[Roleplaying] Playground Worlds available as a free download

[Geir-Tore Brenne]

Bravo!
This is the best of the knutepunkt-books. Recomended as a starting  
point for those who wish to check out what has been written  
theoretically within the tradition.

Geir



On Dec 18, 2009, at 4:26 PM, Jaakko Stenros wrote:

> Hello,
>
> We are pleased to announce that Playground Worlds: Creating and
> Evaluating Experiences of Role-Playing Games, published last year in
> Solmukohta, is now also available as a free download. The book
> features 25 articles on Nordic live action role-playing games.
>
> http://www.ropecon.fi/pw/
>
> (If you link to the book, please use this address as it is the one
> that will be stable in the future as well.)
>
> Playground Worlds is a collection of articles on role-playing games by
> leading researchers, artists and other experts. The book documents the
> theory and practice of the Nordic role-playing scene ? one of the most
> vibrant in the world -? and presents numerous methods and techniques
> that are directly applicable to larp design and production. It also
> offers a peek into some Anglo-American role-playing cultures.
>
> The book is divided into three sections. Community and Journalism
> includes articles on role-player communities written particularly with
> an eye for approachability. Art and Design covers role-play as the
> product of a creative process, exposing philosophies and intentions
> behind specific role-playing works while providing advice and guidance
> for prospective designers. The Research and Theory section focuses on
> recent advances in analytic and academic thought on role-play.
>
> Playground Worlds is edited by Markus Montola and Jaakko Stenros.
> Ropecon ry published the paperback version of the book for Solmukohta
> 2008 in April 2008. You can also still order paper copies.
>
> Reactions to the book in the role-playing game community:
>
> "This book is a gem! A collection of diverse and quite useful articles
> on roleplaying, with a strong emphasis on live action play." (Jason
> Morningstar)
>
> "If the idea of scholarly discussion of larp comes as a surprise to
> you, this book may deliver quite a shock. There are some contributors
> that are full-time widely-published game theorists, who specialise in
> larp theory. They?re writing about envelope-pushing larp, but the
> analysis is often generalisable to more garden-variety larp. If you?re
> not familiar with the Nordic larp scene, expect to read some articles
> while thinking ?what the hell?? Read with an open mind, and ideas that
> seem crazy or outlandish at first may grow on you." [...]
> "A thought-provoking collection of works on roleplay, and innovative
> larp in particular. Well presented, dense with content, and definitely
> worth the purchase price to get it in hardcopy." (Ryan Paddy)
>
> The table of contents looks like this:
>  * Introduction by Markus Montola & Jaakko Stenros
>
> Journalism & Community
>  * The Role-Players? School: Østerskov Efterskole by Malik Hyltoft
>  * Leave the Cat in the Box: Some Remarks on the Possibilities of
> Role-Playing Game Criticism by Jussi Ahlroth
>  * The Dragon Was the Least of It: Dragonbane and Larp as Ephemera
> and Ruin by Johanna Koljonen
>  * Producing A Nice Evening by Anna Westerling
>  * Design for Work Minimization by Kåre Murmann Kjær
>  * The Children of Treasure Trap: History and Trends of British Live
> Action Role-Play by Nathan Hook
>
> Art & Design
>  * Frail Realities: Design Process by Justin Parsler
>  * High Resolution Larping: Enabling Subtlety at Totem and Beyond by
> Andie Nordgren
>  * Walking the White Road: A Trip into the Hobo Dream by Bjarke
> Pedersen & Lars Munck
>  * Adventurous Romanticism: Enabling a Strong Adventurous Element in
> Larp by Katri Lassila
>  * Exhuming Agabadan by Matthijs Holter
>  * The Nuts and Bolts of Jeepform by Tobias Wrigstad
>  * Behind the Façade of A Nice Evening with the Family by Anders
> Hultman, Anna Westerling & Tobias Wrigstad
>  * Stupid Stories: Using Narrativism in Designing Agerbørn by Jonas
> Trier-Knudsen
>  * Levelling the Playing Field and Designing Interaction by Troels
> Barkholt-Spangsbo
>  * The Age of Indulgence by Juhana Pettersson
>  * Parlor Larps: A Study in Design by John H. Kim
>
> Research & Theory
>  * 24 Hours in a Bomb Shelter: Player, Character and Immersion in
> Ground Zero by Heidi Hopeametsä
>  * We Are the Great Pretenders: Larp is Adult Pretend Play by Erling  
> Rognli
>  * Are You the Daddy? Comparing Fantasy Play in Children and Adults
> through Vivian Gussin Paley?s A Child?s Work by Andreas Lieberoth
>  * Kaprow?s Scions by J. Tuomas Harviainen
>  * Key Concepts in Forge Theory by Emily Care Boss
>  * Broadcast Culture Meets Role-Playing Culture by Marie Denward &
> Annika Waern
>  * We Lost Our World and Made New Ones: Live Role-Playing in Modern
> Times by Gabriel Widing
>  * Fantasy and Medievalism in Role-Playing Games by Lars Konzack &  
> Ian Dall
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jaakko Stenros & Markus Montola, editors
>
> PS. You can follow the production of our next book at
> http://nordiclarp.wordpress.com/
>
> --
> Jaakko Stenros, researcher         jaakko.stenros at uta.fi  
> +358-40-7520515
>                                      http://jaakkostenros.wordpress.com/
> Game Research Lab
> Tampere Research Center for Information and Media
>    University of Tampere
> http://gamelab.uta.fi/wordpress/
>
> _______________________________________________
> Roleplaying mailing list
> Roleplaying at digra.org
> http://mail.digra.org/mailman/listinfo/roleplaying