Do I go to the last Maelstrom?
OK, I'm overseas so getting there is a pain in the tucson, but still...
There was a time when I would have gladly hopped on a plane and travelled across the ocean to play. Now I'm ambivalent at best. Why? Because it's all so much hassle. Not just going back to England to larp, but the whole larping thing. The packing and unpacking, the travelling, the makeup and costumes, the whole thing. I think I'm turning into an ex-larper.
I've realised that what I really enjoyed about larping is the community, the sense of togetherness. I'm not really getting that with US larps. I enjoy the role-play aspects too. What exactly did I enjoy about larps? Can I point to specific things in the two bigger ones I attended?
Omega:
+ Smuggling a wizard under a cape, and ordering someone's assassination while doing it.
+ Lying on wet grass at 2am still guarding a camp IC long after time-out.
+ Plague induced madness and real tears.
Maelstrom:
+ Multiple IC pub crawls
+ The Fallen, plots & bets, fake Flail
+ The Loyal, fun and games, The Great Eidolon Conspiracy (Skaven Dave - I love you forever for that).
+ The Jaguarites.
+ The Silverhand (shh).
All of these were great because they were IC moments shared with friends.
Plus (and this is a big thing):
+ Pre-game plotting and post-game decompression, and froth!
Now I'm thousands of miles away and I miss all of that. Larping for me has become a chore. Travel, find bunk, get into kit, urgh god now I have to be IC, - thank god it's over, now time to go home. I'm missing pre-game plotting and post-game decompression, and froth*. That's it. That is why I'm not loving US larp. Too much hassle to attend something that I'm not getting all I can out of.
... and I'm afraid that's rubbed off on me and tainted larping as a whole.
So should I try to attend the last Maelstrom? Probably. I'll probably regret it if I don't. The thing is - it will be so much travelling to get there and I'm fighting an upwards struggle against my apathy.
* There was one US game where I got this but it went bang and fell over. RIP the K'Cha'Kik our would-be insect overlords.
There was a time when I would have gladly hopped on a plane and travelled across the ocean to play. Now I'm ambivalent at best. Why? Because it's all so much hassle. Not just going back to England to larp, but the whole larping thing. The packing and unpacking, the travelling, the makeup and costumes, the whole thing. I think I'm turning into an ex-larper.
I've realised that what I really enjoyed about larping is the community, the sense of togetherness. I'm not really getting that with US larps. I enjoy the role-play aspects too. What exactly did I enjoy about larps? Can I point to specific things in the two bigger ones I attended?
Omega:
+ Smuggling a wizard under a cape, and ordering someone's assassination while doing it.
+ Lying on wet grass at 2am still guarding a camp IC long after time-out.
+ Plague induced madness and real tears.
Maelstrom:
+ Multiple IC pub crawls
+ The Fallen, plots & bets, fake Flail
+ The Loyal, fun and games, The Great Eidolon Conspiracy (Skaven Dave - I love you forever for that).
+ The Jaguarites.
+ The Silverhand (shh).
All of these were great because they were IC moments shared with friends.
Plus (and this is a big thing):
+ Pre-game plotting and post-game decompression, and froth!
Now I'm thousands of miles away and I miss all of that. Larping for me has become a chore. Travel, find bunk, get into kit, urgh god now I have to be IC, - thank god it's over, now time to go home. I'm missing pre-game plotting and post-game decompression, and froth*. That's it. That is why I'm not loving US larp. Too much hassle to attend something that I'm not getting all I can out of.
... and I'm afraid that's rubbed off on me and tainted larping as a whole.
So should I try to attend the last Maelstrom? Probably. I'll probably regret it if I don't. The thing is - it will be so much travelling to get there and I'm fighting an upwards struggle against my apathy.
* There was one US game where I got this but it went bang and fell over. RIP the K'Cha'Kik our would-be insect overlords.