Questions for the HST Candidates

[Jeff]

So, starting up the thread of questions. 
I try to avoid asking question in the announcement thread, reserving that for the Candidate, and perhaps his ASTs, to make comments, announcements, stump speeches, etc.  So, this is a thread for questions for all HST candidates, with some directed questions as desired.

So, first question to Brendan, rest to everyone.

1. Staff size is important. Currently, when there are only 6 STs at game, it is a "short staff" night.  You currently only have 6 total members of your staff. Are you looking to expand, does this worry you, etc.

2. What do you feel of the current roles of PAs, RAs, and Narrators?  Continue them, expand them, contract, etc.

3. Since it is always asked, opinion on game reset.

4. PC Prince.  We have one, is it good?  In the past, we had a way to handle PC Prince quirks, specifically that he reported to King Madsen.  Obviously that has gone away.  Does this concern you, just in general? ( Note, this is not a question about our current prince, just a general query )

5. Relationship with NOTR. Tell us how you see this, feel about it, etc.

That is all for now.

Thanks

Jeff

[Brendan]

Hey Jeff! Thanks so much for your questions.

1. Staff size is very important, and yes, I am looking to expand. I think I have a solid number of assistant storytellers to get the ball rolling, and either with more ASTs or with relying on more narrators, I'll get to where I need to be...

2. Which segues in to my thoughts on PA's, RA's, and Narrators.

Narrators, I think, were a novel and interesting expansion to the game, and I think they provide a valuable service to the Vampire sphere. I want to have more narrators, hopefully, with the goal being that each assistant storyteller would have a narrator as their go-to. There are several players who have expressed interest in this, so I'm going to look at it as possibly a new way to handle staff size.

RA's are an awesome asset to this game. Like I mentioned in my post, should I be elected, I'll be putting up voluntary quizzes for people to get used to the new house rules. The only change I'll put in place for RA's is completion of the quizzes, to ensure that rules advocates are advocating the right rules.

I think the role of a player advocate is an unfortunate necessity at this game. With a game this size (last count: over 100 active players!) there are bound to be personality conflicts between players and the staff. While I HIGHLY encourage people to address their issues directly with me, I will be appointing a few player advocates to provide liaisons with staff when direct conflict resolution is not feasible.

3. My opinions on Game Reset... I don't think we need one. I certainly see some of the merits of a Reset, and if there is a loud enough outcry, I will evaluate the feasibility of one, but I'd much rather see staff working things out within the current continuity.

4. I think having a PC prince is vital to the political game that is Emerald City Chronicles: Vampire. As a lot of the competitiveness in game is political in nature, I feel as though mandating an NPC prince is removing the chance to "win" the political game. If it is impossible to have a PC prince for some reason (lack of candidates, for example) I'm not opposed to having an NPC prince.

I am not concerned about not having direct oversight of a PC prince. I don't think it's necessary... As long as there is a Camarilla, and clan structures, a staff will ALWAYS have direct oversight over almost anyone in game. The whole point of the Jyhad is that there are invisible strings manipulating everything. If staff wants to make the world's opinion known on something the prince is doing, all they have to do is make some of those strings visible.

5. I believe that NOTR is doing a great job in their role of facilitating a game space for us to play in, and the responsibility of collecting money and making our winter months the best they can is a responsibility I will happily let them take off my plate.

I hope I answered your questions completely, and to your satisfaction. If you need clarification on any of my answers, or if you have any other questions, please feel free to post them here, or as a reply on my announcement post.

[user/874]

I have a short list today, follow ups as I think of them. For Brendan initially, but also for anyone else who steps up to the plate.

1. What is your stance on setting integrity? Do you lean more towards the default, tabletop setting or is your vision of the world more inclusive of the random, wierd, unique and bell curve outlier character concepts in the hands of PCs?

2. As a corrollary, what will your concept vetting process look like? How stringent/lenient will the process be?

3. I heard mention of an idea you had regarding creation packages. Is this idea still on the table? If so, can you expound upon your vision of how it will work and the benefits you believe it will bring to the game?

4. Where, for you personally, is the ideal balance between meta-plot and a purely player driven story game?

5. No game is 100% ideal. Constructively, without personal attacks or mudslinging, what was the one issue about the game that bothered you the most over the past year and how would you change it, given carte blanche to do so?

[Brendan]

Todd, Thanks so much for the questions.
1. There's a really fine balance that has to be struck between two very important concepts: setting integrity, which is very important to me, and allowing players to play characters that they're going to have fun playing. My particular place in that balance is decidedly middle ground.

I believe that the LARP setting demands for some allowances in deviation from the traditional World of Darkness setting. Rigidly enforcing stereotypes means that a lot of players won't get to play the characters they want to play.

At the same time, if everyone is running around with Blood Magic, and half the game are all sabbat infiltrators or secret settites who happen to not know about each other, the game quickly devolves from the setting all of us are expecting. So how do I find the balance between the two?

I believe that providing incentives toward stereotypes is a much stronger reinforcement than rigid guidelines and hard shutdowns. I want to encourage people to embrace canon with their concepts, but to make concessions for the sake of the overall game. I want people to be able to play the concepts they want to play, but I may ask for concessions for canon in order to make a concept work.

2. The character vetting process will be very similar to the one the current staff uses. Anything outside of the basic character creation rules will be subject to ST approval. The main factor of whether or not something will be approved is based on one simple rule: What will it add to game?

This question encompasses many factors in decision making. For example, in recent history, we had a Kiasyd. I would happily make the same decision as the previous staff in this case... The player had a great reason for the Kiasyd being in the city, and religiously costumed for the role. Prior to that, we've had players do great jobs with Gargoyles and Nosferatu, and intense and in depth stories to provide strong material to create the stories we tell at Emerald City Chronicles.

3. Ah, you heard about that, did you? For everyone reading this, please be aware of two facts:
1. This idea is in its infancy.
2. Before it is launched, this system will be fully explained to the player base, and put to a player vote.

The character package idea is one that occurred to me when I was on Sean's staff. Essentially what it boils down to is this: A player with an incoming character would have a list of options available to them, which would provide drawbacks and benefits in character creation. They are organized by age of the character (neonate, ancilla, elder) and are designed so that if you choose to play an elder for the game, you will FEEL like an elder.

The package system is designed for two purposes: One, reinforcing canon in a big way. If you choose the neonate package, for example, canon NPCs will have a very hard time choking down you earning a court position, and you cannot come in with status or prestige above 2. The trade off is extra abilities at the start of the game, reflecting your solid connection to the mortal world around you.

The second purpose for this system is to provide an incentive to playing at the level you want to play, but also have some realistic flaws following you from your 500 year life span.

Below is a rough draft of the ancilla package.

Ancillas are the bread and butter of most Camarilla cities. Their age has made them wiser, and has given them perspective in to the world around them. While they may not have the social pull of those still older than they, Ancillas have learned not just how to survive in Kindred Society, but how to thrive in it. Modern society hasn’t COMPLETELY left them in the dust yet, and they’ve had much time to grow the tools at their disposal.
Prerequisites: As a player, has earned 36 XP (Not including Surveys, Rare Clan Bonus, XP drives, etc.)
This prerequisite can be waived with Storyteller approval. This package was designed for characters who have been dead anywhere from 51 years to 400 years.
Benefits: +1 discipline dot. Must be in a clan discipline. (Approximate XP Value:15-20 )
+3 backgrounds. Cannot be in generation or fame. (Approximate XP Value: 12)
+1 Willpower. It takes a tough person to live this long. (Approximate XP Value: 7)
+3 dots in Lores. This may not buy a lore past 4. (Approximate XP Value: 15)
Drawbacks:
Must take three flaws out of the list below.
Cannot enter play with Status or Prestige 5.


Example flaws: 
For Ancilla and Elder packages, you must pick flaws out of the below list. If there is an asterisk, it is only appropriate to be taken once. You do NOT get freebies for these flaws.
• Hunted like a Dog
• Hunted
• Enemy (3-4 points)*
• 5-point Enemy (Counts for 2 flaws)
• Ex-Prince (Not appropriate for ancillae except with a good story)
• Recruitment Target
• Masquerade Breaker
• Narc
• Clan Enmity (Counts for 2 flaws)(Can be taken multiple times, if you’re that brave…)
• Blood Hunted (4 pt version, Counts for 2 flaws)
• Dark Secret

4. Were this a tabletop, I would say 70/30 Metaplot. Two years ago, I would have said... Actually, I DID say the same thing about LARP. Since then I've come to realize that player driven stories are what makes a LARP what it is. What I love, when playing a character, is having an impact on my own story, and on the stories of others.

At the same time, there are times when the meta plot becomes an important part of the game. Instead of answering in percentages, I'll say this instead: Metaplot serves two purposes: to fill gaps in the LARP when player driven plot cools, and to push certain events that will affect the game's canon. Essentially, what it boils down to is this. The metaplot should be as present as the players desire it to be.

5. What are you talking about? ECC IS perfect!
I kid, of course, and agree wholeheartedly that no game is perfect. If it were me, I'd have to say... it's the game's out of character atmosphere. You see a lot of players getting really angry with staff. You see staff occasionally lashing out at players. You see players getting very close to violent with each other. It's not all the time... and actually, I don't think it's a majority of the time... but I think it's important for everyone to remember that every other player at this game has good intentions. We're all here to have a good time, and have fun. It may sound corny to take the "World Peace" approach, but I honest to god mean it.

I hope I answered all of your questions to your satisfaction, and I look forward to answering any followups. 
-Brendan Keating


(Edited to update package reasoning and added bolds)

[user/874]

I won't editorialize or clog up your questions thread with responses but I do have a couple of quick follow ups.

For point one, you mentioned incentivizing stereotypes. Can you expand onthat? Are we talking the bog standard XP bonus, or did you have something unique or interesting in mind?

Point 5 brings me right into my other whammy question. What techniques and skills do you use for interpersonal conflict resolution? Lets says I am a problem player. A call goes against my interests and tempers flare. I flip out and now I am in your face yelling. How do you defuse the situation?

Corrollary to that, how do you handle long term, antagonistic problem players?

[Brendan]

Todd, if you do wish to discuss any of my answers with me in depth, please don't hesitate to email me at [e-mail], or message me privately here on the boards. Now, ON TO THE FOLLOWUPS!

1. Well, for one thing, the low clan XP is a wonderful way to get people excited and interested in the clans that are lacking a bit of membership. I intend to continue with that program. Another method is negotiation on the character sheet itself.

I don't look at many concepts and just say "No." (Examples of when I will include: "I want a sixth gen sabbat so I can storm in and kill everyone!", "I want to play a Toreador who has gotten five in every blood magic!", "I want to play a Bane Mummy!") I feel like when I look at a sheet, or when one of my ASTs looks at a sheet, it's important to not look for every little thing to say "No!" to, but rather, I want to find ways to say "Yes!" to what's important to the concept, and wheedle out the overpowered and the canon breaking.

Here's the funny thing about Canon, though. For every rule in Canon, there's five canon NPCs who break it pretty directly. So to get to the point, here, I want to say yes to the cool things about a character that are vital to the concept, and negotiate out some of the crazier things on sheets. Other than that, I think it'll come down to a case by case basis with the players.

2. Well, to your direct scenario...

I kid, of course. In all seriousness, you'll find that I am pretty adept at diffusing direct confrontation before it becomes a screaming match, but sometimes, you just can't stop a temper. I would ask them simply to calm down, and try to settle them for a moment, but if it doesn't work, or worse, if it escalates, I'd ask them to take some time to themselves and cool off, and if I know a PA they get along with well, I'd send that person to talk to them. A third party perspective can really help cool tempers and get people to what's really important. I am not afraid, however, of using the authority of the Head Storyteller to full effect. While I will not jump directly to the charter, if someone is unable to be reasonable after a few attempts, the charter has provisions for exactly those situations, including being sent home for the evening.

I pride myself on being able to keep a level head.

3. To your corollary, I would handle long term antagonistic players by first, trying to find the underlying issue and resolving it. There are a lot of points where antagonistic players really have a legitimate and important problem in need of resolving. Sometimes, though, there's just a personality conflict that cannot be resolved. In those cases, I would recommend them to a Player Advocate. If, however, someone is in serious charter violation with their actions, I will use the charter to penalize the player.

Thanks again! Let me know if any of my answers need clarification

[Styx]

I have noticed, and have had other people inform me that they also have noticed, a drastic increase in the difficulty of hiding or keeping secret anything that a character does. I'm not blaming anyone or singling anyone out, and I honestly don't know whether it can be attributed to the influx of new powers and abilities, new rulings, or something else entirely, but the point is, it's becoming a significant deterrant to the enjoyment of the game.
It's one thing to break into a bank full of security cameras and get caught on film while wearing no mask, sure that's probably not going to remain a secret. But (as an example) when you do things in the privacy of your own home to yourself, and suddenly 7 unrelated people know about it, or if you use a Discipline effect that shouldn't be detectable (but gets detected anyway) , it can become frustrating, compounded by the frequency of that happening.

What, if anything, do you see as a possible solution to this issue?

[Brendan]

Without a situation in particular to comment on, I'm not sure how much help I can be on the matter, but I'll do my best.

What the knowledge problem boils down to is one of two situations. The first is relatively easy. If someone is metagaming, and it can be proved, that's cheating and will be treated as such.

I like to believe, however, that everyone is on the up and up, so let's approach your question from that stance. Plotting in the World of Darkness is a dangerous affair, and one not to be taken lightly. The truth is, there are many methods for someone to find out what someone else is doing, all completely within the rules. Honestly, I can think of more mundane answers to this than thaum paths or weird powers.

The truth be told, in the Emerald City, it doesn't matter if one person finds out a secret, or if seven do. If the "right" one person finds out, much more than seven people will find out, and very quickly. From scrying to oracular, from Private Eye firms to a clever use of an Underworld 5 influence action, there are many ways to keep tabs on someone. Mistrust and Treachery are important themes in the World of Darkness.

Please, however, don't assume that I'm simply saying "Sucks to be you!" What I'm saying is this: It may very well be that the people who have knowledge someone doesn't think they should have simply got it through creative means that no one else thought of. Take time to try and find out if an action happened legitimately. I know I've underestimated my political enemies on more than one occurrence in game

That being said, I can assure you this staff will work diligently to keep the privacy of characters when that privacy is due to them. We will treat every character (and, moreover, every player) with fairness and respect, and aside from that, there's not much else that I feel I can say on the matter.

I hope sincerely that I've answered your questions and assuaged your concerns adequately. Thank you for your question!

[Shah-Khohr of Ventrue]

It has always been very difficult to keep IC secrets IC, from my own experience.

[Kevin K]

One question I always struggled with was how much to share OOC about "how it was done." My first instinct is to be pretty pure IC-only: if you don't know it, you don' know it. But in cases where there is the suspicion of metagaming, sharing the "how' has been a real balm to those who are, at some level, accusing their fellow players of cheating.

As HST, what would be your guide as you balance IC/OOC information in a character conflict that includes these kinds of concerns?

[Brendan]

Really, Kevin, I think you hit the nail squarely on the head in your question.

In a tabletop game, where everyone trusts each other, I would love to tell everybody everything, but in this LARP atmosphere, right now, that simply is not viable, and is actually the opposite of what functions well. In a LARP, for the most part, players should know only a little bit more than their characters. This excludes resolved plots that, without outside information, could look like cheating. It's very easy, not having seen all sides, to assume someone is metagaming.

My basic policy is this: When a plot is happening, it is important to keep the machinations of everyone involved secret and safe by only dropping the most important of details to players. After a plot is resolved, if someone feels the scene happened unfairly, it's important to be open and honest with that player as to how the situation ran against them. Incidentally, most of this does not require giving away the identity of who was behind what action, but rather explaining that "a PC in play used their contacts to tail you back. I promise it was all legitimate."

My hope is that if I am elected, I will endeavor to foster good, positive relations between players and my staff, and players with other players, too.

[Webmonkey]

Question related to the charter and how it conflicts (in my mind) with a house rule.

The charter states this:

(2nd section)

8.Rule of one- Players are only allowed one character per sphere at a time. It is the player’s responsibility to request hiatus or extended breaks. Players may play a different character for one month before their previous character is retired. The HST has ultimate discretion on whether a character can return to play at a later time.

Yet recently a vampire only house rule called 'shelving' has come into play that conflicts with this. I won't repost all of the shelving rules here, but they are available to read here: www.emeraldcitychronicles.com/212999/221259.html

This house rule is in violation of the specific section of the charter to my mind, as shelving allows a character to be on leave more than a month for non emergency reasons (real life issues like shift changes at your job is what the Special Inactive status is generally for).

Without answering 'feel free to write up a petition with signatures'(which I feel is sorta like making it the player's job to enforce the charter) how would you resolve this conflict of interest?

(Full charter here): vampst.proboards.com/thread/13498#ixzz2YEbTAasA

Thanks!

- Chrismonkey

[Webmonkey]

Second question to Brendan specifically (though I have not yet seen any official candidates step up yet, just heard rumors, this is based on Brendan's platform in his earlier post).

You talk about XP monsters and VOLUNTARY (emphasis yours, heh) retirement. What exactly is an XP monster to your staff? Is it just a number of XP spent? If so, what's the number? Is it more a problem player situation that you're hoping to resolve?

Compare Low Impact Player: Crusty old 8 year old Billy Brujah that does nothing but tinker on cars and muse about the 'good old days' but has 1000+ XP

vs. High Impact Player: Highly political, 20 PC kills under his belt Grady Gangrel MURDERBOT who most players consider unkillable and is sitting at 600+ XP.

vs. Medium Impact Player: Middling political, mostly focused on their own character story, tends to shy away from PvP but is sitting at around 800+ XP.

Who gets asked to VOLUNTEER and who gets STRONGLY ENCOURAGED? Which of the above factors are non-factors, and which are a big deal?

Any of Brenden's staff may answer, but I'm most interested to hear the man himself.

Thanks!

[Brendan]

Chris, first I'll choose your second question to begin with, as it's the easiest to answer. I should not have titled that section "XP monsters", really, but let me clarify something. The voluntary retirement system, should it get voted in, is voluntary. I mean that in the literal sense of the word. There are not many situations where I would "strongly recommend" voluntary retirement, or ask anyone to volunteer, unless they come up to me and say they aren't having fun with their characters anymore.

The only real way that XP matters to this staff is in building a challenge for them. Please, don't read that last line as saying "The higher the XP, the more deadly the combats". In D&D, though, or in Cthulhutech, you don't put characters who have been playing for two years straight against a pack of goblins. You put them against a fight that feels like a pack of goblins does to a level one character.

The challenge for my staff will be to build situations that feel frightening and dangerous to each individual character.

It was smart of you to differentiate high impact vs. high XP characters, but I do believe XP tends to relate to impact. Then again, in white wolf, 1000 XP doesn't always equal 1000 XP. Depending on what your character prioritized, a group of mortal thugs could still present a real and present danger.

I'll answer your charter question in a following post.

[Brendan]

8.Rule of one- Players are only allowed one character per sphere at a time. It is the player’s responsibility to request hiatus or extended breaks. Players may play a different character for one month before their previous character is retired. The HST has ultimate discretion on whether a character can return to play at a later time.

I bolded the sections of the Rule of One I will be referring to within this post.

I want to open with this: I understand where you are coming from. I get how this system could potentially be open for abuse and corruption... if the staff running the system allowed it to be abused or corrupted. I hope my answer will assuage some of your concerns about this system.

I don't believe the character shelving system of Emerald City Chronicles: Vampire is in violation of the charter, nor is it bad for the game environment. The character shelving process allows players to play something new, and really tell a different story for longer than a month, without giving up their ten year character. The shelving system would be bad, if the storytellers who handled it were inept in its execution.

So first, the shelving system is not in direct violation of the words written in the charter. The charter says specifically that only one character can be played at a time. The system was written to include a mandatory three month waiting period before a specific role could be resumed. This ensures, more or less, that there isn't enough overlap to cause what the "Rule of One" was trying to prevent: Getting to play another character to further one's own goals. Also, the brief experience I had storytelling while the Rule of One was in effect was largely positive. There are few people doing it, and it's easy to catch when someone is politicking for their "other" character.

Second, shelving is good for the game. Take Terry Toreador, a 10 year character who focuses on his own personal story. Ten years is a long time to play a single character. The player of Terry Toreador, Tristan, wants to take a break and try a new clan, so he rolls up Tommy Tremere. A month rolls around, but Tommy's story isn't done. Now, Tristan is left in a very difficult situation. Either give up this new, exciting story forever and return to Terry Toreador, or lose a character with ten years of rich history, character ties, and an established pillar of the Emerald Domain. Not an enviable position, and not one I'd want to inflict on a player.

Let's look at another example. Vinny Ventrue (played by Valerie) is a political manipulator with a craven streak. Vinny fears for his life constantly, and tries to dodge the bullet whenever blame is getting handed around. Well, then the Sabbat set the International District train station on fire. "F&$% THAT!" Says Vincenzo Ventrue. It's not that Vinny wants to run away from political machinations, it's just that he's not terribly keen on the idea of a fricassee style tan. If the situation in Seattle doesn't die down in a month, Valerie has two options: Make Vinny act out of character and return to Seattle, or sit out of game until the situation has been resolved.

Now, is the character shelving perfectly built to resist player abuses? Hell no. If a staff is too lenient with this system, and doesn't obey the wording in it, This system is ripe for abuse. Then again, so is almost every system in Vampire. Yes, a high impact character could use it as a get out of jail free card, if an ST lets that happen, but at that point, you're not complaining about the system, you're complaining about the staff running a system.

In short, I would resolve this conflict by changing nothing, as I don't believe this system negatively impacts the game, or conflicts directly with the charter. Chris, (or anyone else, for that matter), you're welcome to contact me offline to further discuss this, but without proof of it having been abused in the past, or some hole in the system I've yet to see, I don't really see myself changing my stance on this.

[Sethron]

For all HSTs:

1. I heard rumors that the staff might shift from grapevine to Mr. Gone's character sheets. Is this true?

2. If you are made staff, what will be your approach to metaplot? Have you got a story in mind? Do you plan to leave it on the back-burner?

3. How will your staff run? Will everyone do all jobs or will various ASTs have a specific role?

5. How will your staff welcome new players and make them feel like they are part of the game?



----


6. For Rose, specifically:

I am by no means against simplifying the influence system; we have been trying really hard to get it as simple as possible while still working. Changing the way actions are boosted allows for a dangerous heightening on the level of boost your can do. 2 level 5s suddenly make a 6 and 2 6s make a 7 and so on, so forth. What will you do to balance having upped the 'arms race', effectively? A single person in game right now can make a 6. How would you limit people doing level 6, 7, 8 influence actions? These are country, and global reaching events.

[Brendan]

1. I had heard something similar about this. It's not something I am planning on doing.

2. As far as Metaplot goes, I think it's important to have one in mind for when the action will, inevitably, slow to a crawl. The real gem when it comes to this game is player vs. player action, and however often it's appropriate, it's best to let the characters go at it. I do still have a meta plot in mind, to seep in to the cracks where action isn't happening (both for characters who aren't at each others' political throats, and when there isn't major conflict occuring.

3. ASTs will indeed have divided roles, as specialty allows this game to work smoothly and cleanly. That being said, each staff member will be able to fit in for most of the other staff members in a pinch, in case someone has to miss a session. Now, in addition to this, the ASTs are going to have a great deal of freedom to run smaller character based plots.

The biggest difference between the current staff and how I plan on mine being run is that there will not be a "depth" AST. EVERYONE will be a depth AST.

4. CTHULHU FTHAGAN!

5. Actually, I have something in mind for this, but it'll be posted tomorrow on a different thread. Watch for it!

[Maeve]

I have lots of answers- Thanks to those who had queries!

Jeff-

2.) On the current roles of PAs, RAs and Narrators. I am absolutely keeping PAs and RAs. The PAs provide an open ear and bring any concerns to staff. This is not just about handling any immediate concern, but if they hear general issues with the way things are going. Having RAs is definitely a benefit to the Staff and Players. Not only can RAs provide insight on current rules, but if needed review any changes before they are proposed to the game at large. Narrators are new to this game and I don’t know how often they are used. I would have to pole the player base to see if they are comfortable going to Narrators and how often they went to one in the past year before I decide to continue the role.

3.) The dreaded reset question. LOL. Honestly the only reason I would reset the game is if things had gotten so out of control that it couldn’t be resolved in a single term. And since things don’t usually get that far I don’t think that it’s necessary at this point.

4.) The PC Prince- I think that having a PC Prince is completely fine. We don’t need a Bowsley Doctrine to keep a hand in the city. The PC Prince just needs to feel the pressure from above to make the right decisions.

5.) I feel that the NOTR does a good service to this community by ensuring that we have space to play during the colder months and that shared resources (websites/forums) between all the games are kept available.


Todd-

1.) Stance on setting integrity- I’d love to see the game be more like the traditional setting. I’d like to see Status, Boons and Age matter a bit more. The “snowflake” or as you call them “random, weird, unique and bell curve outlier character concepts” aren’t snowflakes when we are in a snow storm.

2.) Snowflake vetting- It’s all about the story. Email in a concept (it can be rough), tell us what you are thinking about playing, I enjoy helping flesh out characters. If they are not a traditional clan though it will require more work to create a story that is justified. I won’t make a knee-jerk reactions and say no before I hear you out. As far as how strict I’m going to be? It’s gotta make sense. I can’t put a hard line on this... Unless you are trying to play Caine.

3.) Creation Packages- Not me.

4.) Player-Driven vs. MetaPlot (or ST-Driven)- The plot that is set out to the players by the staff should not over-ride all gameplay, it should provide a canvas for many other ideas to spring from. In our LARP players are always going out and finding stuff to do create their own goals. I think nurturing the Player-driven plot is very important, but there should be enough plot in the ST pocket ready to go so if those dreaded words “I’m bored” come out we will have stuff ready to go.

5.) My biggest issues? Uh, see my platform. Influence and contacts/allies/mentors

6.) Conflict Resolution- Let’s see… I work for AT&T Mobility and handle a lot of escalations. I don’t think it would come to that. If I can tell that you are angry/frustrated/whatever I’ll ask if you need some time or if you would like to have a neutral opinion from another staff member or an RA. I don’t tend to raise my voice or start yelling.


Chris –

Regarding Shelving. I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing. Obviously if players use this as a means to subvert any consequences of either one of their characters they will loose access to that character. I feel that there should also be a limit to how many characters can be "shelved" and how many alternate characters can be played in the interim. Should a player abuse this allowance Staff would refer to the Corrective Action section of the Charter. A warning and progressing forward. I will also work to amend the Charter to allow for Shelving to happen.


David –

This subject is always tricky. As so many people hang out outside of game it can be difficult to pinpoint how hidden actions are found out. While I love having indoor play-space in the colder months it is harder to keep anything truly secret because of the space limitations (and the echo of the gym). Even people walking by a scene on campus could make a guess as to what’s going on, sometimes they are way off, other times they hit the nail on the head. The problem is not everyone is as adept at keeping OOC and IC information separate. I don’t think there is ever going to be a true solution to this issue, but I think reminding players to respect each other enough to not speculate or kibbutz on scenes that their character is not involved in could be a start.


Kevin –

Trying to trace rumors back to the source is near impossible with all of the different groups of friends at game. I don’t want to turn an incident into a witch-hunt. Asking the accused about where they heard X, Y and Z IC could bring some resolution, but as you trust Staff to keep your interactions mum, we trust that the players are here to play the game within their own interests. Meta-gaming takes the suspense and interest away for all players involved. It’s about respecting each other and the Staff enough to make an effort to preserve the integrity of the game.


Seth-

1.) This is one of a few ideas regarding switching away from Grapevine that has come up. I’m not going to close the door to an alternate system till we can prove it can’t handle the load. This of course is something that we won’t even attempt until it is tested.

2.) Meta-Plot- there are a lot of options for this that have been left open, I have a couple of ideas on the fore-front and will be talking with my staff about them.

3.) Staff assignments- every member of my team has their strengths. Sheena, for example is going to be amazing when Tim decides to get out from behind the table. We will be using their strengths, but I’m not going to pigeon hole any one to only do specific tasks. General duties, have yet to be assigned.

5.) Gotta love new players! When new players show up it’s always good to make introduction form staff, give them an idea about our game. Asking them about any past RPG/LARP experience gives you a good idea about what kind of introduction to give. Someone totally new to RPG/LARP is going to need a completely different intro than an experienced LARPer. Introducing them OOC to the players of the inner court, if they have a Character in mind the clan’s Primogen as well. (Avoids making them feel unwelcome, like me playing Seraphina, who was so snooty, Sheena thought I didn’t like her till after post her first night when I introduced myself.) Let the new players if they are rearing to go get that brief introduction and run. Newer gamers are welcome to step in as someone’s NPC ghoul (with the player permission of course) or wear an OOC tag and see how things are run.

6.) While yes, it is technically possible it seems to be a middle ground. The old system was +1 for any 2 dots in another influence (no matter the level). There will always be other forces in the regional, national and global influence game. They are the checks and balances. And a point of clarification: it would be a 5-point action with two additional 5-point actions to boost to 6, for a total of 3 5pt actions.

[Barnaby Cuthbert]

To Rose: Do you plan to get rid of a large number of the current house rules?

[Maeve]

Chris-

I don't plan on making a ton of changes. My main concerns are addressed in my platform and responses to the questions posted here. I'm not going to say there won't be any changes, but they will most likely be minimal and far between.