LARP and a Limited Schedule- Any interest?

R

RuneBrighteyes

Apprentice
I just can't do it anymore, and even if I could I am not sure I would want to.

Weekend Events.

I am older now (37), a bit broken (knee surgery), have a little baby (he rules!) and a job that needs some of my weekends (Real Estate). To this I add that SOMETIMES not much of import happens on Friday night and SOMETIMES Sunday is just a slog to get to a wave battle.

I know that I can Super Saturday it, but I really get sad when I do miss the story access that comes with being there the whole time.

There are other LARPS that I have heard of that open up the campsite Friday night and close up shop Sunday after noon, but the game only runs from 9am until 12-2 on Saturday night.

This would let me make the following choices- show up wicked late Friday night after my little one has long been asleep, crash in a cabin, and then play all day. Or show up Saturday morning. I could leave Saturday night after game ended. Or leave right in the morning after I cleaned up.

Add to that Friday night I could show up and chat, play board games, learn to make gear. Or go to a local bar and have a few drinks and watch the game. Or play a tabletop RPG convention style.

And the staff of the game could use all Friday to set up module space and get ready for some CRAZINESS.

And I wouldn't miss ANY of the game.


So would a structure like this be attractive to other people besides myself?
 
Yes. I'm getting to be in the same boat as you. When I started LARPing, I was a college student and then recent graduate with a lot more free time. Now I'm pushing 30, engaged, and working retail management where it is difficult enough to get one weekend day off, let alone the entire weekend, and discretionary funds are not what they used to be.

In my experience, the game does not start until 10:00 PM-ish on Friday with a major "get a feel for the weekend" mod until midnight-1 AM, then most people choose to go to bed and a handful stay up and roleplay with each other. No one gets up again until 10 AM at the very earliest (except kitchen staff) and most players are up around 11-noon. Mods run all afternoon, then dinner, then the "big mods" or "all town" mods after that, going until midnight-1 AM again. Minor mods happen the next morning, mostly to get rid of any treasure policy loot left, but nothing majorly plot-related. There have been a few exceptions to this pattern, but that's how I've seen it for the last few years. I should note I only play in the SoMN chapter, but it is my understanding through talking with others who travel that this is par for the course in most chapters.

I would very much be in favor of Super Saturdays for game time and out-of-game setup/hang out for travelers Friday night with clean-up Sunday morning. Not everyone has to be around for Friday/Sunday unless volunteering to help out, and chapters could generously reward those players who choose to do so.

As my life is only going to get busier as I plan this wedding, start house shopping/saving money for that, this all-weekend hobby may just be a casualty of growing up. As it stands now, I'm probably only going to show up around noon on Saturday and stay through the all-town mod and then go home. The whole weekend just isn't worth it, so I would be very much in favor of the schedule proposed.
 
I thought about this more overnight and it comes down to what I've seen as four different levels of player intensity (for lack of better term) and what each level is willing to sacrifice in order to play. Over time a player may transition from one level to another.

[Note: I am not judging anyone personally for the decisions they make. These are simply observations I have made and the reasons for them based on conversations I have had with many players. I am trying to go about this in the most respectful way possible and hope others will do the same in response.]

Once-Offers
These are the once-off players who try the game and decide it's not for the them. The most common reason I've heard as the Head New Player Marshal for the last two years is, "It's fun and all, but I can't take all weekend to do it." These players often have weekend jobs or outside obligations other than themselves before LARPing, and they are not willing to sacrifice those. Other common reasons include cost, travel time, and being uncomfortable with the outdoors/non-campers. These players decide against becoming LARPers.

Hobbyists
These are the players who attend games when they can, but don't go too far out of their way to make LARP a priority in their lives. The reasons for not playing as much are the same limitations as the Once-Offers, but since they do enjoy the game enough to overcome those obstacles, they will occasionally make the time to come play. These players are often in relationships with non-LARPers. They may play only part of weekend and not be bothered too much by what else they miss. LARPing is a hobby to them, often among several other hobbies.

Life-Stylers
These players know they want to play as much as possible and will make life-style choices to support that. They will work weekday-only jobs and dedicate a significant amount of resources to costume, armor, and prop-making supplies and also dedicate funds for travel costs. Due to this intense dedication, LARPing takes precedence over most other non-essential life decisions. Expect to see these players at all local games in addition to traveling to multiple chapters. To that end, they will sacrifice other parts of their lives to be there, including other hobbies and social circles. These players are often in relationships with other LARPers who share their dedication. LARPing is more than a hobby to them, it is a way of life.

The Obsessed
LARPing is everything to these players to an unhealthy level. They will sacrifice everything to play every event possible. Can't get time off from work? Call in/get fired. Not hyperbole here- I've seen it happen. These players will spend their last dime and borrow the rest to make it to game. LARPing is an addiction at this point.

Given these groups, the weekend event is geared toward the Life-Stylers. A Saturday-only game would be more favorable to the Hobbyists and may see more Once-Offers deciding to play. It's speculation at this point, but I think Saturday games as the norm would be better for a greater amount of players.

And yes, as a Hobbyist (former Life-Styler), I am biased to that end.
 
I think that its certainly feasible to run games that folow the format you described, and you could even run them more often (maybe two times a month) so that lifestylers, hobbiests and one timers all have more opportunities to get in on the events. They have the capability of costing less and taking up a bit less time to plan (but still almost as much as a normal weekend).

It's an interesting possibility and I would love to try and take advantage of it! If you're an owner, I would see this as another good way to cash-in (depending on your site, of course)
 
Undrask said:
I think that its certainly feasible to run games that folow the format you described, and you could even run them more often (maybe two times a month) so that lifestylers, hobbiests and one timers all have more opportunities to get in on the events. They have the capability of costing less and taking up a bit less time to plan (but still almost as much as a normal weekend).

It's an interesting possibility and I would love to try and take advantage of it! If you're an owner, I would see this as another good way to cash-in (depending on your site, of course)
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My understanding from talking to people that have run this style game is that it actually requires MORE planning/logistics. Players expect far less downtime than they do in a weekend long event. Also giving a staff all Friday night to set up gives them the opportunity to enact more grand module/encounter plans.

So what do owners think? Anyone out there willing to give this a shot?
 
While it would be feasible, from a $ standpoint you might start losing those players that figure $50 for a weekend of entertainment is good vs. $50 for a day of entertainment is not so good.

Also, as a person that runs Monster Camp, we already try to run things at a fairly frantic pace from Friday night through Saturday night. Sunday morning tends to be a bit more of a 'recover and tell stories' thing in game.
 
I wouldn't travel for these games. I drive almost 3 hours to SoMN's usual site and almost 6 hours to Chicago and neither of those drives would really be worth it to me on a regular basis if I was only playing on Saturday.

Also, what SoMN are you playing at where people sleep in until 10:00, Peter? :P
 
KyleSchmelz said:
I wouldn't travel for these games. I drive almost 3 hours to SoMN's usual site and almost 6 hours to Chicago and neither of those drives would really be worth it to me on a regular basis if I was only playing on Saturday.

Also, what SoMN are you playing at where people sleep in until 10:00, Peter? :P
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That happened once....so we started sending in deadly salamanders to wake people up ^.^

I've looked at moment condense games in the past, the difficulty is affording sites and supplies on a shorter timeline, people tend to expect cheaper games if they are shorter, but we need the same amount of props, prep work etc. That said we've run a number of very successful one days that fit this, and we usually see about 50% attendance to those compared to our weekend events.
 
I dont think the game should be limited to short a schedule. I have played this game for almost 20 years now and I find myself arriving late friday and leave early Saturday nite / Sunday morning. Other should not suffer because I am becoming old and tired, and real life has more pressing matters ( kids, wife agro ). Its the natural course of a life long LARPer. When you are young you get there 5 hours early and leave 5 hours after the game ends, you play in any kind of rain storm and nothing effects you.....when you get older things that never bothered you when you were young, well they start to when you get older. I am sure some players travel far to attend games and they wouldn't want a shorter game. Heck I remember the week long event HQ had years ago, I couldn't do that again.
 
Based on what I think I read in the OP, this was an idea to create a game/chapter that ran a scheduling format to fit someone's desire for a reduced schedule, not to change any existing schedules. So I think anyone who participated in this would do so knowing, and likely appreciating, the format. Doesn't seem like anyone would suffer, IMO.

I personally wouldn't mind a Saturday-only game, but I'd want it to run from 7:00 AM to midnight, minimum. In Seattle games, I usually stay up until 2 AM, because, yeah, our Plot is crazy. (Heck, Matt once raided a cabin at something like 4:00 AM, ask him about the Brotherhood of the Star Emergency Defense sometime).
 
I was thinking that it would make sense to do these twice a month, placed between the 2 most local games. That way you give everyone an opportunity to join in (for the lifestylers and obsessed) and more chances for the people who have lives to hop in for a day.

It would be a HELL of a lot of work, but very profitable if done correctly. In my opinion.
 
Undrask said:
I was thinking that it would make sense to do these twice a month, placed between the 2 most local games. That way you give everyone an opportunity to join in (for the lifestylers and obsessed) and more chances for the people who have lives to hop in for a day.

It would be a HELL of a lot of work, but very profitable if done correctly. In my opinion.
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My only concern would be the significance of the plot that I'd inherently miss because I can't make every "minivent," then. By holding two a month, you're pretty much guaranteeing an irregular audience, especially if these are people who do other local LARPs. That isn't necessarily a good thing for an ongoing story.
 
In 2002 NH ran a weekend event and a separate faire day event every month from April through October. The day long events were very cheap to PC, I believe $25 dollars. Up through June it was excellent, then it got tiring, and by October the staff was murderous. Now, it might have been easier if we had run alternate campaign events on the faire days, I don't know. However, running two events a month for more than half a year was deeply draining on a single staff and I would strongly recommend against it. If an established chapter wants to run faire day events on a regular basis then they're either going to need to sacrifice weekend events to do it or strongly consider designating alternate staff for positions like logistics; our two-person logistics team stopped working and later playing as a direct result of that schedule.
 
SkollWolfrun said:
While it would be feasible, from a $ standpoint you might start losing those players that figure $50 for a weekend of entertainment is good vs. $50 for a day of entertainment is not so good.

Also, as a person that runs Monster Camp, we already try to run things at a fairly frantic pace from Friday night through Saturday night. Sunday morning tends to be a bit more of a 'recover and tell stories' thing in game.
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I am still viewing this as a weekend of entertainment, it is just that Friday night and Sunday morning are modeled on gaming conventions (board games, RPG's, card games and BS).

In regards to price it should be the same. My expectation is that the staff will plan for an engaging and exciting 15 ish hours of game. For scheduling I would still only want 4-6 events per year.

My goal is less time playing, but that the play time better suits my schedule.
 
RuneBrighteyes said:
SkollWolfrun said:
While it would be feasible, from a $ standpoint you might start losing those players that figure $50 for a weekend of entertainment is good vs. $50 for a day of entertainment is not so good.

Also, as a person that runs Monster Camp, we already try to run things at a fairly frantic pace from Friday night through Saturday night. Sunday morning tends to be a bit more of a 'recover and tell stories' thing in game.
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I am still viewing this as a weekend of entertainment, it is just that Friday night and Sunday morning are modeled on gaming conventions (board games, RPG's, card games and BS).

In regards to price it should be the same. My expectation is that the staff will plan for an engaging and exciting 15 ish hours of game. For scheduling I would still only want 4-6 events per year.

My goal is less time playing, but that the play time better suits my schedule.
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This makes no sense. Part of the cost of an event is site fee. For a smaller event, your site costs should go down, I'd imagine, so I don't see how you justify equal cost. Also, part of the entertainment is PC/PC interaction, which is going to decrease regardless of staff's engagement level.

If Alliance Seattle tried four events of this per year, and priced it out the same, I wouldn't even go, and my staff is -phenomenal-. To me, it's just not worth it.
 
This makes no sense. Part of the cost of an event is site fee. For a smaller event, your site costs should go down, I'd imagine, so I don't see how you justify equal cost. Also, part of the entertainment is PC/PC interaction, which is going to decrease regardless of staff's engagement level.

If Alliance Seattle tried four events of this per year, and priced it out the same, I wouldn't even go, and my staff is -phenomenal-. To me, it's just not worth it.
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I wish that was true, but most sites that we use in the PNW rent by the entire weekend. The few that rent by the day tend to be not as good of a site or cost more (sometimes close to what a regular weekend costs in some cases that I remember).
 
SkollWolfrun said:
I wish that was true, but most sites that we use in the PNW rent by the entire weekend. The few that rent by the day tend to be not as good of a site or cost more (sometimes close to what a regular weekend costs in some cases that I remember).
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I think that's pretty consistent everywhere.
 
Dan Nickname Beshers said:
SkollWolfrun said:
I wish that was true, but most sites that we use in the PNW rent by the entire weekend. The few that rent by the day tend to be not as good of a site or cost more (sometimes close to what a regular weekend costs in some cases that I remember).
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I think that's pretty consistent everywhere.
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I figured, but I could not comment outside of Washington, Oregon and Michigan (from 1990).
 
SkollWolfrun said:
This makes no sense. Part of the cost of an event is site fee. For a smaller event, your site costs should go down, I'd imagine, so I don't see how you justify equal cost. Also, part of the entertainment is PC/PC interaction, which is going to decrease regardless of staff's engagement level.

If Alliance Seattle tried four events of this per year, and priced it out the same, I wouldn't even go, and my staff is -phenomenal-. To me, it's just not worth it.
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I think you can disagree with something without it making NO sense. :roll: Just because something is not your cup of tea doesn't mean it is no ones flavor.

As for why I would have the price stay the same is that the access to the site remains the same- it is just being used for different stuff on Friday night and Sunday morning.

This idea CLEARLY is not for everyone, but my feeling is that if a game adopted this AND ran an awesome 15 hours of game time players would be happy to play that game- and additional people (like the 20+ ex-Larpers that I've already spoken to) would come out to play this style of campaign.

You'd lose some and gain some. I think it is an option.


Thanks for all of the on topic discussion!
 
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