Poll: What if LARP became a sponsored sport?

[CulixCupric]

What if LARP became a sponsored sport?


and people got paid to LARP on teams, and it got as big as baseball, football, rugby, etc?
and then high schools got LARP teams, etc.
and it got as big a following as any sport where each state/province/country had its own team, and there was a yearly national championship?

would you play? what would your reaction be? etc.

I would probably join, and go wizard or archer.

 

[saucecode]

Actually LARP sounds like an interesting idea. But if there were highschool kids i can only imagine nerds with glasses.
I'd like to see that though, because at some point a big guy who decides to give it a try, and will dominate all the nerds. That would be badass. I might try if it became a serious and sponsored thing, but i cant imaging be taking it seriously, nor doing it alot.

 

[CulixCupric]

Actually LARP sounds like an interesting idea. But if there were highschool kids i can only imagine nerds with glasses.
I'd like to see that though, because at some point a big guy who decides to give it a try, and will dominate all the nerds. That would be badass. I might try, but i cant imaging be taking it seriously, nor doing it alot.

well, gaming was for nerds, til the football loving frat boys found Halo, or something like that. maybe that would happen to LARP, and the football buffs will go LARPing.

 

[saucecode]

Actually LARP sounds like an interesting idea. But if there were highschool kids i can only imagine nerds with glasses.
I'd like to see that though, because at some point a big guy who decides to give it a try, and will dominate all the nerds. That would be badass. I might try, but i cant imaging be taking it seriously, nor doing it alot.

well, gaming was for nerds, til the football loving frat boys found Halo, or something like that. maybe that would happen to LARP, and the football buffs will go LARPing.

The one problem here is that if the frat boys describe do get into the LARPing thing, then wouldn't it just be an excuse to passive-agressivly attack nerds, until eventually all the nerds are muscled out of their fantasy experience and frat boys own the LARPing scene. That would suck.

Even better, there would be an uprising of a powerful nerd team, and they pwn the frat boys who have taken their fort hobby!

I should write a book. :\

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Would you LARP if you got paid?

I would do anything if it paid decently.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Nah... i don't see that happening. I mean, LARP is not really a sport. I don't know a lot about it but as far as i know it's all about roleplaying and stuff. It seems more like a form of theater. And... you know, while im sure LARP is a very fun and very interesting hobby it still looks rather silly.

 

[Scarim Coral]

If LARP does become a sport than how does the equipments work? Aside from the obvious one like no real weapons or armour but what about some people wearing some special made armour only to be denied over some kind of saftey protocol or something like that.
If it does become a real sport than I can easily see this as a some kind of a fake/ safe version of a gladiator match (not the people wearing spandex show).

 

[ultrachicken]

Would you LARP if you got paid?

I would do anything if it paid decently.

...

Wow, my mind just went to some nasty places after hearing that.

If LARP does become a sport than how does the equipments work? Aside from the obvious one like no real weapons or armour but what about some people wearing some special made armour only to be denied over some kind of saftey protocol or something like that.
If it does become a real sport than I can easily see this as a some kind of a fake/ safe version of a gladiator match (not the people wearing spandex show).

Every LARPing league already has rules about equipment. That would not be an issue.

Actually LARP sounds like an interesting idea. But if there were highschool kids i can only imagine nerds with glasses.
I'd like to see that though, because at some point a big guy who decides to give it a try, and will dominate all the nerds. That would be badass. I might try, but i cant imaging be taking it seriously, nor doing it alot.

well, gaming was for nerds, til the football loving frat boys found Halo, or something like that. maybe that would happen to LARP, and the football buffs will go LARPing.

The one problem here is that if the frat boys describe do get into the LARPing thing, then wouldn't it just be an excuse to passive-agressivly attack nerds, until eventually all the nerds are muscled out of their fantasy experience and frat boys own the LARPing scene. That would suck.

Even better, there would be an uprising of a powerful nerd team, and they pwn the frat boys who have taken their fort hobby!

I should write a book. :\

I'm getting the impression you've never been LARPing. Strength has very little to do with how well you do because there isn't much overpowering that occurs. All that you have to do to "damage" another player is touch them with your weapon. And, seeing as the weapons are all made of foam and there are usually very strict safety regulations to prevent injuries (depending on the league), the idea of jocks using LARP as an excuse to beat up nerds is not based in reality.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I suppose I would be somewhat fine with it. The last thing I want to see in a sport LARP is it become too glorify to the big sponsor and the players care more about the money than having fun at the whole concept of LARP. Still I doubt it would become big in that way if LARP does become a sport.

 

[Doclector]

Dude, I'd probably already be doing it if I knew of any clubs in my area.

Nerdy? Yes. But I'd love to go around hitting people with foam swords, how could that not be fun?

Also, it seems like everytime anyone says LARP, people seem to say "Oh, that thing from role models", and actually, if such a league got started, it would probably go to it's advantage, as most people I know said it seemed like fun.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I'd like to give LARPing a try... question is, how would they react to a female LARPer?

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I would only do it if it was STALKER, but that is a different story. Anything else, like that fantasy shit they usually do, hell no.

 

[RagTagBand]

I'd like to give LARPing a try... question is, how would they react to a female LARPer?

They'd probably all stutter and drool and fall in love with you instantly.

OR

Nothing. They wouldn't much care that you have ovaries, I spy two female LARPers in OP's video and it's less than 30 seconds long.

Seriously though, Guys will stop making a deal about girls doing gamer/nerdy things when Girls stop making a deal about girls doing gamer/nerdy things; Your gender is irrelevant.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I'd like to give LARPing a try... question is, how would they react to a female LARPer?

They'd probably all stutter and drool and fall in love with you instantly.

OR

Nothing. They wouldn't much care that you have ovaries, I spy two female LARPers in OP's video and it's less than 30 seconds long.

Seriously though, Guys will stop making a deal about girls doing gamer/nerdy things when Girls stop making a deal about girls doing gamer/nerdy things; Your gender is irrelevant.

Oh, okay then, good to know.

 

[Doctor_Fruitbat]

Oh God, where do I start...

What you're describing isn't LARP, it's just fighting in fancy dress. You spend a lot more time walking, talking, trading, swapping rumours and the like, and if it's a decent system you'll be sorting out political dealings, long-running feuds and various ancient curses and the like that (if it's a REALLY good system) require a lot of researching, interrogating (or torturing), information pooling and the like. You're playing a character, and that means doing the kind of things a group of everyday people would be doing, even if they're magical warriors, and that means more than just hitting things. It also means having opinions and beliefs and approaches to any given situation, which you should be exploring every moment you're in character.

Even in battles, what side you take, how you fight and why should all be constant factors, not just gaming the system for the best stats and advantages. I remember two guys who were turned into vampires, and upon being told so they immediately slit their own throats. No hesitation, just instant, self-inflicted character death because it violated their character's beliefs.

Decent LARP is more in-depth than video games, because it should allow you to do pretty much everything a human is capable of doing, in terms of thought, approach and generally thinking outside the box and trying different solutions. In the system I play, out of 18 spells only 2 are directly offensive; the rest require intelligent use to be in any way effective, while half the skill list has nothing to do with combat. That's what LARP should be all about.

Not that you can't have fighting tournaments (and I'm a dab hand with the longbow), but without everything I just described it would be god damn lame.

I'd like to give LARPing a try... question is, how would they react to a female LARPer?

There are girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, grandparents, children... At one event there were so many babies they had to set up a creche.

 

[BabySinclair]

So long as magic isn't used heavily (preferably nonexistent) I would be fine with that. I used to use the Amtgard combat rules with some friends and spare on a biweekly basis. We never used classes because we preferred the skill-at-arms. Twice did I play with a group that used classes, and after I went 4 and 0 with several of their better players they decided it was easier to use insta-kill spells against me rather than trying to hit me with "fireballs." Their best player was the wizard so he really didn't want to chance losing to me in teamfights. That and their concept of a hit was a love tap, I used discernible contact as a general rule, nicking a sleeve doesn't count

In short; yup, so long as classes remained martial and love taps aren't the norm.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

well, the RP in LARP stands for roleplaying, and you can not have that if there is an universal WIN condition, as there is in sports.

that said, I always did fantasize about competitive combat leagues in that nature, so LARP as a sport, not really, reenactment combat, bring it on!

EDIT:

Oh God, where do I start...

What you're describing isn't LARP, it's just fighting in fancy dress. You spend a lot more time walking, talking, trading, swapping rumours and the like, and if it's a decent system you'll be sorting out political dealings, long-running feuds and various ancient curses and the like that (if it's a REALLY good system) require a lot of researching, interrogating (or torturing), information pooling and the like. You're playing a character, and that means doing the kind of things a group of everyday people would be doing, even if they're magical warriors, and that means more than just hitting things. It also means having opinions and beliefs and approaches to any given situation, which you should be exploring every moment you're in character.

Even in battles, what side you take, how you fight and why should all be constant factors, not just gaming the system for the best stats and advantages. I remember two guys who were turned into vampires, and upon being told so they immediately slit their own throats. No hesitation, just instant, self-inflicted character death because it violated their character's beliefs.

Decent LARP is more in-depth than video games, because it should allow you to do pretty much everything a human is capable of doing, in terms of thought, approach and generally thinking outside the box and trying different solutions. In the system I play, out of 18 spells only 2 are directly offensive; the rest require intelligent use to be in any way effective, while half the skill list has nothing to do with combat. That's what LARP should be all about.

Not that you can't have fighting tournaments (and I'm a dab hand with the longbow), but without everything I just described it would be god damn lame.

I love you.

 

[mitchell271]

If I LARP'd, I'd go Shaolin Monk. Already know Karate, on school martial arts demo team, know how to use Bō, so I think I'd do pretty well

 

[SD-Fiend]

we would all die for reasons that have nothing to do with it.

OT: if it was it would probably have to be played like paintball or laser tag or something, don't ask for me to explain

 

[Lunar Templar]

What if LARP became a sponsored sport?

yes.

lemme expand a bit.
they would be paying me to hit a dood with a bit of stick. padded stick, but meh, it was fun, well the fighting bit was.
nothing makes you feel better like 4-5 hours of combat. the soreness and bruses, TOTALLY FUCKING WORTH IT, and your asking if I'd conciser doing if i was getting paid?

btw, by 'soreness and bruses' I mean your shoulder hurts and a nice black spot on your (insert spot here), it is a full contact spot son, expect pain . i remember this one time i got busted so hard in the knuckles on my right hand I couldn't close it for a good 5+ minutes. then there where the 'grand melees' every one VS every one *sighs*

if we could keep the fun bits from being ruined by the unfun bits (IE to much standing around and talking about what to do instead of just killing each other) then hell yes, i'd do it for money