Question:
There are lots of other LARPs out there that seem to be competitors for Realms. What do you think Realms has as an advantage over those other LARPs and what do you think we could learn from them?
I haven't really played other LARPs. I mean I've made some brief excursions during practices, or at crossover events, but their just isn't enough of a draw for me to go to other LARPs. I'm more than busy enough with the Realms to get my LARPing fix. Why though? Well the Realms pretty much encompasses everything I'm looking for. It has highly competitive combat. It has the creative freedom to let me run mods and tell stories. It has old knighthoods with interesting cultural traditions and histories, new people are constantly coming in. And above all it's my family. I mean, I've said for years that ToC is my favorite holiday. That's not a joke.
So what can the Realms learn from other games? I mean, again I think that I have to note my limited experience, but I hear a lot of people say the Realms could use an upgrade on immersion, but I think that's something as a community we’ve made strides in in the last year. But tips and tricks from other games is always good, so if you got ideas I want to hear them.
-Keith “Saegan” Cronyn
Over the years, I have tried a few other LARPs, usually LARPS created by people who left the Realms. I also have many friends who regularly play in other systems. From what I have observed, most other LARPS are what I consider “RP Centric”, meaning they spend a lot more time and effort on story and immersion. The Realms tends to be more “Combat centric”. We started as a combat system that developed a world, rather than a world that developed a combat system to resolve conflict.
The advantage the Realms has over other LARPS is its flexibility to incorporate ideas and styles. Because the EH has total control over content, we have the ability to see varying play styles and to showcase different types of creativity. We can experiment with new weapons and materials. We can try new methods of combat. We are not tied into one person or a small groups idea of how the world works..
What we can learn from other LARPS is how better to coordinate and communicate between Event Holders. To pool our creativity and resources to develop a more immersive world. We tend to get locked into feeling we are alone with just our immediate friends, trying to put together events we ourselves would want to go to. The more people and groups can work together, the more the over-all quality of our events can have.
-Steven “Therian” Matulewicz
I sort of fell into Realms, not knowing or understanding that I was playing a LARP until I was so far in that I couldn’t (nor did I want to) leave. So for me, Realms is more than a LARP, it’s my people, and that’s the way it always will be. I think what makes Realms stand out is that it’s accessible to a lot of people. It’s fairly inexpensive comparatively, and there are events practically every weekend. I do wish that there was more crossover with plotlines to keep the continuity that other LARPs have, but I wouldn’t sacrifice the mentality that anybody can be an EH and tell any story they want to have that continuity. I can’t keep track of the number of real-world skills that I’ve gained because I was able to be a Realms EH, but I can tell you that being supported by so many members of the community on my journey through the Realms has shaped me in more ways than I can possibly imagine even now. I think that each LARP is unique because of what it prioritizes. To me, Realms prioritizes the community above all else, and personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
-Lani "Gwen" Jones