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Yes! More gaming no matter what!

7 (21.2%)

I'll go along with it if everyone else wants to.

9 (27.3%)

I prefer the way things have been.

13 (39.4%)

No! No! No! Let me sleep late!

4 (12.1%)

Total Members Voted: 30

Voting closed: November 13, 2005, 10:08:05 AM

[Sinkuu]

As far as Pickup Games... it's easy to find a Boardgame pickup... but how often do you see an RPG pickup?

I think this is kinda what kathy meant as far as not finding pickups....


from my experiences at cons, and Tiny knows where I'm coming from, I agree that the breaks work.  it's down time between events.  gives you a chance to drop stuff in the room, get ready for the next event... kinda like the time between classes. 

[TonyLB]

As far as Pickup Games... it's easy to find a Boardgame pickup... but how often do you see an RPG pickup?

Hey, I played almost nothing but RPG pickup games at DEXCON, and intend to do the same at Dreamation.  The IGE booth is entirely geared toward that sort of thing.

Here's my counter-question:  When you see people playing a boardgame that looks fun, you'll ask "Hey, can I get in on the next game?" right?  Do people feel that they have the social "cred" to ask that same question when they see people playing an RPG that sounds fun?  If there are things that people playing (or running) the game can do to make the game more explicitly welcoming, what are they?  Should we post a little sign "Drop-in players welcome"?

[Joshua Logan]

Hey, I played almost nothing but RPG pickup games at DEXCON, and intend to do the same at Dreamation.  The IGE booth is entirely geared toward that sort of thing.

Here's my counter-question:  When you see people playing a boardgame that looks fun, you'll ask "Hey, can I get in on the next game?" right?  Do people feel that they have the social "cred" to ask that same question when they see people playing an RPG that sounds fun?  If there are things that people playing (or running) the game can do to make the game more explicitly welcoming, what are they?  Should we post a little sign "Drop-in players welcome"?

i think location makes a difference.  When a GM has set up their game for an RPG< the people are very involved, and the GM is usually so entwined in the adventure that its not easy to just throw another person in the mix.  Tony, your game is just the opposite, making a character in 15 seconds and then playing it out is great.  I think it depends on the system, and the IGE table is known to allow drop-ins because it ISNT set up in the rpg room.  its designed to demo the game, and a "drop ins welcome" sign would be great for ANY gm who allows someone to come in at any time.

[tantras]

Hmm.  I rather like the slot structure at the moment.  It gives me a moment to compose myself for the next round of frenetic activity.  If anything, maybe you could shift half of one track to start an hour later so that it sort of staggers the games (i.e. half the board games start at 9, the other half at ten).  For boardgaming, this would be particularly useful as it would make it easier to split GM's among multiple games should the need arise.  Plus it's great to hang out with my clique... I mean fellow GM's for lunch or dinner at least once during the con. 

However, that does bring up the other point I would make as well.  More programming means you need more warm bodies.  Great for conventioneers, not so hot for staff.  I'm not entirely convinced it would be all that easy to find GM's to run the extra 80-100 hours of gaming (per track) that may be generated¹ by expanding the slots or removing the breaks when it's difficult enough to find enough warm bodies to GM now.  I would think that adding more programming would just burn out the staff that much faster.  Granted, I think I would be up to the challenge of trying to run 80 hours worth of games, but I'm also a half-crazed freak anyway, and it would probably happen only once so choose your once very wisely... 

And that is my $0.02.

     - Randy, an Asian with spare change

¹ Not exactly scientifically derived, but a rough guesstimate of time generated by eradicating the two hour breaks and maybe starting at 8 AM².

² I think making the GM's get up before 8 AM is a sign of a morally bankrupt institution. 

[mr_teem]

Trying to fit LARPs into a "no break" schedule will play havoc with both GMs and players. The GMs will need the setup/teardown time and players who costume need to feed and change.     Getting LARP GMs I know up to prep for an 8am game will require an urn or two of coffee or uppers. 

For board and tabletop stuff, it does squeeze more events in. I remember packing water and munchies in my backpack and ironmanning Fridays and Saturdays at GenCon back in the day. But snack bars and bathrooms were in running distance, too.

[Drew]

Why not just run 3.5-hour slots instead of 4-hour ones? Then you could have 9 to 12:30, 1 to 4:30, 5 to 8:30, and 9 to 12:30, so you get your four slots, but with a later starting time and half-hour breaks between every event, so people can eat whenever they want to.

[Hank]

Im not sure how i feel about this.. I am kind of for mirroring the larger cons if its required, but then you run the risk of driving people too hard.. (I may be willing to run every slot in the con for INE, but I have a deathwish ;P )  Crashed out grumpy gamers make GMs cry.

On the other hand if it means a lon term 'win' in the courting of national championships, it may be worth it.  I would likely poll the groups that already run their big important events at DEXCON and see why they like runnung there.

[`_100003005030 (Zero)]

Why not just run 3.5-hour slots instead of 4-hour ones? Then you could have 9 to 12:30, 1 to 4:30, 5 to 8:30, and 9 to 12:30, so you get your four slots, but with a later starting time and half-hour breaks between every event, so people can eat whenever they want to.

As a former RPGA co-ord, I can tell you that by the time you get everybody settled into their tables, you only have about 3.5 hours left in a 4-hour slot anyway, and a lot of your events will barely fit in that time period, since many of them are now written to fill a 5-hour slot. 

And in reality, whether RPGA, boardgames, or whatever, if you say the game is 9-12:30, and the next game's at 1 -- the players and GM will treat it as a 4-hour slot.  If they finish early, fine, but if the game's still going at 12:30, they'll keep going as long as they can.  Even with 1-hour breaks, games often extend into the break.  It's just that, with a full hour, you're odds on to at least get some of that time to catch a breather (which for some of us old-timers can be more important than food).

Linda

[cm4ramos]

Vinnie,

Far cry from the 24 hour gaming days, but I see your point on the aligning with the Tournament schedule other Cons.  If you adapted this, what about staggered slots to add 3 more slots between 8am-Midnight?  Would allow more convenient scheduling and shorten gaps between the game slots.  So in theory, the hardcore gamer can get in 3-4 solid scheduled game tracts in one day, and still get a break sometime during the day. The staggered start is also good for the late risers to make the 2nd breakfast start time.

8-12, 12-4, 4-8, 8-12
    10-2, 2-6, 6-10

May seem slightly overkill, but I think it would add greater flexibility and open up the schedule to more game tracts.

Just my two pense on the subject...

Chris