Technocculte [SPOILERS]: I am full of win

After the tough parts, it’s time to celebrate the good stuff that came out of running Technocculte. Player feedback is still flowing in so I’ll summarize once I get it all in, the comments below are, just like the “fails” post, my own assessment of the game.

Emotions

Players had fun. I had fun. And that’s the whole point. Different levels and kinds of fun  but fun. Organizers or players, this is why we larp (at least in Switzerland).

I saw some amazed faces. The augmented reality ipad «aura reader» was one of the coolest things, well worth the time to animate player photos by hand over my vacation so that they players could see their own photos talk to themselves. You don’t need to roleplay surprise when you’re really surprised. At other times, I heard questions like «are you triggering this effect by hand or was the machine really reading my brainwaves?». No, it was actually reading your brainwaves.

I heard some gasps. The last group got the most quiet time relatively alone in darkness, and still wanted more. At some point two players, who hadn’t noticed me, were hiding from each other. From where I was hiding I couldn’t see anything but could hear one trying to sneak upon the other, then a loud gasp. Hearing those noises was awesome: instant scenography validation! In some other sessions, players refused to take a clue located inside the chest of a hanging child cadaver because they found it disgusting. Instant propmaking validation!

Design & politics

Methods to induce fear worked. Sure, I definitely didn’t use them enough. Technocculte was not sold as a horror game. People wanted it to be, but it was sold as «modern-day occult techno-thriller» and I wrote «you won’t be scared shitless but will use pretty weird, hence pretty cool, technology». But darkness, isolation, and weird noises worked, and it definitely needed more of that. Players are giving very interesting feedback about what creeps them, e.g. the values of small rooms vs. large rooms etc.

Short format works. «I need at least 2h to get into my larp character and 36h to develop a story arc to a climax» is bullshit. It just means your game is slow. Or large. Or that you are just not focused. Characters were simple, there was tension, then release, then tension again, with a real end. So sure, not much time for character evolution in less than 2h, but you get fun and closure without having to camp in a forest for two days.

Short format rocks. Players can go home after game, be with their kids, get some sleep, whatever. One of the players commented on the concept in the same way that Court of Moravia pushes their larps: you can larp in the same way you’d go to a movie or an art show : no preparation, hopefully an interesting experience, and then you go home. The game actually stays with you as everything went so fast that you still work out stuff on your way home, either weirdness, unanswered questions or just “damn, I should have done this”. I hope this and the above points will foster more games like this one, as they are also particularly adapted to enable aging larpers to keep larping, and foster a diversity of games, themes and experiences.

Short format is not only for cheapass jeepform. It can be done for 360-illusion larps. OK, Technocculte was not fully 360, there were a several symbolic representations, but there was some pretty heavy gadgetry. This is very important to me. Not only to «open the minds» of vanilla larpers to the joys of short games, but also to remind the artsy fartsy jeepers that they’re not the only ones pushing the limits of the hobby/artform/whateveritisweredoingthesedays.

Iterative design works. Players from the “day 1” sessions suggested to close more doors as just the act of opening a closed door increases tension. They would have preferred to have the beamer in the movie house only turn on after people have enjoyed some time in darkness. And they suggested to add mood music to increase the creepy side of some rooms. So on day 2, I wanted to implement those. In true Technocculte fashion, the changes caused some bugs in the first session but eventually worked. So session 4 got closed doors, session 5 got in addition a looping heartbeat in the underground rooms but some confusion with the laptop/beamer combo, and session 6 got it all, with more time in darkness, with the surprise turning on of the beamer. If I ever do a rerun, even more feedback will be implemented. It will most likely be a re-write, actually.

Larp conventions work. Half of the technology I used was presented in one way or another by Tonton Copt at the GNiales. One more reason that larp cons can deliver real results, and that there is indeed value in stopping to play for a minute and teaching each other to make better larps.

Badass games sites are worth the hassle. The movie house rocked. Originally suggested by one of the players, it was worth the visits, discussions and all the constraints described in the previous post. The Cinema d’Echallens is independent, managed by friendly volunteers and very active, showing both blockbusters and more refined movies. It features both a 3D projector and some awesome vintage equipment and rooms. Most players were city dwellers and didn’t know about its existence. So the cinema got some dough, exposure to a new demographic, and the players got surprises and a larp spot. The most “gear buffs” even got a private visit to the reel room.

Triggering KabbalAI to learn more about the sephiroth.

Getting personal

As an organizer, having different players from different cultures, from casual to regular, from 20ish to 40ish, from gamist to whatever was great. The game was far from being vanilla fantasy but could generate fun for very different people. In one group there was a huge gap in playing style but I think players benefited from seeing these different styles of playing, and the one that may not have benefited used the difference to fuel his roleplay, which made for great in-game scenes.

As an organizer, having players travel 2h round trip for less than 2h of game time is very gratifying. Having a player travel 4h round trip to replace a player who called in sick on the same day is downright humbling.

The players for whom this was a tribute enjoyed the nods, so the «thank you» part of the game was a success. As organizers, these guys gave me fun, I’m glad to return the favor.

I have a new network of volunteer helpers. It worked like for GN’Idée (more on this in the next Knutebook). Seems that when you do cool stuff, people are motivated to help you do more. Not only does it feel good, but it will help me/us make better games.

I am not the only one to like gadgets. Even some of the more literary/acting/plot oriented players actually liked fiddling with things that animate, go beep and trigger strange noises on their walkie-talkies. Geek validation is always good.

My scenario was not transparent, but not completely opaque either. One of the players got the whole thing right by just reading the clues and making his larp organizer brain work. That’s enough plot writing validation for me.

I am able to run 5 games in 2 days. Not at the top of my game, losing 2 kg on the way and being stressed out, but I can do it. I’m a sucker for records and “firsts”, and I can assume this has never been done in Switzerland. Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is one way to show yourself you aren’t dead, and that’s always nice.