markusdark
Knight
Hey everyone.
Anyone who has read these boards knows me as someone who tends to have strong, often conflicting viewpoints of players and the Alliance game as a whole. However, a lot of people don’t know me well enough to understand that I do this because I wish to bring around discussion as well as having people consider their viewpoints from as many angles as possible.
Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that I may have been overzealous in some, if not most, of these pursuits and now there are many people who simply roll their eyes when they see that I have posted and simply dismiss anything I might say because it has my name attached to it.
So I wanted to clear the air.
First off, I do like the Alliance system. I could go into a long list of what is good about it but I think the fact that it has been running for over 20 years, with September being the 20th Anniversary of the fated Dragon Magazine article written by Mike Ventrella that catapulted NERO, and LARPing in general, nationwide speaks more volumes than I could.
I also enjoy the games that I have attended – all of them. If I had felt that one had been bad for me, I would have asked for my money back. However, not only have I spent money traveling all over the US to the various chapters to experience the realm of Fortannis in all of its glory but I have also donated over five figures worth of goods, either purchased or made by me, to the chapters that either requested them or I felt would simply make a good addition. And I consider it all money well spent.
I like the Alliance.
Now there has been some issue between myself and my local chapter. And I decided to do what I have always told others; and that is if you’re not happy with the way things are going, you can do three things: shut up and hope that things get better while playing a game you’re not happy in, talk to staff to try and change things, or quit. I did the first two and finally did the third in September 2010. Although I won’t discuss things that were said (or emailed) in private, I will say two things: First, that there were misunderstandings on both sides. Second, I never have a right to try and tell someone how to run their game – especially if I’m no longer playing in it. I can try to persuade change the game if I'm a patron/player but cannot attempt to do it with a blunt instrument.
I like the Alliance.
But I actually enjoy more the ‘low fantasy’ games where combat is quick, dirty, deadly, decisive and quite often the very last resort. Many of my suggestions here are to try and bring a little more of that ‘grit’ into the Alliance so that I (and quite a few others I have talked to over the years) would see even more dimension put forth. And I’m not saying that there isn’t any currently – there definitely is. Just that there is always room for more. The organic growth of the rules system is proof of that and things just keep getting better.
So, if anyone has taken offense by what they read in my postings, I am sorry for that. It was never my intent. And I hope that the next time you see or read one of my posts, you’ll put aside past feelings you might have against me and my posting style and simply look at what I am saying and see if you feel it has merit. In return, I’ll try to post a little more “gently”, (and I think I’ll institute a policy of only responding to the subject of a post 3 times) including defending my position. I should have covered all the bases and cleared up any questions by then and anything more would just be redundant.
In the end, I like Alliance.
Sincerely,
Mark Mensch
(formerly) Alliance San Francisco
P.S - I had thought about posting this in the General Discussion forum as it does pertain to the game but figured that the Off Topic was better suited. If a mod feels otherwise, feel free to move it.
Anyone who has read these boards knows me as someone who tends to have strong, often conflicting viewpoints of players and the Alliance game as a whole. However, a lot of people don’t know me well enough to understand that I do this because I wish to bring around discussion as well as having people consider their viewpoints from as many angles as possible.
Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that I may have been overzealous in some, if not most, of these pursuits and now there are many people who simply roll their eyes when they see that I have posted and simply dismiss anything I might say because it has my name attached to it.
So I wanted to clear the air.
First off, I do like the Alliance system. I could go into a long list of what is good about it but I think the fact that it has been running for over 20 years, with September being the 20th Anniversary of the fated Dragon Magazine article written by Mike Ventrella that catapulted NERO, and LARPing in general, nationwide speaks more volumes than I could.
I also enjoy the games that I have attended – all of them. If I had felt that one had been bad for me, I would have asked for my money back. However, not only have I spent money traveling all over the US to the various chapters to experience the realm of Fortannis in all of its glory but I have also donated over five figures worth of goods, either purchased or made by me, to the chapters that either requested them or I felt would simply make a good addition. And I consider it all money well spent.
I like the Alliance.
Now there has been some issue between myself and my local chapter. And I decided to do what I have always told others; and that is if you’re not happy with the way things are going, you can do three things: shut up and hope that things get better while playing a game you’re not happy in, talk to staff to try and change things, or quit. I did the first two and finally did the third in September 2010. Although I won’t discuss things that were said (or emailed) in private, I will say two things: First, that there were misunderstandings on both sides. Second, I never have a right to try and tell someone how to run their game – especially if I’m no longer playing in it. I can try to persuade change the game if I'm a patron/player but cannot attempt to do it with a blunt instrument.
I like the Alliance.
But I actually enjoy more the ‘low fantasy’ games where combat is quick, dirty, deadly, decisive and quite often the very last resort. Many of my suggestions here are to try and bring a little more of that ‘grit’ into the Alliance so that I (and quite a few others I have talked to over the years) would see even more dimension put forth. And I’m not saying that there isn’t any currently – there definitely is. Just that there is always room for more. The organic growth of the rules system is proof of that and things just keep getting better.
So, if anyone has taken offense by what they read in my postings, I am sorry for that. It was never my intent. And I hope that the next time you see or read one of my posts, you’ll put aside past feelings you might have against me and my posting style and simply look at what I am saying and see if you feel it has merit. In return, I’ll try to post a little more “gently”, (and I think I’ll institute a policy of only responding to the subject of a post 3 times) including defending my position. I should have covered all the bases and cleared up any questions by then and anything more would just be redundant.
In the end, I like Alliance.
Sincerely,
Mark Mensch
(formerly) Alliance San Francisco
P.S - I had thought about posting this in the General Discussion forum as it does pertain to the game but figured that the Off Topic was better suited. If a mod feels otherwise, feel free to move it.