Lurin
Duke
Foreward
Once again it's time to share thoughts at the end of the year, I will say this last year I have been happy to receive a large amount of feedback during the year which is helpful. We are always looking to hear from folks, and appreciate constructive criticism.
While this was a busy season as always, a special shout out to Alexander Thompson whose efforts have made things much easily in the past years and his assistance with plot and logistics will be missed!
Thank Yous
Generally the first thing I do each year is offer thank yous to some of the people who make things possible, I could never thank everyone that helps out but I like to tag the big names for people that really help make things happen. We've had a great amount of assistance, to start of course we have to note our Cook Christina, her skillful handling of the cooking is a massive weight off my shoulders and well fed players IS a safety concern that I don't generally have to worry about anymore.
The big story this year was of course Alexander, but we've also had help from Andrea Rye (who got a name change to protect the innocent, or got married can't remember which.) Greg Lawrence was a massive help in getting our new deck built. Esten Rye's help re-plumbing the permanent site was also amazing!
Permanent Site
Efforts continue on our permanent site this year we redid and improved the plumbing and water system which no longer is the source of issues, and it was great to be able to put in the time for a real fix instead of a temporary one. A new water heater helps produce what we need for cooking etc. We've also had much of the heating system serviced, including redoing the wiring to bring it up to standards and installing a much better control system.
Our first cabin is on site and usable (hooray) with plans in the works to add to them when we are able. However these are large capital improvements so I cannot give a firm date on additional cabins yet.
In 2016 our primary focus on the Permanent site will be lower dollar improvements that should improve the play area significantly. The first steps include adding custom built bunk beds, and cutting a very significant amount of paths in order to move a significant portion of mod space out of the open and under the trees so to speak.
Adding stone/gravel paths to 4 primary locations is also on the list for early year improvements in 2016. These paths leading to the cabin/tavern and to the planned paths to be cut should make for a better, and more varied play space.
Income/Costs
As always we watch these things closely, but I’m happy to announce that we will not be raising prices for the 2015 season, however we do need to do a better job of tracking memberships (year end numbers showed that a good number of memberships, that pay for our insurance where not collected) That's on the logistics side and should not impact players.
Our schedule for next year is closed to being published and we very much are excited to having another exciting year.
Staffing updates
We are happy to announce that Jordan Fently has come on board to help with logistics and that's a huge help. We are actively seeking Junior and Experienced folks to come help with plot running, to put it simply we don't have enough plot writers for the number of players we have so we are excited to add members and ideally making changes to make npcing a more exciting and varied experienced.
Planned Changes
In order to improve game flow and the overall experience we'll be trying a number of things next year designed to make the game more dynamic and varied so different gatherings feel different. Here are some things currently in planning/considering for the next year.
- More Variety in "Town" Mods, -More split town mods and having additional goals during town mods to ensure as many players as possible are engaged.
- Logistics Remem Time adjustment - In order to ensure the maximum use of abilities/play time, we'll be moving Remem time back to a 3 pm- 4 pm time frame, while having workshop/logistics time during dinner as usual. This will allow shorter modules to be followed up on pre-dinner better and help ensure Saturday night does not always feel like a 'dump your card' mod while still allowing players who like that experience to use minimal skills and save their abilities to be have their heroic moment during the big battles.
- Utilizing NPC volunteer shifts - We have a lot of players willing to hop fence and help with running of modules but who don't want to miss out on the main story, and will be working on systems so people can plan when and why their character is 'off screen' during those times to allow the most modules to be run
- More varied Modules - We will be looking at running more minimal/non-combat modules in the coming year to help flex the RP muscles and remind folks that all players can have a significant effect on our world, regards of the size of their card.
- Varied Game structure - Some Friday nights might be calmer (still busy, but not as difficult or large battles) to allow for Saturday morning/afternoon larger battles to help vary things up. Plot will of course do our best generally to allow PCs to have a reasonable idea of whats coming.
- NPC activity - We want to have a couple of cards for each npc that will allow them to stay in game during meal times. These characters will have goals but limited knowledge of the world to allow newer npcs to play them and make the character their own.
In Closing
As always I want to thank everyone for their participation in this crazy ride we call Alliance Larp, I am excited for next year to see where this thing takes us!
David Glaeser,
Owner, Alliance Southern MN
Once again it's time to share thoughts at the end of the year, I will say this last year I have been happy to receive a large amount of feedback during the year which is helpful. We are always looking to hear from folks, and appreciate constructive criticism.
While this was a busy season as always, a special shout out to Alexander Thompson whose efforts have made things much easily in the past years and his assistance with plot and logistics will be missed!
Thank Yous
Generally the first thing I do each year is offer thank yous to some of the people who make things possible, I could never thank everyone that helps out but I like to tag the big names for people that really help make things happen. We've had a great amount of assistance, to start of course we have to note our Cook Christina, her skillful handling of the cooking is a massive weight off my shoulders and well fed players IS a safety concern that I don't generally have to worry about anymore.
The big story this year was of course Alexander, but we've also had help from Andrea Rye (who got a name change to protect the innocent, or got married can't remember which.) Greg Lawrence was a massive help in getting our new deck built. Esten Rye's help re-plumbing the permanent site was also amazing!
Permanent Site
Efforts continue on our permanent site this year we redid and improved the plumbing and water system which no longer is the source of issues, and it was great to be able to put in the time for a real fix instead of a temporary one. A new water heater helps produce what we need for cooking etc. We've also had much of the heating system serviced, including redoing the wiring to bring it up to standards and installing a much better control system.
Our first cabin is on site and usable (hooray) with plans in the works to add to them when we are able. However these are large capital improvements so I cannot give a firm date on additional cabins yet.
In 2016 our primary focus on the Permanent site will be lower dollar improvements that should improve the play area significantly. The first steps include adding custom built bunk beds, and cutting a very significant amount of paths in order to move a significant portion of mod space out of the open and under the trees so to speak.
Adding stone/gravel paths to 4 primary locations is also on the list for early year improvements in 2016. These paths leading to the cabin/tavern and to the planned paths to be cut should make for a better, and more varied play space.
Income/Costs
As always we watch these things closely, but I’m happy to announce that we will not be raising prices for the 2015 season, however we do need to do a better job of tracking memberships (year end numbers showed that a good number of memberships, that pay for our insurance where not collected) That's on the logistics side and should not impact players.
Our schedule for next year is closed to being published and we very much are excited to having another exciting year.
Staffing updates
We are happy to announce that Jordan Fently has come on board to help with logistics and that's a huge help. We are actively seeking Junior and Experienced folks to come help with plot running, to put it simply we don't have enough plot writers for the number of players we have so we are excited to add members and ideally making changes to make npcing a more exciting and varied experienced.
Planned Changes
In order to improve game flow and the overall experience we'll be trying a number of things next year designed to make the game more dynamic and varied so different gatherings feel different. Here are some things currently in planning/considering for the next year.
- More Variety in "Town" Mods, -More split town mods and having additional goals during town mods to ensure as many players as possible are engaged.
- Logistics Remem Time adjustment - In order to ensure the maximum use of abilities/play time, we'll be moving Remem time back to a 3 pm- 4 pm time frame, while having workshop/logistics time during dinner as usual. This will allow shorter modules to be followed up on pre-dinner better and help ensure Saturday night does not always feel like a 'dump your card' mod while still allowing players who like that experience to use minimal skills and save their abilities to be have their heroic moment during the big battles.
- Utilizing NPC volunteer shifts - We have a lot of players willing to hop fence and help with running of modules but who don't want to miss out on the main story, and will be working on systems so people can plan when and why their character is 'off screen' during those times to allow the most modules to be run
- More varied Modules - We will be looking at running more minimal/non-combat modules in the coming year to help flex the RP muscles and remind folks that all players can have a significant effect on our world, regards of the size of their card.
- Varied Game structure - Some Friday nights might be calmer (still busy, but not as difficult or large battles) to allow for Saturday morning/afternoon larger battles to help vary things up. Plot will of course do our best generally to allow PCs to have a reasonable idea of whats coming.
- NPC activity - We want to have a couple of cards for each npc that will allow them to stay in game during meal times. These characters will have goals but limited knowledge of the world to allow newer npcs to play them and make the character their own.
In Closing
As always I want to thank everyone for their participation in this crazy ride we call Alliance Larp, I am excited for next year to see where this thing takes us!
David Glaeser,
Owner, Alliance Southern MN