My Arisia Panels

[jducoeur]

Since everybody else seems to be doing it...

Gaming -- What is LARP, and Why Would I Want to Do It?
Fri 7:00 PM 1hr
Rebecca L Kletnieks, Chad Bergeron (m), Michael A Ventrella, Mark Waks, Anna R Bradley, John Bacon
You have heard of LARPing. But what is it? What does the acronym stand for? Where do these things happen? Why in the world do people find it fun, and who are these people anyway? What do you mean there are many kinds? A look into LARP, what it is, how it is done by some folks, where to find LARPs of various kinds.

Gaming -- Morality Play
Sat 1:00 PM 1hr
Jonathan Woodward (m), Walter Milliken, Mark Waks, Evan Jamieson, - dkap
In many fantasy campaigns good and evil are clearly defined. But what about role-playing issues where there are shades of gray? What about conflicts that can't be resolved with a sword or basic puzzle-solving? Lumpley Games's "Dogs in the Vineyard" is an example of a RPG that puts characters into moral and ethical binds while they try to remain true to their beliefs and goals.

Comics -- Gods and Monsters
Sun 12:00 PM 1hr
James T Henderson Jr, Alexx S Kay, Mark Waks, Adam Lipkin (m)
In a world with Galactus, the Celestials, Darkseid, Zeus, Thor, the wizard Shazam, the Endless, and on and on, what happens to human religions?

Fannish Lifestyle -- LiveJournal and the Nature of Community
Sun 2:00 PM 1hr
Nomi S. Burstein, Mark Waks, Vanessa Layne, Mark A Mandel, Shira Lipkin (m)
LJ has risen above all of the other blogging site to become the site of choice. Why? Community - a sense of community that was built into LJ, that the other sites don't have the programming to accommodate. And as LJ grew, the community has grown as well, with thousands of mini-communities. How is LJ *your* community?

Comics -- Steampunk: Clockwork Minds to Goth with Goggles
Sun 3:00 PM 1hr
Jonathan Woodward, Mario di Giacomo (m), James Turner, Mark Waks
There are probably as many definitions of steampunk as there are fans of this genre. Victorian fantasies, coal-fired cyberpunk, anime like the movie Steamboy, the graphic novel Girl Genius, goth bands playing with darkly romantic dirigible imagery, it’s all here. What does Steampunk mean to you and how does it power your vision of the world?

Comments

[dsrtao]

I've heard enough about Dogs in the Vineyard -- mostly from Monica Cellio -- that I'm really interested in playing it someday. Ah, when my copious free time is available...

[laurion]

I've been paying attention to some of the indie RPGs lately, and am also very interested in giving it a spin. (Not that I have any more free time than you do)

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the update... I'm actually bookmarking these posts from people so I know what to (try to) pencil in.

[serakit.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... and here I was, bound and determined to get to the "What is LARP", only to discover here that it's on Friday night. Why is all the fun stuff on Friday night?

But I will try to get to the Fannish Lifestyle one on Livejournal. Fannish Lifestyle is another fascinating subject of study...

[jducoeur]

Well, the intro type stuff is often Friday night, so I wasn't surprised by that particular scheduling.

But of course, four of the people on that panel are Carolingians, so if worse comes to worst you can probably get our opinions offline...

[cellio]

You've played Dogs? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it.

[jducoeur]

I haven't personally -- that blurb is copied directly from the program, and it was whoever wrote it that is clearly a Dogs fan. (I'm going to be coming at the topic from a LARP perspective...)