What is Belegarth to you?

[Sir Cairbre]

What type of Game is Belegarth to you? If not an option please post what type of Game/Sport is Belegarth?

[Turin]

i like both aspects, actually. i've always loved martial arts of any kind. but i also love researching garb, history and technology. and i my case, as a japanese persona, there is the added benefit of researching a culture that i enjoy learning about. i don't play it up so much by talking in an affected accent or anything like that, but i do enjoy getting into my garb and changing my mindset. it's like a uniform that you put on to do a job or in "Over the Top", when Stalone turns his hat backwards, its all buisness.
if had to put a percentage to it, i'd say 35% role play, 65% fighting. but to me, its really all one in the same. i seek out instruction in fighting for the same reason i seek out instruction in garb and charachter: i want to be better at Belegarth.

[Sphinx]

I really got into my character once at an event and eh, it wasn't as fun as just going out there and beating on people.

[Sonus]

Belegarth is life to me. Yeah, I like to do other things but nothing in my life is more fun then this sport. I'm a freakin' addict.

[Zarovich]

Agreed. it IS a way of life. Especially if you are a nerd and have nothing to do. LIKE ME!!!!!!!

[Barahir Ingem]

Admit it. Belegarth is a LARP, and we're all dorks. It doesn't hurt so much, once you accept it.

B. of E.U.

[Calarn the Black]

LARP without the gay. (No beanbags dealing out death)

[Caillech]

The only time I see anyone in character is at events, or it is Izerath. There is way more fighting than roleplay.

[Reggs]

It's a creative outlet. I might not role play alot, but im always thinking and imagining to myself as if I were roleplaying. I usualy role play when I know someone is trying to role play with me. Even when I do role play alot of people just dont get it. I dont have an accent, and use semi-modern language. And my char does not have extream views, so it can be hard to tell at times, but I still imagin it and thats the only thing that counts on my end. There was this girl I borrowed a preview anime DVD from, and lost it. She would ask for it on occation for over a year. When I moved I found it and returned it to her the next time I saw her. I also gave her 2 other DVD's. A special edition anime movie, and a 3-4 eps anime DVD. I thought of it as paying a debt, and thats part of my char. Had this have taken place outside the game I would have returned it with nothing, or one **** movie I had, but this was stuff I enjoyed. I also know theres no way in hell she would see me giving anime as being something in char, but thats how I imagined it.

I had better stop before I sound like a ner...****, to late

[Kaibashi Shintaro]

Belegarth is practically a way of life for me, I'm think it's more along the lines of L.A.S.C. just because no one in this 'sport' really acts in character, at least not where I am.

[Sir Cairbre]

I like the L.A.W. - Live Action Warfair Game.

[Kalor]

I may be new to the game, but I have come to treat it much in the same way I treat my practicing of Tae Kwon Do. It is a sport in which there are traditions. In Tae Kwon Do, I used my name in Korean when I was either in the dojo or at a tournament. As of this point, I have treated Belegarth the same. I do some research on rules and how to implement certain tactics within the bounds of the rules. I use a fight name when at practices, but still prefer to know the real names of people who I fight with. When all is said and done, this is a game. My character does not define who I am. I have way too much of a life outside of Belegarth to let belegarth consume my life.

[Sirak]

I would have to offer my answer as a similar dillema as Reggs and Caillech.

The few attempts I have made to remain in character, I've either been laughed at by my "peers", or looked upon as though I was some kind of nut-case.

It's a given that I used to, up until about a week ago, played a frilly, and admittedly sort of pansy, elf character. I will, however, say in my own defense, I'm not some 300lb fan-boy who wants to pretend he's "ragnar the gold" prince of elvenland. I'm a 5'4" 120lb guy who has to fight by finesse, not power. Hence I'm probably a member of a small percentile who could do justice to being an elf-like character.(even though I'm very alienated to them now, due to the over popularity among new people, which I was at the time.)

Anyway. I view belegarth as an interesting paradigm of "ROle-players football" So to speak.

I agree with Caillech when she gives izarath credit. He's one of the few people, in my opinion, with enough self-confidence and sense to not take himself too seriously. To me he seems to play it as a Balance between a light hearted game, and a contact sport.

At this point I would say Belegarth Battle practice in dur-D is just combat, save for the few who always convey themselves as their characters. (Kado, Izarath, Mordeth and a few others)
At events however, I see more of a unified characterization. Units band together, rivalry flairs up, comradery becomes more intense.
Bands of people become more comfortable being what they are trying to portray when surrounded by two hundred others trying to do the same.

My personal solution to this was to make my character reclusive, so he didn't have to talk unless spoken too, or really needed to say something. Making it justifiable for me to "think" I characterized/acted out my persona well..

Anyhow this has become really long.
Practice = fight
Event = more larp'ish.

[Forkbeard]

To me, Belegarth is a sport. It's a sport because 90 percent of my time is spent practicing for events where I go to compete with every fiber of my being against good people who are there for the same thing. I use every ounce of strength and speed in me to win in this very taxing and complicated SPORT.
I came here from a LARP, this is totaly diferent. Those people go to the woods to pretend they are something they are not. They use rule systems to gain what they lack in life i.e. stregnth, speed, skill, whatever.
The fact that we dress up is a fun addition to the combat. I wouldn't do this without it. But, I wouldn't dress funny without the fighting either. In fact I feel that the competetivness of the whole Belegarth scene has made me enhance my garb and the appearence of my camp year after year. That's why I started giving out prizes for Best Camp at the events I go to. If there something to win everybody tries harder.

[skel]

from those options i had to pick live action sword... i wouldnt mind at all roleplaying in this game, but what i do mind (and i mean no offense to the ones who im about to describe) are all the poeple who pretend to be elves and hobbits and stuff like that. but thats why im about to join the SCA so i can do actual Medieval reenacting.

[Chicken]

but what i do mind [...] are all the poeple who pretend to be elves and hobbits and stuff like that

I am Uruk-Hai!

... 'nuff said.

[vek]

i agree that belegarth is more sport than l.a.r.p. and i love it for it. but im an actor, and seeing people truly in character adds a certain flavor to the game. i agree with skel, about hobbits and elves, im pro- human( which means ive always preffered the realm of man), but if i see a 6'2'', built guy call himself a viking warlord, i'll totally respect him for it. how can i put this... um, i feel that we go for more believability and authenticity over fantasy. and the garb is so cool becasue thats adds to the game and the feeling of what your there to do and WHEN your doing it. ( i.e. the time period) but from a distance it can be mistaken for larping, and i totaly respect my belegarth brethren becasue they were brave enough to come up and ask " what the **** are you doing" and see that its more sport than role playing... sorry.. totally got off topic... but yes more l.a.s.p. than l.a.r.p.

[The Lost Celt]

Admit it. Belegarth is a LARP, and we're all dorks. It doesn't hurt so much, once you accept it.

B. of E.U.

(NOTE: this is somewhat of a personal rant that's been coming for a while)

Yep, we're a larp, we may be more sport oriented than role-playing but technically we're still a larp.

Here's a clue by four - most "Living History" folks consider SCA a larp.

And quite frankly whenever I hear period, authenticity, or realism used in the context of this sport compared to them I cringe.

Better yet "well a real sword/flail whatever would do this" 9 times out of 10 would make me want to shove a keyboard up someone's *. Dude, I don't care if you think your armor can take a real sword or not, we're hitting each other with FOAM COVERED STICKS - I'll be the first to say it doesn't make me an expert on anything midieval. And I'm not talking about this sport alone either.

Think about it, what time period are you? Is your garb the right weave and the right cloth? HOw did you dye it, were those dyes available back then? Have you ever looked at the footwear for that time frame? Are you using the preferred weapons combination for that culture? Hell some go as far as to restrict themselves to techniques they found in manuals for that time frame! Authenticity be damned, I'm here to whack people with foam padded mockups of swords. I'll try to contribute to atmosphere as I can but *. I'm not willing to go that far!

Personally I don't need to seek validations from others to be happy with my choice of recreational activities..

[skel]

but what i do mind [...] are all the poeple who pretend to be elves and hobbits and stuff like that

I am Uruk-Hai!

... 'nuff said.

i dont pretend to be an orc or uruk-hai or anything else.. i dont even know what the difference is between the 2. uruk-hai is just the name of my unit...

[Barahir Ingem]

SCA... actual Medieval reenacting.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

B. of E.U.

[Forkbeard]

The SCA is no more hisortical than we are. In fact, they are a bit more out there. They seem to supose that everyone in the middle ages that fought was a knight. They seem to forget that most people fought barefoot and half naked through most of their time period. And they DEFFINENTLY hit each other in the legs. (Around here at least the SCA doesn't allow lower leg shots, GAY). And they assume that every tep in the head would kill you while wearing a huge heavey steel helm.
We are not Historicly accurate, no **** Sherlock. But we aren't LARPer's either. Being historicly accurate has nothing to do with the sport/game question. Reenactors are Role Players. They play a historical role.
One thing that's bugging me, I heard it the other day. maybe I read it on this board.
Football is a sport, but you play a GAME of it. Is it really nesesary to say we are one or the other? To me Swordfighting is a sport. Belegarth battles are like the game part of football, the rules controlled method of competion that decides who is better at the sport. Get me?
FB

[Winfang]

I've been to Pennsic (SCA's big event), the swamps are just as ghetto as we are. Topside is where all the cool **** is. They've got all types in SCA, from reenactors to drunk guys who are there for the parties. That's the rules Forbeard, no shots 1" above the knee or below that. As for a tap to the head, here in Ohio if your ear isn't ringing then it wasn't a good blow.

I don't consider us a LARP either. We're not playing any sort of role or character. Many of us are who we are, on the field and off the field. Some people do the role-playing thing to add atmosphere, and that's great and I love it, but it's not required. This is a Wargame. This is more akin to Live Action Warhammer then Live Action D&D.

[Dame Annika]

hmm live action warhammer ............ could be fun

[The Lost Celt]

Okay, I'll go with Winfang on wargame, I can agree with that, and while the majority of us don't role play, some of us do.

I'm not familiar with live action warhammer, how is that different from live action D&D? Aren't they both technically larp?

Depends on how you look at it, we assume "personas" we dress up in garb and whack people with foam sticks - Yes it's a sport but there's some larp elements to it too is there not? Now the closest we may get is some sort of "scenario" to describe our objectives for say a fort battle or whatever, and we also have "rivalries" between the elves/celts whatever have you. Go to a national event don't you make allies with realms? Chances are they're your buddies to begin with but you get what I'm saying?

Like I said, I agree with you on the wargame, it does suit us pretty well, but they way I look at it it's like being pregnant, you can't be just a little pregnant you either are or aren't.

[vek]

intersting lost celt but lets put it this way, all sports have uniforms, almost all full contact sports have body protection of some sort. how are we different? our uniforms garb, true we dont always match but i've seen alot of great teams with uniforms that didn't match. shoulder pads, shin guards, helmets used when needed in modern sports. our padding is anything from leather to steel mail links, they all serve the same purpose to defend the wearer. have you ever wanted to play a game of football and saw another group of people playing and noticed that their teams were uneven? what do you do, you go up and ask to join a team. the team you play with an "alliance" is formed with those team members for the sake to win the game. and yes rivalries run DEEP in ALL SPORTING events including belegarth. as far as i can tell we are a sport, and if i had to choose between sport and l.a.r.p. i say sport! and as far as the name thing goes, haven't you ever heard of a boxer with a nickname? but hell everyones entitled to theie own opinions, this is just my own

[The Lost Celt]

Truthfully Vek it can go both ways, I was going to compare it to paintball as far as wargame goes, and I agree with that a lot, since I tend to be one of the bigger anti-rp guys out there... Now about sports paintball players have their uniforms and football players have thiers, but they don't pretend to be anything more than paintball and football players. I won't argue that this IS a sport. But as far as safety equipment armor isn't required since "the weapons are padded bla bla bla" - anyone who's been hit with a 310 pound monster wielding double red in the floating ribs would think otherwise. And *most* amour I've seen on the shield doesn't offer much for protection (not talking edged weapons... see above, I really don't wanna hear it)
But tell me about your persona, are you human or other? Roman/Celt/Sasquatch doesn't matter. Sure it may be superficial, but the point is to add atmosphere to the game. And technically that's a larp element as far as I'm concerned. Hell, if you weren't wearing garb or some kid was running around in elf ears would this all feel the same? Would at be as fun?
That's all I'm trying to say - hell as far as I'm concerned I could give two **** what people think this sport is, what I have a problem with is the people who feel they need to justify the game by making it more than what it is, and passing their snooty attitudes on to someone else. I'm not here to prove anything dammit I'm just here to fight and have fun! And lately that ego ****'s been cramping my style. That's all...

So yeah, didn't have so much to do with this topic so much as it's just been building for a while...

[vek]

well... it diddn't seem that way from top posts, but if thats the way you really feel, and your saying what you have a problem with are guys that feel the rp is more important than the sport and are trying to force that on you and thats what * you off...then...i'm with 100% with ya buddy. is that what your trying to say?

[The Lost Celt]

*slaps forehead* No Vek, actually somewhat of the opposite... All I'm really saying is something like what I tell my local realm leaders whenever they get to politikking - SHUT UP AND FIGHT!

People * about what's lacking in this game sometimes, the realism, weapons weight, armor standards, historical accuracy, flails, elf ears, whatever. Now I'm not saying I don't agree with some of the stances but sometimes they bring other people down or it keeps them from enjoying the game themselves.

Lets put it another way... I was reading the armourarchive, someone wove a churburg breastplate out of leather, it looked absolutely awesome (house of the iron wolf, isn't he dagorhirrim?)

First words outta some pricks mouth is "Ah, shame you wasted your time at something fantasy"

Now leatherworker dude took a good amount of time, creativity and energy to try a new idea/style and all the other one did is sit there and *. I'm just getting sick of the peanut gallery.

The whole point was some people need to lighten the hell up and enjoy the game

[vek]

i see what you mean, and about the leather thing, that was a **** up comment. sorry it took so long to get the point, better understanding in person

[Shratisfaction]

and here I was thinking this whole time that Belegarth was a STD!

[MagnusofDregoth]

This is more akin to Live Action Warhammer then Live Action D&D.

Right on, Winfang! You took the words right out of my mouth. I think that's the perfect analogy--we all have our own fighting style, armor, weapons, abilities, etc., and it's those qualities, rather than our 'alignment' or 'interaction' that determine our success in combat.