Last month I gave my take on an MRPG (Massive Roleplaying Game). In lieu of an example of a scalable game, I first have to step back and define the goal more precisely. In the end, I realized I'm not just looking for an Massive RPG, but for a viable mainstream event, and that strongly constraints the goals I've set forth.

I'd set forth the idea of an extremely scalable, low logistics, easy access game with both 'game' and 'roleplaying', likely using a LARP-like model. The 'massive' is, actually, not necessary. It just happens that a lot of good design comes out when you take something and say "how do we make it bigger". Making things bigger points out a lot of the flaws in small handmade efforts that succeed largely through heroic effort by the GMs.

I want the heroics to be the in-game drama heroics, not heavy lifting by staff or players. And I want to move past the era of artisan game sessions into a more commodity-like entertainment format. We should-- and can-- create a game of any size that is that is self-contained, accessible, and cathartic. We'll call it an Immersive Game Event.

This means, in part, we must discard what we are familiar with. Forum comments indicate we're falling into the trap best defined by Mike Young's "Five Phases of [a] LARPer". I asked Mike for the phases (now on Wikipedia), since I cannot find the original Usenet post. We have the five phases of the LARPer.

• Phase 1: Mine is the only LARP.
• Phase 2: Mine is the best LARP; all others are inferior.
• Phase 3: I recognize the existence and validity of other forms of LARP; they may have their points, but I prefer a specific system.
• Phase 4: I enjoy playing different styles of LARP
• Phase 5: I enjoy playing different styles of LARP and go out of my way to try different styles and campaigns.

"Phase 1 is usually someone who is new to LARP, and has been introduced by a friend. This phase is borne of naivete, not of deliberate ignorance. It is short lived, as the LARPer discovers other games out there."

"Phase 2 is the most common phase, and one that the huge majority of LARPers never grow out of. This is usually someone who has been playing in a certain LARP for some time and has discovered other LARPs out there".

I think our discussion is stuck at Phase 3: most people making suggestions (myself included) are using a specific model of existing LARP we favor, and extrapolating it to large sizes. I reject this approach.

It is natural for people to want to scale up their existing LARP system to try and run an Massive RPG. I see four likely paths for an Massive RPG of this fashion. These are:

1. A minimalist Killer-like game writ large. Already tried as Killer, Terra*Drive Live, and as an ARG, e.g. the Cruel 2 B Kind.
2. A NERO-like module with combat as a primary plot driver, using largely boffer self-adjudicated mechanics, with many NPCs to help create and maintain plot as well as serving as antagonists. Boffer games scaling to 400+ seem to already exist.
3. A distributed tabletop-like system, either computer networked or LARP-like, using a central GM command center to handle the bulk of information flow and rule adjudication. Akin to either Dream Park (if LARP) or large scale Neverwinter Nights (if tabletop).
4. A theatre-style event similar to many Mind's Eye and Intercon games, using a style of self-adjudicated mechanics and relying almost entirely on player-to-player conflict to drive plot.

Further, there are two plotting aspects being considered: pre-generated interlinked PCs versus allowing players to create their own PCs and working them into the pre-generated plots.

I submit that an Immersive Game Event will follow none of these models exactly. The goal is a single shot event that requires minimal preparation work by the participants, and which is repeatable.

It doesn't require accretion, such as the build-up of a large Boffer fan base, well versed in the rules. Those are (under this definition) simply well-run LARPs with lots of players

Similarly, it does not allow for players to create characters beforehand. There is little to no homework, just as going to a movie, opera, play, or roller coaster require no preparation.

Most importantly, I invoke Gary Alan Fine's criteria for the emotional responses created within game play, specifically that the greatest goal is to invoke catharsis.

I'm skipping the oft-abused term LARP for much the same reason that ARGs or the SCA are not LARPs, even though they contain LARP-like aspects. Further, I ditch my own self-coined term 'Massive RPG' to instead use 'Immersive Game Event', IGE.

So: an Immersive Game Event (IGE) is an single shot event where unaffiliated participants arrive unprepared then quickly assume roles that are seeded with initial plots, and interact with each other in an immersive setting for a fixed period of time, during which the bulk of them reach catharsis during the course of play.

This is the goal: catharsis (identification of the player with the role they are playing and emotional release through their connection with that role). Since the goal is not per se 'to win', we are emphasizing the 'role-playing' over the 'game', however, we are using game structure rather than a fixed script (which also differentiates us from Murder Mystery Theatre).

The need for no participant pre-work is because the IGE is to be an event that anyone can enter, much like anyone can watch a movie or ride a roller coaster. The attendees are to enjoy 'meaningful fun' through playing in the event.

A useful model for quickly immersing participants into an unreal world is Vegas's "Star Trek: The Experience". In this, you start with a safety briefing, then the 'real world' portion gets overwritten by the scripted sci-fi crises, you are run through the motion simulator, then it ends and you are returned to the real world through a postscript and exit. No game or even branching pathways, alas, but we will need to draw from many sources for this.

The IGE must operate on a fixed time for logistics reasons: people need a start and end time. I suggest this time is hours, not days or weekends. This is because it is difficult to maintain a high emotional intensity for a large number of people over an extended time.

Put another way, you can entertain all of the people for a short time, and some of the people for a long time, but you can't entertain all of the people for a long time.

From a game design standpoint, the bulk of the GM (and NPCs) action is all front-loaded, designed to effectively immerse them into the game world with the necessary information needed to play. Past that, the event runs nearly entirely with player-to-player interaction. The GM (and NPCs, if any) step in at the end to provide a debrief and seque back into the real world.

An IGE may end up being similar to LARP line courses or modules, acting as an encapsulated pre-packagable mainstream LARP. I think that using an existing LARP framework (ala the 5 Phases) and simplifying it for mass consumption is an improper approach, however. Movies were not just radio shows with models, talkies were not silents with sound, and RPGs weren't just miniatures with first names.

I think RPG and LARP design and theory is at a sufficiently robust point that we can discard the bulk of the forms we are using, while retaining the understanding we've gained. Instead of bastardizing what we have, we can create a new, accessible form of game play experience. In the process, we will reach a wider audience.

And from the audience's standpoint, this is what they see.

1. They purchase a ticket to attend a given IGE 'showing'.
2. Upon IGE start, they are given a short out-of-game pre-game briefing and then brought quickly into the pre-game immersion step.
3. The event starts in the midst of matters, rather than with mingling or patron hunt, maximizing immersion and minimizing distraction.
4. During gameplay, the participant achieves strong resonance with their character/plot mix and has an emotionally rich experience.
5. The game concludes with a segue from the game world into the normal world and a short formal debriefing.
6. The participants are allowed to mingle in an out-of-game area at will to informally chat and mingle.

And, of course, at game end they buy IGE souvenirs.

Until next month,
Sandy