BELEgARtH AND

RoLE pLAYiNgI

BELEgARtH

Dungeons & Dragons was the first most popular role-playing game. Since its introduction in 1974 up until today, Dungeons & Dragons remains the best-known and best-selling role-playing game.

Another well-known role-playing game is World of Warcraft. The massive multiplayer online role-playing game was introduced in 2001 and has attracted over seven million subscribers as of mid-July.

Recently a new trend has been gaining a lot of popularity. Live Action Role-Playing. Participants physically portray characters in fictional settings and improvise their characters’ actions.

Belegarth Medieval Combat Society is a live-action, full contact medieval combat sport. Players use padded weapons to engage in combat simulations ranging from one-on-one duels to large battles.

Belegarth is a live-action, full contact medieval combat sport. Players use padded weapons to engage in combat simulations ranging from one-on-one duels to large battles. Founded in 1975, there are hundreds of realms across the United States with a few in Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

AUDiENcE

Those who participate in Belegarth are unofficially dubbed Belegarthians. These people take on a new identity when they take part in Belegarth-related events, and we want to learn more about those dual lifestyles they take on.

As curious observers of people, we want to learn and understand the nuances of a sub-group of people. We’re interested in what this specific group of people are all about and we want to show people what they do.

Spending time with various Oregon Belegarthians will help us understand them and their interests in fantasy role-playing.

It’s a unique lifestyle that is often overlooked or mocked, yet there are so many people participating in it. We want to understand why.

BELEgARtHiANBREAkDoWN

We predict there are two groups of Belegarthians:

1. The Rookie Belegarthian This Belegarthian may just be getting started or have participated sporadically over 1-3 years. He goes to his realms practices when he can, but it isn’t his very first priority. He may go to a battle event once a year, but he doesn’t allot too much of his time to his role-playing life.

2. The Tenured Belegarthian This is the hardcore role-player. She has a separate closet for her garb. Her hallway closet is filled with her home-made weapons. She uses her vacation days to go to the Belegarth weekend battle in California.

We want to see what pushes someone to make the jump from Rookie to Tenured Belegarthian, or what holds them back from dedicating too much of their life to the medieval combat sport.

BELEgARtHiANAMBitioN

In order to better understand these people and why they harness this unique passion we need to know what motivates them and how that plays out in their real lives and their role-playing lives.

1. Role-Playing Interests We understand that role-playing takes on many forms. We would like to see what other role-playing activities these people participate in and the differences and similarities between them.

2. Dual Identities One of the most intriguing aspects of role-playing is that the people involved in it have two identities and lifestyles they live. We want to have a good grasp and understanding of both their real lives and their role-playing lives.

pRoJEcT pHAsiNg

To gain a full understanding of the people that participate in Belegarth, we will need to spend a lot of time with them and experience their lifestyle. We also plan to engage in discussions and interviews to gain insights and knowledge to strengthen our comprehension of their interest in role-playing.

PROJECT PHASING PLAN:1. Project set-up and planning2. Cultural research and immersion3. Recruitment and discussion guide4. Fieldwork5. Research analysis and output production

tHE AppRoAcH

OBJECTIVE: Understand the nuances of role-playing and Belegarth enthusiasts.

WHAT WE WANT TO LEARN:1. Understanding Belegarthians and role-

players. Their motivations, interests outside of role-playing, and both of their lifestyles/identities.

2. Fully grasp the culture of Belegarth and role-playing and how the people involved contribute to it.

3. Make sense of why it’s a lifestyle and interest that many tend to mock.

tHE AppRoAcHkEY tHEMEs

WHAT WE WANT TO LEARN: Who participates in live action role-playing?What motivates them?How did they get started in role-playing?What are their proudest moments?Why do they role-play?What are their values when role-playing?What does their normal day look like outside of their role-playing?What does their day look like while role-playing?What do they get out of role-playing?What do people close to them think of their role-playing?What are their social circles?Who are they interacting with while role-playing?Who are they interacting with outside of Belegarth?How has role-playing and participating in Belegarth changed their lives?How has Belegarth and role-playing evolved?What are other’s perceptions of role-playing?What is their role-playing identity’s style?Where do they seek role-playing and Belegarth knowledge?Do they engage with players from other realms? How? Why?

tHE MEtHoLogY

DEtAiLs

CULTURAL IMMERSIONWe want to immerse ourselves in the role-playing our subjects participate in. This will include dressing like them, playing with them, and really getting involved in their Belegarth sport.

IN-HOME INTERVIEWSWe will conduct at least one in-depth interview for a minimum of four different realms throughout Oregon. This will allow us to not only immerse ourselves in their culture and their respective realms.

DAY IN THE LIFE SHOOTSWe will select at least two role-players who we find most interesting and intriguing and spend a full day with them. Our objective with this is to observe both of their lifestyles and identities. We will be able to detail their differing behaviors, styles, personalities, and surroundings between their real lives and their role-playing lives.

tHE MEtHoLogY

REALMS

OREGON REALMSBabylon – Bend

Pyke – Portland

Hanging Gardens of Babylon – Ashland

Nomads – Columbia River

Tir na nÓg – University of Oregon

Valhalla – Portland State University

Wrythyk – La Grande

REcRUitMENt

We have no particular guidelines for the people we choose to recruit for our in-home interviews and day in the life followings.

We’re mainly looking for people with a great knowledge of Belegarth role-playing and an interesting lifestyle outside of Belegarth.

We also require this person to be willing to open up to us and be honest with their mindsets, motivations, and feelings.

oUtpUtDeck presentation to share and debrief our findings.

Short video to share our findings and the people and experiences we’ve encountered through the research we’ve conducted.

pRoposED tiMELiNE

FEBRUARY 10 – 15Project set-up and planning

FEBRUARY 16 – MARCH 1Cultural research and immersion

MARCH 2 – 8Recruitment and discussion guide

MARCH 9 –22Fieldwork

MARCH 23 – 30Research analysis and output production

*Subject to change

tHANk YoUChris Drachkovitch | Gianna Graziano | Will Peters | Taylor Tsuji