Welcome to Larpers Unite, a blog dedicated to building and supporting the many ever-growing Larp groups. This blog will focus on a wide variety of topics that are of interest to the Larp community, from focused posts on specific games to more generalized ones that are applicable to a wide range of Larp genres. We may be from different Larps, but in the end we're part of the same community. If you would like to contact us, please email us at: larpersunite.ama@gmail.com.
A lot of people associate different songs with different cultures/races across the genres. I've worked a lot with the Erlunn (now Ra'hanaen since The Shattering) and I always think of Enya when people traveled within the Forest of Shadows once. Even used this song once for an Elven funeral taking place further in the wood from where the PC's were.
Also, totally ridiculous cheesy picture for the video. Bonus!
What songs do you associate with different Larp cultures and races? It can be a song that you could actually play at an event (would love to see some of these!) or just a "theme" song for the Larp race/culture.
Advertising is super important in the Larp world - giving an accurate and exciting view of the various games that we all love to play.
There's nothing worse than a bad Youtube video to send the hordes giggles and laughing in the other direction.
One group that does it right is Conquest (Mythodea). I actually got chills watching it. Although, I do have to say, I have no idea how the lady kept her dress up in the one scene. Lot's of theatrical placing of duct tape?
Keep in mind that while it looks awesome, there's some pretty good editing in there. Great shots of people in full-on costume. A creepy overvoice. And maybe best of all the use of real camera equipment. It doesn't look like it was filmed in a backyard. It looks professional.
So, this video circulated a while back. After talking with a few friends, I realized that some of them hadn't seen this video before. We watched it, of course, and had a moment of laughing - cause we're terrible people. Couldn't help it. It was so bizarre and odd it was funny.
The music is perfect, the beginning is a tad long....basically, a girl that played WOW (World of Warcraft) died in real life. Rumor has it (completely unconfirmed) that she played too much WOW and had a stroke. Urban myth? Who knows. It's terrible that she passed away. As tribute, a bunch of people ingame got together and WOW put an Avatar of her character in to game for them to pay their "respects." In an act of ultimate trolling, several guilds joined forces and, well, completely wrecked it.
However, it got me to thinking about Larp (imagine that) and griefing of players. This guild, for all intents and purposes, got together and purposefully &*#$ up people's day - in a moment of solemnity - for the hell of it. Super douche move. I mean, really. And it made me think of how people tend to do this in Larp, too. They do something specifically to mess someone's day up - not because it follows what their characters would do, but because they think it is funny. Why mess up someone else's moment for the heck of it? What do you get out of it? Just because they don't play the game the same way you do doesn't meant that it isn't without validity. And you are basically getting a kick out of making someone else feel bad.
So, I pose the question to you - have you griefed other players for funsies? Is it a problem at Larp? And how should plot/owners/players handle the situation?
Today's video is a cover by Str8voices of the song "Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold" from the Hobbit. Whether you loved the movie or not, you've gotta love this song. This is totally my pump up music before a game, and Jenn listens to this over and over when she writes plot.
And you also have to give a shoutout to our buddy Ryan, who makes an appearance at 0:44. Who knew he could sing so well!
What do you listen to when you get pumped up or when you write plot?
At the final NERO Cinci event, a group of dedicated, fun-loving Larpers
got together and created their own version of the Harlem Shake video.
Everyone seems to have had a good time and are proudly representing their inner nerd. Pretty clean cut and straight forward. The guy in the horse head was a nice touch.
What's your favorite Harlem Shake video? Please don't post anything that you wouldn't want to watch with your mother, reverend, or at least your girlfriend. Saying that, if anyone posts anything with genitalia, not only will it be removed but I will forever look at you oddly (since you would be okay with your mom/reverend/girlfriend watching it with you.)
I'm sure most of you are familiar with CW's t.v. show Supernatural. One of the more recent episodes sees Dean and Sam entering the world of Larp.
It's kind of hilarious (I thought) and it was awesome that Dean got in to it and embraced his inner nerd. For those of you that haven't seen it, check out the clip below. It's when Sam and Dean first arrive in Moondor.
The ingame location of Moondor is pretty awesome. They have basically a real town, all set up in the local park (really?). The Queen's chamber comes complete with artwork and a lovely Queen-sized bed (pun intended). The props are pretty badass throughout most of the show, too. I also find it very amusing they had a tent set up with computers ("travel here to the future") where you could take a break and get your World of Warcraft or League of Legend game on. Even my husband, who is an AVID computer gamer thought it was a touch too much.
There have been a number of movies released in recent years (Roleplayers, Dungeons & Dragons, The Wild Hunt, Unicorn City, Monster Camp, etc.) that place Larps in a "better" - if often unrealistic - setting. Yet, there are still the typical nerd portrayal of players that suggests a level of social awkwardness and in cases like The Wild Hunt they go straight medieval on each other and people actually end up dying - if I remember correctly.
We've come a long way since Mazes & Monsters, the lovely 80s movie that made many believe that D&D/Larp could drive you to a severe psychotic break and schizophrenia.
It's outthere more in the eyes of the general public and a lot more people know what it - kinda - is.
Which leads me to today's question - is Larp actually portrayed better today in t.v./movies? Is the old adage any publicity is good publicity true?
