Back from Intercon

[juldea]

I discovered this year that all of my angst about roleplaying doesn't come from bad games or bad characters or bad GMs. It comes from the fact that I hate role-playing.

It makes so much sense, when you think about it! Roleplaying is not a complex set of simple instructions like I want. I have been trying to do it that way; using my character sheet as a checklist of Things To Do, but the whole process of feeling the need to pretend to be someone else while trying to do these things frustrates the hell out of me. Because that's not what I want! If I'm given a list of Things To Do, I just want to Do them and not worry about being realistic. Heh.

I can elaborate on this more later, but for now I am sleepy and need to call my family.

Comments

[zenandtheart.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of role playing.. but I find that it so rarely lives up to what it can be. too much writing things down and arguing about what happens.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

And in LARPing, you never get to the part about writing things down and having to work out what happens - I don't mind that stuff because you're putting down concrete rules and guidelines and there's progress you can measure. In LARPing you sit down with a bunch of people and pretend to act like others, with no measure of progress... or if there is a goal to be done, you're not allowed to just DO it. You've gotta, like, hamstring yourself with all of this posturing and pretending. Bleh!

[greyhame.livejournal.com]

Well, if progress is the thing you're concerned about, I may have an answer (http://www.progressquest.com/) for you.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Personally affecting the progress is what I'm concerned about. PQ and other games like it (IdleRPG) aren't my cup of tea either, because they don't require my input at all!

[crazybone.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the M.I.T. Puzzle Hunt might be more your speed.
The downside is it usually conflicts with Arisia weekend.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I was telling multiple people this weekend that if they could just make a LARP be more like Mystery Hunt, I'd probably love it.

Of course, I'm not smart enough to keep up with the MIT folk. But the idea is great.

[sandrylene.livejournal.com]

Bullshit. I did Mystery Hunt, I didn't feel overly out of my league, except on intense math puzzles, which I left to the experts. Everyone had something to contribute.

It's not all about one kind of intelligence, and many heads are useful.

If I do it next year, you should so join the team.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

It should be more than once a year! :P

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

I hesitate to say it ('cause I might just be projecting), but you might like wargaming/miniatures better. Less of the "now what?" with infinite answers, more of the "now which of these hundred rules do I apply for best advantage?" at each stage.

Of course, the attitudes of the participants can leave something to be desired. It's very much about "Winning", and its relative "Whining".

[juldea.livejournal.com]

I might like that better yes. But I don't feel the need to get into another (expensive) hobby quite yet. ;)

hmmm

[kryllith.livejournal.com]

So you're more interested in quantifying your playing rather than delving into the actual "role", eh? I've something you might be interested in then. You can role-play in it if you like but it's not required and in many cases you can just move right into the action. It's called 3K and it's a MUD (Multi-User Dimension). :)

Re: hmmm

[juldea.livejournal.com]

*tickles you*

[gager.livejournal.com]

Do you not like "role playing" or "larping"?

I like getting together with a few friends and role-playing for a little while, but I think the idea of larping with strangers may be more than I can handle.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Not quite sure where YOU draw the distinction. A lot of what people call "role-playing" isn't, I think.