Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Healthy Competition

Olympics are on my brain, so some thoughts about LARP competitions...


In-game competitions are often excellent ways to a) advance a plot, b) entertain PCs, and c) use a conservative number of NPCs to accomplish both a and b. Set in the middle of an event, a contest of some sort, lasting for a few hours, can not only add to the gameworld atmosphere, but also occupy PCs who would otherwise be bored. For this reason, in-game contests are a frequent occurrence in LARPs, especially in games that emphasize a larger landscape outside the central "town." Contests, executed well, can be excellent ways to introduce NPCs, encourage PC bonding, and allow people to demonstrate special talents. However, less successful contests also exist, and we've probably all experience one or two. 


All of this considered, I wanted to pose some questions about IG competitions? Do you like them? How are the best utilized? What format do you prefer? Should there be a boon, prize, or reward? What should be avoided?

13 comments:

  1. Hmmm. Tough topic. On one hand, they can be cool and are certainly period (ish), on the other hand, any time a game has gone on long enough, any martial competitions are usually going to come down to the same 2-3 high level players in each category, which is demoralizing for, well, everyone else, and generally less fun.

    If you're going to go for competition, I personally prefer that there are as many different categories (for lack of a better word) as possible, and also possibly a limit on how many you can participate in, so one talented player isn't able to dominate the whole thing. (And yes, there are plenty of people who would say that's unfair, that if one person is good enough to win at everything, you should let them. I'm too used to looking at things from a staff perspective, and from a staff perspective, it's better to spread it around a bit. More people will have fun.)

    Have a general fighting competition. And one for certain fighting styles. One for casters. (And any of these can be broken up by skill/experience level if you really want, though that might be overkill. I remember one fight where a guy with almost base-level CP in Madrigal brought five swords to a duel, and nearly beat the biggest duelist in game. The guy with a million disarms eventually won, though.) One for people who are good at riddles. One for music. One for story-telling. One for jokes. Spread it out so that it's not just about who is the best at melee. I participated in a capture-the-flag type game that was a lot of fun once. And if you can figure out a way for there to be a healing competition, I will be really impressed and applaud you.

    I'm a fan of small but useful boon/magic items/whatever as a reward. Actually, thinking on it, I prefer magic items to boons, because they can be handed around rather than being stuck with the person who got them. Nothing all that powerful, but some little prize is nice.

    And they can be fun, but I think moderation is key. I can tell you that even at once a year, having a major tournament be the center of events got a little boring for those of us who weren't tremendously interested in tourneys.

    Oh, and I'd avoid 'grand melees' or whatever name you want to give to a giant field fight with only PCs. They rarely look as cool as you'd want (most of the people spend a lot of time hanging back hoping other people will use up their resources taking out people first).

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    1. Good points.

      "I personally prefer that there are as many different categories (for lack of a better word) as possible, and also possibly a limit on how many you can participate in, so one talented player isn't able to dominate the whole thing."

      That's a good idea. Especially if you have many and varied categories, limiting people to 2 or 3 spreads the love. Also, it potentially encourages people to be more invested in one or two things, which makes the whole competition better. I feel.

      I actually really loved the Mirror, Mirror tourney-- I thought it was really well-done (with the exception of the grand melee part, which, see below). The categories were interesting, and let us play in-character rather than forcing us into artificial competition. The problem solving, oration, and arts were all fun-- I especially enjoyed the oration, actually, as it was an opportunity to be weird.

      On grand melees... I'm totally with you. Even when there are effects to prevent people from hanging back and conserving resources, they often turn kind of nasty (especially if you weren't invested in them in the first place). Some people will get too competitive; there will be rule squabbling; even the nicest people, afterwards, will feel kind of blah about it all. Of course, I'm sure they can be done well, but they have never been my kind of thing.

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  2. There are a few things you can do to mitigate some of the problems you mention I think. For instance in a fighter tourney if you use some universal standard for everyone (I.E. bout is to five hits regardless of hit points, no skills, etc) so that your CP level is irrelevant, or maybe even let players fight any weapon style they want even if they technically don't have the skill.

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    1. I am not a big PvP person-- although I applaud people who, especially in a PvE-centered system, can make PvP fun and innovative, I often try to avoid it. I enjoy PvP (relentlessly) with two people: my husband and our mutual best friend, but that's only because I know them both really, really well. While I'm ok with some heated words exchanged with allies, combating them is a totally different story. Grand melee, to me, can get a little awkward for this reason-- I've seen more than a few become squabbles about rules rather than genuinely fun. I think duels or smaller teams tend to be more effective, if only because it takes some of the heated emotions out of the picture.

      That being said, I like your idea of a base-level equalizer. I think that it could make the combat more fun for newer players. (As a newer player, the worst time is when you, with your 30 CP, have to stand around, all day, watching really skilled people fight one another.)

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  3. I pretty much agree with what's been said. I think it's also important to make sure other stuff is going on at the same time. Nero in particular has a bad history of Tourney = everything else in the game stops for 8 hours.

    Variety of contests, as JJ said, is key. Get creative! In addition to the more traditional combat, riddles, performance stuff, I've seen contests for best battle cry, setting up/dismantling trap mods, distance throwing, arts and crafts, hospitality, even baking!

    Having a mix of group and individual events is helpful too, I think. I've never really been super into individual dueling (though lots of people are), but 3-4 person team competitions are pretty fun.

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    1. Hospitality would be really fun. There are some people who get so into the design aspect of event housing... I could see them having a blast with this. We could totally make this happen in Invictus...

      I completely agree with having more than one thing going on-- especially plot wise. I think the tourney either needs to significantly advance the plot, *and* offer a variety of events, or be offered in tandem with other stuff. As much as I get into some of the competition, I really enjoy modules. I like the feeling a module offers, and I hate to see it sacrificed during tournaments.

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  4. I think PvP is enjoyable and generally, a good idea- it keeps players entertained with very few NPCs required, and people like to try out their skills against one another. But I also agree that other forms of competition are a good idea so that it's not only the heavy melee fighters gaining personal glory.

    I think Lost Eidolons does it extremely well with their underground boxing ring. One, it's one on one, which avoids all of the melee problems people have been mentioning. Two, it's specifically boxing, which explains why everyone has the same weapons and skill set. Three, it's great for roleplaying. Players pick fun pseudonyms (I picked the name The Juggernaut for irony) and some of the funniest (but still very much in character) roleplaying I've seen was when one player, dressed as another for a masquerade fought in the boxing ring with the other with a hat at stake. And the reward is excellent- winning gets bragging rights, I suppose, but just participating lets you unlock an unarmed fighting style header.

    The only other PvP I've done was at Endgame, where we were reenacting someone's memories and fighting in teams of two. Fun, didn't require more NPCs, wasn't straight up 1 on 1 so players who weren't as good didn't necessarily go down right away. There wasn't anything to win, or much at stake, but still a ton of fun.

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  5. I think fostering a player culture that accepts a certain amount of PvP is an important consideration. Maybe it's just my own lack of competitive spirit, but I have sometimes shied away from engaging in competition with other players. This was usually because I felt that, in a game that has so much riding on cooperation and building trust between players, anything other than a friendly duel (with low stakes) would result in OOG mistrust.

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  6. I'm not into tournaments. 90% of the time they seem like boring schedule filler.

    So much game content is already combat - IMO fighting NPCs is more interesting than fighting PCs because there's more story involved. And when PvP tournaments involve character skill (as opposed to just player skill) then it's really a contest to see who has the most XP. PASS.

    If I win a tourney because I am higher level than my opponent, I don't even feel proud. It wasn't a real competition, it was just a math exercise. A SIMULATION of two different levels of skill. Wankfest.

    For a tournament to interest me it has to be pretty creative. Like I was surprised to enjoy an arts-and-crafts tournament in Ravenholt (task: build a tiny house using these supplies). When they explained the challenge I felt like I was in some lame summer camp. (the fact that we were literally in a summer camp arts and crafts center may have been a factor as well) But it ended up being a lot of fun because players brought a lot of humor and creativity.

    Another tournament I enjoyed (NERO Neridia) involved coming up with a humorous "top ten" list about the game's plot/setting.

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    1. "And when PvP tournaments involve character skill (as opposed to just player skill) then it's really a contest to see who has the most XP. PASS"

      I really agree with this. I've seen, in various games, players with more XP squash newer players-- no actual skill involved. The saddest part was that, to anyone watching, the newer players were very skilled, but simply didn't have the XP. It's awkward for everyone.

      MM had something similar to Ravenholt-- it was really fun, and, despite the silliness, really encouraged player bonding.

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  7. Oh, I suddenly remembered another fun kind of contest I've seen-- IG trivia :3

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  8. I think a lot of tournaments are done poorly and have a lot of problems. That said, a well run one is fun and engaging. I think, primarily, a tourney should be for people who want to do it as opposed to a requirement for people who don't. Same goes for individual competitions within it. That allows people to do the stuff they want vs. the stuff they don't.

    One place I disagree is that I prefer fighting competitions to use the competitors stats as opposed to a stat neutral method. One of the reasons we have character skill growth is so that the guy who's not as good at fighting in real life can compete. His character has been around for awhile and has grown in power and is compensating for the player's lack of skill so that, IG, he can be a bold and mighty hero without being a super fighter OOG. The skills we buy in LARPs are part of our shared world and to artificially strip them out of a competition seems, just that, artificial to me. One of the most jarring things in a LARP is someone trying to get across the idea that a competitor can't "parry."

    It goes something like "And no parrying"

    "I can't block?"

    "Oh, you can block, you just can't parry an incoming blow"

    "uh, what?"

    "You know, you can't, uh, use a burst of strength to suddenly turn aside a blow"

    "oh... uh, ok?"

    It's kind of ridiculous to me. Part of the game is earning skills, people should get to use them in their IG pursuits.

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    1. I hadn't thought of that-- that's a really good point. A tourney is an IG pursuit, so to speak, and it seems like it should be rewarded as such.

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