Post by Andrea on Mar 18, 2017 12:41:54 GMT -5
Greetings, expeditioners!
As we ramp up toward the release of our 1.0 Rulebook, we wanted to share some of our design philosophies with the community. Sins of a Nation is in many way a thesis on LARP design, but no LARP is for everyone, and we believe that sharing our "pillars" of design empowers you to decide whether this particular LARP is for you (though with the enthusiasm we've seen, we don't doubt it!). We do welcome discourse on any of these topics, so feel free to engage. And of course, if you agree with us, feel free to share these posts to spread the ideas.
This first one will include a poll, as it is decidedly a personal-taste topic and we're curious to know where our community stands. The topic at hand: Music.
Most can agree that music, when applied correctly, can enhance nearly any experience. There tends to be some disagreement, however, on what exactly that means. Some argue that thematic music is encompassed in suspension of disbelief and does add to immersion, while others find that any non-diegetic music rips them right out of game. This debate becomes even more complex when you consider whether iconic or even somewhat recognizable music adds or detracts from immersion.
Our philosophy is that realism does not directly equate to immersion. Depending on the type of setting, skewing toward realism may be beneficial. However, our game is both fantastical and designed to greatly empower players, placing it squarely within the heroic realm of LARPing. As such, we believe that our encounters would be better served with a more cinematic approach, and that well-utilized music does amplify the experience even if it doesn't originate from an in-game source. Some consideration should always be taken for appropriate genre, of course (we're probably not going to utilize heavily-electronic music any time soon in our early 1900's game), but beyond that, creative license should be exercised.
We do know that particularly iconic music can be game-breaking, and we've done our best to try and analyze where the line is. For many, even if the music is recognizable, if it is both reasonably enjoyable and appropriate, it can be excused if not embraced. The more iconic and culturally-present a song is, however, the more likely it is that a player might both recognize and dislike it, which is the most likely scenario in which it would be game-breaking. Therefore, music should generally be pulled from sources that players are unlikely to recognize unless they are already predisposed to enjoy it (perhaps video game or film music, but excluding iconic theme songs that non-fans would be aware of). It's still a thin line for sure, but we believe that the potential benefit outweighs the risk.
That said, we definitely want to know our players' opinions about this. Even if we feel one way, if we know a particular player feels strongly the other way, we can keep that in mind when designing plot that targets them. Please share your thoughts below!
As we ramp up toward the release of our 1.0 Rulebook, we wanted to share some of our design philosophies with the community. Sins of a Nation is in many way a thesis on LARP design, but no LARP is for everyone, and we believe that sharing our "pillars" of design empowers you to decide whether this particular LARP is for you (though with the enthusiasm we've seen, we don't doubt it!). We do welcome discourse on any of these topics, so feel free to engage. And of course, if you agree with us, feel free to share these posts to spread the ideas.
This first one will include a poll, as it is decidedly a personal-taste topic and we're curious to know where our community stands. The topic at hand: Music.
Most can agree that music, when applied correctly, can enhance nearly any experience. There tends to be some disagreement, however, on what exactly that means. Some argue that thematic music is encompassed in suspension of disbelief and does add to immersion, while others find that any non-diegetic music rips them right out of game. This debate becomes even more complex when you consider whether iconic or even somewhat recognizable music adds or detracts from immersion.
Our philosophy is that realism does not directly equate to immersion. Depending on the type of setting, skewing toward realism may be beneficial. However, our game is both fantastical and designed to greatly empower players, placing it squarely within the heroic realm of LARPing. As such, we believe that our encounters would be better served with a more cinematic approach, and that well-utilized music does amplify the experience even if it doesn't originate from an in-game source. Some consideration should always be taken for appropriate genre, of course (we're probably not going to utilize heavily-electronic music any time soon in our early 1900's game), but beyond that, creative license should be exercised.
We do know that particularly iconic music can be game-breaking, and we've done our best to try and analyze where the line is. For many, even if the music is recognizable, if it is both reasonably enjoyable and appropriate, it can be excused if not embraced. The more iconic and culturally-present a song is, however, the more likely it is that a player might both recognize and dislike it, which is the most likely scenario in which it would be game-breaking. Therefore, music should generally be pulled from sources that players are unlikely to recognize unless they are already predisposed to enjoy it (perhaps video game or film music, but excluding iconic theme songs that non-fans would be aware of). It's still a thin line for sure, but we believe that the potential benefit outweighs the risk.
That said, we definitely want to know our players' opinions about this. Even if we feel one way, if we know a particular player feels strongly the other way, we can keep that in mind when designing plot that targets them. Please share your thoughts below!
