, actually the opposite. From Day 1, he said he didn't like LARPing. He enjoyed the silly games and being the comic relief (hence the motorboating a vampire). Because he was pretty hilarious, charismatic and smart, he was mostly tolerated. He actually played an NPC for most of his time in the Cam with me, and never earned a single point of XP for years. He didn't care about any of it. I remember spending two to three hours getting ready for a game - bath, hair, makeup, costume, accouterments like fake tattoos or wigs. He would never compliment my appearance. He said I was pretty when I was out-of-character. Anytime I'd spend writing for roleplay, he'd encourage me to write a novel or a short story that didn't have to do with game. He was very subversive, though. Once a very stick-up-the-rear end, self-important, rules-lawer-y typical LARP dude ran a one time LARP for the group. My husband asked if drinking was allowed and was told a resounding NO. So he started drinking at 4PM and was blotto by game time. We were all handed elaborate character histories, rumors to spread, and secrets to reveal. He didn't read a drat thing he was handed. At the end of the night, the Storyteller revealed that it was my husband's character who'd been orchestrating the coup that was the main focus of the game. My husband was like 'It was?' The Storyteller said, 'Yes, it's all in the notes I gave you! Didn't you read them?' and my drunk husband just said, 'Nope'. The Storyteller was furious and sputtery the rest of the night. No one else cared - they'd had a grand time interacting with my husband and enjoying the in-character party. It was glorious. I would have felt bad if the Storyteller was a good dude who was just trying to give us a good time, but the guy was such an unbearable know-it-all and a squelcher of all things fun. Oddly, he's a phenomenal actor, and the very, very rare times he actually did play in earnest, the scenes were hella dramatic and intense. So it goes. S'why I make him act in our movies now. Fruits of the sea posted:Also I feel this merits a more in-depth explanation. Is motorboating larpers' guts some horrifying vampire initiation? How does one break a foot doing this? So many questions. It was more of a 'Let's see what this ancient vampire will do if I motorboat him'. So he did it, and then leapt away because he didn't know what the reaction would be. When he landed, he landed on the side of his foot really hard. Took about three weeks to feel better. Fruits of the sea posted:Tiberius Rex the snake vampire sounds awesome. Any other really funny characters? She was a Manic Pixie Dream Girl who gave herself a Japanese fake name and drank too much of the Nerd Queen Kool-Aid. So loud. So very, very loud and shrill and giggly and RANDOM. She showed up at the house and just waltzed on in. We had some people who knew her there so it was like 'Eh, whatever'. We were all watching a movie. She sat down with us, waited about two minutes, and puked all over the couch and floor. We gave her a wastebasket in case she needed to do it again. I went into the kitchen for a drink and when I came back, folks told me she'd left, taking the trash can with her. Never saw it again. Ok, so I promised a really good story to answer the Craziest LARPer I Ever Knew, so here it is. I had to go find the screencaps I'd saved all this time. So glad I did. This stuff didn't happen at game, but the person in question was a Lifer. She was the one who was humping the floor at the con, and who brought he autist kid to games and ignored him. A rumor started that she was in the hospital one night, for surgery. People who were curious were directed to her LiveJournal. I was so stunned I saved the entries in case I told a non-LARPer and they didn't believe me. Come and take a journey with me...  It gets better.  This was a couple weeks later.    And on we go...    Okay, so there's THAT story. And then, a little later, we find out she's HIT SOMEONE WITH HER CAR.    All right, and the last image beautifully encapsulates LARP culture. It really does.  No one even mentions that maybe she should stop worrying about herself and actually give a flying turd about the guy she hurt. No one seems to find it odd that she hasn't once shown even a drop of remorse except where it concerns her mental fragility or her car's windshield. It was madness. And it was the most crazy story and person I've ever known in LARP. Hands down. Oh! And the time a cop stopped her because he thought she was a hooker.  I edited this post and took out my snarky commentary because it was lovely of me to do it. Ghogargi fucked around with this message at 00:05 on Aug 26, 2015 |
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Aug 25, 2015 23:47
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drat I missed the commentary. I don't even know what to say to that story, except that it feels like I've got some awful piece of metal lodged in my chest now. Who the gently caress swallows things for a living? And who chooses the metal watch to start on? Why is there a weird fetish for everything? It doesn't surprise me at all that she didn't show any empathy for the dude she'd hit with her car. That guy is just a plot point in her really interesting story she gets to tell her friends. It also wouldn't surprise me if the "stopped by a cop at night" story is fake, though. That one just stinks of the kind of thing I've seen made up by other people like this girl. Stories, especially the crazy ridiculous ones, are how she gets her attention and well-wishes from others. Those *HUGS* posts might be laughable to some people reading this, but they matter to this girl. Matter way more than they ever should, at that. Every single comment is like an extra bit of self-confidence.
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Aug 26, 2015 01:09
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Okay, I'm really curious about the watch story. Maybe I didn't read carefully enough but why was she swallowing things? Was this a fetish of some kind? The updates through the medial process is interesting, do you have any problems with me sharing this story with medical students? It's... surreal... but I don't want to get you in trouble if you didn't intend for this post to be seen off-site
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Aug 26, 2015 01:53
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Ghogargi posted:He didn't read a drat thing he was handed. At the end of the night, the Storyteller revealed that it was my husband's character who'd been orchestrating the coup that was the main focus of the game. My husband was like 'It was?' The Storyteller said, 'Yes, it's all in the notes I gave you! Didn't you read them?' and my drunk husband just said, 'Nope'. The Storyteller was furious and sputtery the rest of the night. No one else cared - they'd had a grand time interacting with my husband and enjoying the in-character party. It was glorious. I would have felt bad if the Storyteller was a good dude who was just trying to give us a good time, but the guy was such an unbearable know-it-all and a squelcher of all things fun. See, this is when my own mind goes directly into "It seems that he is and he is way too faded to realize it". This week the backstabbing wasn't coming from the last person you thought it was coming from, it was from a person who was so obvious you wouldn't believe it. You have been outwitted by a self-absorbed, foppish gently caress up and you should all be ashamed. Then I make urging motions and then get him to roll with it. Sort of like a modern day Cataline Conspiricy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catiline Or it doesn't even have to go that far. Sometimes conspiracies include weird, larger than life people, or tremendous screw ups, or people who you swear just stepped out of a comic book. I would be mad that what I wrote wasn't read, but the show must go on. Don't give plot relevant information to the obviously drunk person next time. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Aug 26, 2015 |
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Aug 26, 2015 02:10
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She hit someone who was walking against the light and outside of the intersection, when she had a green, at night when she couldn't see him. It's literally not her fault. It's sad he got hosed up but it's not weird or surprising or drama-queen that she had a lot of issues as a result too. Train conductors who hit people, through no fault of their own, can have major PTSD afterward. I mean she sounds like a dumb weirdo for sure, but this is a case of bitch eating crackers.
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Aug 26, 2015 02:25
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i like nice words
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Anne Whateley posted:She hit someone who was walking against the light and outside of the intersection, when she had a green, at night when she couldn't see him. It's literally not her fault. It's sad he got hosed up but it's not weird or surprising or drama-queen that she had a lot of issues as a result too. Train conductors who hit people, through no fault of their own, can have major PTSD afterward. I totally agree it wasn't her fault. And I don't doubt she'd be genuinely messed up from the incident. My point was more that, in all those posts talking about herself and her trauma, she never so much as mentions the guy she hit, or even hints that she feels bad for him getting hurt. And the she gets upset for people who naturally are concerned for the dude and are asking her how he is. I dunno, if I hit someone with my car, I'd be messed up too, but I'd well understand what I was going through couldn't touch what the victim was suffering. I'd acknowledge it, and I'd ask people to send prayers/good thoughts to him and his family rather than constantly go on about my breakdown. He's like a non-entity to her. She acts like she hit a street lamp.
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Aug 26, 2015 02:45
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Hey Ghogargi, Thanks for this thread. I like the voice of your posts and this is really interesting subject matter. You sound like you hit bottom and are coming clean as part of the healing process and for that I commend you. I'm curious to know more about the first few events you went to and if there was a moment when it all clicked and you realized that, "yeah, this poo poo's for me" or if it was a gradual segue into lifer-land. Did the storyline grab you as interesting or did you grab onto the attention you received as being a new girl on the scene?
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Aug 26, 2015 07:14
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BiggerBoat posted:
If you don't mind an alternative perspective I'll answer some of these myself from the other side of the LARP hobby. quote:- Anyone ever break into your game and gently caress with you guys or aggressively make fun of you? People and families walking through the same park or campground or drunk frat bros making fun of nerds and loving up your game? For the mainline LT events they take place at a stately home with public rights of way running through parts of the site, so you do get some ransoms passing by (and often quite a crowd of onlookers for the major battles). Generally the worst response is slight bemusement, but most people are genuinely interested in it all. Sadly there is a group of locals who have been known to come onto site and steal from unattended tents- we have a pretty strong volunteer security team but obviously they can't be everywhere at once. Fortunately during 'time in' outsiders stand out by the simple fact of not being in costume. quote:- Anyone ever get physically hurt in the play fights? Or hurt themselves? Threaten to? Like, "my character is going to attempt suicide" sort of thing? Sadly this does happen. I broke my right shoulder in combat last year (I believe through a weapon-lock that went bad, putting too much torque through the top of my arm) which was absolute agony and crippled me for several months. Most common are concussions from overenthuasiastically swung pole-arms, foot and ankle injuries from people slipping, tripping or getting their feet stomped on in heavy line-fights and heatstroke/dehydration from people not taking proper care of themselves on hot days and forgetting that beer=/= water. There's a very good first-aid team on site, as well as very strong marshal and referee presence during heavy combat. The community is also largely self-policing; if people are fighting like assholes and not pulling blows etc, they will almost always get reported or 'corrected' by other players. quote:- I know you mentioned sex, but how common was drug usage and drinking? Did people load up on wine and rationalize it by saying it was blood or that they were in character? There's a massively strong drinking culture at every UK fest system I've attended. Aside from a large site-run beer tent pretty much every group will have its own supply of booze and cracking a beer is considered absolutely standard hospitality. It's actually surprising there aren't more visibly smashed people around at any time of the day; mead, beer, ale, cider and spirits are consumed in absolutely colossal quantities. As for drugs; weed is absolutely everywhere and every faction camp will have multiple hotbox tents. Generally smoking dope falls under so called 'Rule 7'- that is, 'don't take the piss'. Officially there's a zero tolerance policy on it, but many MANY larpers toke and the only time I've heard of people getting in trouble for it is when they were doing it in the open during daylight and around kids or faction musters when it simply couldn't be ignored. Harder stuff I've never really encountered before in the field, except for one mad woman in my group who was a full-on morphine addict and was loudly shouting around that she had Valium for sale. She was a full-on nutcase though and didn't stick around long. To be honest, heavy narcotics, hallucinogens and so on aren't really compatible with LARP from both a safety and practicality viewpoint. quote:- For the people with kids, what did they do with them? Hire sitters or just leave them in a tent and go play make believe? Did anyone ever involve their kids in the game and say "this is Alucard! My spawn! son of WhatevertheFuck and make he or she into a character? At what age(s)? Did the kids like it? Both the LT and its main rival Empire are considered family systems- they have specific kids plot for those aged 7 and up, and there are always lots of small people around during the daytime. I personally love it (and monstering for kids plot is amazing fun, though it's a good idea to wear a cup- small ones swing at groin height for me!). There's also a lot of second-generation larpers- the LT has been running since the very early 90s and the kids of the students who attended back then are now hitting mid teenaged years or more. I don't know of any 'three generations in the field' groups, but if there aren't some out there already then there will be soon! It's actually the biggest event of the season tomorrow- I have to drive about 500 miles tomorrow in a lovely hire van to collect people and tentage, and my girlfriend is working hard finishing off a kobold costume for her new character, so things are a little fraught. Gonna be worth it though when I get there and crack the first beer in my brothel.  There's going to be anything up to 4500 people in the field, and the Gathering is when you get the most casual players appearing; I'll make sure to keep any eye out for any particularly hilarious (or for that matter, awesome) costumes and get some pics to share for people's edification and amusement.
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Aug 26, 2015 11:50
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Jeremor posted:It also wouldn't surprise me if the "stopped by a cop at night" story is fake, though. That one just stinks of the kind of thing I've seen made up by other people like this girl. To be fair, I've been stopped by a cop simply because I was walking down a rural road in Michigan. Like, nothing aggressive or anything , they just asked what I was doing and where I was going. I guess Americans just don't walk anywhere unless they're committing crimes? 
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Aug 26, 2015 12:19
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Agrikk posted:Hey Ghogargi, I'm glad you like the thread. Doing this has been really useful and helpful for me, and I kinda love that an aspect of my recovery has been facilitated by Goons. This reply's gonna be long and dark. Here's why LARP was such a siren song to me, and why it was so easy for me to become a Lifer. My dad's side of the family has a terrible history of abuse, a lot of it sexual. I was molested by my uncle when I was 13 and told by my dad that if I pressed charges or caused a fuss it would destroy the whole family. My dad is not a good guy, and I grew up with him being almost obsessed with my acting/directing/singing talents while simultaneously telling me that I was ugly. I think maybe that would've been mitigated if I'd been tomboyish or unconcerned with appearances, but I desperately wanted to be a Princess Movie Star. So, pretty much right off the bat, I knew I was a pretty worthless person. When I was 15, I lost my virginity to rape. I won't go into the gory details, but the circumstances of it really clinched the worthlessness. Princesses didn't get raped, and not being a virgin meant I was ruined. Like, my first thought after was that I'd never be able to call a unicorn now. Which is pretty ridiculous, but it was something I believed in my heart. There were standards to which I aspired and I now had failed every one of them, and I would never ever be anything but poo poo. I read a lot about people baffled over girls choosing dicks for boyfriends instead of decent guys. I think some of us do it because we'd rather put ourselves in a place that will prove our belief that we deserve to be treated badly, than to be forced to face and battle that notion. Or we're scared to take a chance at believing/hoping we're worthy because, if it turns out we're not, it'll destroy us. It was definitely the case with me. String of very bad boyfriends. I believed that was what I deserved. I never went to therapy. I had debilitating depression, and I never sought help. I actually went to the hospital once after a breakdown, and not only did I never speak to a doctor, the ER nurse told me if I just prayed to Jesus all my problems would be solved. So, I had no trust of medical help for a long time. Eventually I convinced myself that I could deal with it on my own, and I made myself believe I was a Strong Independent Woman Whose Past Could Not Control Her. It was bullshit. You can't fix something you've never even examined. When I went to my first real LARP, it was like a dream come true. Guys thought I was gorgeous. My creativity was my ticket into not only fitting in, but rising to the top. I could be ANYthing I wanted for four hours every single weekend, and no one would tell me otherwise because they were all doing the same thing and no one would ever risk breaking that spell for me, else their own spell would be broken. And it was an entire culture of people who would never demand that I face anything, would totally accept all aspects of my sickness, and reassure me week after week that I was awesome and special. I knew I wasn't, and I knew THEY didn't think they were truly awesome or special either. But we all bonded over the delusions LARP nurtured. I had some severe promiscuity issues from the abuse and the dysfunctional family behaviors of my childhood; later I learned that it was pretty common in such cases. I wasn't a slut, but I had very skewed boundaries of what was appropriate, what sexuality should be used for, and the effects it had on me and the people around me. So, when I came into LARPing and started wearing corsets like the other chicks and made my first sexy Vampire, there was a really regrettable thing that happened. Guys started calling me a Temptress or a Succubus or whatever, and I absolutely rejoiced. I couldn't be a Princess or an Angel, I was ruined. But ruined girls CAN be Wicked Queens and Sirens. I took that poo poo and RAN with it. Hardcore. I got a huge thrill (and a moment of feeling worthy) by adapting my behavior/persona to whatever would most thoroughly ensnare a dude. I fancied myself a geisha. I told myself I was a femme fatale. What I really was, was a cowardly insecure little loon who was doing every single thing I shouldn't to be healthy. I told myself my past had no hold on me when, actually, it completely controlled me. So, first it was the attention. Then, it was using my talents in writing and drama to actually create games for the group. I would write episode for the Storytellers that had tons of drama and props and stuff, and people loved it. Then I spent hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on costumes and got praise for that. Layer by layer, the stuff I dove into was dragging me deeper into Liferdom. I worked hard to make myself both popular and indispensable. Finally, when I had my own group, there was nothing stopping me from creating whatever I needed to feed my sickness. My characters are amazing case studies for me, now. I know it's a crime in the highest degree to talk about your roleplaying characters, so I won't unless asked, but I look back and see SO MUCH about my illnesses, personified in the most obvious of ways. It's like re-watching Arrested Development and catching all the recurring/in-jokes. Again, if the other LARPers had been healthy, they would have easily seen what was going on, and they might've said something to me about it. I've been delusional and depressed for so long, I have no memory of who I was before it all started. I don't even really know what my true personality is. I got in a fight with my husband once and he was asking me why I had to be so melodramatic all the time, and I said because it's the only option in my knowledge-base for how to react to things. It IS melodramatic. It's totally fake, and over-the-top, but the acts and behaviors I created, false as they are, are all I know. So, piece by piece, my therapist, my family and research is helping me learn new and better ways to exist in the world. It was actually hilarious trying to learn how to genuinely cry/be sad, as opposed to depression's despair or drama's hysterics. It's also a bitch to learn to be vulnerable again, and to be okay with getting hurt if I take a risk and it ends badly. I don't want to turn this into an Empowerment/Motivational Seminar, but this impulse is really grinding into me, so I want to share it. There are two little YouTube videos I now pretty much use as the foundation for all my battling. It's Brene Brown doing two TED Talks about shame, and about vulnerability. She brilliant, and she's so logical and succinct that there's no cheese or sappiness, for which I have almost zero tolerance. The videos didn't change my life, but they did absolutely refocus it. Links are below, no pressure. I know it's not for everyone. But it'll help explain where I'm at right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psN1DORYYV0 I'm a bit of a wreck now, so I'm going to go journal and save it, and later I'll see how I feel about posting it. Keep asking if you think of stuff. I'm gonna answer.
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Aug 26, 2015 19:34
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Thank you for sharing your stories. They are enjoyable to read.Ghogargi posted:I've been delusional and depressed for so long, I have no memory of who I was before it all started. I don't even really know what my true personality is.
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Aug 26, 2015 19:45
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Ghogargi posted:My characters are amazing case studies for me, now. I know it's a crime in the highest degree to talk about your roleplaying characters Is this a Camarilla or general LARP rule? Or do you mean something else?
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Aug 26, 2015 21:16
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MrMojok posted:Is this a Camarilla or general LARP rule? Or do you mean something else? General LARP complaint, and one of the most annoying traits of a LARPer, is someone who talks constantly about their characters, even when not doing LARP stuff.
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Aug 26, 2015 21:46
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It's the same thing as talking about your WoW character. Absolutely nobody cares about how awesome your paladin/vampire pimp is, but other gamers/LARPers will at least smile and nod, so that you will have to listen to them talk about their warlock/vampire insane asylum escapee. Talking to a non-gamer/LARPer about your character is one of the highest forms of torture.
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Aug 27, 2015 05:59
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Ghogargi posted:...I look back and see SO MUCH about my illnesses, personified in the most obvious of ways... Out of that whole post, these two things resonated enormously with me. I am really, really glad for you that you're out, and working through things with trained professionals. You have a fantastic chance at being better, and kinder, to yourself, and it's heart-warming to see someone take that chance and run with it.
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Aug 27, 2015 16:01
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Serrath posted:Okay, I'm really curious about the watch story. Maybe I didn't read carefully enough but why was she swallowing things? Was this a fetish of some kind? I don't have a problem with it, I just don't think I have the ability to grant or deny permission, since it's not my story.
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Aug 27, 2015 18:07
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Jeherrin posted:Out of that whole post, these two things resonated enormously with me. Thank you for this, so much. It means a great deal to me.
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Aug 28, 2015 13:14
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Man, I've only skimmed over the last few pages, but all of this seems so bizarre, compared to the two LARP events I've been to, but part of things may be how our game system tries to keep the crazy down. I've been a full-time NPC for both events, meaning that I don't have a player character, and also that for weekends I get free meals and admission. Players pay $60 for the 3-day weekend events (to pay for the campsite we use) and bring their own food. Now, as I've only been an NPC, I spend my off time in "Monster Town", so I don't really get to see what goes on with the players that much. Although it's possible for there to be pvp, it seems to tend more towards players-versus-monsters. All players have to spend a certain amount of the time NPCing as well. NPCs are provided with costuming and boffer weapons and/or spells. Spells are fabric packets filled with birdseed that are thrown after yelling the tagline. I was told when I started, "If you're not sure if you're supposed to take the hit, go ahead and take it." Everyone I've met has been super chill and friendly, and part of why might be because games are only held every other month, so there's not as much of the "Lifer syndrome" going on, as well as the game being strictly 18+ to keep any potential issues with minors from being a thing. I'm gonna keep NPCing through the end of this game (I've been told it's nearing the ending), and pick up with the next game, a "weird west" themed game called Calamity that's only going to be 4 games per year. Most of the broken people in roleplaying I've ever met have been exclusively rules-system-free text roleplay online, who even if you were writing a fight with would always be just "[character] dodges your attack." And of course they're the specialist snowflake the setting allows for/ "like [their favorite character in the fandom] but better!"
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Aug 28, 2015 19:31
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BiggerBoat posted:I have sort of a dumb question. Why, instead of dedicating your life to something as soul crushing and ultimately unrewarding as LARP, don't the players just get involved in community theater and put on a play or something if they like to play dress up and act? Even an improv type of thing? (Not really an improvement there)
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Aug 30, 2015 00:28
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Ugh I really love Rocky Horror, but I really feel like a lot of the people who get super into it completely miss the point. It that Frankenfurter's life of complete abandon and hedonism in completely unsustainable. It was beautiful and savage but it can't live on, because it eventually kills everything around it. We can't live as pure id forever, and that realization is growing up, and it's a death, no matter if you're a bit of a dick. It's kind of ridiculous to think so once you're out of it, but it's still kind of sad. It's why that movie is so couched in nostalgia for the 50's, greaser culture, double picture shows, horror movies and the trappings of a kid who grew up in the 50's in england like richard O'brien. So the idea of dressing up forever always felt like anathema to rocky horror, that piece is about losing the innocence of pure release, and realizing there's no such thing. Frankenfurter's sexual revolution is falling apart as janet and brad arrive, they're in the last throws of it. It's about the dangers of nostalgia and not growing up, and somehow it became this clarion call for people who *don't* want to grow up, and are just filled with the nostalgia for when they watched Rocky Horror the first time... It's the loving snake eating itself...
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Aug 30, 2015 02:00
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Armagnac posted:Ugh I really love Rocky Horror, but I really feel like a lot of the people who get super into it completely miss the point. It that Frankenfurter's life of complete abandon and hedonism in completely unsustainable. It was beautiful and savage but it can't live on, because it eventually kills everything around it. We can't live as pure id forever, and that realization is growing up, and it's a death, no matter if you're a bit of a dick. It's kind of ridiculous to think so once you're out of it, but it's still kind of sad. It's why that movie is so couched in nostalgia for the 50's, greaser culture, double picture shows, horror movies and the trappings of a kid who grew up in the 50's in england like richard O'brien. So...it's tailor made as LARPer bait, is what you're saying?
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Aug 30, 2015 03:29
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Cautionary tales are usually co-opted by the very group they're supposed to be speaking to, though. Gordon Gekko became the idol of an entire generation of shithead wanna-be finance wizards, despite that film being about how Gekko was a monster and his methods would inevitably destroy him and his entire industry. Then we got the 2008 financial crisis. 
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Aug 30, 2015 03:44
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Rime posted:Cautionary tales are usually co-opted by the very group they're supposed to be speaking to, though. Gordon Gekko became the idol of an entire generation of shithead wanna-be finance wizards, despite that film being about how Gekko was a monster and his methods would inevitably destroy him and his entire industry. And wouldn't you know it, then we got a Wall Street sequel two years later. Funny how that works, huh? Also wanted to make a quick response to this. BiggerBoat posted:I have sort of a dumb question. Why, instead of dedicating your life to something as soul crushing and ultimately unrewarding as LARP, don't the players just get involved in community theater and put on a play or something if they like to play dress up and act? Even an improv type of thing? I got into Vamp LARP myself because I'm an amateur actor and it was good practice, but I don't think these people want to be actors. They want to be the center of attention. They want to be winners. They want to be popular. These people don't want to play the background character, they want to be the hero or the villain. They want to be Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader at all times and will not ever settle for being Stormtroooper #2582 or Random Guy At Cantina. They might have even tried out to be in a play, and when they weren't Romeo or Juliet probably said gently caress it and quit. Me? I don't mind being just a guy. I don't mind being a background extra, or the guy who passes along info and is never seen again, or some jerk on the street. That's my theory, anyway.
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Aug 30, 2015 05:45
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Mince Pieface posted:So me and my friends run a small LARP out of southern California every month. Our game is not any of the popular LARP systems, and most of the people we play with don't play any of the popular LARPs or have any interest in them. I think a big part of the reason for the famed toxicity of the general LARP community is that frankly, every single one of them has terrible loving game design. It's hard to state how important some of this is. A few years ago I got dragged to couple Nero Alliance events because I was into the SCA (because beating each other up with sticks then having beers and bullshitting was fun) but rehabbing a knee injury, and got sold on it as lighter combat with some roleplaying to go with it. It is hard to state just how poisonous it is when you realize that the high-level players have literally been playing the same character for up to 20 years in a system that has unlimited accumulation of character abilities. Naturally new characters will never get that strong because the old and powerful ones get their pick of the best loot and most of the plot attention because the people running the game see them as essential and steady money. They got really, really butthurt when they realized that they couldn't actually land hits on people who were used to being swung at full speed instead of wrist flicked at with pipe foam, though.
Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 07:14 on Aug 31, 2015 |
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Aug 31, 2015 07:08
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This has been a very interesting thread, every story has been very engaging. I've only done LARP once and all I did for a costume was cut a head hole into a table cloth, wrap a belt around it and call myself a priest. The other players never gave me any trouble for it even when they were wearing 50lbs of metal on their shoulders all day, I sort of hope no one is too scared off by the stories in this thread because I had a good time with my LARP. I'd go again if it wasn't for the trouble of getting the time of and the travel. One thing that stuck out from my own experience, however, was how boring LARP could be at times. I remember spending about four or five hours sitting around the campsite, barely in character, waiting for something to happen.
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Sep 15, 2015 01:57
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LARPing is destroying my life and soul because the pictures just came back from the last event and i'm eating in pretty much every one of them. I am the fat LARPer stereotype
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Sep 15, 2015 09:57
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CheeseThief posted:This has been a very interesting thread, every story has been very engaging. To be fair, the 'sitting around in the camp till something happens' is a common experience of brand new LARPers- you don't have the connections, IC knowledge or OOC knowledge to really get out there and hurl yourself into poo poo, and (at least in my case) shyness is a big factor too- I spent the first couple of years of LARP IC bullshitting and drinking in my group's tent, and going out for a mosh whenever monsters appeared or PVP happened. This Gathering just past though, I was so unbelievably busy I couldn't begin to describe everything I did. As you spend more time in a system you get to know what you can and should do so much better. MikeCrotch posted:LARPing is destroying my life and soul because the pictures just came back from the last event and i'm eating in pretty much every one of them. I am the fat LARPer stereotype Amen to that. I use the photos from each year's august event to compare myself year on year, and gently caress I'm looking older and chunkier than I have for a very long time. :/
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Sep 15, 2015 11:19
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So why does pretend vampire make people go crazier?
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Sep 15, 2015 12:11
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I'd say it's because Vampire is all about social relationships and stuff like that, so, the lines between IC and OOC are increasingly blurred. And the players are all playing a type of character that's been associated with sexuality but without any of the deftness needed to portray that sort of character in a real-world setting without being cringeworthy. Of course, I'm also watching half a dozen people concoct an elaborate IC plot to kick out someone they don't OOCly like out of their party and wrest control of the group from the guy who made it. It's like a political coup... but about make believe foam sword fights.
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Sep 15, 2015 12:26
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Kurtofan posted:So why does pretend vampire make people go crazier? You made a fatal mistake there. They were already crazy.
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Sep 15, 2015 12:32
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Kurtofan posted:So why does pretend vampire make people go crazier? I thought about this and I think I came up with a good answer as to why, psychologically. It's like Mario Party. Everyone starts out as friends and you play the game. The strategy comes in three parts. 1. Dicking over your friends and doing things to prevent them from winning. 2. Being good at the minigames, sometimes by pure blind luck and sometimes by pouring a ton of time and effort into them. 3. Random number generator. Success is just as random as anything else because at the end of the day it's just a glorified board game, yet you're taking it super seriously because you want to win even though winning has no reward and losing has no consequence. At the end of the day it doesn't matter if you're first or last because you can just play the game again next week. And that is Vampire LARP in a nutshell, except that the game never ends. You're just stuck on Luigi's Engine Room, constantly looping forever, and whoever has the most Stars is considered the winner for now... until you roll the dice just right and take them all away, or send them to Bowser, or unplug their controller, or whatever. Now, you've totally hosed over everyone you know and made them all angry, but you're supposed to still be friends with them. Since you have people who are a little whacked are the ones already playing this game you can see how something like this would push them over the edge. Moral of the Story: don't play Mario Party.
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Sep 16, 2015 00:06
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Mario Party owns, though, except for those nasty blisters the N64 version would give you if you were committed to winning. Everything I've read about vampire LARP in here points to a game that revolves around attention-seeking, preening, and either being there the longest or being under the protection of those who have been there the longest, all with sexual and mental-games overtones. It remains a case of chicken and the egg conundrum to me as to why it is THE WORST.
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Sep 16, 2015 03:07
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mlmp08 posted:Mario Party owns, though, except for those nasty blisters the N64 version would give you if you were committed to winning. One other thing I have found. LARPing (without physically skilled combat) and tabletop RPGs in general are some of the few activities you can participate in that everyone can convince themselves they are good at. There are no overt winners or losers. You end up with socially deficient idiots convinced they are machiavellian masterminds, uncharismatic dolts convinced they are masters of dark sensuality, and on and on. It is like the dumb kid who found Doom, turned on God mode, and assumed he was a skilled video game player. In most other hobby activities if you are bad at something you will find out quickly. You can't windsurf or play tennis, play a tabletop boardgame, without eventually finding out how good you are at it. Most people take their amateurish status in these activities in stride with a dose of humility and get better or not and just enjoy the activity for the sheer fun of it. With RPGs and Vampire LARPs that never comes up. I enjoy LARPing and RPGs but dread joining a group I don't know because these kinds of people are drawn to it. You are worried you will end up spending time with an idiot that thinks rolling high numbers on a die is a mark of his genius or that having attended longer means she is adept at playing a Toreador Primogen. I played a one-shot game of Werewolf (closely related to Vampire) LARP once with some friends. We decided to keep it PG-rated and a lot of people brought kids and teenagers. We decided to invert the social structure and made the kids and teens the elders and the adults played the young pups out for glory. It was great fun. I think some kids even learned how hard it is to parent as their parents took an almost perverse pleasure in causing trouble. No one cared about how powerful everyone else's character was. We just created a great story, ended with an exciting climax, and went home happy. That gets lost a lot in Vampire (and some other LARPs) as people show up to guardedly bask in their insecurities and issues instead of having fun with it. It's a shame because they can be amazing if done right with the right people.
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Sep 16, 2015 07:06
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Xenocides posted:One other thing I have found. Jesus christ, this. The amount of Dunning-Kruger at social LARPs is pretty incredible, especially since you have to work out the people who are cool but are playing idiots for fun or to cause drama, and the people who actually are complete idiots. At the larger systems you also get the 'big fish' in a small pond issue, where people will have come from their local system of 15-30 people having been king poo poo of gently caress mountain, only to find out that they are hopelessly outmatched in wit and charisma to get ahead in the game. Imagine when Ned Stark moves to King's Landing and gets poo poo on by pretty much everyone and that will give you a good idea of what I mean.
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Sep 16, 2015 11:56
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Xenocides posted:
That one shot sounds like a lot of fun! It gives me the feeling that there's a lot of unspoken context information involved in LARPing that is both a product of what a game is and what it will grow to be, something like "younger players get to play the eldest characters" sends a certain message to players and how they interact with the game. So when you've got a lifer running the show the message and context of the game will carry their, uh, I don't have a good word here. Politics? Basically I'm saying LARP suffers from feedback loops where lifers will consume the game due to their dedication and then cultivate an atmosphere that breeds lifers. Things get as bad as they do because their microculture will become increasingly self serving and appealing to people who want a slice of that.
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Sep 16, 2015 15:14
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CheeseThief posted:That one shot sounds like a lot of fun! It gives me the feeling that there's a lot of unspoken context information involved in LARPing that is both a product of what a game is and what it will grow to be, something like "younger players get to play the eldest characters" sends a certain message to players and how they interact with the game. So when you've got a lifer running the show the message and context of the game will carry their, uh, I don't have a good word here. Politics? Basically I'm saying LARP suffers from feedback loops where lifers will consume the game due to their dedication and then cultivate an atmosphere that breeds lifers. Things get as bad as they do because their microculture will become increasingly self serving and appealing to people who want a slice of that. Basically. Very few people, when doing roleplay - LARP, MUSH, forum, IRL, whatever - ever think about what type of game they'd want to play beyond the genre of it and what sort of message they want to send to their players through it. I kind of want to start up a threat about MUSH communities but it feels like I'd basically be reiterating a lot of the points from this LARP thread. It's kind of interesting how the exact same issues crop up, particularly as one of the larger roleplay MUSHes I roleplay on is going through a bit of a crisis which is revolving around so much of what has been mentioned in this thread as LARP drama.
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Sep 16, 2015 15:23
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Milky Moor posted:Basically. Very few people, when doing roleplay - LARP, MUSH, forum, IRL, whatever - ever think about what type of game they'd want to play beyond the genre of it and what sort of message they want to send to their players through it. To be honest, it really is a case of same-poo poo different system. As I mentioned in the furry thread, I had a longtime and very unhealthy addiction to MU* games for years- to be honest, my experience of them is probably closer to what the OP of this thread describes than my experience of LARP (in the circles I play in, it's altogether a more healthy hobby). I'm actually curious as to which MU*s are still active out there- the last few I played on were StarwarsMUSH and GarouMUSH up till about 2010 (actually now I think about it, all the OP's points about Lifers in WoD LARP /very/ much carry through to some of the player base of GarouMUSH).
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Sep 16, 2015 15:48
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