When I think of RP, I think of something closer to acting. In BDSM, you aren’t actually changing your identity (although you can, but that is an optional choice).

Even though RP and BDSM can be practiced together, I would not view BDSM as a sub-category (or type) of RP.

Well, that explains the fursuits then. I’d just rather have all or nothing, you know? Imagine playing a Star Trek game where you wander down the 21st century high street. It just wouldn’t make sense, would it? That’s why I don’t like LARP - it’s more often than not out-of-context.

I remember going to a convention and seeing a woman dressed in a sexy Klingon outfit. The only problem was she had NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER dressing like that. (I’m sure you know what I mean)

If you aren’t sexy in RL, there is no way for you to LARP sexy. Eyes don’t lie. ;)

That said, there are some people who do LARP and pull it off, because they have the natural looks to fit the character they are doing, or they are doing a character which doesn’t require exceptional looks. If they enjoy it, then I say more power to them.

I have tried it before, but I just don’t feel comfortable doing it. However, I fully enjoy online RP, probably because I have the wall of anonymity to hide behind. It is kind of like acting with nobody knowing it is you on stage.

While I’ve never indulged in live action roleplay, I seem to have this conception that those who do are having more fun than the rest of us.

When I play games, I sometimes roleplay. On World of Warcraft, in a PVP server (not strictly RP), I was quite a talkative traveller. I set up macros to greet fellow players as we passed each other on the roads between settlements. about 80% of the time I was ignored, 5% they’d say “hey” back, and 15% of the time, they would ask me what it was that I wanted of them. I assume the PVP server was full of so many min/maxers that the concept of talking to someone for the sake of being friendly was completely alien to them.

In Arcanum, the first time I played, I was a goody two-shoes ladies man. I spent points in charisma and had a following which did the dirty work for me. The second time I played through, I played a gun-toting grenade-lobbing psychopath. Throughout each play-through, I didn’t step out of character, because I realised it would break me out of my role.

As for interfaces, I know using a light gun or a steering wheel is much more fun than using a mouse or a keyboard. It seems the closer you get to replicating the experience, the more immersed you become.

That said, I think LARP is pretty stupid. I don’t watch Star Trek, but I’m pretty sure Klingons have never landed on Earth and gone for a happy meal. When the lines between fantasy and reality have been blurred so much, the environment breaks the roleplay. It seems that these people want to be actors when they’re not. Kind of like how so many bloggers (I’m not saying everyone here) want to be journalists, but in fact it’s only a hobby to them, rather than a professional venture.

As far as Bully goes, Jacko got crazy about the content of course, but whats interesting is that the game also offers females as the majority of its optional love interestes (for lack of a better word). The fact that you can choose to get gay is the issue, not that the game offers only homosexual characters to hook up with. I wish the folks badgering games about content would catch on to choice’s unique role in the medium - for instance the choice to download a mod that allows nude characters. Its completely changes the legal definition of what is official content.

Now let's be friendly. This is a legitimate and prolific subculture.

Agreed. Can’t get rid of that inspired (non-condescending I feel/hope) sadness.