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monogull-blog · 8 years ago

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Experimental roleplay: make-believe, emotion, and play.

Dungeons and Dragons is one of, if not, the most iconic role-playing table top games. It enticed millions worldwide to gather graph paper and dice in order to explore worlds only limited by the imagination. This type of game was to be known as an RPG, a role-playing game. The game itself, however, still limits the player. Chance in the form of a dice roll decides the strength of your characters arm or the speed they might spot danger. Discontent with the limited scope of their actions, many players took to the outdoors, physically acting out their characters, and thus, Live Action Role-playing (Larp for short) was born from the need to make fantasy worlds more real.

The act of engaging in live action roleplaying (Larping) is done all over the globe. With the help of the Internet, the community for larp enthusiasts remains global and approachable. Among this community, there is a form of roleplaying that breaks from the “norm” of orcs, elves and magic. Known as Nordic larp, this kind of role-play is more experimental, often tackling interesting or complex social situations in unconventional ways with a strict hold on pursuing a narrative.

An example of this would be the 2001 gathering of 40 players in Norway called Europa in which the players were assigned the roles of refugees fleeing their native countries over 4 days. Players were under stress and with minimal resources not to trivialize or make a game out of such harsh conditions, but rather to come to a deeper understanding about what it means to flee your home. (Stenros,& Montola, 2010, p.102)

So why “Nordic” larp? These kinds of artistic or character driven events are not exclusive the Nordic nations, but they were popularized there. This analysis will examine Nordic larping as a means of cultural exploration and meaningful extended play. Walking through audience analysis and interaction of experimental roleplay can reveal new ways of emotional understanding and connection. Although this topic might seem very fringe through a western lens, a census directed towards larping reported that Denmark specifically had a staggering 0.02972% of the population planning to attend a larp event in the future (Larp Census, 2014). To put this in perspective, the amount of registered Canadian hockey players makes up 0.01819% of Canada’s population. (IIHF, 2016)

In the most recent update to the world happiness report, John Helliwell et al ranked the top 5 happiest countries based on factors such as life expectancy, GDP per capita, and freedom to make life choices among other things. The top 5 rankings are as such:

1. Denmark (7.526)

2. Switzerland (7.509)

3. Iceland (7.501)

4. Norway (7.498)

5. Finland (7.413)

(Helliwell et al, 2016) Four fifths of the world’s happiest countries are Nordic. Exploring the role of escapism in role-play might shed some light on why the countries shifted towards the pinnacle of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs have such a large role-play subculture.

Core idea: the role of play in game media

Games as a media form are often misunderstood. Many take it to mean video games, a new media, but this isn’t the only case. Games at a base level facilitate play, an abstract concept to most adults, but one that comes almost universally to children. Most children understand what it means to play, but can’t quite explain it. That’s where famous anthropologist Gregory Bateson sheds some light. In studying the systems needed in place for play he claims it “could only occur if the participant

organisms were capable of some degree of meta-communication”. The idea of meta-communication is of critical to Bateson’s argument as it’s the delivery method to send the message “this is play”. He quickly and deftly expands upon the message “this is play” describing it’s meaning as: “These actions in which we now engage do not denote what those actions for which they stand would denote." Or simply put: current actions stand in for another action, but don’t carry the same meaning. (CITE) The mutual understanding of this between involved parties lays the groundwork for play.

The “meta-communication” around this is a fundamental structure of roleplaying and to a farther extent larping. Without the degree of separation, assuming a cultural role and enacting it is simply how the masses live their lives, enacting the roles either placed upon them or that they have created themselves every day. Where role-play becomes play is in the act of assuming a new role, as the meta-communication among all involved parties is that the action of assuming a role stands in for completely assuming a role or character and identifying as them. The result is that the interactions between players takes place on a separate level, on the other side of a social contract. A place where the player acts as the scriptwriter and the actor at the same time, the character being becomes the point of interaction with other characters.

Going forward, it’s imperative to comprehend the difference between player and character. Henceforth, any references to the player refer to the person acting out and “writing scripts” for the personas they take on. Any references to the character refer to the roles or alibis adopted by said character to separate them from reality to enter the world of play.

“The world of play” is another approach to understand exactly how it relates to games systems, while broader than the interactions and communication that define play the idea of play as a space is something Vygotsky details. “The preshool child enters an imaginary, illusory world in which the unrealizable desires can be realized, and this world is what we call play." (Vygotsky 93). Play in this circumstance is synonymous with “make-believe”, where disbelief can be suspended and possibilities are limitless. While the term “make-believe” sounds rather un-academic, Caillios uses it explicitly to define what constitutes play.

Vygotskys idea of play in conjunction with the pillar of make believe as proposed by Caillios is a reason players can strongly associate with characters. This is where the separation of most larp and Nordic larp begins. For demonstration, the idea of play has been agnostic to an overarching game medium, which isn’t the case in reality. Make no mistake, Nordic or other, these larps are a form of game media. Nordic larp specifically is experimental by nature and an often-held practise among participants is to “play to lose” (find a citation on this). Instead of playing to win a game, the goal is to enhance or develop a powerful narrative, even if that means losing the game. These games become media unto themselves, making use of the act of play to deliver a narrative to the player albeit in a much more mature and complex way than most play.

Core concept 2: Role theory

How role theory intertwines with role-play, but not as directly as one would think. Role theory, a perspective in social psychology, becomes relevant to Nordic roleplaying through the lens of audience studies, the main methodology of this investigation. In this thought experiment, the audience of Nordic larp, or any media for that matter can be considered in terms of individual roles that may apply. For example, a 34 year old teacher could have the roles “sister”, “daughter”, “professor”, and so forth. These roles, whether accepted by the individual or imposed by a society, have significant overlap with relevant demographics audience information. Age, gender, job status, education, and wealth are all targeting areas of importance of both media producers and advertisers alike.

In the cultures of developed nations, appealing to specific target demographics is normal in media. Nordic larp however doesn’t appeal to demographics or specific roles partly due to the lack of a concrete organization, and partly because “roleplayer” could just as easily be a role someone could have applied to them. Roleplaying at large is a subculture, with which self-identifying would result in a label or role. Someone with the role of role-player would do just that: find time in their life to role-play.

In terms of assigning demographics to the roleplaying audience, it’s largely irrelevant to the act of engaging in the medium. Nordic larp is wildly different than say a television show aimed at educated women in their 30s and 40s. Nordic larp can’t pander to audience demographics and roles because the act of larping isn’t about the players “assigned” social roles, it’s about the social roles they wish to experience the media through. Demographics, socioeconomic status, and method of media consumption pale in comparison to the psychographics of the audience. Recognizing that the attitudes, moods, and values in a roleplaying audience become the prime metrics for targeting larp media towards a specific audience is necessary for creating a successful larp event for said audience. That said, the psychographics going into an even don’t have a direct causation with the values and attitudes of the personas taking part in the event. This is due to “the illusory world in which the unrealizable desires can be realized” (vygotsky) which was previously described. The degree of separation between player and character can lead to a complete reversal of values.

Part of the appeal larp has is that it lets the audience break from their roles in a form of escapism. While it is possible to stick to roles one is familiar with, in a setting where “unrealizable desires can be realized” (vygotsky) it’s not unheard of to radically shift to roles normally impossible to experience. Especially in Nordic larp where planning is meticulous and well vetted with ample meeting and prep time, characters and roles are often prescribed specifically to challenge the original mindset the audience entered with. By taking on a different role, the audience can come to a deeper understanding of said role be it gender, race, religion, etc. ultimately walking a mile in their shoes and gaining a sense of empathy for all that may fall under the respective role.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu-cgtQjnH0

Core idea 3: emotional audience interactivity

How an audience interacts with media can define what the media, or the understanding of the media is. This analysis features two sections devoted to audience interaction. The first: emotional interactivity. Emotional interaction is only one of many methods of interpersonal interactions an audience can have. Social and physical interaction in respect to Nordic roleplaying is banal and obvious. Unless an experimental approach is taken that limits one of these traits, social interaction and to a slightly lesser extent, physical interaction are implied. One thing is clear among the community of role-players: emotions are hard to manage.

The concept of bleed (as seen in figure 1) is the name given to the phenomena that emotions seem to break the social contract that role-players opt into. If a character feels a particular emotion over an event, say getting kicked out of a tavern, and the player feels the same emotion about not getting to interacting and role-play with the people inside, they face bleed head on: the line between their personal emotions and their characters emotions is no longer clear. It can also happen when a character someone has played for a long period of time dies. The player in this sense has the right to feel sad: a personality they have come to empathize with is no more. Now the boundary between play and real has been broken because the events of the game are changing the events or personality of the player.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtjeFU4mxw4

The idea of bleed itself directly contradicts one of Caillois definitions of play, specifically number 4: Unproductive.

Nordic larp dives into the bleed, looking to make meaningful impacts on the lives of those involved through experience. There is no physical difference between before and after, no goods nor elements have been produced, but something has changed. The emotional experiences had, even if separated by the wall of make believe, can change people. In Nordic larp the whole premise to create a narrative mimicry leading to a “play to lose” style meant to make emotions and experiences more powerful, the effects can last a very long time. As stated previously, the emotions felt whilst roleplaying aren’t segregated by the wall of the social contract or meta-communication, those are higher level processes, emotions are primal and instinctual. This bleed happens more often than most would like to admit but Nordic larp, having embraced it as a powerful method of understanding and empathy, has systems in place to observe and control this bleed.

Core idea 4: Audience content interactivity

Most media forms can never come close to the raw level of interaction that roleplaying exerts. Having previously outlined emotional interactivity and how it shapes the players, covering content interactivity can demonstrate how the players can shape the game. Nordic larp, particularly the experimental and complex events, are often preceded with workshops, information sessions, small narrative build ups or framing. The active audience (the players) is working in very close in proximity to the organizers and game runners. It’s not uncommon for those that helped set up the world participate in it to.

This steady stream of interaction leads to a cohesive experience of immersion when the time comes to dive in for the player, but it also has another use. The creators can take the opportunity to observe the psychographics of the players and the roles they may assume once the game begins and start to tailor it. If players invent their own characters (a common occurrence), the world builders can plan a loose narrative and stock the powder keg as it were to guarantee friction or cohesion as they saw fit. In short: the audience works in such close proximity with those organizing the event that a two way street can emerge in which the player is fostered in the information needed for the upcoming immersion and the creators can tailor the event to the audience.

https://nordiclarp.org/wiki/Pre-larp_Workshop

https://vimeo.com/107540990

Due to the impactful nature of the “play to lose” larp on the emotions, debriefs after the event are conducted to make sure the organizers understand exactly what happened and how people feel about it, ultimately improving the experience if a repeat of the event is held, but the ultimate control of the content lies with the audience. Even in a 5 player group, when everyone is playing a character, the social and emotional interactions can be very complex: it’s ultimately impossible to plan what any one person could do. The ultimate point is that the audience shapes the content and media because in a way they are the content and media, it would be like going to the theatre to watch the play as you acted in it: your characters actions defines what you get. This is the power of the audience dynamic of this immersive and life changing medium.

Conclusions and synthesis

Its 5:07 am and I have 233 to work on. Please have mercy on my soul.

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monogull-blog · 8 years ago

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Nørdic: synopsis

So why “Nordic” larp? These kinds of artistic or character driven events are not exclusive the Nordic nations, but they were popularized there. This analysis will spend some time examining the rise in popularity of Nordic larping as a means of cultural exploration and extended play. The main focus of this examination, however, is to walk through psychoanalysis on roleplay as it pertains to the culture of the Nordic countries with a focus on Denmark. Although this topic might seem very fringe through a western lens, a census directed towards larping reported that Denmark specifically had a staggering 0.02972% of the population planning to attend a larp event in the future (Larp Census, 2014). To put this in perspective, the amount of registered Canadian hockey players makes up 0.01819% of Canada’s population. (IIHF, 2016)

1. Denmark (7.526)

2. Switzerland (7.509)

3. Iceland (7.501)

4. Norway (7.498)

5. Finland (7.413)

Similar to a public performance art piece, larping remains ephemeral and fleeting making documentation hard and making the book published by Anna Westerling & Anders Hultman titled Nordic Larp all the more valuable. It documents nordic larp events of all types spanning 15 years of time. Due to the nature of these larp events, video and documentary are often effective ways to show examples such as this discovery documentary.

References

Helliwell, J. F et al. (2012). World happiness report (Vol. 1).

International Ice Hockey Federation. (2010-2016). Ice hockey players in Canada 2010-2016. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/282125/number-of-registered-ice-hockey-players-in-canada/

Larp Census. (2014) Results Retrieved from http://larpcensus.org/results/en

Stenros, J., & Montola, M. (2010). Nordic larp. Stockholm: Fea Livia.

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