Things that make ya go hmmmm....
I have always wondered about the logistical and tactical value of gamedays, from a financial standpoint they never really held too much water. A good event should clear plenty of money at $50-$75 a head. The cost involved in gamedays usually didn't come from monetary amounts, but from the amount of effort and drain it had on staff. In my honest opinion, chapters that consistently run a game every other month brought in higher quality games and recruited players faster (bare in mind, that a 100 person event with 60 players at $60 a head should clear $1k an event or more). NERO has never been ran that aggressively, but that has always been a matter of staff and player burn-out. Numerous "low karma" game days don't encourage repeat business. Awesome "A++" events that blow your mind hook you everytime.
I think the real damage done is simple over-exhaustion from a creative standpoint. Too many times I've been to game days for an hour or two to check things out, consider playing, and walked away. You can pretty much tell if a gameday (or an event mod) is going to be a good one based upon the energy level and enthusiam. Side note- I haven't bothered saying howdy at any recent NERO Seattle gamedays since the fall simply because I have more important career things to do. I can't say if the karmic energy has changed more recently.
I could care less about the overall immersive values- there are a lot of detractors both at game days and events that people really slack off on and I sometimes fall myself sucked into.
Because of the "lack of energy" at gamedays, they usually end up running a 1-3 hour mod that takes up 5-7 hours of my time. Its a waste of time for me, and I'm assuming its a waste of time for many other people who don't show. For those who do show up for a game day, its usually because they have nothing better to do.
From a strategic perspective, I would really urge staff and players to think about how many A++ quality games they can hold every two months. Unless there is a miracle recruiting campaign I'm unaware of lately, trying to do more games without first getting a constant "A" level game running is only a magnifier to faster and faster burnout for everyone involved.
From a character perspective, I don't like playing at gamedays since my character's team level usually throws the group out of whack. I'd be happier to run in a high-level mod day if they were advertised as such before hand, otherwise I just feel sorry for all the 10th and under characters who get forced through a high-level meat grinder designed for 10+ year old characters.
I think the most important aspect of gamedays actually isn't for players myself... it is for staff to experiment with different ways of training monster NPCs and using plot hooks. For new players, game days can be a good way for PC and NPC alike to learn basic skills.
I use the term basic, as like JP somewhat said - there are a variety of "long term" skills and experiences you must have at events before you get to be a good player. A lot of the players I have seen frustrated at events for the past 15 years is when they keep trying to utilize game day ideas at event games. At the last event I was at, I think this thinking krept back into monster camp and was destabilizing some of the weekend long interactions and conflicts.
I'm guessing by the staff level of NERO Seattle that running frequent game days is just draining everyone involved whether or not they admit it. I would prefer to see them "save it" for an awesome event. If they think there is a money point, I would rather pay $100 for an awesome weekend event instead of $100 for five questionable game days and a mediocre event. (I'm not saying what the overall quality of the game days or events currently is, merely that less of them would probably indicate higher quality)
I do not waste weekend time with my family and friends to play NERO unless I'm assured of having a *great* time. When I show up for an event, I'm assuming that it will be an awesome weekend. Due to numbers, I can usually find at least 10-15 people who make it a great weekend. At game days however, 5-6 "fuddy duddies" ruin the atmosphere for everyone. All it takes is one grumpy complainer and you get stuck in a game day mod with no way to remove yourself from the group (except walking off the mod), which leaves you sitting at the picnic table and pondering life.
With that said, I don't plan on attending any game days unless I hear from people how excited and happy they are to be there. I hear this energy prior to events I go to... and remarkably it sucks in people. I don't know how many times I've pulled in a few friends to an event because I'm happy and excited about going.
On the flip side... over the past two years I've heard too much random negativity both here on the forum and in person when I said hello to people to believe they are enthusiastic about having a great time.
Without the "happy to be here" motivation, the game suffers IMHO.
~Barry
