Hey Dan et al,

Just throwing my hat in there. I know I'm not particularly active on the boards, but I've been listening for a long time now, and I thought I'd throw my hat in.

Ok, your requirements:



--I have all of this for my own podcasting rig for LiquidWeird.



--I have the software but haven't messed with it much yet.




--My LARP experience is about 10 years of Vampire/ World of Darkness LARP and I've been a LARP ST for Vampire in OWBN and a subcoordinator in that org, though I haven't been to a game in a few months now, nor been in any position of authority for a couple of years now. Burnout is kind of rough.




--I'm generally available about that time most days, though I'd prefer not to use Wednesdays. Saturdays work, but only early in the day, like before noon.




-- My English is clear and unaccented, unless you count a slight vestige of Oklahoma or Mississippi that occurs very rarely.





-- I can do that. I'm pretty laid back but I do love to talk gaming.

Just let me know! I like the idea of this roundtable, and either way, I look forward to hearing it!

I too, would like to apply for the category of SCA/Boffer Larper.

My resume as it stands is:

SCA
Amtgard
Dagorhir
Belegarth
Nero (although calling Nero a boffer larp is questionable, they have boffers but martial combat is minimal.)

As for my podcasting skill, you have heard some of my work so I will let you be the judge. I have done a bit more stuff since that pilot episode, so I think I have worked out my kinkes a bit more.

I must disagree with your assessment that people can speak on the behalf of the above mentioned larps without playing them primarily. There are really two kinds of larps; combat or roleplaying. And it is very uncommon that people participate in both, and those who do dont participate in all that the game has to offer. There just isnt enough days in the week to juggle both, so it comes down to one or the other.

Add to that the fact that a lot of the people within each type hates (maybe thats a bit to strong of a word, but public opinion is public opinion....) the other one. People who prefer roleplaying over combat will be disappointed with the above mentioned organizations (with the exception of NERO), and people who like to fight will get board with everything else.

Maybe. Maybe not. I've known serious Dagorhir players in my Vampire LARPs. Great guys, had a blast RPing with them. It's not the norm, but it can be done. There is a mutual stigma going on there, which I think is a sad thing. The goals of both sorts are very different, so different needs are met by each.

I do agree with the main point there, though. I don't think you'll get enough cross-pollination to properly cover SCA or the others without direct experience with them. SCA is its own world, and I can only assume the rest are much the same. But I can't presume to speak to that with any authority or expertise.

Exactly.

It is statements like that which have me really excited for this round table. It shows just how much I don't know about LARPing since I haven't been exposed to it at all.

Especially since my personal experience has been exactly the opposite.

As much as I'd like to get in a shoot-your-mouth-off contest with Chad, the only area of expertise in these categories I have is in the SCA. *le sigh*

Just curious on a couple points. Shouldn't there be roleplay in either a contact or noncontact Larp? In a contact Larp are people unlikely to roleplay through a style of fighting or the weight of their weapons, pain due to injury? Is it more of a "stick-jock" mentality with the above games you mentioned?

These games you mentioned I take it they are all day or weekend long events. Did you find people even bother with and kind of character with the exception of a token name? I have run all day events and maintaining character was stressed as extremely important for the games' quality of immersion, but I can only imagine the difficulty of getting such large groups to keep character after several days.

We handled this with Pre-gens, like it was a con game. Every character had a goal to achieve during the game that required some degree of role-playing. Finding a lost brother, raising an army, finding a murderer, etc. We also made sure there was an equivalent to "time at the inn". We never had a problem encouraging role-playing.

Yes, since you threw out the term, those games do have a stick jock mentality. The only roleplay I see on the field is that people go under different names.

Roleplaying through weapon and martial styles does exist to some small extant. SCA features people who fight with Japanese weapon styles, and sometimes they will make their "persona" match that. NERO is another example, but again I hestitate to call it a boffer larp because its a system more for "class" roleplay than for heavy combat.



Sorta. No, well sorta again. There are plenty of people who say they are pirates within the SCA, but it stops there. They may tell a few jokes, might wear poofier clothing, but they are still very similar to everyone else. The same goes with Knights, its really just a title they slap onto their name but ultimately doesn't alter how they go about the day.



Which game was this? Besides for NERO, the games I mentioned don't do that. And they are the major combat organizations in the country. I see your in Canada, and you used the term Stick Jock, so are you a member of Amtgard? I knew that a few chapters have reached up there.