Intercon H review
3 March 2008 23:16![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juldeaI came, I saw, I LARPed.
Intercon H was my usual rollercoaster-ride weekend-long LARPing experience. (Hmm, maybe I should just start skipping Saturday night games?) However, as it goes, my rollercoaster ended on Sunday at the top of a hill, and therefore my Intercon is remembered pleasantly!
Last Stop was not quite finished, and I think my character is a bit bare on the plot side, but there was a bunch of emotional and internal characterization that I actually had a grasp of and was able to express in game to the GMs' enjoyment. It was exactly the right size. I was a little worried that one particular plot point was going to bone me crazily, but I managed to wheedle out of it; it would've been easier if I had known that I could plant clues on another character without actually having to plant them on the player, which it turns out is very hard. This ends up being both a light game and yet about serious topics and getting deeply emotional for some players; all in all I enjoyed it, which I generally don't say about non-push-button-get-cookie games.
I was very smart and skipped Saturday morning slots to get sleep. After the late night drinking at my birthday party (thank you,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
etherial!) this was the right choice.
Intercon Hz continues the tradition of involving fun mini-games that, if their topics drag, are still quickly over. Paranormal Zero offered me another actual role-playing and not cookie-chasing experience, where I actually felt the transition from happy-juldea to angsty-Whipporwill in my posture and body language, and I remain proud of that. There are a couple of characters that are too quick to decisions to make that game last long, though. Most of the time is used up in the initial information dump, and after that it's a bit of arguing before a few people make the decision for everyone else. It wouldn't grow past an hour. I skipped Klingon Group Therapy for a bit more downtime, as I just didn't see myself getting into it. Dead Man's Curve was quite enjoyable for a game all about a mechanic, plus I got to go, "Vroom vroom!" I found myself totally intimidated by flirting with the character I was supposed to flirt with, though, which was really odd. I didn't trust him to be a good enough gamer to know IC flirtation from OOC flirtation, I guess, as I'd never seen him before, and maybe that's a smart call to make and maybe not. It held me back from full roleplaying though. Choices II was fun and lighthearted, involved some great lines that I wish I had written down, and quite a bit of metaknowledge that we just passed over for the humor value. I ended Intercon Hz by volunteering to co-run next year's Z game withprincess_muffin, which while not being my first GM experience at an Intercon will be the most I've done so far. Yay for being sucked deeper into larping.
Sassy Pirate Wenches on the Island of the Stern Viking Jarls... sigh. I hate, hate, hate saying it, but I just didn't have fun after the initial 15-30 minutes, and I really got soured on it during what little wrap-up there was. I had such high hopes from my character sheet, but it turns out that one side or the other in the writing/reading character sheet interaction went wrong, because apparently I was supposed to be doing something completely different with my time than I thought I was. I was 'graded' in a sense during the mini-wrap-up on a goal that I feel is only casually mentioned in the character sheet, with the emphasis that I got definitely being more on the romance-plot aspect of the game; romance-plotting which I also believed to be the main emphasis of the game and not just my character, and which (to my view) very, very few people were interested in engaging in at all. I think I steeled myself up sufficiently to not come across the kind of romance-plot character interactions that my character would've thrived on and wanted, but it turns out that nearly nothing romantic occurring, I had not readied myself for. The things that did occur seemed to be done on a metagame basis by people reading this post because they wanted to cheer me up and give me the experience I wanted, but sadly this is like londo 'surprising' me by me telling him exactly how to do what I want. If you've got to orchestrate it, it comes off false, and just grumpifies me more. I do appreciate your guys' thoughtfulness, though. ♥
As to my other goals, some of the specific bits of knowledge mentioned in my character sheet referred to terms or groups or people who were never mentioned in game and no one knew about even if I asked.
The secret crop my parents grew that only I knew the care of? Talked to a couple of people about them, which no one cared about.
My ex-fiance prince? We talked some, but he was interested in patching things up with his OTHER lover, so I helped him out with that.
The wizards who supposedly wanted me dead and maybe I could bargain with? Lots of people were looking for them, but they never showed up, never made themselves known to me. My only link to them died pre-game, and while I totally expected this to mean I would see her again in the game, when I did she was a mindless zombie unable of giving me any more information or even interacting.
My history including an engraved ring? Half an hour into game, someone gave me an information dump and pretty much answered all my questions. Nothing else needed. No more clues to follow up on.
My predilection for poison, and the 15 knives I had tucked into my costume? No combat ever occurred.
My friend's son that I was supposed to help? I found him, told him about history, and offered help... but he was also stymied in plots and didn't have anything to ask of me.
I was supposed to desire to learn all sorts of magic from various factions of the world... who never showed in game. No wizards trying to kill me. No nuns with holy magic. No elves. No dragons. No ninjas. None of those subtypes showed up in the game that I saw at all. There were vikings with rune magic, and in fact that was part of my character, but I had trouble with players in getting that learned. So that whole 'learning magic' part of my plot kind of died at the starting line.
My supposedly dead uncle who might still be alive? No one gave a damn about him. I didn't even get a prop or card for the item in my character sheet that was supposed to allow me to control him if he showed up, but that's okay because he didn't.
So aside from all these things on my character sheet that I thought were plots I was supposed to pursue and either weren't or were otherwise derailed, there was also the unfortunate circumstances of the game setting. I totally understand the GMs' thinking in wanting to provide an immersive experience, but they did this by making the room the game was in (1) dark, in fact too dark to read character sheets (and, to my disappointment, too dark for the button I had custom-made for this game to be seen or read by anyone, not that it would have mattered in the end), and (2) cold, as in I'm pretty certain they had windows open to the freezing-level-temperatures outside, such that many players were incredibly miserable during the game and sat around having conversations about how they had costumed as a sassy pirate wench by showing some skin and were now extremely sorry that they had because they were cold enough to be completely distracted from their game and characters and just wanted to leave gamespace to warm up. I spent some time in the 'viking tent' with one of the fake animal skins that had been used as seat padding wrapped around me trying to warm up.
Finally, to wrap up, the fact that nothing was wrapped up probably sours this game the most for me - since it was in the room that the dance was supposed to be in immediately afterwards and we ran late, there was no time for actual wrap-up, only the 'judgment' bit which I've already complained about. I was able to briefly talk to a couple of co-players about plots, one of whom told me he expected us to have had serious plot together when his existence in game was something that obviously was added at the last minute, due to the fact it was an add-on slip in my character packet and not part of what I had originally been emailed and therefore expected to care about; the other of whom started saying things that made complete nonsense and when I expressed this to him, he looked surprised and revealed himself to be a character that would have mattered to me had I actually known it, but apparently it just never got around to me no matter that his name was one of the few that anyone in game should have been attaching to me.
In short, ARGH. After I left that gamespace I spent some alone time in my hotel room, then some couple time in the hotel room, then went back to Con Suite where I forbade anyone to talk about the game so that I didn't dwell on how much fun I didn't have and determine that I fail at LARPing and should quit doing it. (I am much less emo now, not being in the heat of the moment, and am not quitting LARPing.) Oh, but it was unfortunate because emo tends to exacerbate emo, and all my friends on Saturday night were busy being happy and silly with other friends and not me, so I went to bed sad that everyone hated me - not made better by the fact that apparently after I left, a group of people I liked congealed and sat in Con Suite until 5am. Obviously it was me keeping them all separate before then, right? (Not current serious thoughts, just descriptions of previous mental states.)
Then Sunday morning happened, and it was good that it did. Only Mighty Guests was a totally silly anime-style game where I got to dress as a Japanese schoolgirl superhero, silver magic wand and all. I got to play a total airhead obsessed with finding a boyfriend, and luckily found a few guys in game I was comfortable attaching myself to like that. Also, I got to do "SUPER-SPARKLY-GLITTER-HEALING-DANCE!" which was not at all a written game mechanic but something I made up on the spot. "Glomp" was an actual written game mechanic that I made use of a few times. This game recharged my silliness in a much-appreciated manner.
Ooh, and I got to be snarky at people I dislike at Closing Ceremonies. I failed to win any raffle prizes, becausedoompuppy is a dirty exploiter. I found out about a few nearby campaign games that I might want to try, and was reminded of the awesome larp cruise occurring later this year. Then there were not one but two nice low-key dead dogs with lots of friends old and new. I missed seeing some people then, but hopefully will have chances soon. Lunacon in two weeks, Brandeis Festival of the Larps in five!
Intercon H was my usual rollercoaster-ride weekend-long LARPing experience. (Hmm, maybe I should just start skipping Saturday night games?) However, as it goes, my rollercoaster ended on Sunday at the top of a hill, and therefore my Intercon is remembered pleasantly!
Last Stop was not quite finished, and I think my character is a bit bare on the plot side, but there was a bunch of emotional and internal characterization that I actually had a grasp of and was able to express in game to the GMs' enjoyment. It was exactly the right size. I was a little worried that one particular plot point was going to bone me crazily, but I managed to wheedle out of it; it would've been easier if I had known that I could plant clues on another character without actually having to plant them on the player, which it turns out is very hard. This ends up being both a light game and yet about serious topics and getting deeply emotional for some players; all in all I enjoyed it, which I generally don't say about non-push-button-get-cookie games.
I was very smart and skipped Saturday morning slots to get sleep. After the late night drinking at my birthday party (thank you,
etherial!) this was the right choice.Intercon Hz continues the tradition of involving fun mini-games that, if their topics drag, are still quickly over. Paranormal Zero offered me another actual role-playing and not cookie-chasing experience, where I actually felt the transition from happy-juldea to angsty-Whipporwill in my posture and body language, and I remain proud of that. There are a couple of characters that are too quick to decisions to make that game last long, though. Most of the time is used up in the initial information dump, and after that it's a bit of arguing before a few people make the decision for everyone else. It wouldn't grow past an hour. I skipped Klingon Group Therapy for a bit more downtime, as I just didn't see myself getting into it. Dead Man's Curve was quite enjoyable for a game all about a mechanic, plus I got to go, "Vroom vroom!" I found myself totally intimidated by flirting with the character I was supposed to flirt with, though, which was really odd. I didn't trust him to be a good enough gamer to know IC flirtation from OOC flirtation, I guess, as I'd never seen him before, and maybe that's a smart call to make and maybe not. It held me back from full roleplaying though. Choices II was fun and lighthearted, involved some great lines that I wish I had written down, and quite a bit of metaknowledge that we just passed over for the humor value. I ended Intercon Hz by volunteering to co-run next year's Z game with
princess_muffin, which while not being my first GM experience at an Intercon will be the most I've done so far. Yay for being sucked deeper into larping.Sassy Pirate Wenches on the Island of the Stern Viking Jarls... sigh. I hate, hate, hate saying it, but I just didn't have fun after the initial 15-30 minutes, and I really got soured on it during what little wrap-up there was. I had such high hopes from my character sheet, but it turns out that one side or the other in the writing/reading character sheet interaction went wrong, because apparently I was supposed to be doing something completely different with my time than I thought I was. I was 'graded' in a sense during the mini-wrap-up on a goal that I feel is only casually mentioned in the character sheet, with the emphasis that I got definitely being more on the romance-plot aspect of the game; romance-plotting which I also believed to be the main emphasis of the game and not just my character, and which (to my view) very, very few people were interested in engaging in at all. I think I steeled myself up sufficiently to not come across the kind of romance-plot character interactions that my character would've thrived on and wanted, but it turns out that nearly nothing romantic occurring, I had not readied myself for. The things that did occur seemed to be done on a metagame basis by people reading this post because they wanted to cheer me up and give me the experience I wanted, but sadly this is like londo 'surprising' me by me telling him exactly how to do what I want. If you've got to orchestrate it, it comes off false, and just grumpifies me more. I do appreciate your guys' thoughtfulness, though. ♥
As to my other goals, some of the specific bits of knowledge mentioned in my character sheet referred to terms or groups or people who were never mentioned in game and no one knew about even if I asked.
So aside from all these things on my character sheet that I thought were plots I was supposed to pursue and either weren't or were otherwise derailed, there was also the unfortunate circumstances of the game setting. I totally understand the GMs' thinking in wanting to provide an immersive experience, but they did this by making the room the game was in (1) dark, in fact too dark to read character sheets (and, to my disappointment, too dark for the button I had custom-made for this game to be seen or read by anyone, not that it would have mattered in the end), and (2) cold, as in I'm pretty certain they had windows open to the freezing-level-temperatures outside, such that many players were incredibly miserable during the game and sat around having conversations about how they had costumed as a sassy pirate wench by showing some skin and were now extremely sorry that they had because they were cold enough to be completely distracted from their game and characters and just wanted to leave gamespace to warm up. I spent some time in the 'viking tent' with one of the fake animal skins that had been used as seat padding wrapped around me trying to warm up.
Finally, to wrap up, the fact that nothing was wrapped up probably sours this game the most for me - since it was in the room that the dance was supposed to be in immediately afterwards and we ran late, there was no time for actual wrap-up, only the 'judgment' bit which I've already complained about. I was able to briefly talk to a couple of co-players about plots, one of whom told me he expected us to have had serious plot together when his existence in game was something that obviously was added at the last minute, due to the fact it was an add-on slip in my character packet and not part of what I had originally been emailed and therefore expected to care about; the other of whom started saying things that made complete nonsense and when I expressed this to him, he looked surprised and revealed himself to be a character that would have mattered to me had I actually known it, but apparently it just never got around to me no matter that his name was one of the few that anyone in game should have been attaching to me.
In short, ARGH. After I left that gamespace I spent some alone time in my hotel room, then some couple time in the hotel room, then went back to Con Suite where I forbade anyone to talk about the game so that I didn't dwell on how much fun I didn't have and determine that I fail at LARPing and should quit doing it. (I am much less emo now, not being in the heat of the moment, and am not quitting LARPing.) Oh, but it was unfortunate because emo tends to exacerbate emo, and all my friends on Saturday night were busy being happy and silly with other friends and not me, so I went to bed sad that everyone hated me - not made better by the fact that apparently after I left, a group of people I liked congealed and sat in Con Suite until 5am. Obviously it was me keeping them all separate before then, right? (Not current serious thoughts, just descriptions of previous mental states.)
Then Sunday morning happened, and it was good that it did. Only Mighty Guests was a totally silly anime-style game where I got to dress as a Japanese schoolgirl superhero, silver magic wand and all. I got to play a total airhead obsessed with finding a boyfriend, and luckily found a few guys in game I was comfortable attaching myself to like that. Also, I got to do "SUPER-SPARKLY-GLITTER-HEALING-DANCE!" which was not at all a written game mechanic but something I made up on the spot. "Glomp" was an actual written game mechanic that I made use of a few times. This game recharged my silliness in a much-appreciated manner.
Ooh, and I got to be snarky at people I dislike at Closing Ceremonies. I failed to win any raffle prizes, because
doompuppy is a dirty exploiter. I found out about a few nearby campaign games that I might want to try, and was reminded of the awesome larp cruise occurring later this year. Then there were not one but two nice low-key dead dogs with lots of friends old and new. I missed seeing some people then, but hopefully will have chances soon. Lunacon in two weeks, Brandeis Festival of the Larps in five!