Interview: UK Expedition (Rick Wynne)

Der Blick über den deutschen LARP Tellerrand ist meistens sehr spannend und daher möchte ich ihn in den nächsten Wochen ein paar Mal wagen. Wir fangen heute an mit einer vergleichsweise nahe liegenden LARP-Gemeinschaft: Dem Vereinigten Königreich.

Rick  Wynne hat den Plan gefasst, eine größere Spielergruppe aus England zu versammeln, um gemeinsam eine Expedition nach Mythodea (mit Zwischenstop auf dem Drachenfest) zu organisieren. Mich hat spontan interessiert, was ihn bei seinen bisherigen Besuchen auf Deutschen Groß-Events so fasziniert hat, dass er sich diese Mühen antut ;-). Auf seiner Facebook-Seite stellt er übrigens regelmäßig Gruppen & Hersteller von der Insel vor – sehr lesenswert!

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So what’s this Expedition of yours all about?

The Expedition is the realization of my idea to expose UK role players to the amazing magic that is German larp. I attended Conquest of Mythodea 2010, and it was truly awe inspiring. I decided others in the UK needed to experience this and the Grand Expedition is the vehicle by which I propose we make that happen. By pooling the resources, experience and motivation of a number of people we intend to make German larp accessible to more players.

Why is ConQuest (or German LARP in general) different from how you play in the UK?

The first thing that comes to mind is the sheer scale of it. That said, ConQuest has quality as well as quantity. There is an excellent sense of „suspension of disbelief“ thanks to the amazing effort put into the costumes, props, settings, and the role playing itself. The huge number of non-player characters also makes for a different „feel“ to the event than comparable UK events.

Apart from equipment – where do you see the greatest difference between German and English players?

UK players seem more competitive, people want to „win“, and create all kinds of different „win conditions“ to fufill this desire. German players seem more concerned with „cool scenes“ and „immersive experiences.“

You’re hitting a nerve there. Many players complain about other (German) players being too competitive. Could you give an example?

To me this is most clearly demonstrated by the UK players reaction to the German idea of out-time purchase of in-time coins. In the UK money is very much seen as a „point scoring system“ like in many computer role playing games.

So from an outsiders view – whats typical für German roleplay?

The same attitude that makes German cars some of the best in the world seems to go into German larp. There is just such an ernest attitude towards „making good larp“ that it becomes almost comical. I admire and respect most particularly the open-mindedness the Germans I met were towards feedback.

This is a lot of praise and will defenitely mess with our readers heads 😮

No really. Almost everyone responded very positively when constructive feedback was offered and were always trying to make improvements.

Nice to hear that! But talking about feedback – isn’t the language still a problem? Most quests and scenes are in German…  how do you cope with that?

Not as big a problem as I originally worried. There were plenty of people who offered to translate and most people were very good about switching to English around me when they realized my German language skills were lacking. I actually liked not being able to understand everything being said around me because it helped add to the „suspension of disbelief“.

Lack of understandin the language as a way to improve the in-game-feeling?

Absolutely. I’m sure I must have missed some out-time football comments that were made in one of the taverns for example!

So all considered: Why do English LARPers go all the way to Germany to play?

People, not matter what country they hail from, get involved in medieval fantasy larp so they can have adventures. ConQuest of Mythodea has all the makings of a great story waiting to be told. A story where the players decide what happens. You have to ask yourself, „Why wouldn’t UK role players go on the grandest larp adventure in the world?“

What better closing words could there be *smile*. Thanks a lot for your time and enthusiasm! See you next summer.