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All must play.
Players for players!
Larpfund is a fund to support greater diversity in larping. We help organisers subsidise tickets for those who need them. Larpfund is a player driven initiative: join us!
traWe believe that the nordic larp community should be accessible to everyone and that we, as a player community, are the ones responsible for making this a reality.
Join us.
5€ is barely an elf ear at the market...
Background
Larp has always been a hobby of great variety. Dressed in costume and masked by character, our hobby has always managed to blur, if not erase, some of the things that set us apart as humans; giving rise to a community where people of very disparate backgrounds and circumstances have a place. The benefits that the hobby as a whole has been able to reap from this fact are undeniable - a multitude of voices, attitudes, ideas and knapsacks, all blending together to provide the colorful landscape of Nordic Larp that we so enjoy.
Unfortunately, we fear that this state of being might be rapidly coming to an end, and that as larp matures and its practitioners age, another form of “diversity” now threatens one of the very pillars that helped form the community during its infancy and adolescence. Many larps are no longer simple friends-in-the-forest affairs, but rather elaborate productions with significant production values, stunning venues with food and lodging included in the price. Organisers have also become more professional, and wisely less prone to take risks with their personal economies. Naturally, this means that price increases, often dramatically, and we have followed closely the ongoing discussions on event pricing over the last few years. Even if there still is a substantial amount of cheaper larps available, almost all of the well-known, high-profile larp events are in the higher price range, and this threatens to create a sharp divide between those who can routinely afford them, and those who cannot.
Easy solutions to this dilemma are difficult to envision, given that this is a struggle that is also endemic to society as a whole, but we have decided to attempt to go straight to the core of the problem. We have established a fund that seeks to alleviate this disparity. The fund accepts and seeks contributions from individual larpers as well as public institutions, companies invested in the hobby and initiatives for inclusion in the Nordic countries. Via a simple application process (for now: drop us an email) larp organisers apply for a certain number of reduced tickets to their larp that they then offer to players in need. It will always be the larp organisers who decide what the criteria for "in need" for their particular event is. We just hand out the money. We hope that this initiative will at least chip away at what otherwise threatens to polarize a community that has everything to gain from staying as diverse and inclusive as possible.
Why should we care?
In short: Because it will make larping better in the long run. It will bring new insights and ideas to the games, you will have a better chance to meet new and exciting people. And: it is the right thing to do! Everybody wants to be a hero, right?
What could we lose?
- A united player base. Instead we could be getting one that is divided along lines of disposable income, unable to relate to each other since they do not visit each other's larps.
- Significant regrowth potential as younger players will have a hard time getting into the hobby.
- Creativity, spirit and imagination that can only be found in a truly diverse community.
What could we gain?
- A larp community that remains diverse, both when it comes to players and events.
- Increased possibilities to make larp even more diverse, by including hitherto marginalized groups.
- A solution that satisfies both the needs of high production value larps and larpers of reduced means.
