Jon W

DeadCave, on 30 July 2012 - 04:00 PM, said:

<laughter>  I think you are thinking WAY too big.  Our price was $100 for the weekend, per person.  Admittedly, it would probably be up to $200 by now.  But that isn't unreasonable for a weekend activity.

Don't watch "The Postman" - read the book it is 'based' on by David Brin.  MUCH better.

Subway3460, on 30 July 2012 - 03:27 AM, said:

Actually, based on my experience, one night is *not* enough.  And we never had a mental breakdown (although we did have one serious intoxication that we had to ban).  A weekend works out pretty well... Friday night is the 'transitional experience' when people start to get into character and leave Real Life behind.

Saturday is the main activity day.  Depending on the scenario, Saturday night or Sunday morning is the wrap up, followed by picking up the pieces (i.e. breakfast in character Sunday morning, then we have to clean the camp).  Worked out very well.

Why I don't run them any more... two main reasons:

1.  The partnership broke up.  We had three main people:  the "artist' (responsible for scenario design, look and feel of the game, production, etc.), the all around - and cook (my ex-wife), who was all over the place and the head cook and me... kind of the 'face' of the game.  Divorce and a significant move from the artist just made it not work any more.  This is WAY too much work for a single person.  I had a 15 to 20 person volunteer staff, and we would run for 100 to 120 players.

2.  <grin>  I got old.  I gave some thought to continuing, but when we sold the company, it was a good stopping point.

If you want to experience a version of it, play Dark Confrontation at Dragon Con this Labor day (that was originally my company).

 DeadCave, on 24 July 2012 - 07:27 AM, said:

<grin>  Or you can have a serious player who is also a hunter who can provde *real* venison (in exchange for a reduced price for the weekend).

Or you can have legitimate "Rabbit Stew" (we've done that).  However, based on a specific experience at an SCA event, I do NOT recommend serving the whole rabbits.  The stew was very good, however,

To be blunt - the 'food place' is going to be a 'community center' of your game.  If you are going to run a game like this, you need to give thought to how it works.  It doesn't take a lot... just a few props... but if your players can suspend their disbelief, it goes a LONG way towards making the game enjoyable.  It is amazing how much a "boy scout camp mess hall" can look like a medival tavern is you have some swords and shield hanging on the wall, a sign out front and the servers are dressed in (vaguely) medieval garb.

<laughter>  And the players LOVED the food.  I had an excellent kitchen crew (I didn't try to cook, I was always on dish duty).

Another tip for anyone that is thinking about doing this:  Remember your vegetarian players.  Have dishs on the menu that they can eat... and let them go to the front of the chow line, to make sure that they get at least firsts of the vegetarian dishes (we had a particular instance in which one of the vegetarians was towards the back of the line and the vegetarian dish was really highly regarded - and was gone by the time he got to the serving station.  We took care of it, of course, but after that, the vegetarian folks always went to the front of the line - and, since it was explained why, none of the other players had any problems with it.

Boota, on 18 July 2012 - 03:02 AM, said:

This is where I think we diverge - and it is probably over the "love" comment.

I agree, writing is a manipulation.  Until it is purely 'digital communication', anything you write is designed to provoke a specific response in the person that receives the communication.  I have done some myself and I totally agree with you.

However, the "love" is where I hit a sticking point.  I have seen some characters that I disliked (Shane, for example), die, and that death have an impact on me.

How about "appreciate" instead of love?  Right now, I appreciate the character of Carol, even if I don't think too highly of her.  T-Dogg, on the other hand, I really don't appreciate because he's just been too much in the background.