Breaking News: The Nordic Tradition is a Lie

[Peter Nordstrand]

Aha! There it is again, but in a different form. So the Nordic tradition people are the avant garde theory experimentalist thinkers and the rest of us are not reflecting at all, because we just want to have fun?

Well, okay. Which is it: Am I not Nordic or am I a "fan of the 'plain fun' school"? Seriously, if these are the only two alternatives, which one applies to me?

Oh, and I mean all of the above in the friendliest possible way.


Cheers,

/Peter

[Larry L.]

Hm ... why did I derail this? My first post is actually entirely true. Well, except that I do know Eirik Flathead's real name.

Hmm. Well, I'm actually completely in the dark about whatever "controversy" you were talking about in the first place, so I presumed you were being silly. Out of any context, it does sound silly.

[Peter Nordstrand]

Oh. There is no controversy. Or at least there wasn't one until I created it in this very thread. :-)

And yeah, it is kind of silly.


Cheers,

/Peter

[J. Tuomas Harviainen]

Hey, Tuomas.  What happened with your paper thing?  Can I talk about it now?

Yes you can. It got what it deserved, i.e. heavy criticism based on questions of reliability and word formulation. I'll revise it eventually, run a few result confirmation experiments and try get it published on some peer-reviewed forum. But feel free to talk about it already. It's public now.

By the way, the seminar was excellent.

[J. Tuomas Harviainen]

Well, okay. Which is it: Am I not Nordic or am I a "fan of the 'plain fun' school"? Seriously, if these are the only two alternatives, which one applies to me?

You are of course a Nordic who likes his games less avant-garde than the more vocal guys do. Honestly, the only reason it's called "Nordic style/tradition/etc." is because the damn Americans find that definition convenient. Any player from the Nordic area knows what the scene over here is actually like. Liking games "for fun" isn't a denial of reflection, just a different reflective focus.

[Peter Nordstrand]

Hi again,

You are being very courteous, Toumas, which I appreciate.

Actually, the (admittedly silly, because it doesn't really matter) problem I have is just that you are speaking for me. I don't like avant garde? You don't know that. I play just "for fun"? Did I say that? No I didn't. You did. In fact, your kind of avant garde experimental theory making is not the only one. There are many ways, even in our little corner of the world, right?

Nuff said.

Have fun at Barnens ö.

All the best,

/Peter

[J. Tuomas Harviainen]

Actually, the (admittedly silly, because it doesn't really matter) problem I have is just that you are speaking for me. I don't like avant garde? You don't know that. I play just "for fun"? Did I say that? No I didn't. You did. In fact, your kind of avant garde experimental theory making is not the only one. There are many ways, even in our little corner of the world, right?

I'll flog the dead horse a bit more: in contrast to what many people on rpg fora may believe, the so-called "Nordic" style has mostly been about openness to new ideas and the willingness to question conventions of play and game design, not about being avant-garde for its own sake. (Nor is it about beloging in a certain group.) Thus if you're doing experimentation for the sake of seeing what can actually be done using role-playing and telling others about it, you're actually following the supposedly "Nordic" ideals. But, if you're doing experimentation (or being avant-garde) but not spreading the knowledge, it's still gaming for fun. Just more advanced fun. (Which, if it must be said out loud, I do not consider any less worthy or important. For each their own style of play.)

(And what's wrong with you Swedes? You all misspell my name. Always. Why is it so hard to see that it's just a Thomas with a "u" instead of "h"?)

Thank you, I intend to have a great time at Barnens ö. Hopefully I'll also manage to interview a lot of people for my upcoming research project.

[matthijs]

I'm all against the Nordic tradition. But I find myself doing more and more of the Nordic stuff. Experimenting with shared hypnotic fiction, participating in an undie LARP*, and trying to break the borders between LARP and tabletop.

It's a granfalloon.

* An undie LARP != an indie LARP. Undie LARPS are when you play in your underwear.

[Merten]

I am sure that whatever it is they are doing is fine and fulfilling and groundbreaking and whatever, but, well, I'm not part of it. Most of us are not.

Actually, we're not doing anything. The last time we roleplayed was when Aftermath was all new and shiny. After that, we've just talked about playing. But one of these days, we will be playing. We'll do it with Aftermath. And we'll have a giant sheet with an unbelieveably large flowchart of EVERYTHING.

Aftermath. Gotta love it.

[Thunder_God]

The Nordic Tradition is all part of my secret plot to take over the world with a cult of free forming viking Larpists based in Minnesota who eat only bacon.  But you can't blame me for Iraq, that was all Dubya's idea, he wanted a war and couldn't spell South Korea...me, I was pushing for France.

Watch his eyes as he lies! We who are not of American descent all know that there is no such place as "France"! You only use it to rally support amongst your constituency!

You'll have to try again and do better Mr. Mazza!