For Those who haven't seen

[Gee-Perwin]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhrfhjLd9e4[/youtube]

The natural reaction to hearing about LARPing is to laugh. That's my experience. Then most people realize it's just a bunch of people running around and having fun. Most I know fall under the "Do what you want to do for fun" state of mind. I know my buddies that don't LARP agree that it's better than sitting on the couch having 14-16 hour stretches of weed and 360. This is coming from guys who like to do just that.

 

[James Trotta]

Gotcha. I don't actually watch TV so most pop culture references are tough for me.

Not smart enough to figure this one out. Unless it's just a typo...

That's because you're S-M-R-T Smart Jim!

It's a Homer Simpson paraphrase.

Homer: "I am so smart. I am so smart. S-M-R-T....I mean S-M-A-R-T."

 

[Von Raven]

Think of it this way, people are angry about their own lack of fun in their own lives and are jealous that we're having fun.Scott

Well said, Scott! And also, these folk are jealous of the courage that we have to do LARPING in the first place...to come out of whatever shells some of us grew up in, step out onto a field in public in crazy make up and costumes and play the adult version of "Let's Pretend"...it takes a rare courage.

I know some tabletop gamers who I grew up whom I had thought would love to to do this simply because it's a logical extension of the table top experience...but I was suprised that they couldn't find the courage to dress up and roleplay in front of 100 people. So, not even all gamers have our courage!

So, think about it; every time we hear or read a derisive comment, what we're really hearing or reading is: "I curse you because you have the courage to do something rare and fun and I don't!"

 

[Dreamingfurther]

Its true, and in many ways that's what it comes down to.

Unfortunately many individuals are threatened by something they perceive as not "normal" and what this really means is that they may have a form or layer of insecurity that they may not even acknowledge or be aware of. The only thing you can really do is try to look past the criticisms and rise above the cat calls and hooting (which I have personally experienced). :?

 

[Von Raven]

I'm out of the roleplaying closet, so to speak. The guys at work made fun, but I told them, you know where else people dress up in make up and crazy costumes and have fun? Football games. That made some of them re-think it and now some are even curious! LOL

 

[Dreamingfurther]

Its true, I worked on a production line last summer and although some of the folks laughed I was pretty open when I talked about my weekends and even got to be good friends with one other guys that does French/Indian war re-enactment and totally understood where I was coming from with the roleplay/battle element.