Game-on Time

jwconvery

jwconvery

Spellsword
I didn't really want to post this in the "how'd we do thread" since it's more of a chpater thing then a particular event.

Game on at 11:30pm really sucks.

Granted there are a lot of factors going on here. Plot might not want to get things going before the PCs have all arrived. PC talk needs to have the bulk of people there. If friday ngiht is some big scary, sending it in when only 3 ppl are in game is bad.

I don't really want to punish people for arriving late. We have many long drivers in our chapter. I would like to reward/entertain people that are ready to go at 7-8-9ish.

Crunchies might just be tiring out NPC needlessly, and without treasure they'll be frustrating to PC's IG. Some Plot rp would be ok if Plot is ready for it.

Ideally I would want the IG equivalent of crayons and a Big Boy menu. Something that is entertaining, has an opportunity to have an effect or just be fun IG.

"Soft lay-on' are really just an opportunity for PC's to talk to each other, and most of the ones that will do that have probably already E-mailed or chatted before the event.

Also, I would not be opposed to PC talk happening after this game on if you want a bulk of people. I dont' like flyer-talk because people have questions and community is important. However nothing until PC-talk is also bad.

I don't have an answer. Just want to start a conversation.

-Joe
 
That makes sense.

We knew there were a ton of people from Chicago, a lot who have never played here before. We were trying to include them in the pc talk. But, as someone who drives from Chicago, I have to leave at like 3 to get to the event at 6-7 and then I have to prep. If you leave any later, you tack on another hour for traffic.

Certainly a paper print out helps. But, it doesn't feel good for community.

The problem with soft lay on is, that you have a ton of people coming in and talking out of game, and eating food, and yelling about stuff, and for me it really kills the mood.

We started real late this weekend. I think we can certainly start an hour earlier if we as a chapter commit to it.
 
I 100% agree with Joe and I love the analogy of crayons and a menu at Big Boys! He is not the first person to mention this either. I am all for trying to start the game earlier but I don't think it will fully address the issue. The majority of players who show up early are tied to staff people in some way aka Joe rides with Brigit, Stevie rides with GJ and I ect. So these players are here quite a bit earlier than most other players and are sitting around in their costumes waiting around for hours before game starts.

I really prefer having a real PC talk over a print out because there are always questions and print outs lead to confusion.

I like the idea of a soft lay on but I also totally understand the issue with people showing up to the event and having it kill the in game mood. It has certainly happened to me on many occasions. Maybe we can try to keep IG conversations away from the tavern and PC cabins? This would probably be easier at the Chelsea camp than the Mason camp.

Let's keep this conversation going and see what ideas we can come up with as a chapter.
 
First off, I understand the the desire for more game time. Sitting around, near aimless after getting psyched for the event can be really frustrating as a player.

Secondly I would like to address that we have always planned for PC talk at 11, as we have found games that start before this rare at best, and figured it was good to stick with the standard.

Thirdly, The amount of time that the plot team spends getting the site physically ready (mod building set up, monster camp set up, npc's briefed, all plot members on the same page and psyched... ect..), is substantial. As, unofficial, mod building engineer, I am keenly aware of this. Many events, PC talk waits on us because we cannot get set up in time. All three of us live busy lives, and we struggle to get to site by 5 but often arrive as late as 7.

With that in mind, a 7 o'clock lay on with plot involvement, I feel, is entirely unrealistic. Even 9 would be pushing it.

I am not trying to kill the conversation outright, if some way to call an earlier game can be found I am not opposed to it, but I would like the stakes of an earlier lay-on to be seen clearly while that conversation take place.
 
Totally agree with Joe / Everyone here. I would love to start the events earlier.

I also love doing a live PC talk. It gives everyone a chance to ask questions / really prepare for game. Also, Im a really loud talker so this gives me an avenue to talk loud at, LOL.

What if we completely got rid of the hard lay-on? As soon as PC's arrive and are ready to come into game, they just come right into game. It might cause a little confusion about the OOG PC talk but I would be willing to run around and tell everyone who is In-game or Out-of-game that its time for PC talk.

It might also get people in to game quicker. Thoughts?

GJ
 
I often cannot come early on Friday, so the late start doesn't impact me personally on a regular basis. I just wanted to add to the conversation that a rolling layon, with people coming in when they want, a few at a time, has some potential to cause problems if (1) there are tough NPCs or crunchies that can catch people without sufficient PC backup to take them on, or (2) there are PCs that like to attack other PCs, who might take advantage of the ghost town factor to catch some early birds unawares.

These concerns aside, I really like the idea of being able to get in game early the weekends I can come at the start, though. If we could pull the divider completely across the tavern for the logistics/check-in time, to keep the main tavern in game and cut off from the out-of-game talk on the logistics side, then that could be where people could hang out as others are checking in or unloading there stuff into the barracks. There doesn't even need to be any NPCs on the field to make that cool for people who like to show up early. Then, if you had a couple NPCs that weren't doing the setup Chad is talking about, you could send them in as some softer monsters or maybe even a merchant or something.
 
I did not mean to imply that our plot people were the sole reason it takes so long to get in-game. I would certainly not want to start earlier at the detriment to the rest of the weekend.

I feel that if this does happen it will be by adding additional help rather then taxing the current team more.

How many people does this really effect? Stevie and I for sure, Mike and Amber usually get there pretty early. If it's a critical mass of people we could do some form of twilight plot/mod. Something approved by plot but not run by plot. Like they could be setting up, and this month it's Stevie turn to run something, Totally fishbowlled. It could even be 'before the weekend' like some form of Live action IBGA, so we wouldn't even have to get informed of plot effects, but then it still counts on or times per day stuff.. I dunno.

People could do rituals earlier, which is a minor group of people.

It's a great time for newbie mods, assuming newbies are there.

I'm curious how many people don't show up until 9:30 because they know game on isn't until 11.

I dunno what will work, just brainstorming.

-Joe
 
I think we first would need to look at a very simple approach and see what comes of it. If it works well we move on from there.

If we define "soft lay-on" as a time when PCs can come into game before a short hold is called for PC talk then we define the rules for a soft lay-on.

For now what I could easily see working is Players can get into game who are all set logistics wise.
-The tavern will be completely In-game only (NO OOG talk and logistics needs to keep it down to only a whisper out of respect for those in game).
-PvP combat can only take place between willing participants until after PC talk. This would only need to be established so that no one could take advantage of a nearly empty town. I don't even feel that this is likely to happen but the rule demonstrates the spirit of the soft layon.
-If a marshal is available (since there are several outside of the Plot staff) rituals could be done.
-If extra staff is available the perhaps some light crunch could happen, but this is entirely based on availability.

I feel first and foremost we should create a real In-Game tavern and make it stick.

Just my two cents.
 
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