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LARPing and Violent Extremism

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Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#181

Post by [deleted] »

ToValueFunfetti wrote: post #124
viscanti wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These standards will likely make officers go after more genuine LARPers than before. These tips are very problematic if police officers start to follow them. It sounds like it might be a dangerous time to LARP about and plan terrorist acts. That could be very problematic for those who enjoy that as a recreational hobby. But in some ways there's a precedent for it with flying. Lots of people used to love to LARP abo…

I have been interested in planning a bank heist (but obviously not following through). It's sort of the same motivation for lockpicking, LARPing, or even homesteading- an exploration of the criminal world, the fantasy of being a Ocean's 11/Clooney type, the (admittedly, likely false) comfort of being able to make a difference if fascists/Russia/China invaded and took over. I have never given this much thought, as I'v…

[deleted]

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#182

Post by hef19898 »

crazygringo wrote: post #24

I was definitely confused by this article at first, thinking it was some silly guide for law enforcement which can't tell the difference between criminals and LARPers...?? But no -- it's actually about terrorists and criminals trying to claim in court that their criminal planning wasn't that at all, but just LARPing: > For example, after Kaleb Franks was arrested in October 2020 for plotting to abduct Michigan Govern…

And there I was, assuming someone else sees all those militia types and tacticools as LARPing out their war heroism and combat fantasies as adults, only with real weapons instead of wooden ones.

That being said, my wooden "E-11 replica" is still around at my uncles place, 30 odd years later.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#183

Post by hef19898 »

djohnston wrote: post #121
leereeves wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Lots of people used to love to LARP about taking a bomb on a plane Really?

He’s making fun of the absurdity of the parent comment

Was there a bombing plane map in Counter Strike? I vaguely remember a not so popular hostage map from way back the day...

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#184

Post by foota »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #167
ToValueFunfetti wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would pay money for this, but probably not as much as it would cost (assuming that people who want to LARP as bankers/tellers and can't get those jobs don't really exist).

Perhaps, after the AI singularity, it will become trendy for us all to LARP our former jobs for amusement.

...bank robber?

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#185

Post by Y-bar »

pseudalopex wrote: post #106
lelandbatey wrote: post #4

Some key context, provided if you read the article, is that this exists to outline the difference between LARPing and Violent Extremism, especially as some violent extremists have claimed that their plans of violence were only "LARPing" and not bona-fide terrorism. The exact differences they point out, such as "spectators being welcome" vs "secrecy is paramount" are clear, universal, well thought out, and interesting…

The article had many good points. But many claims about LARP were not universal or not clear. Some performances are private. Some LARP is solo. The article acknowledged small groups but the table did not. People in many hobbies discuss law enforcement concerns, guidance to each other if confronted by an officer, and criminal cases where the hobby is mentioned. Role players have confirmation bias like other people. So…

I did not read the article as being that black and white, rather as a set of rules of thumb. Such as if enough boxes are ticked the investigator should maybe consider that it is not a real LARPer, but rather someone who tries to hide behind a veil of LARPing.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#186

Post by aaron695 »

leereeves wrote: post #117
viscanti wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These standards will likely make officers go after more genuine LARPers than before. These tips are very problematic if police officers start to follow them. It sounds like it might be a dangerous time to LARP about and plan terrorist acts. That could be very problematic for those who enjoy that as a recreational hobby. But in some ways there's a precedent for it with flying. Lots of people used to love to LARP abo…

> Lots of people used to love to LARP about taking a bomb on a plane Really?

[dead]

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#187

Post by hutzlibu »

weswilson wrote: post #127

Most of us here probably think of LARPing as fantasy-genre LARPing, but I think this is more pointed toward Mil-Sim LARPing. These are hardcore airsoft guys who go buy comms, night-vision, IR, with airsoft weapons that function like real weapons. There are multi-day events with NATO vs RUS forces. Look up "milsim west" on Youtube and you can get a sense of it. There's a good amount of folks that just like to have fun…

Yeah, I participated in some events in germany and here it is probably especially in a grey zone, because normally in germany everything militia like is strictly forbidden. Paintball is not allowed with camouflage or red paint. And then you can legally go to an event on a former military hangar with bunkers and then there is an actual tank and only people in camouflage and realistic looking weapons..

So if you would want to create a stealth militia in germany, this would probably be the way to go.

And in the events I participated, I knew the orga and I knew they were clearly into LARPing - but with some of the other people who attended, I was not so sure.

So I really hope it stays legal as it is a lot of fun, but I also hope it does not go out of hand, as increasingly with covid, there has been some radicalisation in certain groups ...

edit: to share an anecdote of why it is interesting to me, aside from the shooting:

There was a big event last year, with an apocalyptic setting. Killervirus and Zombies, Military and Civilians. I happened to be on the military side, which was (by design) better organised and equipped. And during the game, it turned out, that our side was the evil side, who originally released the zombie virus. But what to do? Everyone else was potentially an enemy, who maybe wanted to shoot you and the people around you, your trusted comrades. So you stick with them for survival. As I have never been to the military, this was an interesting inside into how conflict and war crimes works and why people stay in line, despite they distance themself from what they are representing.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#189

Post by smrq »

2devnull wrote: post #166
prepend wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> assumption-of-LARPing. And this seems accurate as the ratio of larping to terrorism is probably millions to one. Thousands of people larp every day in the US. Terrorism is fairly rare with maybe a few events per year.

“Terrorism is fairly rare” The only people who make that claim are terrorists.

Not only is this a weird generalization, but it doesn't even make sense. Why would a terrorist want to downplay the frequency of terror incidents? That defeats the entire purpose of trying to, you know, inspire terror.

Re: LARPing and Violent Extremism

#190

Post by Angostura »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #146
foota wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess your best bet would be to have someone design a fictional bank to rob.

Yeah, if people who want to LARP as bank robbers could be paired with people who want to LARP as bankers, tellers, and cops, that could be an answer to the incipient commercial real-estate crisis. Just a matter of getting the right people in the same room together.

Not live action - but a lot of this goes on in GTA roleplay servers - you can watch it on Twitch, for example https://twitch.tv/uhsnow
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