I am excited, my husband Jello has a regular spot with Queereka as a
writer (he has done it for a couple other places). He has his first
article there entitled "But it's just a compliment". He is talking about his experience before his change and how men would aggressively harass a woman on the street.
It is a great article, he is a great writer and this Sunday he will be in a panel as well.
I am so proud of him!
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
LARPs: Roleplaying
My last post I talked about the pros and cons of LARPing, I figured
for my first post specifically about a pro/con I would start with what a
lot of people consider the most important part, role-playing.
Role-playing is the most identifiable part of LARPing. The interaction between people ranges from the most intense situations down to the worst ham acting known to man. Also people's attitudes about role-playing plays a big influence in this as well.
I want to note that this is my opinion, everyone has a different experience and your mileage may vary.
PROs:
The best role-playing experience I have ever been involved in was LARPing. There are times when a group all hit the same groove of being in the moment that all thoughts of the outside world disappeared. For those who have never role-played in any form, it is the ultimate form of escapism. You really feel like you are in another world.
This type of role-playing drowns out thoughts of work, politics, home problems, etc. All that is happening is the situation between you and the others. The relationships are an extremely exaggerated for both good and bad. You would die for your in game friends and would gladly salt the earth of your enemies' graves. It is like the most intensive TV drama you could name. After a really good role-playing session you are both exhilarated and exhausted.
A good role-play session will last for years in retelling. These sessions are usually what comprise a LARPers list of stories they talk about (ok, even if the people aren't interested in hearing about it, the LARPer will remember fondly).
CONS
1. Average level of role-play:
LARP role-play overall is lower quality in acting/interacting then all other mediums of role-play I have been exposed to (such as tabletop, online, forum/PBEM).
First it should be noted that LARPers are not innately actors, they don't do it as a living, and most don't engage in a lot of other speaking type hobbies (such as a toastmaster or other public speaking clubs). If you aren't really in the mood, too tired from being up too long, too distracted because of real life or just having a bad day can impact the best actor's performance. While I do think I am fairly good at role-play, I know some of my performances have been horrible, just like everyone else.
2. The role-play snob quotient:
A second negative issue about role-playing at a LARP (and honestly this is probably more about the community which will be more in detail later) is the snob quotient.
I might talk about the average level of role-play being less at larping, there are a lot of other aspects that can make a weekend really fun (the sense of community, just being away from the real world for a weekend, sharing a hobby with a few dozen others, etc). I have had weekends that were fantastic, that didn't have great role-play, but a great time hanging with people.
Unfortunately, some people focus as role-play is the only reason to be there. Now this is valid for them, and I can understand if that is their total focus. However, I have witnessed a lot of people act in a very demeaning manner to individuals who just aren't good at role-playing.
These people will ignore and cast out individuals that do not meet their "expectation". I know that it isn't anyone's job to teach, but my opinion is if I claim to be one of the LARP's role-playing leaders, then it is my responsibility to help others so it improves the overall experience.
Someone who is not good at role-playing will not get better if you don't try and help them. In order to help them (in my opinion) is to invite them into your group, treat them as one of you and in my experience they learn and become better role-players and sometimes great friends.
The funny part about this is that there have been many people who claim to be great role-players, who demean and belittle others, yet the sadly ironic part is that they really aren't that good at role-playing themselves.
Conclusion:
I have not covered the relationships formed during role-play, I will do that during my post about the community itself.
It may sound in the end that I am bagging on role-play at larping. I don't really think that is the case.
LARPing is made up of much more than just role-play, and even the role-play can be intense and fun. Would I personally come just for the role-play, probably not. I feel I would get more bang for my buck on a tabletop game, however like I said there is more to it (and I will cover that later).
Role-playing is a great avenue at LARP, but it would not be the sole reason I recommend LARPing to anyone.
Role-playing is the most identifiable part of LARPing. The interaction between people ranges from the most intense situations down to the worst ham acting known to man. Also people's attitudes about role-playing plays a big influence in this as well.
I want to note that this is my opinion, everyone has a different experience and your mileage may vary.
PROs:
The best role-playing experience I have ever been involved in was LARPing. There are times when a group all hit the same groove of being in the moment that all thoughts of the outside world disappeared. For those who have never role-played in any form, it is the ultimate form of escapism. You really feel like you are in another world.
This type of role-playing drowns out thoughts of work, politics, home problems, etc. All that is happening is the situation between you and the others. The relationships are an extremely exaggerated for both good and bad. You would die for your in game friends and would gladly salt the earth of your enemies' graves. It is like the most intensive TV drama you could name. After a really good role-playing session you are both exhilarated and exhausted.
A good role-play session will last for years in retelling. These sessions are usually what comprise a LARPers list of stories they talk about (ok, even if the people aren't interested in hearing about it, the LARPer will remember fondly).
CONS
1. Average level of role-play:
LARP role-play overall is lower quality in acting/interacting then all other mediums of role-play I have been exposed to (such as tabletop, online, forum/PBEM).
First it should be noted that LARPers are not innately actors, they don't do it as a living, and most don't engage in a lot of other speaking type hobbies (such as a toastmaster or other public speaking clubs). If you aren't really in the mood, too tired from being up too long, too distracted because of real life or just having a bad day can impact the best actor's performance. While I do think I am fairly good at role-play, I know some of my performances have been horrible, just like everyone else.
2. The role-play snob quotient:
A second negative issue about role-playing at a LARP (and honestly this is probably more about the community which will be more in detail later) is the snob quotient.
I might talk about the average level of role-play being less at larping, there are a lot of other aspects that can make a weekend really fun (the sense of community, just being away from the real world for a weekend, sharing a hobby with a few dozen others, etc). I have had weekends that were fantastic, that didn't have great role-play, but a great time hanging with people.
Unfortunately, some people focus as role-play is the only reason to be there. Now this is valid for them, and I can understand if that is their total focus. However, I have witnessed a lot of people act in a very demeaning manner to individuals who just aren't good at role-playing.
These people will ignore and cast out individuals that do not meet their "expectation". I know that it isn't anyone's job to teach, but my opinion is if I claim to be one of the LARP's role-playing leaders, then it is my responsibility to help others so it improves the overall experience.
Someone who is not good at role-playing will not get better if you don't try and help them. In order to help them (in my opinion) is to invite them into your group, treat them as one of you and in my experience they learn and become better role-players and sometimes great friends.
The funny part about this is that there have been many people who claim to be great role-players, who demean and belittle others, yet the sadly ironic part is that they really aren't that good at role-playing themselves.
Conclusion:
I have not covered the relationships formed during role-play, I will do that during my post about the community itself.
It may sound in the end that I am bagging on role-play at larping. I don't really think that is the case.
LARPing is made up of much more than just role-play, and even the role-play can be intense and fun. Would I personally come just for the role-play, probably not. I feel I would get more bang for my buck on a tabletop game, however like I said there is more to it (and I will cover that later).
Role-playing is a great avenue at LARP, but it would not be the sole reason I recommend LARPing to anyone.
Larping intro.
Damn I am talkative today...
I have had a lot of friends asking if I would come back to LARPing (both for local LARPs Alliance and Oz). I have been warring over that idea for a long time. I really do enjoy the hobby, but it is expensive, time consuming and I am not sure if I enjoy it as much as I used (or if I even actually enjoyed it as much as I thought I did). It is a mixed bag for me, no regrets, but a lot of ups and downs and as I get older I am not sure which way I want to go.
I suspect I will have many posts about LARPing, with having attended three boffer larps (Legacies, Amtgard and Dying Light), ran two of them as both head of departments and as owners. Jello and I have designed two LARPs, one from the ground up (and another is in the pipeline). In addition I have had friends attend two other LARPs and their stories match up almost exactly with my experiences.
I think I will break down the pros and cons here and then address those separately.
PROS
The role-play
The sense of community
The costuming
Learning new skills
CONS
The role-play
The sense of community
The costuming
The monetary and emotional/physical cost
You might think it is weird that three of the items are both pros and cons, but actually the extremes of each of these are what is great and horrible about LARPS.
Those items are just the things I think everyone comes across, there are additional things I want to post about, such as designing LARP rules, handling disputes, dealing with emergencies, etc.
I suspect I will post more today :)
I have had a lot of friends asking if I would come back to LARPing (both for local LARPs Alliance and Oz). I have been warring over that idea for a long time. I really do enjoy the hobby, but it is expensive, time consuming and I am not sure if I enjoy it as much as I used (or if I even actually enjoyed it as much as I thought I did). It is a mixed bag for me, no regrets, but a lot of ups and downs and as I get older I am not sure which way I want to go.
I suspect I will have many posts about LARPing, with having attended three boffer larps (Legacies, Amtgard and Dying Light), ran two of them as both head of departments and as owners. Jello and I have designed two LARPs, one from the ground up (and another is in the pipeline). In addition I have had friends attend two other LARPs and their stories match up almost exactly with my experiences.
I think I will break down the pros and cons here and then address those separately.
PROS
The role-play
The sense of community
The costuming
Learning new skills
CONS
The role-play
The sense of community
The costuming
The monetary and emotional/physical cost
You might think it is weird that three of the items are both pros and cons, but actually the extremes of each of these are what is great and horrible about LARPS.
Those items are just the things I think everyone comes across, there are additional things I want to post about, such as designing LARP rules, handling disputes, dealing with emergencies, etc.
I suspect I will post more today :)
Hobbies
Well, even though I am tired a lot from working, evidently my current
job is less draining then my higher end prior job. I feel like doing
things. I am running Shadowrun fairly regularly, I am starting to
collect Warhammer 40k (and will start playing when I get my army built
up enough), and I am considering a D&D or some other "easy running"
game for Sundays.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to get into Warhammer, but Vince and Chuck have gotten me interested. So interested in fact that I bought a Space Marine squad and Captain (Space Marines because they are a good neutral army to start with). These are the first figs I have bought and began to paint in 20 years. Also I just noticed how bad my eyes are, I am going to have to buy one of those lighted magnifying setups so I can paint, so I can keep my lines straight.
I decided to play a no-name Chapter. I don't want a Chapter of Marines that has a specific paint scheme, I want to paint all different types of colors, above is the first squad painted about 3/4 of the way, of course after getting this far I have decided to paint my future Marines in German Wehrmacht colors (color scheme depending on squad). But I can always add four extra standard Marines painted differently if I need to.
I do plan on collecting a sizable Space Marine force, and then a second army that I am debating on. Once that is underway I want to also collect Bolt Action (World War II miniature game) and then finally Warhammer Fantasy. If nothing else I really like painting figs (and they will only get better from here).
I also want to play some Song of Blades, I need to pick up some generic fantasy figures for that though.
One other hobby I have gotten into is expanding my Youtube experience by opening a channel called "Things You Should Know". Basically it will be short 5-10 minute videos on different subjects such as accounting/auditing, government workings (I find a lot of misinformation here), historical things, biography and gaming (such as reviews of game systems, gaming techniques, etc). I put the first one up last week. I am working on a sizable list of future videos, should have them regularly starting sometime this week.
I posted my first video for the channel. I talk about the common myth that we pay a flat tax rate and thus if we get a raise, sometimes we actually lose money because of taxes. Fortunately for all of us, that isn't true.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to get into Warhammer, but Vince and Chuck have gotten me interested. So interested in fact that I bought a Space Marine squad and Captain (Space Marines because they are a good neutral army to start with). These are the first figs I have bought and began to paint in 20 years. Also I just noticed how bad my eyes are, I am going to have to buy one of those lighted magnifying setups so I can paint, so I can keep my lines straight.
I decided to play a no-name Chapter. I don't want a Chapter of Marines that has a specific paint scheme, I want to paint all different types of colors, above is the first squad painted about 3/4 of the way, of course after getting this far I have decided to paint my future Marines in German Wehrmacht colors (color scheme depending on squad). But I can always add four extra standard Marines painted differently if I need to.
I do plan on collecting a sizable Space Marine force, and then a second army that I am debating on. Once that is underway I want to also collect Bolt Action (World War II miniature game) and then finally Warhammer Fantasy. If nothing else I really like painting figs (and they will only get better from here).
I also want to play some Song of Blades, I need to pick up some generic fantasy figures for that though.
One other hobby I have gotten into is expanding my Youtube experience by opening a channel called "Things You Should Know". Basically it will be short 5-10 minute videos on different subjects such as accounting/auditing, government workings (I find a lot of misinformation here), historical things, biography and gaming (such as reviews of game systems, gaming techniques, etc). I put the first one up last week. I am working on a sizable list of future videos, should have them regularly starting sometime this week.
I posted my first video for the channel. I talk about the common myth that we pay a flat tax rate and thus if we get a raise, sometimes we actually lose money because of taxes. Fortunately for all of us, that isn't true.
Job stuff
I figured I would give you guys an update on job stuff/possibilities.
Current Job: Honestly the job itself isn't that bad. I investigate businesses that pay employees under the table. I ensure that unemployment insurance is paid by the employers, protecting the employees and ensuring they get unemployment insurance if they get laid off (if they get paid under the table they don't get unemployment).
I have been picking up a lot of businesses who are avoiding taxes (surprisingly, or maybe not software companies are a big issue, along with housecleaners and dog groomers/sitters/walkers). I don't feel bad auditing them, nor do I feel bad when we find they owe money. Does that make me bad? Maybe, but I don't think so.
I have a lot more to talk about my current job, but I figure some of them deserve their own posts so I will wrap this up saying I do have a few dislikes about my current job.
The issues are the commute sucks (I-405 to Bellevue and then I spend half the day driving to different audit sites) but I can deal with that. The pay is very low, especially compared to what I was getting paid at my prior two jobs and while I think the job is fairly flexible and honestly I like busting people avoiding taxes, the actual scope of the job is very limited. I am so used to doing full GAAP/GASB based audits and this would only represent a very tiny portion in duties.
DoD: I had a weird thing happen with the Department of Defense job. I wasn't picked up in the first round of hirings, my app was returned to central place for HR, but then the next day my app got returned to DoD management and I was told by email to disregard all prior notices (it sounds like there was a mistake made) and that it was forwarded to management. Does this mean they will hire me? I think its an eventuality, but it is a federal job and if it does happen it can take months. So, while I am interested I won't hope too much.
State Auditor's Office: Now this is the real news. I got a call on Friday from a friend who works for the Seattle team. She asked if I was interested in coming back (I made a lot more there then I do with ESD there and I had a lot more authority). Evidently their team is short people, and extremely short trained people (most of their team are new auditors). Evidently one of her assistant managers asked her to talk with the main manager about me.
So Rae called me to verify if I would be interested in coming back. I am not sure how interested I would be in coming back to my old team, but the Seattle team is a new team and I plan on working down in that area anyways. It also doesn't hurt that the Seattle team gets paid a 5% boost in cost of living due to the area (but its the same cost of living as where I live now so it would be a boost over my old wages).
I told Rae that I would be interested (after talking to Jello). I miss auditing, and if there is office drama at least it would be a new place and new issues. So Rae talked with her manager at a meeting and they both looked me up in the system. Evidently my old resume/application had already been expunged (they dump apps/resumes after 90 days) and so he (the manager) told Rae to have me put in my resume ASAP and then call one of the HR people on Monday to confirm it went through.
I think that is a good sign, and if it worked out at minimum I wouldn't be living on the edge of my paycheck (having to use credit cards on occasion with no paying them more than minimum). It would be at least $800 more a month, the commute would be comparable with no driving during the day except for special items (unlike now, I put 100-200 miles on my car a day). Plus, after getting past probation I could take a job down in the Vancouver office if one opened up and live near Portland (I know Jello really wants that, and I would like it).
Is it definite? Absolutely not, but it is ok either way. I would go back to SAO, and if that doesn't pan out I can get by on my current job (I should be telecommuting part time in a month, that would make up a lot at that time for the low pay). Will I take the Department of Defense job either way? I think I would. Jello has been telling me for a long time to take the jobs I want, not to work at any place out of a misguided sense of loyalty. I should have listened to him last year, I had debated many times (and had a couple of options) to dump the County, but I felt I owed the County at least a year before I started looking for other jobs. Obviously that was an erroneous thought as the county dumped me in less than a year when I wouldn't agree to do things that weren't acceptable to an auditor viewpoint.
So everything is still in the air, so I thought I would just blab to all of you.
Current Job: Honestly the job itself isn't that bad. I investigate businesses that pay employees under the table. I ensure that unemployment insurance is paid by the employers, protecting the employees and ensuring they get unemployment insurance if they get laid off (if they get paid under the table they don't get unemployment).
I have been picking up a lot of businesses who are avoiding taxes (surprisingly, or maybe not software companies are a big issue, along with housecleaners and dog groomers/sitters/walkers). I don't feel bad auditing them, nor do I feel bad when we find they owe money. Does that make me bad? Maybe, but I don't think so.
I have a lot more to talk about my current job, but I figure some of them deserve their own posts so I will wrap this up saying I do have a few dislikes about my current job.
The issues are the commute sucks (I-405 to Bellevue and then I spend half the day driving to different audit sites) but I can deal with that. The pay is very low, especially compared to what I was getting paid at my prior two jobs and while I think the job is fairly flexible and honestly I like busting people avoiding taxes, the actual scope of the job is very limited. I am so used to doing full GAAP/GASB based audits and this would only represent a very tiny portion in duties.
DoD: I had a weird thing happen with the Department of Defense job. I wasn't picked up in the first round of hirings, my app was returned to central place for HR, but then the next day my app got returned to DoD management and I was told by email to disregard all prior notices (it sounds like there was a mistake made) and that it was forwarded to management. Does this mean they will hire me? I think its an eventuality, but it is a federal job and if it does happen it can take months. So, while I am interested I won't hope too much.
State Auditor's Office: Now this is the real news. I got a call on Friday from a friend who works for the Seattle team. She asked if I was interested in coming back (I made a lot more there then I do with ESD there and I had a lot more authority). Evidently their team is short people, and extremely short trained people (most of their team are new auditors). Evidently one of her assistant managers asked her to talk with the main manager about me.
So Rae called me to verify if I would be interested in coming back. I am not sure how interested I would be in coming back to my old team, but the Seattle team is a new team and I plan on working down in that area anyways. It also doesn't hurt that the Seattle team gets paid a 5% boost in cost of living due to the area (but its the same cost of living as where I live now so it would be a boost over my old wages).
I told Rae that I would be interested (after talking to Jello). I miss auditing, and if there is office drama at least it would be a new place and new issues. So Rae talked with her manager at a meeting and they both looked me up in the system. Evidently my old resume/application had already been expunged (they dump apps/resumes after 90 days) and so he (the manager) told Rae to have me put in my resume ASAP and then call one of the HR people on Monday to confirm it went through.
I think that is a good sign, and if it worked out at minimum I wouldn't be living on the edge of my paycheck (having to use credit cards on occasion with no paying them more than minimum). It would be at least $800 more a month, the commute would be comparable with no driving during the day except for special items (unlike now, I put 100-200 miles on my car a day). Plus, after getting past probation I could take a job down in the Vancouver office if one opened up and live near Portland (I know Jello really wants that, and I would like it).
Is it definite? Absolutely not, but it is ok either way. I would go back to SAO, and if that doesn't pan out I can get by on my current job (I should be telecommuting part time in a month, that would make up a lot at that time for the low pay). Will I take the Department of Defense job either way? I think I would. Jello has been telling me for a long time to take the jobs I want, not to work at any place out of a misguided sense of loyalty. I should have listened to him last year, I had debated many times (and had a couple of options) to dump the County, but I felt I owed the County at least a year before I started looking for other jobs. Obviously that was an erroneous thought as the county dumped me in less than a year when I wouldn't agree to do things that weren't acceptable to an auditor viewpoint.
So everything is still in the air, so I thought I would just blab to all of you.
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