Category Archives: Gaming

Running An Online RPG – Crashing, Burning and Lessons Learned

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I’ve played in a handful of online RPGs – generally run on a blog site or a combination of blog-site and chat-forum, and have had a variable time. One game kicked more ass than I can briefly describe, a couple were fun-enough for a couple of months. I started to think about running an online game of my own. There’d be no fuss of trying to get players to a physical location, the resources required, I already had.

I can do this, I told myself. How hard can it be?

You can see where this is going, right? Yep. Stinkeroos, every time I tried – and I tried several times. Looking back, I can see that I made the same mistakes each time. Continue reading →

Why Vampire LARPs Are Doomed To Fail (Hint: It’s the Setting, Stupid)

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I’ve played and GM’d Vampire: the Masquerade LARPs for nearly 15 years* and one conclusion is inescapable: every Vampire chronicle is doomed to fail. Assuming a troupe meets once a month, it takes about two years for the game to collapse into a singularity of power-imbalance, player burnout and a GM who makes an emergency root canal seem like a ray of fucking sunshine in comparison.

This. Always. Happens.

Changing out the GMs can extend the life of a troupe, and, god help us, the frequent character churn encouraged by the setting is, in a way, a help. But Vampire LARPs never really work in the long run. Continue reading →

X-Posting Goodness!

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(Cross-posted from my LARP Advice page, mostly because I’m a bit desperate for something fresh to post, here.)

Why I LARP  

This essay was prompted by the fact that, after a long absence, I’m contemplating a return to live-action role-playing and – somehow – I find myself simultaneously keen and wary. I’m hoping if I can better articulate why I do it, I can better understand what I want out of any upcoming encounters.

If it isn’t obvious from the outset, this is just one player’s opinion. I don’t look to speak for the entire LARPing community – although I’m bound to share a few observations as I bash this out. Continue reading →

An Update and An Announcement of Sorts

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I’m working again, as an admin/office manager for a small business in San Francisco. For reasons of confidentiality – mine and theirs – that’s all I’m going to say about my career in a public forum. Why yes, I’ve finally learned my lesson about public disclosure on the blogosphere. You give one interview to the networks about blogging something extremely stupid, and the friends and family never let you forget it. Continue reading →

Why Is This Fun, Again? I’m Not Even Getting Paid!

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I’m writing a LARP (live action roleplaying game) for an event that is approaching a little faster than I’d like.

I’ve reached the point of hating every character with a burning, fiery passion, and I’ve still five more of the little bastards to churn out. The primrose path of shortcuts and stereotypes beckon but, damn it all, the regular players of my events are a smart lot and thus they need smart characters – more’s the pity.

It wouldn’t be so vexing if I wasn’t morbidly certain that, as ever, the players will run roughshod over the plot and only pay attention to the bits of the character backgrounds that fit into their own preferences and prejudices. It’s definitely the downside of writing LARPs.

I should write scripts. At least bloody actors do what they’re told.