With the passing of seasons comes the inevitable green on the trees and the promise of warmth on the wind as it teases your senses. And just as inevitably the budding of LARPs both new and old shake off their coils of hibernation and stagnation so that they may come to life.
In the case of a new LARP game it is often perceived that the perfect time to launch is in the beginning of the LARP season otherwise known as spring. If you are looking for a way to get back into the swing of things participating in a newly formed LARP may let you get back to speed without the need to be at your peak for your first game.
Such is the case for Seventh Kingdom IGE – an interactive game experience with a live action role playing experience in mind but boasts a more immersive feel to the environment and setting.
Seventh Kingdom is ramping up to release their new game experience throughout the spring with updates in their rules, cultures and game world. The path of game evolution leads to their open beta which is being hosted June 26th – 28th for those brave enough to take the challenge.
I was expecting to be able to correspond with Seventh Kingdom’s Marketing Director Tara Meacham but instead I was set upon by the whole crew! The brighter side to being ganged up on (in this case) is that they weren’t bullies and I was able to get an inside scoop on the inner workings of what is happening at Seventh Kingdom. Our interview went something like this:
Good afternoon everyone and thank you for taking the time to provide insight on Seventh Kingdom IGE.
I have read over your website and I must say that it contains a lot of information but there were a few things that I am curious about.
Q: Seventh Kingdom considers itself an ‘IGE’ or interactive game experience – how does this differ from a live action role playing game?
Tara: Players can become fully engrossed in an IGE due to our interactive game environment. This involves an ‘assault on the senses,’ as President/CEO Matthew “Bizkit” Hoerter calls it—a complete and immersive experience.
We offer textures, sounds, and scents to incorporate our assault-on-the-senses tactic. A LARP is a story in which you can participate; an IGE is an ongoing saga which you can write; everything is interactive and ebbs and flows around your actions. We develop a story around your plot. If players step up, they can seriously influence the plot.
Q: What do you think that Seventh Kingdom offers that makes it different from what people may have come to expect from other LARP games?
Tara: Seventh Kingdom IGE is run professionally; we are a business. Our players are our customers and we treat them with the respect that our customers deserve.
Primarily, we aim to move away from a fixed, pre-conditioned plot—instead of asking players to take on a small part in a pre-destined scenario, we give them the opportunity to truly shape the future of the game and its environment.
Q: There are many LARPs for a person to participate in or help with – what caused you to want to be involved in creating a new immersive game setting for others to participate in instead of merely contributing to another LARP game?
Tara: We saw the potential of other games that had the same symptoms of weak plot, a lack of cohesion in the rule book, and lack of serious business management.
We saw potential for branding, managing, and marketing a familiar concept in a new way. Specifically, we wish to combat a lack of acceptance of new players sometimes seen in the LARPer community and aim to build a large part of our player base on new participants.
As these next few questions are rules and game design oriented Jobert decided to step in and take a shot at holding the conch.
Q: I have reviewed the list of playable races on SeventhKingdomIGE.com and I noticed that the section of races is unlike many other LARP games that I am familiar with including the ability to play a Gnome, a demonic breed of creature known as a Nightkin, and trolls. What was the thought behind allowing such elaborate and vastly untouched races to be playable as a PC race?
Jobert, the Rules Director: Each race plays towards a specific monstrous archetype. The Gnome and the Troll are opposites in that the Gnome is mentally oriented to the detriment of their physical constitution. The Trolls cater to the archetype of the strong, resilient brute, although Trolls that are PCs are more intellectual than NPC Troll races. The Nightkin are races that are supposedly of an innately maligned disposition, but they are a testament to the power of one’s will to surpass the constraints of one’s heritage.
Q: Jobert, I get the feeling that there is a healthy focus on role playing within this IGE from the many different Professions available to characters within the Seventh Kingdoms. Do you feel that this is accurate? And of all the professions which is your favourite?
Jobert: The focus on role playing is central to the IGE concept. A character without personality, background, or origin is nearly a set of useless numbers. With personality and background a character becomes more than the sum of story and mechanics; it becomes a person on his or her own that can represent you, your hopes, and dreams in the world that we provide.
My favourite profession is a Survivalist because it is the type of character I like to play; it represents a departure from a lot of other LARPs where a character can maintain a semblance of self-sufficiency while being any character class.
Q: I have found that there is a flavour to every game system when it comes to the use of magic and mystical things; some games have a low magic content and others seem to solve all of the world’s problems with magic. I have noticed that Seventh Kingdom has a magic system – where do you think this game will rate when it comes to the saturation of magic as a device for storylines and survival?
Jobert: Magic is an important component to the type of fantasy that we endorse and provide. At the same time we do not forsake non-magical/traditional devices for survival and plot. What we would consider real in our world is different from what is real in Seventh Kingdom.
The Seventh Kingdom presents a reality that supports and nurtures characters of heroic and legendary stature capable of performing feats and deeds that belong to those of ancient myth and sagas.
If you are looking for more information about Seventh Kingdom IGE feel free to visit their website at SeventhKingdomIGE.com or click on the image below:
All the best in your future LARP endeavours,
Kevin Tjia
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