gamepolitics: And People Think Video Gamers Are Dorks?

Game Politics (

gamepolitics) wrote,
@ 2005-10-27 08:07:00

And People Think Video Gamers Are Dorks?

...just kidding.

It's not quite a video game story, but RPG fans and anyone interested in the cultural aspects of games will want to check out an amazing piece by Sarah Klein in yesterday's Detroit Metro Times.

Klein's article is the definitive work on live-action role playing (LARP), a hobby for folks who like their RPG up close and personal. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the same criticisms leveled at video gamers - addiction, obsession, geekiness, bloodthirsty - are directed at the LARP crowd.

"Most people think we're a bunch of goofballs," one participant told Klein. "But at the same time if you tell someone you're a Civil War re-enactor, they don't care."

The piece also points to some excellent overall resources, including RPG advocacy site The Escapist.

(Post a new comment)

	sushispook 2005-10-27 12:31 pm UTC (link)
	I have never understood the Civil War Re-enactment thing. It was a bloody, horrible horrible thing. The justification of some sort of cathartic and/or educational reward doesn't go nearly far enough to explain it... I mean, we don't have JFK assination re-enactment societies, or Stormin' Normandy club... so why this? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	chenry 2005-10-27 12:35 pm UTC (link)
	There are a lot of World War 2 re-enactment groups. usually stick to small scirmishes since re-creating a beach landing would take more equipment and time that any hobby group could ever hope to achieve. i wanna do ww2 re-enactment. i just need. uhm. a uniform, boots, equipment, rifle. fair to say "everything". (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	sushispook 2005-10-27 12:38 pm UTC (link)
	i guess i just wonder at what point does it become bad taste? i mean, i know i'm a sick bastard for imagining throngs crowding around a street, to see some guy dressed up as jfk have a squib blow on the side of his head, showering the crowd with bits of cotton candy... but people would shit their pants if it was done. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

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chenry, 2005-10-27 12:49 pm UTC

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sushispook, 2005-10-27 12:57 pm UTC

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chenry, 2005-10-27 12:59 pm UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2005-10-27 01:34 pm UTC

	phrawzty 2005-10-27 01:15 pm UTC (link)
	The Canadian government is sponsoring one of the largest and most detailed re-enactments ever, called The Great War. Three hundred people are going to go through a mini boot camp, then get sent overseas for a few days of simulated action - including, so i've read elsewhere, a beach landing. Should be pretty intense. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

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chenry, 2005-10-27 01:19 pm UTC

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rmallen, 2005-10-27 01:20 pm UTC

	imahori 2005-10-27 12:41 pm UTC (link)
	I met a Soul Calibur 2 fan working at a renaissance fair. He mostly talked about various weapons, and talked some about the uses of Nightmare's stances with the zweihander. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

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chenry, 2005-10-27 12:52 pm UTC

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rmallen, 2005-10-27 12:59 pm UTC

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chenry, 2005-10-27 01:02 pm UTC

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rmallen, 2005-10-27 01:06 pm UTC

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chenry, 2005-10-27 01:10 pm UTC

	rhandhali 2005-10-28 04:00 am UTC (link)
	JFK reenactors would be awesome! They do have people that do WWII reenactment, they had a ton of them at Normandy this summer. WWII reenacting is probably the fastest growing branch of the hobby today. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Yay rmallen 2005-10-27 12:48 pm UTC (link)
	I may not be that hardcore (I'll stick to my online games) but a big yeehaw goes out to those hardcore gamers. (Reply to this)

	incyr 2005-10-27 12:59 pm UTC (link)
	That's a nice article. I'm glad that she does an excellent job of not condescending to the gamers. LARPers get a hard time from almost everyone, and I've never understood why. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	rmallen 2005-10-27 01:01 pm UTC (link)
	PRobably cause the run around pretending to be elves and things... and by society's typical standards that's not normal :P I don't care personally... people wanna pretend to be elves and crap, power to them! The world needs more magic! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

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chenry, 2005-10-27 01:03 pm UTC

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the1jeffy, 2005-10-27 01:41 pm UTC

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rmallen, 2005-10-27 01:43 pm UTC

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chenry, 2005-10-27 01:50 pm UTC

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the1jeffy, 2005-10-27 02:33 pm UTC

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chenry, 2005-10-27 02:41 pm UTC

coffeejedi
2005-10-27 03:52 pm UTC (link)

if you recall from our conversation in the car on sunday:
http://www.milkandcookies.com/article/2173/ (click the video)

yeah, that's what i was talking about

i think there's also the stigma attached to creative "play" as an adult. as a kid we used our imaginations and ran around outside pretending to be knights, or astronauts, or superheroes; often in long complicated storylines that we made up as we went. But doing this as an adult, even with a structured competitive point system, is seen as very childish. The only 'games' we're supposed to play are things like golf (which i find terminally boring) or other sports that use no imagination whatsoever.

thankfully, someone out there thinks its cool for adults to play games

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Kudos

the1jeffy
2005-10-27 01:17 pm UTC (link)

As a MMORPGer, I am active in Rping. I used to roll 20's with the rest of them back in high school. The LARPer folks may be oddballs, but it is a valid, public forum for fellow oddballs to have fun. Of course, you'll get the occasional wack-job who takes it too far and hits his/her friend over the head with the zweihander (see above), and we have a problem. My point is that civil war, as well as renaissance re-inactments always have the occasional wack-o that believes it's real too. These delusional people spoil the hobby for everyone. I say kudos to these geeks and their pride in their hobby. /serious

It's not for me, at least it gets them out of their mom's basement! /joke

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Kudos imahori 2005-10-27 02:01 pm UTC (link)
	Of course a big difference is that civil war/renaissance re-enactment is that both are based somewhere in reality. LARP on the otherhand involves an interest in being in a world that doesn't and never did exist, while other re-enactment type stuff can be seen as a simple interest in history. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: Kudos -

the1jeffy, 2005-10-27 02:31 pm UTC

Re: Kudos -

imahori, 2005-10-27 03:12 pm UTC

Re: Kudos -

the1jeffy, 2005-10-27 04:21 pm UTC

Re: Kudos -

timbo1138, 2005-10-27 02:34 pm UTC

Re: Kudos -

maderr, 2005-10-27 05:02 pm UTC

	thebitterguy 2005-10-27 01:30 pm UTC (link)
	As an old school tabletop gamer, I'd like to lament the loss of infamy that we've suffered to LARPers & console gamers. Ah, well. Time marches on. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	the1jeffy 2005-10-27 01:42 pm UTC (link)
	It was kinda nice being the root of all evil just because you owned a DMG and multi-sided die. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

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thebitterguy, 2005-10-27 11:13 pm UTC

	good for them. shaun_skipper 2005-10-27 03:42 pm UTC (link)
	I wish them the best in their LARPing. I always liked going to comic conventions and A-Kon just to see some of the cool costumes. Nothing wrong with a bit of escapism. I'm sure they all pay their bills and taxes, just like all of us. What they choose to do with their disposable income is entirely up to them. I say let them play. (Reply to this)

	oz_the_geek 2005-10-27 05:48 pm UTC (link)
	Since nobody else has noted it yet, Magic: The Gathering isn't a roleplaying game, per se. It's a card game. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	automancer 2005-10-27 06:12 pm UTC (link)
	True, not much RPing in Magic: The Gathering. -Auto (Reply to this) (Parent)

	-Vader (Anonymous) 2005-10-27 09:01 pm UTC (link)
	I always wanted to go to one of these... but i think a 14 year old wouldnt be good enough yet.. (Reply to this)

larpguide
2005-10-27 11:20 pm UTC (link)

I haveta admit, this is one of the nicer articles that I have seen in regards to LARPs. There have been others less kind, including one that tried to link a stabbing to the fact that the aggressors played in a LARP (sound familiar?).

I suppose it is up to each individual's taste. Some people Paintball, some people use Airsoft, some people do reinactments of wars, etc. The main thing I find with these "Live Action" events is that it puts in a physical as well as mental aspect into your gaming. And, being there in person is a totally different rush than just sitting at a table or a keyboard.

I created a LARP back in 1994, sold it 5 years later for a nice profit and have been doing consultation work with other games. Yes, you do get your freaks - just like those people who are painted Blue and White and are sitting at a football game with no shirt on in -20 degree weather. But, in the end, it is a nice way to spend a weekend, work out both muscles of your body and mind, and, at its worst (at least in my experience), you get to camp for a weekend and get away from it all. :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(Anonymous)
2005-10-28 03:28 am UTC (link)

I'm a 19 yr old gamer. I'm also a United States Marine. Back in march i was introduced to my first larp, and i've been hooked since.

the people there are great, yes i've met a couple nutjobs, but we ignore them for the most part. You meet some great people, most of them, i stay in touch with more then i do some of my friends from highschool, or the USMC.

This is my first post on here, i've been reading GP for the past week or so. Thanks for giving us a site that we can stay up to date on everything that is going on involving our favorite past time.

~Misguided Child

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Marine, huh? -

gamepolitics, 2005-10-28 09:42 am UTC

	rb13 2005-10-28 05:39 pm UTC (link)
	I used to LARP (Vampire, Werewolf). LARPing is fun, however there are definitely a lot of sad, obsessed LARPer freaks that I've met, which is partly why I was put off. I didn't get involved in drama, but LARPers seem to have a lot more drama going on than other gaming segments. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Your Avatar shaun_skipper 2005-10-29 12:25 am UTC (link)
	I really like your avatar. I've seen that movie. I just can't remember what it is called. I remember it being very cool. Care to enlighten me? I would love to see it again. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: Your Avatar -

rb13, 2005-10-29 12:34 am UTC

Re: Your Avatar -

shaun_skipper, 2005-10-29 12:50 am UTC

djproctology
2005-10-29 12:17 am UTC (link)


<@mfarah> what would you call people who played civil war reenactors in a LARP about civil war reenactors
<@mfarah> does the extra level of emulation matter because it's a one-to-one  mapping?
<@mfarah> i.e., everything done *in character* of a civil war reenactor is EXACTLY the same as everything done *as* a civil war reenactor
<@mfarah> kind of like when you have one turing machine emulating another; it all kind of collapses into one turing machine
<@mfarah> in which case, larping civil war emulators runs into the halting problem
<@mfarah> because when you end for the day
<@mfarah> you cant tell if you've ended the larp or the reenactment
<@mfarah> did i just blow your fucking MIND

(Reply to this)

	alexshido 2005-10-31 07:18 am UTC (link)
	I just want to say that it was really pleasurable to read an article about LARPing that wasn't derogatory, and pointed out that it was a growing field. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	gamepolitics 2005-10-31 11:24 am UTC (link)
	Yes, Sarah did a great job with that piece. You can e-mail her directly, if you'd like. Here e-mail address is on the original... (Reply to this) (Parent)

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