Consolidated Shout-Out and Feedback thread

Miragel

Miragel

Newbie
Some of the boffers I've played in before have done a big thread on the forums to talk about what they liked and wanted to say thanks for as well as provide constructive feedback on. Facebook is awesome and all, but I think having it in a place where the thread won't get buried might be helpful for plot.

Shout Outs -
- Firstly to Barbara and her cooking. I've been to a lot of boffers (and I've run a tavern before) so I especially have to say THANK YOU to Barbara and Pockets and the gal I didnt' know the name of who was also working in the kitchen.
- Our tireless NPCs. There was a gal with red hair who played our pumpkin maiden who did a really nice job with the RP.
- The poor guy who played the sheriff. This poor NPC hiked all the way up to our cabin while team tiatar was having nap time. The RP with him was excellent, and it was nice to have a morality debate. (And thank you for not breaking character as I tried to get myself away and less vulgar)
- The reaction from Team TIatar when one of our crew's honor was besmirched was PRICELESS. The conversation afterwards was awesome.
- "I'll turn this rift around"
- The final battle on Sunday and the image of a poor dwarf being dragged up a hill.
- Thank you to everyone who participated in the Walk of the Dead and the Masquerade Ball. The lights from all the PCs standing together in the field was truly beautiful.
- A huge thank you to those that participated in the Chivalry School! It's so nice to have open debate about the morality of the Code.
- The other nobility (for letting me drag them away occasionally for ridiculous meetings)
- Molly for her baked goods during closing ceremonies. (well worth the cost - SHAMELESS PLUG BUY HER DAMNED COOKIES)
- The Lamplight Guild and the Vigilant were a great deal of fun to RP with this weekend, and I really appreciated them helping me build out the world view of the Kingdom
- NPC camp for kindly letting me take a shower
- Archery lessons with Pockets
- Masq Ball prize support from plot!
- The pinatas and watching everyone dive in for coin and potions
- The site in general (the cabins were awesome)
- I loved any and all of the RP that involved building a larger more complex economy. I really like PCs that are non-combat skilled who are still keen on being involved (Keith I'm looking at you). Just because you don't have combat skills doesn't mean you can't be helpful in the back rows. Every character is valuable and can be put to good use.
- The last combat went really pretty well in terms of watching everyone from the back lines. It's nice to see the strategies coming together.

Feedback -
- I think I need to try and better manage my time so that I can try to get on more mods. I occasionally found myself sitting in the tavern alone (much of which I chalk up to being nobility)
- There is a LOT of geography in this game (which I love and adds flavor). While I love the massive number of locales, one of these games I want to try and create a Kingdom map to hang up in the tavern so we have a reference point to where things are.
- I will admit that initially I was a little concerned about the low level entry into the game, however after a weekend of play I'm actually thankful for the opportunity to relearn the spells, and mechanical dynamics of the effects. The higher level we get, the more complex the carriers. This game is an excellent learning grounds.
- I sincerely hope we can get showers for next game!
- I really appreciated the Sunday plot. Too many games I've played in have had Sunday as the afterthought. While I didn't participate in most of the mods, it seemed like the tempo was fairly even.


Thanks to everyone who showed up! The more bodies, the better the game!

Please feel free to add your thoughts!
-Jules/Juliet
 
I'll say more when I am not just about to fly (I am currently questioning the wisdom of business travel the day after LARP), but I wanted to say thank you to the PCs and the other NPCs for making this event an absolute blast.

I also wanted to add:

- Thank you to everyone who participated in the Walk of the Dead and the Masquerade Ball. The lights from all the PCs standing together in the field was truly beautiful.
Click to expand...

Speaking as someone who was at NPC camp during the procession, seeing the flickering procession of lights through the darkness was incredible and haunting.
 
Yea those lights coming down the road as the Duke and Dargok were fighting in the spirit world were amazing to add to the creepiness of our scene.

There are so many amazing moments... Juliet captured many of them...

The campground
the food
the staff
NPCs who rocked my socks
PC interaction with my paladin and the laws of the land
teaching prof+1 to Dame Kathryn
getting choked up when Dame Kathryn got choked up telling us about her former Baron's return
the final battle
the Saturday night battle
dargok vs. duke
the amazing shape you all left your cabins in!! THANK YOU!!!!
chivalry school
Story telling during the masque.... truly amazing tales and I enjoyed the telling of them too... such animation...

Regrets...
not being able to see as much as I had wanted going on in the tavern during chivalry school and the masque! Had to leave before donut eating!!
not being able to use more portions of the camp (yes, there is more!)
not making it up to the player cabins to see the beautiful decorations!
not asking for PCs to volunteer to NPC sooner... so much of the writeup will be used for next year's Halloween event! LOL
shower situation... grumble grumble
 
Quinn here, the aforementioned redheaded purveyor of pumpkins (so glad people enjoyed that character!). This was my first time in Alliance, and my first time with an RP boffer LARP, and my first LARP of any type in... more years than I care to really think of. ;-) So, I have been very happy to hear that I did a decent job with my sketchy knowledge of this specific game world. :-) Planning to study up, so that shouldn't be as much of a concern soon.

Things that Rocked:

  • Tavern- The food was great, and Barbara was _extremely_ nice about food limitations and my need for more information about what exactly was going to be available. Seriously, drop her an email if you have food issues, she's amazing.
  • Accommodation for my need to be a totally non-combat NPC. (I have a cunning plan to ameliorate this in future, expect an email, Jesse!) I know it can be a pain to have someone who seriously cannot fight when you are trying to represent 30 NPC combatants with 5 NPCs, but no one gave me any grief about it, and I really appreciated that.
  • PCs adapting to the same NPC player being a half-dozen different NPC characters. I promise to make this easier in future by making sure to choose different-colored clothes when I am two people in short succession. Didn't even think about how hard it would be to tell one green shirt from another in the dark, sorry about that.
  • The perfectly honorable and helpful reaction of the players when we hit something I didn't know when I was playing an NPC that should. :-J You guys rocked at not using that for an unfair advantage.
  • And generally the inclusivity I saw in the whole production. I didn't see anyone treated badly because their costume was less involved than anyone elses, or because they were not as smooth with interpersonal interactions. This is definitely a group I can see getting very involved with.

Things that could use some work:

  • A more detailed list for new players of what they will want to bring to their first game (I'm willing to help write this up if that's useful, as I was taking notes throughout the weekend of items I wished I had known to bring).
  • Provision of a campground map with important OOC locations marked for player reference. Confusion IC can work for game, but several OOC conversations that I overheard were lengthened by the need to give the same few directions repeatedly. A map with certain locations marked could speed up certain OOC interactions considerably, leaving more time for IC interaction and speeding up initial logistics.
  • More detailed information posted about what will be available in the Tavern area other than the main meal. I'm not sure how much of the additional items were donated and how many were provided, but a full listing (as much as possible) would help those with food limitations determine if they need to bring something from home for that meal, or just take advantage of the many other options available. Kudos on having so many, that rocks, now make sure people know about them ahead of time so they sell better! :-)
  • Maybe a Meet the Cast as part of closing ceremonies. NPC players don't necessarily get introduced OOC at any point, and you're more likely to get specific information about how they performed if people know the name of the person they are talking about. Especially important for people who played mostly non-speaking parts, as otherwise it might be hard to determine who is being referenced ("Bob" is a lot easier to be sure of than "The tall guy playing a skeleton during the first major combat encounter", for example). As time permits, of course.
 
So this being my very first real LARP event, I really had no idea what to expect. I came into this hoping that it would be more roleplay intensive and immersive than say a tabletop dungeon crawl or an MMO RPG on a PVPRP server (acronyms FTW). What I found is that how it was set up completely allowed for as much roleplay and immersion as I wanted to do, and as an NPC that's pretty great. I can't imagine the opportunity I'll be able to create for myself to roleplay once I decide to switch over to a full time character. It was a really great experience and this group of people is one that I would love to hang around as often as possible. HUGE thanks to Jesse, Barbara, Steve, Mac, Buttons (sorry, that's your permanent name now!), Lacey, Quinn, and everyone else who did a lot of hard work behind the scenes to make it so enjoyable.

Here are some specifics I enjoyed about the game:
-People were patient with me as I fumbled through being a new NPC in and out of combat by not making big deals of mistakes and making helpful suggestions.
-Jesse had hardly any sleep, had a mountain of logistics and plans to try and work through, and a million small things he had to take care of, but he was always patiently answering newbie questions, listening to story ideas, and willing to let plans change as things went along. I was never once stressed out with what was asked of me and always felt taken care of. Thanks!
-Somehow every single time I played a not-so-upstanding NPC, LeGarde and Chris' hobbling (Can you get my your PC name? Might as well since I can never get rid of you) were always stalking me or chasing me through the woods or smacking me around. It was really entertaining for me finding different ways to harass them, and I had some good interactions there.
-Molly and the Doekin winning over Steve the sort of benevolent goblin.
-Learning to work in combat with the other NPCs to the point where it felt like we actually had some strategy and control over the flow of the battle (as much as it may not have seemed like it).
-David teaching me some of the finer points of boffer combat ;)
-The sprawl of the campsite. I would rather walk 50 miles in a weekend and have the feel of an actual town/region than have things be easier and having to use the same area to represent 100 different in game places. I'm told that the 3 most important things in a property are location, location, location, and I think we have it.
-The tavern was perfect for everything we used it for.
-Every time I think about LeGarde and Molly Wagerset, I laugh out loud. It's hard for me to imagine either of you in real life as anything else. Fantastic and immersive roleplay at every encounter. Part of me wants to just be a PC so I can hang out with some of you guys all the time.
-I really enjoyed being an NPC because it was challenging, but mostly because of the great teamwork. We were always fixing each other's costumes, cleaning up after each other, feeding each other, doing each other's makeup, and just helping each other in general. All of you guys were great.

Some things I would like to see:
-Better ways of organizing NPC gear so that we can just grab and go. Applying a decent portion of brain cells to this now and I'll send my ideas over.
-There were a couple times where people got downright argumentative about the application of the rules, even with Jesse. I understand that people will always understand the rules a little bit differently, but that's an OOC thing. It would be a LOT less disruptive to the flow of battle and roleplay if everyone would just be willing to concede on those matters even to their character's detriment and take it up with leadership later.
-It made me kinda sad when so many people went to bed early Friday. There's probably not much we can do about this because people need to sleep, it just makes it hard to plan because we never knew if we would have 5 or 25 PCs for some of the important mods.
-The battleboard was an excellent idea even if it couldn't always represent things exactly as they were happening. Maybe we can find ways to expand and streamline it to convey more info like how many of what kind of NPC are needed and where so the NPCs can help the organizers by getting themselves ready?


Regarding a couple things that aren't really bad or good, I think there was a lot of info out there on how to prepare for the weekend and what to bring, it just may not have been refreshed for the second event from the first.
We have to be careful with maps that represent the site because it limits what places on site we can use for different things. I'm sure we can find ways to work around having some sort of map. It would be kinda cool as a roleplay item to have physical maps printed out and rolled up that characters can buy.

I had an amazing time with you guys and will do it as often as my schedule allows. Thanks to every single one of you for the thought and effort you put into your characters and the game.
 
Thank you all for your feedback! Just remember that in addition to player feedback here, you can also email the plot team privately with any suggestions, likes, dislikes, etc. plot@alliancedenver.com
I also remind you to carefully word your critiques. Constructive criticism is better received rather than griping and whining.... not like anyone has done so thus far bc our players rock!

I am going to attempt to answer some things here and there...

Things that could use some work:

•A more detailed list for new players of what they will want to bring to their first game (I'm willing to help write this up if that's useful, as I was taking notes throughout the weekend of items I wished I had known to bring).
****In addition to the website, and the larger version in the RULE BOOK, there are already exhaustive areas where players can find this. Feel free to add to it if you can think of anything not already mentioned.

•Provision of a campground map with important OOC locations marked for player reference. Confusion IC can work for game, but several OOC conversations that I overheard were lengthened by the need to give the same few directions repeatedly. A map with certain locations marked could speed up certain OOC interactions considerably, leaving more time for IC interaction and speeding up initial logistics.
****A map was at logistics and players can download the map for free off of the girl scouts website if you are still in need of directions.

•More detailed information posted about what will be available in the Tavern area other than the main meal. I'm not sure how much of the additional items were donated and how many were provided, but a full listing (as much as possible) would help those with food limitations determine if they need to bring something from home for that meal, or just take advantage of the many other options available. Kudos on having so many, that rocks, now make sure people know about them ahead of time so they sell better! :-)
****Barbara tries to post things a few days before the event so keep a look out for facebook updates on this.

•Maybe a Meet the Cast as part of closing ceremonies. NPC players don't necessarily get introduced OOC at any point, and you're more likely to get specific information about how they performed if people know the name of the person they are talking about. Especially important for people who played mostly non-speaking parts, as otherwise it might be hard to determine who is being referenced ("Bob" is a lot easier to be sure of than "The tall guy playing a skeleton during the first major combat encounter", for example). As time permits, of course.
*****If I had it my way, Closing ceremonies would take a lot longer with more talk and dialogue about the event, "favorite NPC?" Favorite PC? Favorite moment? etc... but most of the camps need us off site STAT. Meet the cast would take a long time if done individually, so we normally just say a general round of thank you to all of our npcs.
 
ANd some more...

Some things I would like to see:
-Better ways of organizing NPC gear so that we can just grab and go. Applying a decent portion of brain cells to this now and I'll send my ideas over.
****Agreed!! LAcey did a great job with correcting this, but I welcome more advice now that you know our setup.

-There were a couple times where people got downright argumentative about the application of the rules, even with Jesse. I understand that people will always understand the rules a little bit differently, but that's an OOC thing. It would be a LOT less disruptive to the flow of battle and roleplay if everyone would just be willing to concede on those matters even to their character's detriment and take it up with leadership later.
****To add to this... there were a few times this event the arguments came simply because the PC(s) simply didn't read the rule book and assumed they knew a rule. We can all do ourselves a favor and really brush up on the rule book, myself included!

-It made me kinda sad when so many people went to bed early Friday. There's probably not much we can do about this because people need to sleep, it just makes it hard to plan because we never knew if we would have 5 or 25 PCs for some of the important mods.
****AGreed. I had to table several things for next year's Halloween event bc of this.

-The battleboard was an excellent idea even if it couldn't always represent things exactly as they were happening. Maybe we can find ways to expand and streamline it to convey more info like how many of what kind of NPC are needed and where so the NPCs can help the organizers by getting themselves ready?
****How many "NPCs needed" is a great column to add on the table! Now that we know all the "wheres" of the site, this can be helpful as well.

Regarding a couple things that aren't really bad or good, I think there was a lot of info out there on how to prepare for the weekend and what to bring, it just may not have been refreshed for the second event from the first.
****AS was mentioned, there is a great chapter in the rule book on this.

We have to be careful with maps that represent the site because it limits what places on site we can use for different things. I'm sure we can find ways to work around having some sort of map. It would be kinda cool as a roleplay item to have physical maps printed out and rolled up that characters can buy.
****That is a great idea! We have all of the upper portion of the camp, however, I am sure you noticed there are several buildings that are off limits, like the craft building, and other scout staff buildings there. Maybe I will get around to making a map that shows what is only available to us and what they are in game then. Then sell them for 1 gold each!! Murhahaha!!!

I had an amazing time with you guys and will do it as often as my schedule allows. Thanks to every single one of you for the thought and effort you put into your characters and the game.
****Agreed. We have an amazing group of players and staff and you guys fuel my creative embers with your dedication!!

****Jesse
 
I'd like to comment on two things.

-There were a couple times where people got downright argumentative about the application of the rules, even with Jesse. I understand that people will always understand the rules a little bit differently, but that's an OOC thing. It would be a LOT less disruptive to the flow of battle and roleplay if everyone would just be willing to concede on those matters even to their character's detriment and take it up with leadership later.
****To add to this... there were a few times this event the arguments came simply because the PC(s) simply didn't read the rule book and assumed they knew a rule. We can all do ourselves a favor and really brush up on the rule book, myself included!

In General:
Many players are used to different rules from different system, and there is some issues between the 2009 edition and the current edition that have caused some issues. Everything I've seen has been system inexperience or confusion with another game. Also, the system is by no means simple compared to other games, and quite large. Some of this is just gonna require experience for the players, and everyone having an even-head on resolving conflicts with the rules. Ideally to keep in mind is that nobody is out to hurt anyone, ever OOG via rules or physicially OOG, and everything can be dealt with like adults. This happens in all games, ESPECIALLY larps.

From my own personal perspective:
I'm really new to to the rules. I've had instances where stuff read one way, I re-read and it read another way, and end up having it clarified by staff one way, and then Jesse another way. It's no big deal to me, I'm always about rolling with it and going with whatever Jesse says. That being said - I've encountered a few times where players/staff/NPCs has said it's X, the rulebook looked like it says Y and Z, and Jesse has confirmed that it's Z. In essence, everyone can be wrong - and in the end we all just want things to be consistent and fair. I've even had one instance where the new rulebook said something Jesse wasn't aware of (really simple thing on armor coverage) that Jesse took a look at later (I didnt push while he was doing logistics, and addressed it in email later).

I also have noticed that some of the stuff Ive been studying in the rulebook people are missing. It's all a part of a growing, new game with people new to the rules. Bare with everyone (especially me!) In my mind its a part of learning the system, I'm gonna get stuff wrong, screw things up, but Im always willing to roll with it. I hope everyone has the same attitude.

I also have personal gripes about the Alliance rules/system but its more of personal preference on stuff, not like I wanna throw the rulebook out a plane window.

-It made me kinda sad when so many people went to bed early Friday. There's probably not much we can do about this because people need to sleep, it just makes it hard to plan because we never knew if we would have 5 or 25 PCs for some of the important mods.
****AGreed. I had to table several things for next year's Halloween event bc of this.

Okay this is something near my list of gripes - but in the opposite direction. I work 8 hours. Come home, pack, drive 2 hours. Then setup our cabin, get makeup'ed, put on 20 lbs+ of armor, head up multiple hills. I seriously think 10pm is REALLY ambitious for game start if you count the following:

Off at 5. 30 minute average transit time to home.
30 minutes minumum packing time (hour is more reasonable)
2 hour drive
1 hour logistics/unpack/setup/get in costume (bare minimum)

So taking that into consideration you're looking at 9pm if everything goes perfectly for people involved. Add in murphy's law, you should add on another 90 minutes at least (Traffic, packing, stopping for food/gas, more complex cabin setups and costumes). That puts us at 10:30.

Furthermore, people want to follow up with NPCs, get some talks going, etc. So you delay the mods till later. BUT, most likely people have been up since 5-7am. Worked a full day. Packed, Drove, Unpacked. Crack and Speed addictions, and insanity aside, thats rough to ask people to stay up past midnight. AND they want sleep before breakfast the next day so they can play all day. Trying to run significant plot on Friday nights is not going to work well.

Furthermore, Saturdays - running around in mods all day, and tiring yourself out - if you don't get a chance for a nap or rest, its also rough to want to stay up till 2am running significant mods either. I'd really say run those earlier in the evening so EVERYONE can be involved, and those that are crazy or got enough rest or don't sleep can stay up for more loot and smaller mods till 2-3am.

Sure, there is a good population who wont sleep and are all *slaps vein in arm* GIVE ME MY ALLIANCE LARP. But I dont think with this crew you're going to get the majority of the players for that. But thats my perspective of what Im seeing and doing.

-Porch
TPO Frank
 
Thank you NPCs.

You were all willing to talk to my very chatty character and you even kept your names straight (though I couldn't).

I don't know what you guys used in the rift encounter thing, but it felt all kinds of creepy.

You dealt with that damn hill way more times than I would want to.

This event made my Hallowe'en.

Thanks again,

Bria
a.k.a Aneira Owens, she of the fuzzy hat.
 
Eadar said:
Trying to run significant plot on Friday nights is not going to work well.-Porch TPO Frank
Click to expand...
Tacking onto this, Friday night might be a good night to try to set the stage a little. Plant a seed here and there. I loved that the Goblin hiding in the tree on Saturday morning was tied into the goblin slavery morality mod.

If you were to treat Friday as though people were arriving in town late a night and have some NPC introduction/story planting the night before it would give PC's a night to sleep on things that are to transpire the next day. Perhaps a young man from a far off farm has run to town to get help and has arranged a bed at the local inn and is searching in the tavern for someone to help. It's too late to start the plot, but an agreed upon meet up the next day is reasonable. Should you have PC's that are up to staying up late it might be good to have someone from the guard show up. "I'm in need of any able bodied personage to help us! Those with the will to fight join me outside!" Then lead off on how there's a band of thieves that they plan to capture. Or even an attempt at catching a ranking member of the Acarthian Thieves Guild at a suspected hide out. We can get the story of the town in a little, but I think expecting solid modules from all the PC's may be a bit much on travel day. Would that I could take Friday off and be there in the morning, I'D BE THERE! Just some thoughts/suggestions to tack on to Frank's post.

Moving on to the Shout Outs:
- Barbara, Jenniffer(Pockets) and everyone that helped at the Tavern! Thank you for having not only terrific meals, but alternate options for those of us that didn't get word in to you soon enough. (As soon as I figure out the proper e-mail addy I'll be shooting my concerns your way)
- Jesse for being patient for every time I had a question for him, a weapon to check or anything else as I know your head was going a million miles a second while being pulled to all the four corners of creation. It's nice to see a strong head and hand at the helm to guide us on our way proper! (Sorry, I grew up by the ocean, you'll get the occasional reference to it from me from time to time)
- All of the Nobility! Tiatar, Rivervale, Bayenna(hadn't seen it spelled till today sorry for getting that wrong T_T), Warchester! All of you brought a feel and a culture to the table that was believable and diverse! Each of the Barony represented themselves as nobles in many of the countless ways one could. You each worked hard to keep the lead and to provide a solid ground and direction for us to work off of. Like the morale choices that you were forced to make, Corey I'm looking your way, during some mods. When decisions were not so clear you did as nobles should, you provided a decision and moved forward. I think part of the distinguishing layers of this kind of game come from a level of competence and education. The more educated a person is, the more likely they are to be able to make a decision and a good one at that. Nobility were educated, adventurer's a little less so, and the common man, not so much at all in this time period. I felt like we had that as a WONDERFUL level of immersion.
- The Rangers! It's good to see another guild coming up from the player base to organize another aspect and layer to the game. Given your disposition to try and convert, I'd love to see some of the villains who were caught turn up doing community service in the Rangers for a mod or two! Excellent concept and execution!
- The Guilds, Mages/Celestial, Healers/Earth, and the Merchants Guild (Tinker, I'm looking forward to the future). Added a great flavor to the world. I know I heard a few grumbles at the price of wards, but that was PERFECT! I'm sure there will be a time when Wards are more affordable, but for now, we're lower level and those are not as affordable presently. It's a sort of mark or progression point that can be seen and tangibly felt later. We'll appreciate it all the more when the days come we can consistently afford it. The first time the Lamp Light guild buys a ward for their hall, I'm sure it will feel like a momentous occasion!
- NPCs, experienced or not, I'll tell you now, I couldn't tell! I've played in other LARPs before (2002 - 2005 I was heavy into what is now referred to as oWoD). Not sure I became a better role player for it, but in the end every NPC was convincing, believable and felt like they belonged in the world. Emotions felt genuine and really helped to draw me out more. I also loved that as we got to the larger battles you used your tactics to try to flank our group and did an excellent job of keeping the pressure on. There were a few times my character feared for his safety and as a non-combat character as Juliet pointed out, there was some real fear of taking a hit or six :-p
- PLOT COMMITEE! If this is your starting game I can't wait to see what happens when you've warmed up! Mods have been fun and well thought out. I love the questions that they pose and the choices presented. If anyone every tries to say that a mod was linear, then I think they were making the obvious choices and ignore other possibilities that were presented. Excellent work! I can't wait to see what you have for us next game.
- The Tiatar masq! Excellent fun, awesome games, I wish I had thought of a story for the storytelling contest. It was great to see the event take place, I love that Plot worked with it to expand it into a mod as well. I'm looking forward to next years Masq already and I'll be drafting a few stories of my own for the contest next year. I love that we now have a custom that can be repeated and perhaps have different twists on it in years to come!
- The Walk of the Dead! Excellent take on All Hallow's Eve and certainly a great plot tool. Used to excellent effect as stated before, it bares stating again!
- Tavern for having a 1 copper price on all the assorted "Ales". I've been meaning to drink more water and that was achieved. I normally drink a six pack of Coke a day during the week and instead I had maybe 3 sodas the whole weekend!

Feedback (Don't have much here a lot was covered already)
- I'm not sure if the Jack O' Lantern tales of keeping undead out were true or not, but I sure felt an urgency to have that Jack O' Lantern at the guild hall. That said, I'm not sure I heard of the undead making any kind of an attack on cabins or even on the Tavern which didn't have any left outside. I may have missed it and not been in the circles for hearing about it. I felt like there should have been some point that the piece of lore on that was affirmed past the pumpkin patch Friday night. Another look at this could also be wishing to not have so much thrown at the players from all angles as to be overwhelming and perhaps in the future we will start delving into these problems more.

I look forward to seeing you all again next event! I can't wait!
Keith/Klandaghi/Klan for short
Radulfr Torgard
 
Bria, your costume was one of my favorite. It had great flavor and a consistent feel to it.
Also, your hat is not breathable. lol
 
So I'm really super bad with these sorts of shout-out posts. I always feel like I'm forgetting someone or short changing my props to people. I'll try and limit myself to 10 though.

1. Thank you, so much, to the NPCs. Both in combat and in RP, everything was excellent.
2. Thank you for the plot arcs. Each mod/scene had good stuff in it that was roleplayable or had story to it, rather than "Random X walks into town, Kill it."
3. Costumes & RP. Like, everyone was in costume. Everyone had a character. We stayed in character. People had good depth to their characters (AND NPCS). It was fun, and immersive.
4. I have to give a special shout out to the King's Scribe. In roleplay, look, and the effect you had on the game (It may seem like little stuff, but it was sooooo well placed). Most powerfully, it came across to me that the King DOES have an interest in the area and has touched our little town due to this NPC, and thats really cool.
5. YAY Scouts. Thank you to plot for letting us use scouting, and thank you to the scouts for going the extra distance.
6. Slavery plot - this was a HUGE deal. It ties into multiple PC's backgrounds, and was a good social/moral plot for the game. I hope it drives plots for months :)
7. Like, I didn't have a single scene where I did not have a blast RPing with fellow PCs. Like, I'd feel guilty trying to list them all and accidentally forget something. I had multiple moral/honor/chivalry conversations that were really good, good relation conversations, combat strategy conversations, and many of just "Chatting IC" that were really good, fun, and enjoyable.
8. Social Evolution. The game is evolving socially. Nobles, where they fit, better ideas of social norm behavior, where the common folk and adventurers fit, and breaking any perceived walls and new relationships forming. This to me is extremely cool and enjoyable.
9. New players! Thank you so much for coming out and gaming with us - I enjoyed getting to game with you, and I hope you enjoyed gaming with us. And...you are now one of us lol.
10. Good combats. I really enjoyed ALL of them, but the ones that stick out the most was for sure the Undead Tavern fight, the Troll Fight, The Fire Ants fight, and the Final undead fight. I love organized combat, and I love working out the strategy (and having it all go to hell) and seeing the cooperative play. Go in with a plan, improvise, adapt, overcome. I realize that the major plot arc combats may not actually be earlier in the evening, and am planning accordingly to be up till 3am Friday and Saturday.

And I'll cheat with #11: The stuff that is setup for social roleplay at the start of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is really good, I think this should keep up. Introductions of the Guilds on Friday, Chivalry School Saturday, and then "Court" on Sunday was really cool. I think the game has this really amazing blend of social/political time, and combat time.

Obvious shout out: The tavern cooks are amazing.

Overall I had a severe blast with the whole game, it was a fantastic time and as I said the first event: This is exactly what all of my friends around the US brag about boffer larp being awesome, and I finally get to experience it for myself. And everyone from Plot, to NPCs, to Players makes it happen.

-Porch
TPO Frank
(The Muntjac Wylderkin the the dark plate armor)
 
Greetings! I suppose I should do a shout-out as well.

Firstly, I would like to thank Barbara, Jenniffer, and Lacey for all they did in the kitchen. Taking care of so many hungry gamers is not easy and they did it with Grace and style!

Secondly I want to thank the whole NPC staff. Your tireless effort to make the game fun and engaging is greatly appreciated and I think you all for your hard work and great skills!

NPCs of note:
-Quin (SP?) playing the part of Matilda, the healer from my back story. She did such a great job RPing the role and I had fun interacting with her a great deal.
-Scholar with his nose literally in a book: Well acted and an interesting character. I had great fun fighting off the zombie waves that popped up outside the tavern and constantly trying to defend the scholar. Good times!
-All the NPCs were great, these are just the 2 I can recall with clarity and that I connected with personally.

Much like Mr. Porch I like the big battles. In fact I think I enjoy them most of all. The cooperation that is needed, the planning that goes into them (on both sides) and the scrambling to fix things as the plan falls apart; all great fun.

The roleplay was great from all parties involved. I am especially liking the Chivalry school and the talks it generates as well as the slavery issue that came up last game. This kind of thing adds greatly to the flavor of the game and I look forward to more of it going forward.

I personally don't have any real issues to bring to light. I do agree with Mr. Porch on trying to make the big things that happen at night more accessible to those who like to retire earlier. The more people we can get for the big events the better the game overall is IMHO. The smaller mods and such are much more flexible methinks. Also, I heard that there were people complaining about the wait time for food. This sadden me some as I felt that Barbara, Jenniffer, and Lacey all did a great job in keeping up ESPECIALLY with the short-order food issue. Patience isn't too hard a thing to have.

A great weekend overall and I can't wait to get in game and see you all again in November! :-)
 
Keith said:
- I'm not sure if the Jack O' Lantern tales of keeping undead out were true or not, but I sure felt an urgency to have that Jack O' Lantern at the guild hall. That said, I'm not sure I heard of the undead making any kind of an attack on cabins or even on the Tavern which didn't have any left outside. I may have missed it and not been in the circles for hearing about it. I felt like there should have been some point that the piece of lore on that was affirmed past the pumpkin patch Friday night.

****If we had a few more NPCs this would've been apparent lol. Wait til next year....
 
Jesse Grabowski said:
Keith said:
- I'm not sure if the Jack O' Lantern tales of keeping undead out were true or not, but I sure felt an urgency to have that Jack O' Lantern at the guild hall. That said, I'm not sure I heard of the undead making any kind of an attack on cabins or even on the Tavern which didn't have any left outside. I may have missed it and not been in the circles for hearing about it. I felt like there should have been some point that the piece of lore on that was affirmed past the pumpkin patch Friday night.

****If we had a few more NPCs this would've been apparent lol. Wait til next year....
Click to expand...

I can back up Jesse here - during the tavern fight vs the undead, we did stick the pumpkins in the undead's faces and they did cower away. But def ask about it IG.

BromFarsmythe said:
as well as the slavery issue that came up last game.
Click to expand...

Grenn Peas and Savory Bed.

PTBWYrC.jpg


Goblins just need employment, yo. Will work for bottlecap shineys.
 
Jesse Grabowski said:
OMG I LOVE THAT PIC!!
Click to expand...

Yep, you've inspired Briana (Vira the Ninja Deer) with your game! She's been doing drawings on and off since she got home - it's seriously an extra thing I can thank you for :)
 
The few times I got to roleplay were fun, some of you interacted with me more then others and I enjoyed it. It was great to see how well some of the PCs got into their characters and helped me learn how things work in a L.A.R.P.. Coming from a pure tabletop roleplaying background it was interesting to focus on just one NPC at a time and not always know what is happening with the other NCPs. I wish we didn’t have just a few day to roleplay. It was nice to see many of you really get into the mind of your character, emotions and all. I enjoyed finding out the history of your character and some of their motivations.

Some of the combats were better then others, for me, but my last few were great. It was great to see you all work as a team and use each others skills to the advantage of the group. All of you got better each time we fought. All of you put my combat skills, and my stamina, to the test the last few fights. The troll fight was a blast, I was the one in chainmail, and enjoyed the different ways your tactics changes as you saw better was to fight me.

This was my first L.A.R.P., ever, and first time I used a weapon at all. I’m sorry for any head or to hard hits I did. I hope I didn’t let anyone down with my noob weapon/fighting skills. This was a great learning experience for me. Thanks to all of the PCs. Thank you to my fellow NPCs and Jesse for dealing with me. My inexperience and temperament caused issues I’m sure but they all did an amazing job of helping me through my first time.
 
It really was a great event. The site is awesome, and adds so much to the game in terms of exploration. We can take the game as far as we want and still have a huge amount of stuff to discover. I've been looking at satellite images of the site on Google Earth and there are more than a few spots that would be really cool to go to right off the roads!

As far as shout outs, most of them have been covered here with everyone. The tavern, the NPC's, the awesome haunted house, the masquerade ( Donut eating was a highlight for sure), the walk, the first appearance of what my out of character self hopes is one heck of a nemesis but my in character self never wants to see again! Everyone did a great job in pulling this event together, and with the first time on site, it had to be difficult getting the lay of the land in addition to running things! A lot of work was put in and it was apparent.

A couple of you mentioned timing. Friday is a great day to get things moving. It sets things up for what will inevitably happen on Saturday, and allows for things to run smoothly on Saturday. I can understand that people get tired with work and all, hell I work all day too and drive an extra hour more than most folks! Hopefully with people knowing where the site is and such now it will be easier to get to and gear up, leading to an earlier start.

That said, Friday happenings are integral to an event running. Things need to happen to set the stage, or you end up tabling a large portion of the plotlines for the event. If you were to take large scale plots out of Fridays, where would they go? With Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, plus player driven events that the NPC's are courteous enough to not shift focus from by throwing combat at us during, it doesn't leave a whole lot of time left to get things done. Case in point: this event featured the thinning of the veil between worlds. This was coupled with the Chaos Elemental subplot, and the Haunted House. Both of these stared on Friday, so we knew by Saturday morning what had to be done, leading to a whole bunch of Saturday mods and culminating in banishing the Chaos Elemental (however temporary!) and gathering the shards in preparation for repairing the veil. In addition to these plots, there was the burglar, the scribe, the reporter, the pumpkins, and a myriad of other things.

Plus all the while, the NPC's who are in similar situations to all of us in terms of real life, run harder and longer than we do until the sun is about to come up. Heavy things need to happen on Friday for the game to progress.

I guess for me, plotlines happen after dark, and into the small hours of the morning. It's the nature of the beast. I won't lie and say I was any more tired than any of you guys out there, but try it sometime! Staying up late is a lot of fun even if you don't get a whole lot of sleep, and the amount of thing's you'll see is awesome!

-Mike
-Egil of Bayenna
 
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