[ANCIENT HISTORY] What is Folk?

Party-approved discussion of ArmA 3
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fer
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[ANCIENT HISTORY] What is Folk?

Post by fer »

What is Folk?
The first thing you need to understand about Folk is that it isn't gaming group, it's set of gaming sessions.

Okay, what does that mean?
Folk is founded on the concept of low friction gaming.

No, you're really not helping
Low friction gaming is for people who want to play ArmA2, DCS and / or Lock On (and maybe other stuff) with other, sensible, like-minded people, but have busy lives and little spare time. Low friction gaming aims to make it as easy as possible to access high-quality multiplayer experiences.

Just give it to me in practical terms!
Folk is for people who want to read their children / cat / goldfish bedtime stories and then shoot people in the face for a few hours! All on the same night! And on a school night, too!

I get it now. I think. Wait, how often?
The official Folk session for each game happens weekly. There might be more sessions, but they might not be official.

What if I can't make it?
That's absolutely fine: Folk is a set of sessions, not a group. If you're too busy separating toddlers in a knife fight, or watching an important episode of Desperate Housewives, nobody will hold it against you. You can let us know if you like, but there's no obligation. We'll just assume the worst. About the toddlers.

So Folk is a bit like a bar?
Yes. Come to the bar; don't come to the bar. We'll always remember your face. Or at least we'll remember your nick.

Can anyone come along?
Yes. We like it if you write to us in advance and let us know you're coming (folk@ferstaberinde.com). It helps us ensure we have an adequate supply of AK-47s and biscuits. We also like it if you register for an account on this forum.

Will there be a test, or hazing?
No, we suspect you know which end of the rifle to point at the enemy. Folk is optimistic that way. And if we're wrong, we'll show you, not shout at you.

Alright, but I'm already a member of a gaming group or clan
Great! Wear your tags, tell us about where you come from. Just please remember that in Folk, we're all just folk. So whilst we'll respect your tags and ranks, they won't mean anything special here.

So there aren't ranks here?
Nope. There are hosts: a few people whose job it is to ensure things run smoothly and everyone has a good time. They're there to help you, and make sure nobody eats the flowers. Think: bar staff. Everybody who isn't a host is a guest.

So are there lots of rules?
As few as we can get away with. Again, the assumption is that you're good people, and you know how to behave. Folk is optimistic.

BTW, where does the stupid name come from?
It's from a line in the film Serenity.

Does Folk have a theme tune?
Of course it does! Dayvan Cowboy by Boards of Canada. That came before all the minor details about mission styles. What did you think, that it was going to be something by Imogen Heap? Silly!

Alright. So what do I do next?
You should register for a Folk forum account, because that allows you to receive important announcements and communicate with the hosts (and vice versa). After that, and before joining a Folk session, please read these threads:
Anything else?
Besides those threads, everything else in ArmA2: Need to Know is worth reading.

Wait! Wait! Wait! I have other questions!
Please PM Fer or one of the other hosts (again, you'll need a forum account). We'll try to help you as much as we can.

Welcome to Folk :v:

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fer
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Re: What is Folk?

Post by fer »

logo_folk_large_fff_on_000.png
logo_folk_large_fff_on_000.png (8.17 KiB) Viewed 4901 times
Why does the Folk logo look like that?
Like what?

Y'know; like that
Er, well, here's something from a really old thread:
fer wrote:Safe in the knowledge that this won't make it to Pseuds corner, I'll explain:

I guess we'd call it a trope these days, but in many westerns there's a recurring story about people who moved out to the frontier following the civil war. Whilst many such characters are painted as defeated Southerners, it's not universally so (John Wayne played a retired yankee colonel driving cattle in The Undefeated). The common link is a rejection of the overly-structured, rigid society taking shape 'back East', and a sense that genuine opportunity and freedom can only be found in the wilder territories. When Joss Whedon made Firefly (and then Serenity), which are unapologetic space westerns, this was pretty much the show's central theme: a group of individuals who for their own reasons headed out to the periphery in search of liberty (of a kind). They're not the best films ever made, but the theme always resonated with me. The name Folk comes from a bit of dialogue in Serenity:
Trade Agent: You all are Browncoats, eh? Fought for independence? Petty thieving ain't exactly soldiers' work.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: War's long done. We're all just folk now.
After 3 years of being involved with ShackTactical at a high level, I left because for various personal reasons, but wanted to continue playing ArmA. The difference was that whilst I wanted to create a looser, less structured environment, I've no time for the chaos that is the typical pubbie server.

One night in Budapest it struck me that having the mythical west as the thematic driver might be interesting. Not in a particularly overt way, mind; it's not like I plan on handing out cowboy hats! But it is a driver in the sense that it helped shaped the idea of a session in which personal choice and liberty is valued, and where the guests come from a variety of different groups.

In making the logo I wanted to combine the western idea with the computer game imagery of my youth, when gaming was just pure fun and devoid of politics. So I made something that (hopefully) looks like a loading screen from a game about the west, the kind of title which might have existed for the ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64. Do listen to Dayvan Cowboy by Boards of Canada, because it really is the musical equivalent of what I was going for: a modern, digital interpretation of the mythical west.

There you go. I'll understand if you're :psyboom: all by now! Ultimately, all of this most likely doesn't matter, so long as the end result is a session which everyone enjoys.

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Re: What is Folk?

Post by fer »

Moving this out of the archives so that comrade SuicideKing may be better informed about the past. :eng101:

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