Larpercalia plan-musings

[breakinglight11]

So I am pondering various things about planning for next Festival. And though at this early, early point I am simply thinking out loud, but I'd like to hear people's opinions on whether my thoughts might be useful.

Bernie made the suggestion that it be made known that there will be board games for play during downtime in the con suite. I like this idea as it is good for facilitating socialization. This is easy enough to arrange; just make sure that the BSCF games are present and available. This also, however, may make another idea I had more feasible.

So for the first time this past weekend I had a situation where one player just didn't show up, and we had to scrounge for a last-minute replacement. We got lucky and secured one fairly quickly, but that sure is an unpleasant situation. I was thinking that perhaps, when time draws near to the con, there can be an extra sign up that basically indicates "I am going to be in the con suite during this slot and am willing to fill in for a no-show, so if you need a last-minute player, you know who and where to look." It might be overkill a little, as it seems like most games find replacements without excessive difficulty anyway, but I think that might make the whole process more efficient, and minimize delay to the game. I envision it as possible to be on a waitlist AND be on this "pinch-hitter" list at the same time, but you're removed automatically if you get off a waitlist and into a game. If people think this might be a useful idea, I'll talk to natbudin about the technical workability of it.

The most important thing I think we need to gauge is the number of player openings we want in each time period. Using the very useful data kindly compiled for me by bronzite and Nat, and comparing it to my own observations of the website post-Festival, it seems like between sixty and seventy-five player openings per time slot is about right. In certain higher-participation slots, which seem to be Saturday afternoon and night and maybe Friday evening, the number would be on the higer end of that range. In certain lower-participation slots, like Saturday morning and Sunday, the number would be on the lower end. Heck, it would probably be smartest to push it down to fifty-something for Sunday.

And I'm thinking of making a point of finding someone who would be willing to throw an extra, probably smaller game up on the schedule if we find ourselves getting close to the con and there are still lots of interested people without a game. It would be understood that this game would only get put up if there seemed to be unusually long waitlists; otherwise, this person willing to GM would probably be sitting that slot out. This would allow us to err on the side of helping games to fill while still having a contigency to include anyone who didn't get into anything.

I also would like to encourage people to bring new games this year, or at the very least games that have not been run at Festival before. This would cut down on the "I've played everything interesting in that slot already" trouble that I think we had a bit of this year.

Does anyone have any opinions on these things? Suggestions? Desires? Issues you want resolved? Let me know, so they can be included in the planning process.

Comments

[electric-d-monk.livejournal.com]

Yes, people drop for legitimate reasons, sometimes at the last second.

Yes, there's a sizable portion of the population that realizes the myriad problems that can arise from drops, and will avoid it unless absolutely necessary, and will do their best to inform the GM's if they have to drop.


However, there are two big 'buts.'

First, while those 'heavily involved' in the hobby are fully aware of the problems that may arise from dropping, not everyone belongs to that population, and not everyone is really aware of that. First time LARPers, those that play an occasional game but have never GMed or help run a LARP con, whose social circle isn't full of primarily LARPers... there is a notable, non-zero population that is covered by that, and they're not necessarily going to be aware of just how many issues dropping can cause.

Secondly, to put it bluntly, sometimes people are just flighty, or flaky or irresponsible and don't care if they ruing things for others.


There was at least one drop issue this year that falls, best case scenario, squarely in the 'didn't know better' category.

Best way to deal with outside of the players control, legitimate real reason they can't make it drops is to have a pool to draw from. It's also probably the best solution to the flakes and irresponsible sorts...

But those that don't know better... letting them know and cluing them in really seems like a good idea. There is the caveat that stressing the point to thoroughly needs to be avoided, don't want to really scare off the first timers and less involved players, but at least making certain they know really seems like a good idea.

[valleyviolet.livejournal.com]

Part of my point in bring this is up is that I think most people immediately jump to the conclusion that any drop at the last minute means a player "just didn't feel like it" and was too self centered to understand what their lack of attendance does to everyone else. As someone who often has to travel hundreds of miles to attend events, I find that social stigma very painful to bare if I'm not physically capable of keeping my commitments.

I understand that there are some people who don't know better or who are less committed to the hobby, but I get frustrated by the automatic assumption that they are the majority or that they are some sort of force of nature that can't be altered.

Instead of railing against the players who we consider irresponsible, possibly we should be working to make sure they are invested in the game (and thus want to be there) and conscious of the disruption their absence will cause (so more likely to give notice if they can't).

[yunafonfabre.livejournal.com]

It doesn't make me angry when a player drops at the very last minute unless they make a habit of it.

What makes me angry -- or, at least, resentful -- is when a player drops with no notification. Even if it's only sending a message with someone else. I've had game starts delayed by ~30 min. because a major character was missing ... had I known, I could have had one of the GM team grab the character sheet. It's one reason I always tried to have one more GM than I really needed.