Editing Live action role-playing game (section)

==Purpose==
Most LARPs are intended as games for entertainment. Enjoyable aspects can include the collaborative creation of a story, the attempt to overcome challenges in pursuit of a character's objectives, and a sense of immersion in a fictional setting.<ref>{{cite web| last = Bøckman| first = Petter| title = The Three Way Model| work = As Larp Grows Up| publisher = Knudepunkt 2003| year = 2003| url = http://www.laivforum.dk/kp03_book/classics/three_way_model.pdf| access-date = 2011-01-23| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110719064203/http://www.laivforum.dk/kp03_book/classics/three_way_model.pdf| archive-date = 2011-07-19}}</ref> LARPs may also include other game-like aspects such as intellectual puzzles, and sport-like aspects such as fighting with simulated weapons.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bienia |first=Rafael |url=https://zauberfeder-shop.de/Role-Playing-Materials-Download |title=Role Playing Materials |date=2016-04-11 |publisher=Zauberfeder Verlag |isbn=9783938922620 |location=Dissertation. Maastricht University |oclc=981122410 |access-date=2019-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308160408/https://zauberfeder-shop.de/Role-Playing-Materials-Download |archive-date=2021-03-08 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Some LARPs stress artistic considerations such as dramatic interaction or challenging subject matter. [[Avant-garde]] or ''arthaus'' events have especially experimental approaches and [[high culture]] aspirations and are occasionally held in [[fine art]] contexts such as festivals or art museums. The themes of avant-garde events often include politics, culture, religion, sexuality and the [[human condition]]. Such LARPs are common in the [[Nordic countries]] but also present elsewhere.<ref name="Fatland2005arthaus">(Fatland 2005:5)</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Anna|last=Bressanin|title=Fantasy dressing up for live-action roleplay games|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17914502|work=[[BBC News Online]]|date=2012-05-02|access-date=2012-05-03|quote=Nordic art larp is more about exploring a particular emotion, or taking a journey into your own psyche.|archive-date=2016-08-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802100611/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17914502|url-status=live}}</ref>

In addition to entertainment and artistic merit, LARP events may be designed for educational or political purposes. For example, the Danish secondary school {{ill|Østerskov Efterskole|dk}} uses LARP to teach most of its classes.<ref name="Hyltoft2008">{{Cite book |last=Hyltoft |first=Malik |editor=Markus Montola, Jaakko Stenros |title=Playground Worlds|chapter=The Role-Players' School: Østerskov Efterskole|publisher=Ropecon ry|year=2008|isbn=978-952-92-3579-7}}</ref> Language classes can be taught by immersing students in a role-playing scenario in which they are forced to improvise speech or writing in the language they are learning.<ref name="Cheng2007">"{{Cite news|last=Cheng|first=Michael|title=Student perceptions of interactive drama activities|periodical=Journal of Interactive Drama |year=2007 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=1–26 |url=http://www.interactivedramas.info/archive/IDJ_2_3_2007_11.pdf#page=7}}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Politically-themed LARP events may attempt to awaken or shape political thinking within a culture.<ref>(Montola, Stenros & Waern 2009) "Some pervasive larps seek to engage in active dialogue with their social environment. The purpose of such dialogue can be politically or artistically motivated. These games have a message that is aimed either at the players, at bystanders, or society as a whole."</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Andersen|first1=Anita Myhre|last2=Aarebrot|first2=Erik|chapter=Larp in Kamensky forest|title=Larp, the Universe and Everything|publisher=Knutepunkt 2009|year=2009|chapter-url=http://knutepunkt.laiv.org/2009/book/LarpInKamenskyForest/kp09_LarpInKamenskyForest.pdf|access-date=2009-05-05|archive-date=2016-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310030925/http://knutepunkt.laiv.org/2009/book/larpinkamenskyforest/kp09_larpinkamenskyforest.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Because LARP involves a controlled artificial environment within which people interact, it has sometimes been used as a research tool to test theories in social fields such as economics or law. For example, LARP has been used to study the application of [[game theory]] to the development of criminal law.<ref name="DetectionPaper">{{Cite news|last =Cantine|first =Tom|year =1996|title =The Role of Detection in Rule Enforcement|periodical =Masters Thesis|location =Hamilton|publisher =McMaster University|url =http://www.incentre.net/users/tcantine/thesis.html|access-date =2009-12-22|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100519094833/http://www.incentre.net/users/tcantine/thesis.html|archive-date =2010-05-19|url-status =dead}}</ref>