Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head shots)

[Hammerfist]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

But doesn't it make sense to have your play style which is seprate from your characters opinions and attitudes fit what is fun for the player otherwise what is the point of PC'ing and spending real life resources, if I am not having a good time because the Charcter that I thought up and created and make decisions for is not one that allows me to enjoy myself.

i.e:

I am a social individual don't want to spend 35-60 bucks to not interact with people.

or on the other side of the coin

I am not big on social interaction and don't want to spend 35-60 bucks to hang in a tight knit group.

I think the point that I am trying to make is that an person can have a myriad of characters all drastically different from each other and their own personality, but still maintain a single style of participation (which is what I think we are driving at). Please note that there are people that have fun with both..... I am not one of them, but there are and more power to them.

 

[Mobius]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

It's all in how one defines Role Playing Game: some people emphasize the "game" part and think of it as a complex game of Monopoly or Risk - one doesn't really change one's personality from game to game in Risk; another group emphasizes the "role playing" aspect and shifts everything, including personality and combat style, from character to character.

 

[SkollWolfrun]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

I think the angle jp is coming from is this.

Take a set of existing characters at any chapter: does all your characters interact with those characters in the same fashion & personality?

 

[Alavatar]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

I agree with JP for the most part.

My playstyle varies with the character I play because the characters themselves have different personalities. While I, the player, may play in the "I like to think of all the PCs as one big team" my character(s) may think "screw that guy, screw that team, I like that person, this other team is cool, and really screw that guy".

I also like how John put it: emphasis on Role-Playing vs. emphasis on Game.

 

[markusdark]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

When Alliance SF opened, I started a new character for that game, putting away my main that I had played for 10+ years. Although all characters have some traits of me in them, this one was a crafter whereas my main is a roguish type. He was brand new and didn't know anyone so I didn't start out with being immediate friends with those that I had played with for years. In fact, a few of them treated him with suspicion because of a few of the things he did early on.

Eventually though, he did begin to hang out and adventure with the same group of people my other character did. This was definitely due to the OOG reason of friendship and play style although it did take 6-10 events before I was welcomed into the fold - and that new character never was allowed into the 'higher end' meetings since he isn't a warrior of any kind.

One of the best LARPs I attended regularly I never adventured with a friend of mine because he was a noble and I was a lowly creature who hated nobility. The fights we used to get into were so much fun because in this game they really stressed the separation of commoners and nobility. We were also approached by PC's and staff alike to make sure that things were OK between the two of us because our IG hatred for each other bled over for everyone else into real life.

The two of us though had a blast.

 

[Ket]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

Don't see anyhting on the list of voting choices that really is clsoe to my pc, he is not part of a team and asks whoever is around ig when gets hooked for a mod regarless of whether they are oog freinds or not.

Kevin

 

[Duke Frost]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

My first larp experience was not Nero. I made some good friends there and decided to try Nero with them.

Four of us went to our first game together. And while two of us ended up doing the majority of our adventuring together, two others went off and did their own thing. We'd laugh, because sometimes we'd drive up together and then not see each other until the end of the weekend (kinda miss the 200 people events sometimes).

On the other hand, I've created characters and teams with friends so we could specifically play together.

But we are now talking "social" aspects of team play vs "mechanical". Mechanically, I think someone put it best who said even if you are a loner, many times you need to team up with someone even if it's just for 30 seconds. I play a "non team" character and end up fighting with just about everyone over a weekend.

Does it really matter as long as you have fun?

Scott

 

[Duke Frost]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

Don't see anyhting on the list of voting choices that really is clsoe to my pc, he is not part of a team and asks whoever is around ig when gets hooked for a mod regarless of whether they are oog freinds or not.

Kevin

At our last low level event, I ended up going on mods with very different people than I usually hang with OOG. It was a lot of fun.

Scott

 

[Ket]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

Don't see anyhting on the list of voting choices that really is clsoe to my pc, he is not part of a team and asks whoever is around ig when gets hooked for a mod regarless of whether they are oog freinds or not.

Kevin

At our last low level event, I ended up going on mods with very different people than I usually hang with OOG. It was a lot of fun.

Scott

I agree, those were some fun mods and think that has been the only time have been on a mod with you.

 

[EricMarsters]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

Does it really matter as long as you have fun?

Scott

Scott,

This is the Internet. EVERYTHING MATTERS!



Really, though, yeah, this is a team game. Everyone really does have a role to play, be it a fighter up front with a shield, or the low-level healer with a belt of cure light potions they got handed... everyone has a role to play, to help survive the weekend.

Rob

 

[Talen]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

I've definitely had multiple answers up there- sometimes in the lifespan of the same character at a LARP.

In truth, I've played each character differently just to get an idea of the various parts of a game- my first character was a stay-inside, scholarly bookworm. My second one was an illiterate peasant warrior so I got an idea of what is why like being up on the front with the sword-and-boarders. And the current one is a healer, which often has carte blanche to be with anyone, because everyone needs a healer sometime unless you're parked in a circle all event...which come to think of it, at the local game that IS a healer too.

I've had PC's that hung out with the "good guys", the "bad guys", been a noble, ran screaming from the SUGGESTION of becoming a noble (OK, so I hid behind my noble and told him to make the bad knights go away, I don't WANNA be a squire!). For me, it's all part of getting the most from the game.

 

[Rhys]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

Question is about style of play, not reason for it. And if you make characters with different goals and personalities, it isn't beyond the idea that their style will differ.

Exactly. My main is an RP-driven character who is social, but avoids being officially on a team. My secondary is an anti-social jerk who couldn't care less about plot, yet serves on a specific team - one that's *entirely* different than the group the first character hangs out with. Got two more characters in the works, each with different motivations, and I'm angling to specifically hang out with entirely separate groups from the first two. ::shrugs:: Doesn't mean that I'm not going to interact with my friends or that I don't enjoy spending time with them - but, frankly, there's so many people at game who are my friends, there's no way I could have a character who is on a team with *all* of them, unless the entire PC base was the team.

And, on the flip side, I've got some OOG friends who are distinctly *not* friends of my IG character (including one of my SO's characters, whom my main doesn't trust as far as he can throw her...) ::shrugs:: Makes things more interesting, IMO, and means that I'm not always just hanging out with the same people - which has lead to me having some really great times with folks I might not have hung out with otherwise. As long as folks can separate the IG and the OOG, it works out fine - and gives plenty to laugh about over post-game dinner. ("I can't believe you did that to my character! I almost fell over laughing! He could've strangled you!")

 

[Conallmactuagh]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

So, I've basically only got one character, though I have a few waiting in the wings. and he's never not been a member of a (albeit small) team. I can't envision him ever going solo, as, well, he's just not that dude.

I have a secondary planned who's fairly violently antisocial, and kind of an all over rotten backstabbing bastard. He may get played once or twice a year, as I can't imagine being in his headspace for a weekend more often than that.

I have another secondary who's going to wander into town, and see what happens to him. no plans or expectations, what happens, happens.

 

[LordArtimus]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

My experience when I ran my own games back in the day is this. If there are more PC's then NC's . Then what I did was ask some of the pc's become NPC's. and would gear them up.. I would explain to them that because there were more of them then NPC staff.. that the game would be lopsided and not a good time for them. Also I limited how many PC's per game. In the end everyone had fun. Now I did run some solo games. Some went well. and the others the pc either died in teh beginning or in the middle. In the end it really comes down to how you play. And how the modules are set up. Now every larp group I have known since 88/89. Are pretty much group set up. But would run solos once in a while. Now majority of the larp groups here in the states I see are combat heavy with few or no role play involved oir heavy role play with very little combat. Where compared to groups I know in the UK, Europe, Australia etc. Are a happy mix of both. And I see Alliance which from what I have seen so far is more of a happy mix of both. Now to get back on topic. Solo or group. I would rather run group mod then solo but would not be against running a solo mod once in a while. With me I usually played a support pc. Or a leader pc. I am more group oriented when it comes to gaming. Unless I am playing a rogue pc to which in some fashion I am still helping the group. In the end I'll ask are you having fun? Myself when I played I had alot of fun. But if you had a game where all the PC's went solo. it would most likely be a total nightmare for the plot team. Just saying.. And hope I made some sense.

 

[aara]

Re: Is Alliance a solo/team game? (split from Packet Head sh

I also have to agree with JP, I play for different reasons based on the character. Yes, I like to interact with my friends, but not all of my friends are people my characters would associate with. I am a very social person, and for years I played a pretty unsocial character (not anti-social, just not terribly personable). Many of my friends didn't enjoy playing with the character, so I didn't hang out with them much, I branched out and spent time with other groups and new people that made more sense with the character concept. That character has evolved, but she still doesn't just hang out with a "team".

Other characters were created as parts of teams so that I could specifically hang out with a friend or a team of friends, because that's fun too. I like both, I like the challenge of the solo game, and I like the comradery of a team game. I have 3 PCs (so far), and each has a very different social aspect attached, I wouldn't want to try to jam them all in one concept or even on one team.

I NPC to hang out with friends and BS, and while I enjoy the "nighttime unwind" of joking OOG with my friends, it doesn't make or break the game for me (MOST of the time). Back in the days at Lindenmere when we had the "Caldaria" NPC cabin, I had a great time. But I also had a lot of fun staying with 1-2 other people up in the old Manor house in Caldaria where (because of the low numbers) we usually RP'd until we fell asleep (unless staff was bunking with us that weekend - then it was more like OOG silliness).

So I guess, I like hanging out with my friends, but I also play to BE a character. So if it makes sense that my character likes your character, I talk to you. Do I have an affinity for people I know OOG, sure, we all do, but I don't like to let that rule my experience.