The Quest

[gee_tar]

So I'm talking on my blog about a LARP called "The Quest" and, weirdly, I'm not talking about a game at Wesleyan, Pomfret, or one our other traditional sites with my friends. No, I'm talking about the latest reality television series on ABC...and it's terrible. Now, in my opinion, all reality shows are LARPs, but this one removes all doubt

Comments

[sovay]

Maybe the producers thought real LARPers (I know plenty tried out) might out-think them...frankly, a real possibility.

That would be hilarious. I'd watch that.

[gee_tar]

I suspect that if any of the PCs really did go "off script" they would have halted the game, reeled them back in, and continue their passive, uninteresting original course of action. Still I was shocked at some of their decisions: when a monster comes out of the woods and drags one of their NPC guides away, they all decide to flee instead of fight. Now granted, they didn't have any weapons, but they outnumbered him 14 to one and they had the almighty Sunspear (albeit broken in a dozen pieces)...they could have taken him. I suspect GM intervention...bad GM intervention.

[ron_newman]

- So I'm talking on my blog about a LARP

by "my blog" do you mean this LJ, or some other blog (and if so, where?)

[gee_tar]

Nothing else. It was a self-referential statement.

[gee_tar]

So I had a twitter conversation with the producers this afternoon (which I'd link to except for the fact that Twitter sucks) and they clarified one important aspect of the show. Apparently, there is no monetary prize for the ONE TRUE HERO (TM). If this is indeed true (and I'm not sure I believe them), I don't think I can adequately convey how shocking this is. To my knowledge, a competitive reality show without a cash prize is totally unprecedented! Now, I'm sure this opens a whole other can of worms regarding union issues, but that's for another discussion someday.

So now we've achieved narrative and strategic consistency, but this renders the whole elimination aspect totally superfluous. Still, I think this makes it a slightly better show, but the fact that the only way I knew this fact was to personally ask the producers directly is a major failing. This really needs to be conveyed by the narrator at the beginning.

[antoniusrex]

Wait Whaaaaaa??? REALLY? They're asking for folks to come out for about a month, eventually get cuthroat (they'll have to to win under their elimination rules) with zero compensation? Just for the fun and honor of it all

[gee_tar]

I hope you keep watching just so I get to experience your reactions :)

[cricket_pg]

I didn't know this existed until you posted about it on FB, so thanks for that. I know you're going to watch it, but would you recommend it to others? Should I go look up the premiere?

[gee_tar]

Huh, that's a strangely difficult question for me to answer. I mean, it's only an hour of your life, so while I'm sure there are better things you could be doing, you could say that about nearly anything.

It is, at the very least, very pretty. The real fantasy is what I could do with a LARP if I had a $1,000,000+ budget. But to see that, you have to wince at some bad "acting" (this brings up the philosophical conundrum of if you're playing yourself in an unreal situation, is it called acting?). I'm not sure I'd recommend it to everyone I know, but in your case, I think it's worth seeing the first episode and evaluating for yourself.

[foldedfish]

The Otherworlders are not going to disagree with your statement about LARPing as yourself, because Otherworld doesn't pitch itself as "a LARP" or even consider itself "a LARP", in part because you're mostly playing yourself. Otherworld is an experiential adventure that uses many of the same techniques and activities as a LARP, but it isn't one.

[gee_tar]

I'm sure the producers of "The Quest" would describe their show in the same exact terms.