Knutepunkt 2013 – A subjective recap – Part 1

Knutepunkt 2013 Logo

Here is my traditional report of the “nodal point” Nordic larp convention, this year held in Haraldvangen, Norway. For general frivolous comments, I guess part 1 of my Solmukohta 2012 report still applies. Maybe more waxed moustaches for men and more orange hair for women than last year? Anyway, on to the goodies.

The three year itch?

In his novel L’amour dure trois ans (Love lasts three years), French writer Frédéric Beigbeder writes something like “The first year, couples buy furniture. The second year, they move it around the house. The third year, they divide it.” Having seen fellow larpers go from “KP was a life-changing event” to “KP was a nice convention” to “I’m not going to KP this year” in just three years, I was curious about my own reactions. Like last year, I warmed up for the event by attending the Nordic larp talks, and I guess landing too late and missing a couple talks was a way to prevent a routine from developing. I got kind of lost in Oslo, then grabbed a cab whose price tag was the official starting point of many “WTF Norway, who do you think you are, Switzerland?” moments. Finally arrived all sweaty in an overcrowded basement room at the Literature House in Oslo. While the venue was very different from last year’s metal bar, the people were very similar, and the content just as inspiring. Click on the links for videos, and Hippie Trigger Warning: ridiculously flattering comments below.

Pic blatantly stolen from http://www.litteraturhuset.no

Knutepunkt 2013 Book Project Presentation – Karete Jacobsen Meland & Katrine Øverlie Svela

I missed that one, but did get a chance to thank the editors later for their job during the actual con check-in. Working with K&K was a very friendly and smooth process, and putting faces on a productive textual experience is always nice. Shameless plug: you can read my piece on p106 of this pdf.

What does Nordic Larp mean? – 
Jaakko Stenros

Missed that one too (hence missed my 15 seconds of fame at 7:44), so mad thanks to the organizers for video capture (more on this later). While I had already read stuff by Jaakko, KP 2013 was my first occasion to hear him speak (and later talk to) off game. This minefield of a lecture topic is a testimonial to how smart and funny the guy can be. Plus he has The Voice. Yes, I’m jealous.

Welcome to Larp. Let’s Play – 
Jana Pouchlá

I was very impressed by Court of Moravia at Knudepunkt 2011 and still am. I love their What is larp? video, I love their focus on short games with everything provided, and I love the fact that they wrote an 18th century larp. Plus their ex-members bring cool posters to Celestra. And the Czech accent sounds nice in English. And I fully agree that newbies make often “better” players than experienced larpers.

Three Ways to Make Games More Inclusive – 
Lars Nerback

Inclusion was one of the buzzwords for me at KP this year. And I really, really liked that, instead of pointing fingers at the Evil Excluders,  the angle was more “if you’re gonna exclude, do it consciously”. As a fan of private jokes, niche genres etc, this really hit home.

The mixing desk of Swiss medieval larp “Ultima Necat”. Yes, it’s in French. Just be happy we use your stuff, Nords! Sign-up for the game there: http://coryphee.ch/manifestations/ultima-necat-english-version

The Mixing Desk of Larp – Martin Eckhoff Andresen

I love the mixing desk. I don’t use it so much as design method than as a communication tool. It is a fantastic framework to explain my creative agenda to other larpers, and as a player to gauge whether I want to join a game or not. The more organizers use it to not only create, but to describe their games to their local scenes, the fewer disappointed larpers there will be.

No Training can Replace Experience, or Can it? – 
Stefan Deutsch

Until that talk on development workers, Stefan was “that funny German dude I met in Berlin airport on my way to Celestra”. The harsh reality of the subject matter was moving, it brought me back to a very emotional “yes, larp can actually be used for things other than entertainment”. Maybe a no-brainer for many, but still something I’m struggling with.

Bleed: How Emotions Affect Role-Playing Experiences
 – Sarah Lynne Bowman

Reminiscent of the Solmukohta 2012 talk, triggering the same bittersweet nostalgia of my Vampire larp years in the USA, while still providing needed reminders on safety needs and methods to a crowd that often plays hardcore and close to home.

How Can we Know what Actually Happened in a Larp
 – Annika Waern

As a repeat offender in larp critique and often struggling with obtaining larp documentation and feedback, it was fascinating to hear the more academic side of the story. Love the very pragmatic methods.

The rest of the night was (re-)connecting time, and well-lubricated conversation with smart people officially opened a week placed under the auspices of ethanol, dopamine and endorphins.

Bedtime now, stay tuned for part 2, featuring random cultural differences, bullshit detector and Twin Peaks.