larp
Latest
WRUP: Hearthstone and our secret shame
Our bonus question this week was going to be about our dark, secret gaming habits. That was the plan. And then Blizzard went and released this mindblowingly awesome sounding game... so the bonus question changed. So when you're reading this, we're telling you both our guilty pleasure of gaming... and our excite about Hearthstone. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) This weekend is going to be spent working on projects around the house and getting some writing done. As for Hearthstone, it looks pretty neat! I think I may end up jumping in the beta just to play around with it and see how it works.
Free for All: A surprising evening of roleplay in RuneScape
Roleplay is often treated as the odd cousin of the MMO family. You know the kid I am talking about... your Aunt comes to visit and your mother tells you to hang out with him, and he ends up vomiting in your room. (Did it only happen to me?) The truth is that the odd cousin is often just misunderstood and generally a lot of fun. It might take a small leap of faith and perhaps some time, but roleplay can be a very rewarding experience. RuneScape might not seem like a prime spot for roleplay. I hardly even heard of roleplay in the community, but I knew that the playerbase was made up of individuals from all age ranges. I thought of trying to find a good roleplay clan or trying to attend a roleplay event or two, but I didn't find the time to investigate. It began to look like roleplay was not something that happened in the game. That was until last night. I stumbled upon some sort of spontaneous roleplay session, and it was mostly thrilling. I even interviewed a few players to see how the whole thing worked. Click past the cut and I'll tell you what I found out!
Video interview with Chris McDonough reveals more details on World of Darkness
There are a lot of gamers pretty interested in World of Darkness, and it's not hard to see why. The game is based in lore that's still hugely influential in the arena of tabletop gaming, and it's hard to imagine a developer better suited to labyrinthine political dramas than CCP. Machinima.com had a chance to chat with Chris McDonough during the recent Grand Masquerade, where McDonough revealed a few more tidbits about what the game would incorporate and how it would cater to existing fans of the property. As McDonough puts it, the overall goal is to bring some of the feel of the game's many LARP activities into the MMO space, with the focus on player and character interplay in a sandbox environment. The full interview also discusses the spread of the overall property, why the team decided to focus on vampires initially, and more about what players can expect from the game world. View the full interview after the break. [Thanks to Pilgrim for the tip!]
CCP reveals World of Darkness details to bloodthirsty fans
Details about CCP's World of Darkness are popping out of White Wolf's The Grand Masquerade in New Orleans this weekend, and they're definitely worth draining for every last sweet drop of... information. While the game is still in pre-production -- and as such, nothing is set in stone -- the devs weren't hesitant to dish out a lot of the ideas and features that they hope will make this the best vampire MMO to date. It's CCP's desire to emulate LARPing (live-action roleplaying) as much as possible with World of Darkness, with plenty of metaplots running inside the game and without. Players will begin as a mortal human who can make the choice to become a kindred (vampire) or stay mortal for the duration of their characters' lives. There's a very real danger that characters might experience "final death" -- permadeath -- if they take too many risks. If you get in over your head, you can retreat to your character's Haven for safety. The entire game will take place at night and on one server, and CCP is definitely aiming it toward the hardcore set. Nudity, gore, and insanity effects are all par for the course. If players push outside of the acceptable boundaries too often, they'll lose "humanity" points and could become flagged for constant attack by other players and NPCs. Play your cards right and you may become the prince of the city. The game will change over time with dynamic events, and CCP promises that there will be real consequences for player decisions. Look for our World of Darkness interview with CCP coming later this week. [Thanks Pilgrim for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: What pen-and-paper RPG would make a great MMO?
This weekend thousands of gamers and geeks are descending on Indianapolis for GenCon Indy. Over four days, countless board, card, LARP and RPG games will be played, merchandise purchased in mass quantities, and new friendships formed. GenCon's always been a good reminder that we MMO fans have roots in a much larger community of gamers, and that our interests often converge in unexpected ways. For all of the MMOs we have, there are even more pen-and-paper roleplaying games out there, some of which might just make a good online game if put into the right hands. So how about it? What tabletop RPG would make a good MMO -- and for kicks, what studio would you want handling it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Super Meat Boy is good for a LARP
Remember Gary Bigham, the (professional) live-action role-player who took on a real-life version of Minecraft? Well, he's back, this time tackling the evil Dr. Fetus in an all too real version of Super Meat Boy. If you absolutely must try this at home, remember to watch out for warp zones.
Live action role-playing in the world of Minecraft
Oh hi there. The person hosting the video after the break is Gary Bigham, professional Live Action Role Player. He says that he's "cashing in" by creating a Minecraft LARPing video, but you'll be the one cashing in -- fistfuls and fistfuls of the currency known as laughter. How do you roleplay as a Minecraft character, you may ask? It's harder than it sounds -- you have to try to build a shelter in the woods, use a duct-taped stone pickaxe to find precious gems and, whatever you do, always watch your back for those jerk creepers. Honestly, we're surprised Gary finishes the game as well as he does. Guess that's why he's a pro.
Free for All: So, what does "MMORPG" mean?
As a reader of Massively, you should have a pretty good idea what MMORPG means. Not just what it stands for, but what it feels like, looks like, and behaves like. The problem is, despite common definitions, the games keep coming in different shapes and sizes -- and from all over the world. While I receive many comments about the Western coverage that Massively features, I would only be doing half my job if I reported on only the latest half a dozen games to break the multi-million-dollar budget mark in America. The world is a smaller place, especially now. And across the world there are MMORPGs that are being played and enjoyed in many different ways. There are PvP games, games that place players into instance after instance with only a handful of other players, all while offering the potential to hang out with thousands of other people. Is an instanced combat game still an MMO? How about a game like Mabinogi, which maintains a persistent world, but is broken into several invisible channels for players to skip in to and out of? This is impossible, but I think I will try to define exactly what MMO means -- now, in this current market.
15 Minutes of Fame: Making the RP-LARP connection
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Those silly LARPers ... Everyone loves to poke fun at a guy in costume, right? We uncovered a group of WoW roleplayers who have been dipping into LARP (Live Action Role Play) on the side -- and we have to say, the only fun being poked is the excellent variety on the blades of their weapons at their local events. If you're not familiar with the concept, LARPing is a form of roleplaying in which players physically act out their characters' actions. With elaborate costumes, weaponry and character histories, players engage not only in combat but also diplomacy, scouting and simple in-character socializing over a good drink. While fantasy is by far the most common genre of LARPers, historical, western and sci-fi groups get their fair share of attention, too. "I find LARP both a relaxing and strenuous past-time which stretches me physically and creatively," says Skulleater of EU The Venture Co, leader of roleplaying guild The Shatterskull Marauders and experienced LARPer. "This in turn was to have a distinct impact on my roleplaying in World of Warcraft, and Live Action Role Playing has helped create a solid foundation for ideas and rules for events in which members of my guild have had the chance to participate in. People who began roleplaying in WoW have found enjoyment in participating in Live Action Role Playing with us, while many LARPers I know of have begun roleplaying in WoW as a result of their enjoyable experiences at LARP." It seems other players would agree. "In a small community, it's very easy for things to become stale, but because of his unconventional inspirations from other forms of RP (DnD, LARP, etc.), Skulleater has become something of a breath of fresh air," wrote tipster Samuel. "I met Skully through WoW and have since met him in real life. He's a great bloke and would have convinced me to try LARP if it weren't for a recent surgery that prevented such activities. I'll definitely be trying it next year."
MMOrigins: The play's the thing
When it comes to my roots in MMOs, I actually have to start fairly early on with my general introduction to tech geekery. Growing up in my house was a somewhat strange affair. You see, back when computers used to take up entire rooms and ran on giant reels of tape -- later plastic key cards and paper tapes -- my father was working with them. Being part of our household meant one was essentially living with a highly technical mind that worked on and loved things like supercomputers. I experienced ideas and machines that many in the world hadn't, save in movies or on TV. It also meant that there were some pretty strange technical odds and ends floating around our home.
Turbine recruits new operations of VP into its fellowship
News on the wire is that Ken Surdan has been appointed as Turbine's new VP of operations, and will oversee worldwide operations of Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Asheron's Call. His previous gigs include senior vice president for technology for TripAdvisor, chief operating officer at Smart Bargins and a member of the "Lord of the Rings: One LARP to rule them all" group. If we had to guess, we'd say Ken probably played as Gandalf -- because that guy managed just about everything.Okay, in all seriousness, Surdan is bringing quite a lot of operations experience to Turbine. For a company that seems to be looking at expansion in the coming years, it's a very smart hire. The only thing we're not entirely clear on is whether or not he's replacing anyone or is filling an until-now empty position.
All the World's a Stage: Adding flesh to your character
When you decide to roleplay, a whole new world of imagination opens up to you -- soon you realize that all the World of Warcraft is a stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. Michael Gray fills in this week for David Bowers to talk about how you can flesh our your character, and help it leap from the screen into everyone's imagination.As David's said before, getting into character can be a challenge. With the WWI right behind us and Death Knights looming around the corner, there's dozens of things threatening to water down our immersive roleplay. It can be frustrating, but the first thing you can control about your playtime is yourself -- and the character you've written.Your background sets up your character's story. It's where your character comes from, and often describes what motives your character's actions. But it's infinitely helpful to define more about your character than just the time the Horde ravaged your family and wrecked the estate, and maybe talk about...how he feels about children, or the summer holidays.Let's talk about how to flesh out a character, behind the cut...
