February 22nd - Roleplay Day

meirya

Artisan
Hi all! There is going to be a roleplay day on Sunday, February 22nd. More details forthcoming, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up on the date so you can clear your calendars.
 
Details!!
Feb. 22nd- 1409 Bradley Court, Boulder, CO 80305
This is a clubhouse for an apartment/condo complex. We will begin the IG start at noon. Please do not arrive much sooner as we will be decorating and setting up.
"The clubhouse is located at the center of the townhouse complex. It is a large, two-story building with a large porch. There is an open area in front and a playground area behind. Parking is best done on Chambers Drive, or near the playground on Bradley Dr."
 
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The best place to park is on Chamber's Dr. Then you will walk through the complex to the center where the clubhouse is located.
 
From Zach B:

February RP Day Potluck
Were getting things rolling and the first step is to get the signup sheet out for the potluck! If your thinking of bringing food, please to go http://www.PerfectPotluck.com/meals.php?t=WNIW3954 and sign up (Password is 2015) If you don't feel like signing up and want to bring something, we won't stop you, but this does help us keep an eye on what we are getting a lot of and what we don't have enough of.

The form does ask for an E-mail, this is not public and only so that you can get back in to edit your entries.


From Trace M:
(Unofficial early spoilers)

This will be a roleplay event. NPCs from Plot and select others will be present to chat in a relaxed atmosphere without fear of ogres beating down the door and interrupting your conversation. Hooray!

The theme will be, "The Story Thus Far," allowing our players to get informed and caught up on what's happening in New Acarthia and around the game world -- and allowing all players to remind themselves of the details, and get geared up for the 2015 season. IG theme and details will be presented soon.

The IG location will be New Acarthia.

Weather permitting, there may be light sparring outdoors. There will be no game-sponsored combat; no monsters. No modules. This is a roleplay-centric event.

Event admission is FREE. No XP will be awarded for this event. There will be no Logistics, no check in. You will not be able to use your character's production skills. Your character will not receive Craftsman skill money. EDIT: Teacher cards will not be available, and you cannot be taught skills for Logistical purposes at this event. That said, your skills and spells will be "live" this event should you wish to use them in a Marshaled environment.

Food will be a potluck. A Google Doc will go up soon to help coordinating contributions. There will be some IG cooking contests for both sweet, and savory dishes with IG prizes awarded.

The Duchess will also invite everyone to participate in a late season Light The Way celebration, as described in the Acarthia Players Guide. Players are invited to start decorating and personalizing candles (either real or LED-powered). These will be on display IG, and an IG prize may be awarded for visual appeal. We will not engage in a lengthy public presentation of storytelling surrounding the candles' decoration, however.

The Duchess will also invite local entertainers, singers, and bards to perform if they are so inclined.

We'll be inviting players to bring their team banners and other voluntary contributions toward decorations of the game site.

More to come in great detail soon! This was just to get some basic info out there, and let everyone know we're working on it!
 
NPC roles from outside the Acarthia Plot Committee will be extremely limited in necessity for the February 22 Roleplay Day. There will be no monsters, and no "fishbowl" encounters running at the roleplay day.

If you are hoping to NPC at this event, please let me know immediately. We'll keep you in mind as new roles develop in the event plan. You may contact me at trace.moriarty@gmail.com, or through private message on Facebook.

As there is no admission fee for this event, we encourage our team of hard working full-time volunteers to make a character and relax and enjoy the game atmosphere from the other side of the curtain for this one. Enjoy!

Thanks,
Trace Moriarty
Guest Writer
 
Game hours will be noon to 5:00 pm. Setup before game will be from 10:00 am to noon. Clean up afterward will start at 5:00, I hope will be wrapped up by 7:00 pm.

Trace Moriarty
Guest Writer
 
At this time, all the available NPC roles for this event have been cast. No other NPC roles are available -- and to recap, there will be no monsters, and no "fishbowl" encounters at this event. If you were hoping to NPC for the February 22 Light The Way celebration roleplay day, and you have NOT already spoken with me with about your potential role, please do so immediately -- or there is likely to be no NPC role available for you to play when you show up. Please contact me through Facebook, or at trace.moriarty@gmail.com.

Thanks,
Trace Moriarty
Guest Writer
 
Is this event still open at this late date? I would like to attend but do not yet have a full character. I do have garb, a character name (and some concept for what I want IG) and a fair notion of how to roleplay. With the permission of the powers that be I would like to come.
 
Yup, theres no pre-registration period for this one or anything, just show up and roleplay, sheets are not needed for this event since its an all-roleplay thing
 
Thanks for attending the February 22 "Light The Way" all roleplay event, despite its unfortunate timing in the middle of Snowpocalypse! There were 46 players in attendance at this in-game potluck, and no small number of them were first-time visitors to our game.

Alliance Denver was definitely uncertain how this all-roleplay format would be received among the players, how people would enjoy an event without monsters, formalized plotlines, or modules running. If you have detailed feedback you'd like to offer about this event style, please share your comments either publicly or privately, as appropriate, with the Alliance Denver Local Plot Committee (plot@alliancedenver.com). Share with the game staff know whether you'd like to see other events like this one run again in the future.

Thanks,
Trace Moriarty
Guest Writer for the Light The Way event
 
Im kinda suprised Plot wasnt sure if this would be received well: heres the thing, there is a veeeerrryy large contingent of players in this chapter whos primary background in larp IS this kind of game. Where people show up, costume, and for the most part make game out of the social part of things. We're self sufficient, we're happy being left alone to do our thing, we like just straight-up interacting with other PCs in an IC capacity without the constant threat of stuff coming to kill us. For many of us- thats normal stuff. Sure we like plot, but we dont need it or need very little of it to stay happy. And dont need-need combat related plot at all.

All that accounted for: This went over really well. Its really healthy for character development and interpersonal interactions and its a great format for brand new players to test the waters in the simplest way. I think my ONLY critique is that we should not always have these in a formal IC setting. Something as simple sometimes as 'Tavern Night" with NO nobility NPCs or noble primary authority over the happening would be really good, and be helpful towards giving more attention to our non-nobility playing players.

Bout it : )
 
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I thought the event ran well. The space was very nice, both because it was free and because it was a legitimately good place for a RP event. There were lots of secret rooms for private meetings, tables, chairs, and couches to accommodate discussions, and lots of mingling room. The potluck went well as did the bardic competition and fighting ring. I really liked how the fighting ring was very encouraging of new players. Many players that had never fought with a boffer before gave it a try because everyone was so supportive. I liked having some members of the nobility there and didn't think it hurt anything in terms of role play.

I'll never understand the complaint "those players had a cool thing so that hurt my ability to have fun." I believe that LARPing should be like improv in this regard. Everything should be "yes... and". To me the solution is not to take away fun things from others, but to devote additional resources towards the segments of the population that are not being serviced by plot as extensively. Duchess in town and you can't stand her? Have an equally compelling NPC doing something that cannot be attended while you are attending her. Give players a real choice with their time. Nobility (PC or NPC) cramping your style in Deepjug's Tavern? Head down to "The Shady Bar of Spite and Vitriol" down the street and make fun of all the stuffed shirts while plotting your revenge. In both cases the issue isn't Noble NPCs existing, it is a lack of alternatives (in terms of plot in the first example and location in the second). I think the NPCs did a great job of providing interesting and new characters to roleplay with at this event. I would have also enjoyed to see a few additional non-noble characters as a majority of the roles cast were noble (all but the Vintner I believe). Having high noble NPCs gives explanation for why a pile of Barons leave their estates and trek all the way out to New Acarthia (where apparently they have next to no authority or position). The desire to hob-nob and rub shoulders is important in LARP. The game needs to do a better job of providing for non-noble fun, but why should that be at some other fun's expense?

In that regard, the only bit of constructive criticism I have for the event... I like seeing the players have something driving their conversation. The event was billed as a "recap" game which would have been GREAT given how many new players we had (I think the count was 10), but for I didn't see anything driving that narrative. As a player I decided that I would take take with a number of the new players and do recaps and answer questions myself because I liked the theme so much, but I couldn't hold up the theme by myself. NPCs are a wonderful tool to accomplish this goal.

Additionally, having some "roleplay plots", is very important to driving conversation. Negotiations, deal-brokering, tough moral choices, slander and gossip, recruitment, propaganda, politics, and mystery solving are all potentially fully role play exclusive things that PCs can do at an event like this. The problem is that they need to be set up. The best sorts of political plots are those that present a problem that can only be solved when a character receives help from different (often opposed or unfriendly) groups. The more varied and disparate the groups the better the plot. Even more fun is when the character is in some sort of race with another to finish the goal for whatever reason. Another example is a collaborative plot where different groups have different information and only by pooling and combining that information can they solve the "puzzle". This is often done through rumor sheets at a normal game and I think the RP game would have greatly benefited from rumor sheets. These are just two examples, dozens upon dozens of options exist to encourage roleplay and give the game some meat. I enjoyed the event, but "small talk, the game" is only fun for some of the player base and only once or twice a year. The percentage of players you entertain radically increases and the number of games that this entertainment encompasses also substantially increases the more meat you give the event and the roleplay.

Overall I thought the event was great and would love to attend another one of these during the off season. I hope that you know that I found the bulk of the event very fun and only make some suggestions so it can be even better next year!
 
I dont appreciate the alternative to hanging out with nobility, and the solution to removing ones self from that being reffered to as 'the Tavern of spite and vitriol', John. Dont asign feelings that arent there please. Asking for occasional more room to breath because IC the nobility of this region evidently like to slum it, isnt hate.
 
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B wrote: "We're self sufficient, we're happy being left alone to do our thing, we like just straight-up interacting with other PCs."
You'd be surprised B. Not all of the game is that self sufficient. Event commentaries reflect this.

John: Keep in mind: plot wrote no part of this. We are still in our off season. While I appreciate your suggestions, it was never plot's intent to write anything at all for this. And just so we're clear... this doesn't mean that we will or will not in the future either... just not this go around.
 
I laughed. I am totally going to open up this tavern with that exact name. "You want an ale with that potato asshat?"
"Bartender, the milk is curdled." "Then don't drink it dummy." The customer service will be atrocious. Plates will be thrown and prices will be inflated. lol
 
And you'll notice I wasnt talking about the whole of the game- just a large portion of it, a portion to wich I belong to and talk to people about, and spans multiple groups within the game. You can pick at this comment all you want, its true in the context I presented it.
 
Very fair! I guess for this event this would be my suggestion to the writers of the RP day. I'm not trying to disparage just suggest ways of improvement.

Maybe my comments are responding to a bit of what I have been hearing outside the event, but I keep hearing "Too much Noble plot you should get rid of it" and "I'd like to see an event where the nobles have nothing to do".
 
Those are common sentiments in the game right now, yes. Noble players need to realize why some people are pissed off at them, and Commoner players need to understand that some of the **** that comes down is Plot's doing, not the players of the nobility. That is the short list of systemic problems in the class system at this time (theres more but this isnt that thread). This is something most likely to see some rebalance in the new season.

Lets get back to event review, its more important right now.
 
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