[Theory] Knutpunkt 06 book now online

[Jiituomas]

For those interested in larp theory (or role-playing theory in general):

The proceedings book from this year's annual Nordic conference on larp is now freely available online, at http://jeepen.org/kpbook/

The book contains material ranging from academic works to practical game design guidance. It's mostly, but not solely, centered on larps.

And do remember that the books from three previous conferences are also freely available on the net.

[Levi]

A lot of that strikes me as over-academic.

I'll still read it, mind you - because the "Ending a LARP" article, I read.

And it's Awesome.

[Jiituomas]

A lot of that strikes me as over-academic.

Half of it is indeed highly academic, yes. Because half of the contributors are academics who work professionally on analyzing role-play. Most of them are also very active larp organizers. The other half consists mostly of artist-type game larp designers. So the contents are essentially exactly what can be expected of the authors.

On a personal note, I think people should start to get used to reading the academic larp stuff as well. A lot of the best contributions in the next few years will be appearing in that form - doctoral dissertations, masters' theses, conference papers, journal articles. Of course, if they're good enough, they'll be probably published also in a more accessible form, as is common.

[Levi]

Half of it is indeed highly academic, yes. Because half of the contributors are academics who work professionally on analyzing role-play. Most of them are also very active larp organizers. The other half consists mostly of artist-type game larp designers. So the contents are essentially exactly what can be expected of the authors.

Okay, see, now that's cool. People doing their thesis on LARP? Rock.

On a personal note, I think people should start to get used to reading the academic larp stuff as well. A lot of the best contributions in the next few years will be appearing in that form - doctoral dissertations, masters' theses, conference papers, journal articles. Of course, if they're good enough, they'll be probably published also in a more accessible form, as is common.

This, however, not so cool, to me.

And not because academic is bad. But because there are people that want to read about the cool new stuff in LARP, and new players that just want to learn neat stuff. And setting the bar higher excludes them.

Basically, people who write academically as fits the nature of the task? Cool.

An expectation for others to learn how to translate high academic in their heads? Not cool.

Being more accessible is good, by my lights.

[Jiituomas]

Okay, see, now that's cool. People doing their thesis on LARP?

Expect to see at least a dozen doctoral works on role-playing published within the next five years. As far as I know, only one (mine) will be solely about larps. The others deal with other aspects: tabletop, general rpg theory, actually playing roles in MMORPGs, fantasy game culture, etc. Several upcoming master's theses deal solely with larps, and look extremely promising. (Personally, I'm especially eagerly awaiting Heidi Hopeametsä's look at immersion and flow in the larp "Ground Zero", on which she presented at the Seminar on Playing Roles (http://gamelab.uta.fi:8080/rpg-seminar) in March.)

But because there are people that want to read about the cool new stuff in LARP, and new players that just want to learn neat stuff. And setting the bar higher excludes them.

Two things to note here. The positive: a good academician knows how to write in an understandable manner, making the work accessible even for laymen. The negative: the size of the public is rather small, so it won't often be economically feasible to make "popularized" versions of the text. Especially since the authors will need to keep publishing new stuff constantly, in order to qualify for grants.

But we'll se how it goes. At least, there will be academically-inclined readers who will then recycle the ideas into a more easily readable manner.

That's it for the sidetrack, as far as I'm concerned. Now, back to Role, Play, Art. More comments? Some insults, perhaps?

[Levi]

That's it for the sidetrack, as far as I'm concerned. Now, back to Role, Play, Art. More comments? Some insults, perhaps?

I'm working on a "Opening a LARP event" essay, now. But that'll be it's own thread.

[JJthorne]

Yeah, no, I just want to hit stuff.

[Ryan Paddy]

I've only skimmed it so far. Some of it seems excellent. Academic text doesn't bother me nearly as much as comments showing resentment of well-considered and well-written articles about stuff that doesn't interest them.

My feedback so far is on the presentation form. A nicely formatted PDF is great, but there isn't a designated place for feedback.

The web is moving towards blogs and commentry. Participatory and interactive publishing. Sure, we can comment on independant forums like RPGnet on the articles, but that's not closely related enough to the articles to get critical mass of interaction.

What's needed (at minimum) is a simple feedback mechanism where each article is presented and comments can be made by the readers and author(s) below. Like RPGnet's columns and reviews. You'll get pointless critical comments, but you'll get useful discussion too.

[Nath]

*waves to Ryan* Good to see you around again.

Am I misremembering, or is this book much shorter than the previous ones?

I've just started working through it. I disagree with the first article and it's claim that immersion is 'a question of finding the flow of the story.' I support the immersionist/simulationist style. I disagree with the very concept of 'story' in that fashion. Being immersed in a character means thinking and acting as that character would do, not trying to twist or distort their behaviour to 'make the story better.' That is the very much OC thinking, and damages the internal consistency of the setting.

[Jiituomas]

Am I misremembering, or is this book much shorter than the previous ones?

It is, by editorial intent. They wanted to make a book that would be easy to access and light to pick up. Articles that, while often academic, would still be short and terminologically understandable. Otherwise (they thought, at least) the book won't get read - and thus not used - by the general larp public. Rumor has it that the Danes are planning a non-academic coffee table book on larp next year. Which, given that there are now peer reviewed journals for rpg studies in the works, would be quite logical.

I disagree with the first article and it's claim that immersion is 'a question of finding the flow of the story.'

As do I, plus I think Martin has misunderstood my work which he refers to. But, knowing how very differently some people larp, that's understandable. I've discussed this sort of stuff in my earlier work (http://www.laivforum.dk/kp03_book/thats_larp/multi-tier_immersion.pdf) (which I now consider a bit outdated). Ermi & Mäyrä, 2005 (http://www.gamesconference.org/digra2005/viewabstract.php?id=267) also deals with such issues (in digital games, but very applicably to larp as well.)