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A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. [1] The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by real-world environments while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called gamemasters decide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play.
The first LARPs were run in the late 1970s, inspired by tabletop role-playing games and genre fiction. The activity spread internationally during the 1980s and has diversified into a wide variety of styles. Play may be very game-like or may be more concerned with dramatic or artistic expression. Events can also be designed to achieve educational or political goals. The fictional genres used vary greatly, from realistic modern or historical settings to fantastic or futuristic eras. Production values are sometimes minimal, but can involve elaborate venues and costumes. LARPs range in size from small private events lasting a few hours, to large public events with thousands of players lasting for days.
LARP has also been referred to as live role-playing (LRP), interactive literature, and free form role-playing. Some of these terms are still in common use; however, LARP has become the most commonly accepted term. [2] It is sometimes written in lowercase, as larp. [3] The live action in LARP is analogous to the term live action used in film and video to differentiate works with human actors from animation. Playing a LARP is often called larping, and one who does it is a larper.
The participants in a LARP physically portray characters in a fictional setting, improvising their characters' speech and movements somewhat like actors in improvisational theatre. [4] This is distinct from tabletop role-playing games, where character actions are described verbally. [1] LARPs may be played in a public or private area and may last for hours or days. [5] [6] There is usually no audience. [7] Players may dress as their character and carry appropriate equipment, and the environment is sometimes decorated to resemble the setting. [8] LARPs can be one-off events or a series of events in the same setting, and events can vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand. [9] [10]
Events are put on for the benefit of the players, who take on roles called player characters (PCs) that the players may create themselves or be given by the gamemasters. Players sometimes play the same character repeatedly at separate events, progressively developing the character and its relations with other characters and the setting.
Arrangers called gamemasters (GMs) determine the rules and setting of a LARP, and may also influence an event and act as referees while it is taking place. [11] [12] [13] The GMs may also do the logistical work, or there may be other arrangers who handle details such as advertising the event, booking a venue, and financial management. Unlike the GM in a tabletop role-playing game, a LARP GM seldom has an overview of everything that is happening during play because numerous participants may be interacting at once. For this reason, a LARP GM's role is often less concerned with tightly maintaining a narrative or directly entertaining the players, and more with arranging the structure of the LARP before play begins and facilitating the players and crew to maintain the fictional environment during play. [14]
Participants sometimes known as the crew may help the GMs to set up and maintain the environment of the LARP during play by acting as stagehands or playing non-player characters (NPCs) who fill out the setting. [15] [16] Crew typically receive more information about the setting and more direction from the GMs than players do. In a tabletop role-playing game, a GM usually plays all the NPCs, whereas in a LARP, each NPC is typically played by a separate crew member. [17] Sometimes players are asked to play NPCs for periods of an event.
Much of play consists of interactions between characters. Some LARP scenarios primarily feature interaction between PCs. Other scenarios focus on interaction between PCs and aspects of the setting, including NPCs, that are under the direction of the GMs. [18] [19]
LARP does not have a single point of origin, but was invented independently by groups in North America, Europe, and Australia. [20] These groups shared an experience with genre fiction or tabletop role-playing games, and a desire to physically experience such settings. In addition to tabletop role-playing, LARP is rooted in childhood games of make believe, play fighting, costume parties, roleplay simulations, Commedia dell'arte, improvisational theatre, psychodrama, military simulations, and historical reenactment groups such as the Society for Creative Anachronism. [21]
The earliest recorded LARP group is Dagorhir , which was founded in 1977 in the United States and focuses on fantasy battles. [22] Soon after the release of the movie Logan's Run in 1976, rudimentary live role-playing games based on the movie were run at US science fiction conventions. [23] In 1981, the International Fantasy Gaming Society (IFGS) started, with rules influenced by Dungeons & Dragons . [24] IFGS was named after a fictional group in the 1981 novel Dream Park , which described futuristic LARPs. [25] In 1982, the Society for Interactive Literature, a predecessor of the Live Action Roleplayers Association (LARPA), formed as the first recorded theatre-style LARP group in the US. [26]
Treasure Trap , formed in 1982 at Peckforton Castle, was the first recorded LARP game in the UK and influenced the fantasy LARPs that followed there. [27] [28] The first recorded LARP in Australia was run in 1983, using the science fiction Traveller setting. [29] In 1993, White Wolf Publishing released Mind's Eye Theatre, which is still played internationally and is probably the most commercially successful published LARP. [30] The first German events were in the early 1990s, with fantasy LARP in particular growing quickly there, so that since 2001, two major German events have been run annually that have between 3000 and 7000 players each and attract players from around Europe. [31] [32] [33]
Today, LARP is a widespread activity internationally. Games with thousands of participants are run by for-profit companies, and a small industry exists to sell costume, armour and foam weapons intended primarily for LARP. [34] In 2023, Dicebreaker reported that "China has developed its own LARP phenomenon in recent years. Jubensha is far more commercially successful and influential than anything we have seen before even in Nordic countries – and there is a good chance it might change our perception of what live-action roleplaying games are capable of in the future". [35]
Most LARPs are intended as games for entertainment. Enjoyable aspects can include the collaborative creation of a story, the attempt to overcome challenges in pursuit of a character's objectives, and a sense of immersion in a fictional setting. [36] LARPs may also include other game-like aspects such as intellectual puzzles, and sport-like aspects such as fighting with simulated weapons. [37]
Some LARPs stress artistic considerations such as dramatic interaction or challenging subject matter. Avant-garde or arthaus events have especially experimental approaches and high culture aspirations and are occasionally held in fine art contexts such as festivals or art museums. The themes of avant-garde events often include politics, culture, religion, sexuality and the human condition. Such LARPs are common in the Nordic countries but also present elsewhere. [38] [39]
In addition to entertainment and artistic merit, LARP events may be designed for educational or political purposes. For example, the Danish secondary school Østerskov Efterskole uses LARP to teach most of its classes. [40] Language classes can be taught by immersing students in a role-playing scenario in which they are forced to improvise speech or writing in the language they are learning. [41] Politically-themed LARP events may attempt to awaken or shape political thinking within a culture. [42] [43]
Because LARP involves a controlled artificial environment within which people interact, it has sometimes been used as a research tool to test theories in social fields such as economics or law. For example, LARP has been used to study the application of game theory to the development of criminal law. [44]
During a LARP, player actions in the real world represent character actions in an imaginary setting. [1] Game rules, physical symbols and theatrical improvisation are used to bridge differences between the real world and the setting. For example, a rope could signify an imaginary wall. Realistic-looking weapon props and risky physical activity are sometimes discouraged or forbidden for safety reasons. [45] While the fictional timeline in a tabletop RPG often progresses in game-time, which may be much faster or slower than the time passing for players, LARPs are different in that they usually run in real-time, with game-time only being used in special circumstances. [46]
There is a distinction between when a player is in character, meaning they are actively representing their character, and when the player is out-of-character, meaning they are being themselves. Some LARPs encourage players to stay consistently in character except in emergencies, while others accept players being out-of-character at times. [47] In a LARP, it is usually assumed that players are speaking and acting in character unless otherwise noted, which is the opposite of normal practice in tabletop role-playing games. [48] Character knowledge is usually considered to be separate from player knowledge, and acting upon information a character would not know may be viewed as cheating.
While most LARPs maintain a clear distinction between the real world and the fictional setting, pervasive LARPs mingle fiction with modern reality in a fashion similar to alternate reality games. Bystanders who are unaware that a game is taking place may be treated as part of the fictional setting, and in-character materials may be incorporated into the real world. [49] [50] This interactive art makes LARPs different from street theatre where bystanders are an audience which can remain apart from the performance.
Many LARPs have game rules that determine how characters can affect each other and the setting. [51] [52] The rules may be defined in a publication or created by the gamemasters. [53] These rules may define characters' capabilities, what can be done with various objects that exist in the setting, and what characters can do during the downtime between LARP events. Because referees are often not available to mediate all character actions, players are relied upon to be honest in their application of the rules.
Some LARP rules call for the use of simulated weapons such as foam weapons or airsoft guns [54] to determine whether characters succeed in hitting one another in combat situations. In Russian LARP events, weapons made of hard plastic, metal or wood are used. [55] The alternative to using simulated weapons is to pause role-play and determine the outcome of an action symbolically, for example by rolling dice, playing rock paper scissors or comparing character attributes. [56]
There are also LARPs that do without rules, instead relying on players to use their common sense or feel for dramatic appropriateness to cooperatively decide what the outcome of their actions will be. [57]
LARPs can have any genre, although many use themes and settings derived from genre fiction. [58] Some LARPs borrow a setting from an established work in another medium (e.g., The Lord of the Rings or the World of Darkness ), while others use settings based on the real world or designed specifically for the LARP. [59] Proprietary campaign settings, together with rulesets, are often the principal creative asset of LARP groups and LARP publishers.
LARPs set in the modern day may explore everyday concerns, or special interests such as espionage or military activity. Such LARPs sometimes resemble an Alternate Reality Game, an Assassin game, or a military simulation using live combat with airsoft, laser tag, or paintball markers. LARPs can also be set in historical eras or have semi-historical settings with mythological or fantastical aspects incorporated.
Fantasy is one of the most common LARP genres internationally and is the genre that the largest events use. [60] Fantasy LARPs are set in pseudo-historical worlds inspired by fantasy literature and fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. These settings typically have magic, fantasy races, and limited technology. Many fantasy LARPs focus on adventure or on conflict between character factions. In contrast, science fiction LARPs take place in futuristic settings with high technology and sometimes with extraterrestrial life. This describes a broad array of LARPs, including politically themed LARPs depicting dystopian or utopian societies and settings inspired by cyberpunk, space opera and post-apocalyptic fiction. [61]
Horror LARPs are inspired by horror fiction. Popular subgenres include zombie apocalypse and Cthulhu Mythos, sometimes using the published Cthulhu Live rules. [62] The World of Darkness, published by White Wolf Publishing, is a widely used goth – punk horror setting in which players usually portray secretive supernatural creatures such as vampires and werewolves. [30] This setting can be played using Mind's Eye Theatre , which is a set of LARP rules also published by White Wolf. World of Darkness LARPs are usually played in a chronicle, a series of short events held at regular intervals, and are also popular at conventions. An international chronicle is run by White Wolf's official fan club, the Camarilla .
LARP events have a wide variety of styles that often overlap. Simple distinctions can be made regarding the genre used, the presence of simulated weapons or abstract rules, and whether players create their own characters or have them assigned by gamemasters. There is also a distinction between scenarios that are only run once and those that are designed to be repeatable. [63] While some LARPs are open to participants of all ages, others have a minimum age requirement. There are also youth LARPs, specifically intended for children and young people. Some are run through institutions such as schools, churches, or the Scouts. Denmark has an especially high number of youth LARPs. [64] [65]
Theatre-style, or freeform, LARP is characterised by a focus on interaction between characters that are written by the gamemasters, not using simulated weapons for combat, and an eclectic approach to genre and setting. Events in this style typically only last a few hours and require relatively little preparation by players and are sometimes played at gaming conventions. Some murder mystery games where players are assigned characters and encouraged to roleplay freely also resemble theatre-style LARP.[ citation needed ]
Some very large events known as fests (short for festival) have hundreds or thousands of participants who are usually split into competing character factions camped separately around a large venue. There are only a few fests in the world, all based in Europe and Canada; however, their size means that they have a significant influence on local LARP culture and design. At the other end of the size scale, some small events known as linear or line-course LARPs feature a small group of PCs facing a series of challenges from NPCs and are often more tightly planned and controlled by GMs than other styles of LARP. [66] [ needs update ]
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Nordic larp emphasises a collaborative "play to lose" strategy, keeping rules unobtrusive, and often explores emotionally complex issues. [67] The style emerged in Finland and Scandinavia during the 1990s with a focus on "collaborative storytelling around intense human experiences". [68] Wired commented that this style adds "distinct challenges, including the possibility of real emotional harm. To work out issues of how to keep players safe and push the limits of the form, the community gathers at Knutepunkt, an annual meeting that is as much hardcore game jam as academic conference". [68]
Script murder games, also known as jubensha (lit. 'scripted murder'), are murder mystery LARP games that emerged in China. [69] [70] [35] Typically, script murder games can be experienced in a tabletop game format or a format which combines larping and escape rooms. Players are given different script options and are assigned characters to play through the murder mystery; these games often occur at dedicated gaming stores where players pay to participate. [69] [71] [72] The style become popularized in 2015 "when reality shows with names like 'Lying Man,' 'Dinner Party Seduction,' and later 'Who's The Murderer,' showed celebrities playing whodunits" [70] which led to the development of jubensha clubs that run games in this style. [35]
Roleplaying may be seen as part of a movement in Western culture towards participatory arts, as opposed to traditional spectator arts. [73] Participants in a LARP cast off the role of passive observer and take on new roles that are often outside of their daily life and contrary to their culture. [74] The arrangers of a LARP and the other participants act as co-creators of the game. [75] This collaborative process of creating shared fictional worlds may be associated with a broader burgeoning "geek" culture in developed societies that is in turn associated with prolonged education, high uptake of information technology and increased leisure time. [76] In comparison to the mainstream video-game industry, which is highly commercialized and often marketed towards a male audience, LARP is less commoditized, and women actively contribute as authors and participants. [77]
LARP is not well known in most countries and is sometimes confused with other role-playing, reenactment, costuming, or dramatic activities. While fan and gamer culture in general has become increasingly mainstream in developed countries, LARP has often not achieved the same degree of cultural acceptability. This may be due to intolerance of the resemblance to childhood games of pretend, a perceived risk of over-identification with the characters, and the absence of mass marketing. [78] [79] In US films such as the 2006 documentary Darkon , the 2007 documentary Monster Camp , and the 2008 comedy Role Models , fantasy LARP is depicted as somewhat ridiculous and escapist, but also treated affectionately as a "constructive social outlet". [80] [81] [82] In the Nordic countries, LARP has achieved a high level of public recognition and popularity. It is often shown in a positive light in mainstream media, with an emphasis on the dramatic and creative aspects. [83] However, even in Norway, where LARP has greater recognition than in most other countries, it has still not achieved full recognition as a cultural activity by government bodies. [84]
Communities have formed around the creation, play and discussion of LARP. These communities have developed a subculture that crosses over with role-playing, fan, reenactment, and drama subcultures. [78] [85] Early LARP subculture focused on Tolkien-like fantasy, but it later broadened to include appreciation of other genres, especially the horror genre with the rapid uptake of the World of Darkness setting in the 1990s. [85] [86] Like many subcultures, LARP groups often have a common context of shared experience, language, humour, and clothing that can be regarded by some as a lifestyle. [78]
LARP has been a subject of academic research and theory. Much of this research originates from role-players, especially from the publications of the Nordic Knutepunkt role-playing conventions. [87] The broader academic community has recently begun to study LARP as well, both to compare it to other media and other varieties of interactive gaming, and also to evaluate it in its own right. [49] [88] In 2010, William Bainbridge speculated that LARP may one day evolve into a major industry in the form of location-based games using ubiquitous computing. [89]
In Denmark, Østerskov Efterskole uses LARP as an educational method of teaching subjects to high school boarding students through interactivity and simulation. [90] LARP groups are also using simulations of current and historical events and topics like refugees and the AIDS crisis to roleplay and explore these subjects. [91]
In China, the script murder game industry (jubensha) has continued to grow since 2015. The New York Times reported that in 2021 "the number of scripted murder enterprises registered in China totaled about 6,500, a more than 60 percent increase from the prior year, according to state-run media". [70] The Agence France-Presse reported that "the live action murder mystery market appears to have captured the imagination of China's urban youth before the Covid-19 pandemic emerged". [69] During the COVID-19 pandemic, "Murder Mystery Game" (MMG) apps allowed people to play jubensha digitally and were "available to millions of people across" China. [35] Dicebreaker reported that following the easing of pandemic restrictions in China, "more than 45,000 [jubensha] shops" opened with "nearly 10 million active players. It is estimated that soon the Jubensha market will reach 23.89 billion Chinese Yuan". [35] Voice of America commented that, per the Chinese market research firm iResearch, script murder games are "the third most popular form of entertainment for Chinese people, after watching movies and participating in sports". [92]
The popularization of script murder games and industry growth in China has led to both national and governmental attention with the Chinese government considering formal regulation of the industry. [71] [72] [93] In September 2020, the Agence France-Presse commented that "a report on China National Radio last month voiced fears that too many of the scripts relied on murders, violent plots and sexual content, but others see the games as a way to get young people off their smartphones and back interacting with each other in real life". [69] In October 2021, the South China Morning Post reported that "advertisements for script-killing are prominent in China. [...] The fact that it is a new industry is precisely the problem in the eyes of the authorities. Since the Covid-19 case that brought 'script-killing' to national attention, the game has been getting mainstream traction, inviting official concerns and possible future regulations". [71] In October 2022, Polygon commented that Chinese "regulators are beginning to take notice of the genre's mature content. A story published Wednesday indicates that municipal and provincial authorities have now begun regulating content and demanding that some retailers remove certain materials from sale. [...] As a result, some store owners are now curating their selection to fall in line with government regulation". [72] China Daily , a publication owned by the Chinese Communist Party, reported in April 2023 that China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism was beginning to draft regulations for script murder games and "soliciting public opinions". [93] The draft regulations state that "the contents of such games must not smear the traditional Chinese culture or contain inappropriate materials involving obscenity, gambling, drugs, and other elements that could go against moral standards". [93] The regulations also include additional rules for minors such as not allowing "underage customers on school days" and that "children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by their parents or other guardians". [93]
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are more common in co-operative games in which players work together than in competitive games in which players oppose each other. The act performed by a gamemaster is sometimes referred to as "Gamemastering" or simply "GM-ing".
A player character is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not controlled by a player are called non-player characters (NPCs). The actions of non-player characters are typically handled by the game itself in video games, or according to rules followed by a gamemaster refereeing tabletop role-playing games. The player character functions as a fictional, alternate body for the player controlling the character.
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.
A murder mystery game is a type of party game in which players investigate and solve fictitious murders. In many such games, a player secretly plays a murderer while the others attempt to determine the murderer's identity.
Freeform role-playing games, also called freeforms, are a type of role-playing game which employ informal or simplified rule sets, emphasise costume and theatricality, and typically involve large numbers of players in a common setting. Actions are typically adjudicated on the spot by a referee, though variants exist whereby players jointly mediate their own actions.
Dream Park is a 1981 sci-fi/murder mystery novel by American writers Larry Niven and Steven Barnes, set in a futuristic amusement park of the same name. It was nominated for the 1982 Locus Award and later expanded into a series of cyberpunk murder mysteries: The Barsoom Project (1989), The California Voodoo Game (1992), and The Moon Maze Game (2011). The books describe a futuristic form of live action role-playing games (LARPs), although the term was not in use when the original novel was published. The novels inspired many LARP groups, notably the International Fantasy Games Society which is named after a fictional entity in the book.
The Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The original award was made from a burned book encased in lucite. The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded to a person, product, publication, company, organization, event or trend – anything related to gaming; second, it does not count popularity or commercial success as a sign of "excellence". The award was first presented in 2001.
The history of role-playing games begins with an earlier tradition of role-playing, which combined with the rulesets of fantasy wargames in the 1970s to give rise to the modern role-playing game. A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories. Traditionally all the participants but one take on characters and determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization and the actions succeed or fail according to a system of rules and guidelines, and one of the participants takes on the role of game master who narrates the story, plays all the non-player characters and determine the challenge rating and the outcome of various actions. Within the rules, the participants may improvise freely; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games.
Role-playing games (RPGs) have developed specialized terminology. This includes both terminology used within RPGs to describe in-game concepts and terminology used to describe RPGs. Role-playing games also have specialized slang and jargon associated with them.
The Knutepunkt is an annual role-playing game conference held annually in the Nordic countries since 1997. It has been a vital institution in establishing a Nordic role-playing identity, and in establishing the concept of "Nordic larp" as a unique approach. Though the conference started out strictly as a Live action role-playing event, it has since embraced role-playing games in a more general fashion. Today the conference still has an emphasis on larp, but programs devoted to traditional tabletop role-playing as well as newer arrivals such as freeform are common.
A role-playing game theory is the ludology of role-playing games (RPGs); a study of the topic as a social or artistic phenomenon. RPG theories seek to understand what role-playing games are, how they function, and how the gaming process can be refined in order to improve the experience and produce more useful game products.
Live action role-playing games, known as LARPs, are a form of role-playing game in which live players/actors assume roles as specific characters and play out a scenario in-character. Technically, many childhood games may be thought of as simple LARPs, as they often involve the assumption of character roles. However, the scope of this article concerns itself mainly with LARPing in a technical sense: the organized live-action role-playing games whose origins are closely related to the invention of tabletop role-playing games in America in the 1970s.
Dragonbane was a large international live action roleplaying game (LARP) project. The game itself took place from July 27 to August 4, 2006 in Älvdalen, Sweden, close to the border with Norway. There were 325 players from several countries. While there was little media coverage in other countries, it received the attention of Scandinavian newspapers and gaming publications.
Treasure Trap was a live action role-playing game established at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire in April 1982. Various splinter groups broke from the original system, some retaining the Treasure Trap name, and helped to shape the later British LARP scene.
NERO International is a live action role-playing game (LARP) played in the United States. The NERO name originally was an acronym for "New England Role playing Organization", but the game has expanded well beyond its original New England roots and thus simply adopted the acronym as part of the official name.
Curious Pastimes is an organisation that runs one of the best-known live action role-playing campaigns in the UK. CP is a private, profit-making company headquartered in Moreton in the Wirral in Northern England. The company was formed in 1995, as a break away group from the Lorien Trust.
A tabletop role-playing game, also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a classification for a role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech, and sometimes movements. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a set formal system of rules and guidelines, usually containing Dice-Rolling. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.
A non-player character (NPC), also called a non-playable character, is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster or referee rather than by another player. In video games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer that has a predetermined set of behaviors that potentially will impact gameplay, but will not necessarily be the product of true artificial intelligence.
David Vincent Baker is a designer and theorist of tabletop role-playing games and the owner of indie role-playing games publisher Lumpley Games, which also hosts the archives of The Forge. He and his wife Meguey Baker designed Apocalypse World, the first game in the Powered by the Apocalypse system. Apocalypse World won Game of the Year, Best Support, and Most Innovative game at the 2010 Indie RPG Awards, and was 2011 RPG of the Year at both the Golden Geek Awards and Lucca Comics & Games. Baker also designed Dogs in the Vineyard, which won the 2004 Indie RPG Game of the Year and Innovation Award and was one of three games shortlisted for the 2004 Diana Jones Award.
Emily Care Boss is an indie roleplaying game designer, theorist and publisher. She was a foundational member of The Forge, an early leader in the indie role-playing game movement and is considered the creator of the American Freeform genre of roleplaying games, which combine indie RPG principles and mechanics with Nordic freeform and American chamber live action role-playing techniques. She has been referred to as the "Dean" of the North American school of structured freeform game design.
Live-Action Role-Playing Games can take place in indoor or outdoor settings, in private or public spaces.
...the participants sustain these temporary worlds for a few hours or several days
As a likely result of the popularity of Dungeons and Dragons, in 1981 the International Fantasy Gaming Society (IFGS) was formed, and it published a set of rules for an outdoor, fantasy role-playing game similar to the medieval-fantasy environment of D&D.
In 1982, Walt Frietag and some friends at Harvard University "invented" what they called "interactive literature."... Frietag called his group the "Harvard Society for Interactive Literature", which was shortened to "Society for Interactive Literature" the next year.
...in the pioneering freeform tournament at Canberra Games Convention '83 participating players were members of the crew of the ship 'Sarten Valador'... rather than sitting around a table... the players move about the game environment...
Die erste offizielle LARP-Veranstaltung in Deutschland, fand hochstwahrscheinlich 1994 unter dem Namen Dracon statt. Seit dem ist ein stetiger Anstieg der LARP-Veranstalungen in Deutschland zu verzeichnen...Auch hierbei sind die LARP-veranstaltungen, welche im Genre des Fantasy angesiedelt sind, mit etwa 90% am weitaus stärksten vertreten ... Seit dem Jahr 2001 gibt es des Weiteren zwei Veranstalter, welche etwa einmal im Jahr so genannte Groß-Cons veranstalten, bei denen keine Maximalbegrenzung der Teilnehmerzahl besteht und in der Regel zwischen drei- bis siebentausend Live-Rollenspieler teilnehmen und auch Teilnehmer aus dem europäischen Ausland anzutreffen sind. (The first official LARP event in Germany most likely took place in 1994 under the name Dracon. Since then a steady rise in LARPs offered in Germany is recorded ... Also LARP events based in the fantasy genre are by far the largest here with about 90% representation ... Since the year 2001 there are two organisers who hold about once a year the so-called "big Cons" where there are no maximum limits to the number of participants and in which there are usually between three and seven thousand live action role-players including people from around Europe.)
1991 fand mit dem Draccon I der erste deutsche LARP-Con statt, womit unsere Zeitreise ein Ende hat. (In 1991 Draccon I, the first german LARP convention took place, which ends our journey through time.)
Nordic art larp is more about exploring a particular emotion, or taking a journey into your own psyche.
The third and youngest design ideal is pervasive larp. These pervasive LARPs blur the line between larp and life as the game spills onto the streets. The whole world becomes a playground...
Alternate reality gaming is the most widely established subgenre of pervasive gaming, but others are evolving as well.
While player enaction is emphasised, formal rule systems are commonly used for determination of the outcome of many character actions
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: CS1 maint: others (link)[The "hardcore" video gamer market] is characterized by an adolescent male sensibility that transcends physical age and embraces highly stylized graphical violence, male fantasies of power and domination, hyper-sexualized, objectified depictions of women, and rampant racial stereotyping and discrimination ... The "Geek" described by Konzack implies counter-culture, as characterized by The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek fan culture, Live-Action Role Playing Games (LARPs), MUDs and MOOs; he further points out that women are actively contributing to the third culture as both authors and participants, notably in LARPs, cosplay, fan fiction communities, as well as establishing the Game Grrls phenomenon and female fan networks. Conversely, mainstream gamer culture has been commoditized and commercialized...
Many of those with whom I spoke said that they have a number of different geeky interests, but draw the line at cosplay or live-action role-playing games (LARPs), hobbies in which players might dress in costume and act as a character... too closely resemble a child's game of "let's play pretend" to outside observers, thus standing on the less acceptable side of the divide "between the people who do these things and the people who live these things", as phrased by one of my interviewees... The LARPers may seem, as some of my interviewees would suggest, too geeky (i.e., too freely creative and immersed in media, too focused on use-value)
It's to the film's credit that LARPing comes across as both completely ridiculous and as a valid, constructive social outlet
That Lord of the Rings-induced stereotypical image of LARP started to crumble in the 90s as LARP based on anything from science fiction to Jane Austen began to emerge, taking gameplay from forests and castles into industrial halls, idyllic villas and city streets.
With ubiquitous Internet connectivity, and mobile access through cellphones or PDAs, it is possible this genre could grow into a major industry, possibly integrated with traditional activities such as history-oriented tourism, nature trail hiking, or stock market trading.