Darkon the movie...

[PsaY]

http://www.darkonthemovie.com/trailers_qt_hi.html

Look fucking awesome lol..

[Ronne]

Rofl, I'll see it.

[Rad]

Haha.. I used to do that amgard stuff in like middle school.. I was a big kid then (6'1 I think at the time) so I used to wield a 4 foot hammer with the striking end being 2 balled up pillows, I could knock little bitches on their asses, shields or not.... Good times.

I would actually particpate in something like that again, where else in life can you beat the shit out of each other with nerf style bats, axes and shields?

[GrobbeeTrull]

As dorky as it is to most people...

Aw fuck, I was going to say something inspirational and uplifting, but screw it. That's dorky.

[Wrathcaster]

what the fuck? how does anyone win? do they just smack each other until someone gets tired and gives up? how the hell do you take this shit seriously enough to make a fucking movie about it??

[Wrathcaster]

these guys are hardcore

[Ionsniper]

Its just like playing an MMO. Just that here theres not nearly as much privacy to the person than there is in the game where you only see the char. Here its all open. Different styles for different people. I will admit this is a bit dorky but I remember a friend of mine a few years back used to be into this and the group she was with took it seriously. Real armor and lifelike weapons, not the stupid foam bats and stuff.

[dak]

http://www.myspace.com/darkonthemovie

Some fine pussy larps apparently...

And yeah, I spend 15+ hours a week as a high priest of elune or during BWL a warlock of extreme power searching for the final piece of my nemesis armor. I really can't talk shit about these people, at least they are getting exercise. More then I can say.

[Rad]

There are rule sets. You take a blow to the body and depending on the amount of armor you are wearing it can be fatal or just wounding etc. It's actually quite fun because most people who do participate take it seriously and you have very few douche bags to deal with.

Just as dak said, its really no different than absorbing hours into a online game.

[Bizanich]

Actually knew guys who did this about 15 years ago when I was a 'lil guy. Don't think it was called Darkon, it was like SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism or some shit).

Like Rad said, there are rules and armor types. Take a blow to the limb, lose use of the limb..take a blow to the head, killshot etc.

I remember thinking it was awesome when I was 12 haha...

..although looking back on it, hearing one of them bitch about how his three pronged mace was banned was a bit dorky.

[Wrathcaster]

I think all of it could be passed off as fairly tolerable, if it were not for the fact that in nearly every account and example of any Darkon LARP event , everything is pervaded by horrible, cheesy, and wholly bad acting on the part of its participants. Could any of you really sit there and listen to a fat fuck make an "inspiring" speech about his imaginary land, the whole time appearaning as one coming out of a D-grade fantasy movie, and NOT find yourself wishing you weren't there?

I have a strong feeling that any sensible person not wholly committed to LARPing and its serious reception would react in one of these ways:
A.) Laugh uncontrollably
B.) Voice some extent of ridicule
C.) Leave, regretting the decision to witness such ridiculous attempts to adhere to imaginary, and often egotistically fueled personas
D.) Kill someone in frustration with the appropriate blow as dictated by Darkon's rules of combat with the appropriate weapon and the appropriate skill
E.) Kill yourself
F.) All of the above

So you see, it is not the concept of roleplaying which I am attacking here, it is the manner with which these people carry it out. In playing MMO's or fuck, even DnD itself, you don't have to deal with actual people making shitty attempts at being Drizzt or King Arthur, although you are still able to engage in the activity of playing a role. And although there are certainly numerous examples of bad acting in non-LARP roleplaying activities, these cases are nearly always more tolerable, for you can mute a game, skip a cutscene, or simply choose to ignore that which you find absurd, but in an atmosphere which LARPers choose to celebrate, it is present everywhere in everyone; not only is there one badly played character, there's a whole clusterfuck of them.

If it were not taken so seriously by its participants and admirers, I think I could find the whole LARP scene much more tolerable. I do not see how anyone could honestly approach such a spectacle and find the performance worthy of serious admiration. But that is my observation. Perhaps others, less perturbed by what I deem atrocious acting, are able to enjoy the event without thinking, "Wow, this guy really is an idiot and needs to realize acting should be left to those who can act."

[Hikaru]

This is clearly a blight on our society and something we must stamp out as soon as possible to begin making amends for our existance.