Latex Coated Foam
- Thread starter Jaerin
- Start date
markusdark
Knight
phedre said:
First time I fought with one in the UK with their combat style, I'd say it was akin to a religious experience. At least I was shaking and had to go walk it off and chanting "Holy *#(#! that felt real!"
Ogunshi said:
Excellent! I've often wondered about the differences in mind-sets, presentation, and gameplay between European and American larps, and I would appreciate it if I could pick your brain on the subject. Or for that matter, talk to anyone who may have any insight on the apparent discrepencies between the two.
I'll start a thread over in General Discussion, and hopefully learn some new things about our hobby. Thanks!
jpariury said:
Cool, I don't suppose you or Ogunshi could elaborate on the subject of different mindsets, could you? Is it that the large Euro larps have more of "faire atmosphere" like attending an SCA event, where the focus is showing off your character and enjoying a more short-term, collaborative theatrical experience? As opposed to the over-arching episodic stories of our game, in a persistant setting, where our characters are attempting to achieve personal, long-term goals.
(How's THAT for a run-on sentence? But hey, I'm so tired I can barely see straight right now.)
I'm really just guessing here, based on what I've heard from a couple other people (None of which have played in Europe) and my own observations online. I'll try to look up some of those message boards and articles, but a lot of benign web sites get blocked while I'm at work, which is the only time I have to get online anymore.
I'll try to answer what I can from my experiences in LARPing over seas. I guess the main things that take effect as to how things are differnt is the legal systems. There you can play as hard as you want, you get hurt through stupidity it is, for the most part, you own fault. Here a person trips and they have the right to sue everyone and thier mothers. Also LARPs are more accepted oer there are are reconized as a recreational sport.
The players take LARP with a passion I hardly ever see here in the states. They get up early to work on garb weapons armor and the like several hours befire work. They think about it at work a LOT and then when they get home they do what neds to be done and then back to LARP things. Although none of them would ever admit it it is a large contest to them. Who can have the best armor, the coolest weapons, the latest trends in fantasy garb, the coolest special effect for thier group ect. Then there are the units that pool together to make sure they look the best.
On the field it is acting and role playing to the best of their abilities. And they really get into it. A lot of LARPers in America hardly act or role play, there they do not hols back at all. We are talking yelling, sceaming, jumping diving, the whole nine yards. When they get hit they fall to the ground and let out blood chilling screams. The first time I heard one I was at Conquest. The person besie me got hit with an arrow. He fell to the fround and let out the louded howl of pain I ever heard. As I was right beside him I almost jumped out of my skin. He was drug to the rear of the fighting line where 3 or 4 people playing medics went to heal him. They pulled out bandages and tied him up where he was hit. The added blood packs into them so it looked like he was eally bleding. Then they called for a magical healer.
A good number of them (I would say about 90% or so) use home made or store bought latex weapons. The other 10% have some damn good duct tape covered weapons. Now I should warn you that they do not pull thier punches. When you are hit you know it. This is partly wy they insist that the armor be real. Thier armor requirements are just the tough as the SCA, if not worse in other areas. But armor is optional. I thought I didn't need armor and I would depend on my speed and skill to defend myself. After 10 minutes and several hits to the chest (which left welts) I elected to wear armor.
Of course it is hard to know what is going on for some parts as there were about 6 different languages being yelled at any given time. They also have that different languages are different race langauges. These are the ones I know what they are
German is common (as the LARP was held in Germany it sort of makes sense)
English was drow (So I was playing a human who spoke only Drow and some common)
The main thing they have is the if you can do it so can your character rule. So if you have a bow and arrow and know how to use them, so does your character. If you have no bloody clue as to how to fight with two weapons neither does your character. If you can't see anything in the dark, neither can your character. This last part really takes part in the under dark.
The under dark is part of the game field where all the 'evil' creatures camp. It covers about 4 to 5 acers and has light proof tarps covering the whole area so there is no light in there, except for what you bring with you. the 'monsters' you fight in there are other player characters. And to them you are a raiding party
They allow latex weapons, bows and arrows, crossbows, siege weapons, magical items (and believe me they are COOL I have 'magical helm' that allows me to see in the dark. This is done with the night vision scopes in the helm)
Like I said they put a LOT into the game and to them it is a bog contest as to who is has the better toys, acting ability, unit ect.
As for the LARPs there, yes there is a small row of venders, but most of the players make their own items. Think of a LARP where there are 5 to 6 armies (earth, air, fire, water, magic, evil) each army has close to 2000 players. Then add in the 20 or so merc houses each with close to 100 players in them. Throw in close to 500 to 600 staff and cast members with over 200 different plots, not counting the inter character relation plots, and that is what a large event is like.
I hope this helps a bit.
The players take LARP with a passion I hardly ever see here in the states. They get up early to work on garb weapons armor and the like several hours befire work. They think about it at work a LOT and then when they get home they do what neds to be done and then back to LARP things. Although none of them would ever admit it it is a large contest to them. Who can have the best armor, the coolest weapons, the latest trends in fantasy garb, the coolest special effect for thier group ect. Then there are the units that pool together to make sure they look the best.
On the field it is acting and role playing to the best of their abilities. And they really get into it. A lot of LARPers in America hardly act or role play, there they do not hols back at all. We are talking yelling, sceaming, jumping diving, the whole nine yards. When they get hit they fall to the ground and let out blood chilling screams. The first time I heard one I was at Conquest. The person besie me got hit with an arrow. He fell to the fround and let out the louded howl of pain I ever heard. As I was right beside him I almost jumped out of my skin. He was drug to the rear of the fighting line where 3 or 4 people playing medics went to heal him. They pulled out bandages and tied him up where he was hit. The added blood packs into them so it looked like he was eally bleding. Then they called for a magical healer.
A good number of them (I would say about 90% or so) use home made or store bought latex weapons. The other 10% have some damn good duct tape covered weapons. Now I should warn you that they do not pull thier punches. When you are hit you know it. This is partly wy they insist that the armor be real. Thier armor requirements are just the tough as the SCA, if not worse in other areas. But armor is optional. I thought I didn't need armor and I would depend on my speed and skill to defend myself. After 10 minutes and several hits to the chest (which left welts) I elected to wear armor.
Of course it is hard to know what is going on for some parts as there were about 6 different languages being yelled at any given time. They also have that different languages are different race langauges. These are the ones I know what they are
German is common (as the LARP was held in Germany it sort of makes sense)
English was drow (So I was playing a human who spoke only Drow and some common)
The main thing they have is the if you can do it so can your character rule. So if you have a bow and arrow and know how to use them, so does your character. If you have no bloody clue as to how to fight with two weapons neither does your character. If you can't see anything in the dark, neither can your character. This last part really takes part in the under dark.
The under dark is part of the game field where all the 'evil' creatures camp. It covers about 4 to 5 acers and has light proof tarps covering the whole area so there is no light in there, except for what you bring with you. the 'monsters' you fight in there are other player characters. And to them you are a raiding party
They allow latex weapons, bows and arrows, crossbows, siege weapons, magical items (and believe me they are COOL I have 'magical helm' that allows me to see in the dark. This is done with the night vision scopes in the helm)
Like I said they put a LOT into the game and to them it is a bog contest as to who is has the better toys, acting ability, unit ect.
As for the LARPs there, yes there is a small row of venders, but most of the players make their own items. Think of a LARP where there are 5 to 6 armies (earth, air, fire, water, magic, evil) each army has close to 2000 players. Then add in the 20 or so merc houses each with close to 100 players in them. Throw in close to 500 to 600 staff and cast members with over 200 different plots, not counting the inter character relation plots, and that is what a large event is like.
I hope this helps a bit.
Dreamingfurther
Baron
Holly crap that sounds amazing. I TOTALLY have to go to one of these one day... *dreams*
Just the idea of over 10,000 players... wow
Just the idea of over 10,000 players... wow
It is reallt cool, but make sure you are ready for it. I made the mistake of not keeping track of where I was. Try getting lost in a game where the field is close to 100 acers, There are countless races around you, all speaking differnt languages (of which you know none) and acting out thier characters. It is fun for the first 20 minutes or so, but after that it loses it's cool factor rather fast. It took me 4 hours to find my encampment.
Dreamingfurther
Baron
Yikes, yea I can see how that could be scary and a little bit un-fun.
markusdark
Knight
Ogunshi,
I have not had the privledge of attending the thousands+ games in europe. I was wonder, how much real 'plot' is there and how much is just beat the crap out of one another? I'm assuming you've done the SCA and being in Pittsburgh, you've probably attended the war - is it like the war or is there more storyline?
Thanks.
M.
I have not had the privledge of attending the thousands+ games in europe. I was wonder, how much real 'plot' is there and how much is just beat the crap out of one another? I'm assuming you've done the SCA and being in Pittsburgh, you've probably attended the war - is it like the war or is there more storyline?
Thanks.
M.
Celebolwa
Scholar
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... d=51618476
Many of the arguments against latex weapons are based on latex weapons from 5+ years ago. Just saying latex weapons have come a long way, I have used them in sparring. I will discuss why I feel this way with anyone that wants to discuss. Yes they are more expensive, but they really do last for seasons with very little care needed.
Just saying times have changed.
Many of the arguments against latex weapons are based on latex weapons from 5+ years ago. Just saying latex weapons have come a long way, I have used them in sparring. I will discuss why I feel this way with anyone that wants to discuss. Yes they are more expensive, but they really do last for seasons with very little care needed.
Just saying times have changed.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... D=52599701
This is another video from that same latex weapon company. And I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed the HECK out of it! In fact, it's probably the best "commercial" for larping that I've ever seen, even though it was entirely about selling the weapons. Oh, and the fact that we can't punch, kick, and hurl each other into trees. Still, pretty entertaining.
It makes me wonder what it would be like to play this game with far fewer body/armor points?
This is another video from that same latex weapon company. And I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed the HECK out of it! In fact, it's probably the best "commercial" for larping that I've ever seen, even though it was entirely about selling the weapons. Oh, and the fact that we can't punch, kick, and hurl each other into trees. Still, pretty entertaining.
It makes me wonder what it would be like to play this game with far fewer body/armor points?
jpariury
Duke
A couple years back I found some good online books to get an idea of the euro-larp scene: this one from a convention in Norway, and this one a year prior. I've made a few acquaintances with people in Germany, England and Norway. The general theme is that they simply take the activity far more seriously than Americans do, but at the same time they seem to have less "investment" in their characters. They tend to play with a great deal more passion and fervor, but if they lose their character, they simply start looking into doing a new one. There is far less grief over having invested hours into making a cool costume and character background and then dying at the event. Their idea of safety is far more permissive than Alliance's, but at the same time, they usually prefer more realistic fights, rather than nine people standing around one or two baddies for twenty minutes shouting numbers at them.GunFodder said:
markusdark,
You need to understand that they look at LARP very differenly over there. To them there is only the story or plot line. These plotlines do, for the most part, lead up to a big clash at some point, but it not just "you guys fight these guys" there is a story there there are reasons for the battle. Yes most of the time it is for the power to rule, but there is a story line as to how this happened. Believe me you could spend a full two weeks there and not have one battle. I didn't even draw my sword for the first 3 days I was there. Well 2 days and most of the the third, as the camp was attacked by drow wanting to know why a human was speaking thier language.
You need to understand that they look at LARP very differenly over there. To them there is only the story or plot line. These plotlines do, for the most part, lead up to a big clash at some point, but it not just "you guys fight these guys" there is a story there there are reasons for the battle. Yes most of the time it is for the power to rule, but there is a story line as to how this happened. Believe me you could spend a full two weeks there and not have one battle. I didn't even draw my sword for the first 3 days I was there. Well 2 days and most of the the third, as the camp was attacked by drow wanting to know why a human was speaking thier language.
markusdark
Knight
Oh, I know they look at it differently. I've gone to a couple of events over there. I just never attended a large scale one as I figured that it wouldn't fit my style of play - where one person could follow up on a lead and change the course of things. I have to admit though, it must have been fun being assaulted by the drow over your language. 
And as for the second video, show me a LARP that HAS that stuff going on in the US and I'd be there in a heartbeat. Kicking, punching, throwing and shield bashing is FANTASTIC in a LARP if, and I stress the IF part, the people in it are restrained, controllable and responsible individuals. In the UK I was shield bashed up against a wall while another time I grabbed someone's head and yanked it back to slit their throat. All controlled and no damage done.
And as for the second video, show me a LARP that HAS that stuff going on in the US and I'd be there in a heartbeat. Kicking, punching, throwing and shield bashing is FANTASTIC in a LARP if, and I stress the IF part, the people in it are restrained, controllable and responsible individuals. In the UK I was shield bashed up against a wall while another time I grabbed someone's head and yanked it back to slit their throat. All controlled and no damage done.