LARPs Can Change the World

In the midst of all this drama, I think it's important to point out some of the wonderful, positive benefits that LARPs can show us. So, as usual, we should take a look to the Norwegians, who have recently appointed a long time gamer and LARPer to the position of Minister of International Development. Here's the article.

Not only is this guy totally in the open about his hobby (which, admittedly is easier in Norway), but he's actually using strategies and tactics from various LARPs in his work as Minister. He claims that "LARP can change the world, because it lets people understand that humans under pressure may act differently than in the normal life, when you’re safe." Then he talks about a LARP project where they are trying to have Israelis and Palestinians in each others shoes, in hopes of building bridges.

It's pretty easy for people (including ourselves) to focus on the surface of what we do without looking at the deeper impact and value that LARPs provide. I, for one, cannot wait until the day when we can feel proud to say "I'm a LARPer" and actually have our hobby make a difference.

How about you? Are you proud and open about what you do, and have you ever used concepts from LARP, and not just skills acquired at LARP, in the professional world?

Who Has Two Thumbs...

And was banned from the NERO National boards?

THIS GUY.

It was about time. I had known it was coming for some while, since someone at National had been on the rampage about banning accounts, deleting threads, and changing signatures.

I've had a long talk with Dan Comstock on the topic of proper forum moderation etiquette, and the consensus is that the National boards are doing it wrong. I understand there's a time and a place for posts to be removed or people banned, but when that happens, it's supposed to be a last ditch effort.

You see, if a thread strays off topic or into a bad place, you normally post a warning or lock the thread. You don't delete the whole thread. And you don't do it without communication.

Additionally, you don't delete accounts simply because they say things you don't want to say. A person needs to do a number of malicious acts, post pornography, or hack another account to get banned. It's not something you secretly do in the dead of night, hoping no one finds out.

I don't like to toot my own horn (but I do it anyways) but I feel like after much of the drama that was posted here, the activity on the NERO boards actually picked up. There was a brief, shining moment where if NERO went hands off, they may have actually jump-started their boards.

But the ownership doesn't want that, because the ownership doesn't really know how internet communities work.

I'm back on for now (but imagine I'll get banned the moment a certain someone sees this), but it really seems like yet another nail in the coffin that represents NERO's national community.

BTW, a question for our NERO readers: If someone were to put up an unofficial NERO forum for national inqueries and discussion in hopes of less ridiculous moderation, would you use them? Or do you think that it's too little, too late?

The Week In LARP - March 26th

This Week In LARP

Spring LARPing is finally here. Let's hope the weather stays dry!

NERO

NCN will be hosting a 2-day event this weekend starting on Friday, March 30th and ends on Sunday, April 1st. The game will be held at Camp NEOSA at the IG location Onar on the Isle of Dream. It's $50 to PC and is free to NPC.

Independent

Triumph, in their Triumphant return, (see what I did there?) will be hosting a 2-day event this weekend starting on Saturday, March 31st and ends on Sunday, April 1st. The game will be held at Sycamore State Park. It's $35 to PC ($30 if you prepay by Wednesday) and is free to NPC. A $5 food donation is suggested.

If you've got a game running this week and we didn't mention you, either drop a comment here or shoot an email to larp.plot.tips@gmail.com, and we'll add you as soon as possible!

YouTube Friday: Organs

Sometimes, you just want to have a gruesome module. You know, the kind that invokes realistic fear and horror in the characters. And nothing can do it quite as well as organs.

I'm really on a kick about cheap props, and I figure this one shouldn't be too hard to pull off. And can you imagine having something like that beating heart on a module? Or better yet, on an NPC?

Enjoy!

Business of LARP

Money is one of the largest causes of argument in any relationship. Everyone wants more of it, and everyone has different ideas of how to get it. From a LARP perspective, it's been a lot on my mind lately. With the NERO potential issue of buying magic items, I've been wondering more and more: Should a LARP operate like other for-profit businesses?

Let me just say first off that I've never owned a for-profit LARP, and I don't know the specifics of how any of the local games do things. So I am not trying to call anyone out or point fingers or say what anyone is doing wrong. I don't know what goes on, so my thoughts are just based on general observations and curiosity. There's a disclaimer for you :)

If you're running a LARP as a business, then obviously a goal, if not THE goal, is to make money. You should create a product that people want - which means running a game at consistent quality (rules, mechanics, plot, phys reps, all that). It should follow all the laws and guidelines of the business - whether that means acting ethically or not is probably a philosophical issue that's too big for this post :) However, if you're not creating an environment where your customers are treated well and fairly, you're likely to go out of business.

So on the thought of "LARP as money-maker" - is there a problem with offering in-game items for out of game money? Well, in the world, if you have more money, you get better stuff. From that perspective, then it makes sense. Heck, look at the free to play mmo's that are everywhere - that's how they make their money. It seems things are shifting in that direction.

But a LARP, to many people, is more than just a business out to make a buck. First, they don't often make much money, so operating like they're Apple might seem silly. :) Second, the community becomes very close-knit, and is small enough that it's hard to say "it's not personal, it's business." It becomes very personal to the people who play, and they become very invested in the game and the society that grows around it. Making decisions based just off of the "it's a business" aspect can be tough if they're unpopular - especially at smaller games.

In the end, most people run games for the same reason they play them. They enjoy a story where they can act out an adventure, they like the role-play, and they enjoy the people. They want a good game. Most people aren't thinking of making money off of it. And those that are, I think they eventually want to share the profit with their "employees" - after all, it's the staff who make the game what it is! But I think that most games can't get that far.

The game should make enough money to break even, pay for upgrades, and maybe even pay out to the people running it (gas money? prop budget? Ahh, I can dream!). But is there enough capital, and is it worth it, to make it for-profit in the very business sense of the idea? Or is it enough to run the game, since the people running it are doing it for-the-love anyway in most cases, give people a good time, and put any profit right back into the pot rather than worrying about who's getting paid? Do you think that kind of game is successful?

As I said, I don't know how for-profit games do it. I'd be interested to hear how the LARP business works for them!