The survey I did for Terra Nova is not yet complete as it will run until winter, in late December - it's never too late to share your thoughts and opinions, and they just might make the difference even if they're last-minute stuff. However, the results so far are quite interesting, so I decided to share them with you. I'll do it again in a few months, once the survey is closed. Remember you can edit what you wrote.
If you haven't filled the survey, you can do so here. If you have, thank you :)
Participants in the survey were mostly Croatian players from Zagreb, with a few Osijek players responding. We also had a few people from Slovenia, Hungary and Serbia filling the survey.
45% of the surveyed players noted that they plan to come to Terra Nova: Zimograd, and 45% are still considering it. Only three people said they won't be able to attend Zimograd. It's slightly less certain for the next summer Terra Nova - 40% of the respondants are planning to attend it, while 60% are not certain.
Most of the respondants - around a third in total - attended 4-6 larps this year - it seems like a golden average, and unchanged since Petra's survey two years ago, although this statistic is somewhat different. Larpers attending only 2-3 events were the second most numerous, while larpers attending 11+ events per year came third. A minority was only on one event this year, or somewhere between 7 and 10. Everyone who responded was on at least one larp this year.
The favorite larp this year (by the people who filled out the survey) was Terra Nova 2012, with Crolarp coming second by one vote of difference. However, every major Croatian larp this year was also voted on, including Jaska 10, both Rajski Vrhovi, Fallout, Utvrda Svjetlosti. Even some smaller larps made the list, most notably Steampunk, but also Kraljevska gozba, Love is blue, and an unnamed private larp. Some international larps were included in the list, such as Drachenfest, ConQuest of Mythodea, Bulgarian national larp, Chronicles of Demgard, Rivergard 5, and larp on annual meeting of Slovenian Tolkien Society Gil-Galad. Most of the results were entered before last weekend's Steampunk, so it was not counted among results although it probably would make a difference.
Favorite larp of all times was remarkably different, and more personal. I will not mention any larps here because no larp was repeated more than twice, and plenty of people didn't answer that question or were unsure.
Regarding Croatian larps, here's how they fared:
Terra Nova 2012 was universally liked by participants, and was at or near the top of Croatian larps according to its attendants. (Steampunk (SRP one-shot) also had similar stats, but few people who were on it filled out the survey.) Terra Nova intro earlier this year was less popular than the big event, with some good scores, some bad scores, and plenty in the middle.
Rajski Vrhovi are universally well liked and with a wide appeal. They're typically either near the top of the list or in the middle. Love is Blue follows a similar pattern. Nobody put those larps down the list.
Jaska, Crolarp and Steampunk (Para Pokreće Svijet) are typically well regarded and liked by the people who play them, however there are some people not satisfied by the playstyle offered there who put them down in their list.
Majčin Gaj, Utvrda Svjetlosti and Fallout presented an interesting statistic: people either loved them or they did not. They were almost always placed near the top or the bottom of lists. Especially liked were Majčin Gaj 1, and Utvrda Svjetlosti 2010 and 2011. Results about Fallout are a bit indecisive, because few people mentioned it.
Maksimir and Krvomeđe were usually the opposite, in the middle of the list, in general being neither particularly liked or disliked. Of the two, people preferred Maksimir a bit more - one person listed it as his favorite larp.
There's plenty of wisdom in words of one person who didn't wish to rank Croatian larps, noting that every one of them offered - or tried to offer - something different. In a way, that was one of the points of this question - to see who prefers which style, and who would prefer which kind of gameplay? Not to rank them in a "this larp is better than another by a popular vote" fashion (it would depend on the target population anyway and it would hardly be balanced ranking), but to see how and why every larp attracts people, what people don't like about it and why.
The people, in general, are mostly looking forward to Tragači Zore (Seekers of the Dawn) larp. Following it is Crolarp 2013, although it hasn't been announced yet. People are also strongly looking forward to Jaska 11 and Terra Nova: Zimograd. Also mentioned: VLarp 2013, Steampunk, Rajski Vrhovi feast, Lateralus larp season of 2013, Chronicles of Demgard, Drachenfest 2013, and two people were just looking forward to the next larp they can attend.
What everyone loved about larp was similar. A chance to roleplay, to be someone else for a while, immersed in another world. Experience and adrenaline of combat for some fighters, some other experiences for others. Another existance. Having fun, enjoying the mood, discovering one's own limits (and sometimes breaking them), experimenting with social relations, game situations causing people to rethink real situations... All of that and more. Differences were usually minor.
Yet all the changes that people want to see and ideas about improving Croatian larp are quite different from one another - however, these ideas usually don't clash one with another, except in cases when some people wanted more fighting on the event, and others less.
Ognjeni Mač and Green Banner larpers were commonly writing about improving relations between people, improving the looks of the larp, and the ammount and quality of in-game roleplay, seeing these as the current weak points.
Other Croatian larpers who replied would mostly like to reduce the current use of metagame knowledge in larp, the gamistic approach to larp, and a large quantity of current rule lawyering.
Hungarian players who responded would also like to see better relations between organizers and players which seems to be an issue. Slovenian players would primarily like to see more people on their larps, as they are small and few.
Plenty of people (from everywhere) called for gear improvements and better connection between players and the gameworld. There have been some interesting ideas - simplifying our play, making our larps more German style, getting a permanent camp with necessary infrastructure, etc. I even got a proposed fully developed system to punish players who break the rules.
Only two players were really satisfied with how things are now. One of those players has plenty of fun on current larps, and sees no need for any change. The second of those has another perspective: as if Croatian larp is just where it needs to be here and now to facilitate its further evolution...
This survey is still open and if you didn't fill it in yet I'd be happy to have your input, dear reader. Watashi also has another survey about possible SciFi larp (survey is in Croatian only), and I believe it is worth checking out.
Those two surveys certainly show the interesting possibilities of where Croatian larp might go next. Personally, I feel it's gonna be a bright future of the hobby...
If you haven't filled the survey, you can do so here. If you have, thank you :)
Participants in the survey were mostly Croatian players from Zagreb, with a few Osijek players responding. We also had a few people from Slovenia, Hungary and Serbia filling the survey.
45% of the surveyed players noted that they plan to come to Terra Nova: Zimograd, and 45% are still considering it. Only three people said they won't be able to attend Zimograd. It's slightly less certain for the next summer Terra Nova - 40% of the respondants are planning to attend it, while 60% are not certain.
Most of the respondants - around a third in total - attended 4-6 larps this year - it seems like a golden average, and unchanged since Petra's survey two years ago, although this statistic is somewhat different. Larpers attending only 2-3 events were the second most numerous, while larpers attending 11+ events per year came third. A minority was only on one event this year, or somewhere between 7 and 10. Everyone who responded was on at least one larp this year.
The favorite larp this year (by the people who filled out the survey) was Terra Nova 2012, with Crolarp coming second by one vote of difference. However, every major Croatian larp this year was also voted on, including Jaska 10, both Rajski Vrhovi, Fallout, Utvrda Svjetlosti. Even some smaller larps made the list, most notably Steampunk, but also Kraljevska gozba, Love is blue, and an unnamed private larp. Some international larps were included in the list, such as Drachenfest, ConQuest of Mythodea, Bulgarian national larp, Chronicles of Demgard, Rivergard 5, and larp on annual meeting of Slovenian Tolkien Society Gil-Galad. Most of the results were entered before last weekend's Steampunk, so it was not counted among results although it probably would make a difference.
Favorite larp of all times was remarkably different, and more personal. I will not mention any larps here because no larp was repeated more than twice, and plenty of people didn't answer that question or were unsure.
Regarding Croatian larps, here's how they fared:
Terra Nova 2012 was universally liked by participants, and was at or near the top of Croatian larps according to its attendants. (Steampunk (SRP one-shot) also had similar stats, but few people who were on it filled out the survey.) Terra Nova intro earlier this year was less popular than the big event, with some good scores, some bad scores, and plenty in the middle.
Rajski Vrhovi are universally well liked and with a wide appeal. They're typically either near the top of the list or in the middle. Love is Blue follows a similar pattern. Nobody put those larps down the list.
Jaska, Crolarp and Steampunk (Para Pokreće Svijet) are typically well regarded and liked by the people who play them, however there are some people not satisfied by the playstyle offered there who put them down in their list.
Majčin Gaj, Utvrda Svjetlosti and Fallout presented an interesting statistic: people either loved them or they did not. They were almost always placed near the top or the bottom of lists. Especially liked were Majčin Gaj 1, and Utvrda Svjetlosti 2010 and 2011. Results about Fallout are a bit indecisive, because few people mentioned it.
Maksimir and Krvomeđe were usually the opposite, in the middle of the list, in general being neither particularly liked or disliked. Of the two, people preferred Maksimir a bit more - one person listed it as his favorite larp.
There's plenty of wisdom in words of one person who didn't wish to rank Croatian larps, noting that every one of them offered - or tried to offer - something different. In a way, that was one of the points of this question - to see who prefers which style, and who would prefer which kind of gameplay? Not to rank them in a "this larp is better than another by a popular vote" fashion (it would depend on the target population anyway and it would hardly be balanced ranking), but to see how and why every larp attracts people, what people don't like about it and why.
The people, in general, are mostly looking forward to Tragači Zore (Seekers of the Dawn) larp. Following it is Crolarp 2013, although it hasn't been announced yet. People are also strongly looking forward to Jaska 11 and Terra Nova: Zimograd. Also mentioned: VLarp 2013, Steampunk, Rajski Vrhovi feast, Lateralus larp season of 2013, Chronicles of Demgard, Drachenfest 2013, and two people were just looking forward to the next larp they can attend.
What everyone loved about larp was similar. A chance to roleplay, to be someone else for a while, immersed in another world. Experience and adrenaline of combat for some fighters, some other experiences for others. Another existance. Having fun, enjoying the mood, discovering one's own limits (and sometimes breaking them), experimenting with social relations, game situations causing people to rethink real situations... All of that and more. Differences were usually minor.
Yet all the changes that people want to see and ideas about improving Croatian larp are quite different from one another - however, these ideas usually don't clash one with another, except in cases when some people wanted more fighting on the event, and others less.
Ognjeni Mač and Green Banner larpers were commonly writing about improving relations between people, improving the looks of the larp, and the ammount and quality of in-game roleplay, seeing these as the current weak points.
Other Croatian larpers who replied would mostly like to reduce the current use of metagame knowledge in larp, the gamistic approach to larp, and a large quantity of current rule lawyering.
Hungarian players who responded would also like to see better relations between organizers and players which seems to be an issue. Slovenian players would primarily like to see more people on their larps, as they are small and few.
Plenty of people (from everywhere) called for gear improvements and better connection between players and the gameworld. There have been some interesting ideas - simplifying our play, making our larps more German style, getting a permanent camp with necessary infrastructure, etc. I even got a proposed fully developed system to punish players who break the rules.
Only two players were really satisfied with how things are now. One of those players has plenty of fun on current larps, and sees no need for any change. The second of those has another perspective: as if Croatian larp is just where it needs to be here and now to facilitate its further evolution...
This survey is still open and if you didn't fill it in yet I'd be happy to have your input, dear reader. Watashi also has another survey about possible SciFi larp (survey is in Croatian only), and I believe it is worth checking out.
Those two surveys certainly show the interesting possibilities of where Croatian larp might go next. Personally, I feel it's gonna be a bright future of the hobby...
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