12/10/2023
GM musings: 2023 Season
Hello Citizens of Nerd Town!
I wanted to put down some thoughts about the 2023 season. This was my first season as the General Manager and I have to say, it was not as bad as I was told to expect! There was of course lots to do, lots to cover, and a whole lot to learn. My “mission” for the year was to observe the game from the outside and take a long look at how we play, and more importantly, how we act as a community.
Now that the season has come to a close, Dagger Deep is being shut down for the winter, and we all wonder what to do with our Saturdays until next spring. I offer my thoughts and musing for the Season of 5323!
First? What an amazing year for Storyline! The return of the denizens of the Abyss, and invasion of pirates, brigands and ne'er-do-wells, and a serious haunting of undead! These are the types of stories that bring the Epic to MC. I stood in wonder at the passion the NPCs brought; the investment in their characters’ actions and the emotional toll town paid in opposing them. As “The Guy,” I got to patch PCs up at the Medicae, seeing the fear in some as they realised they are not invincible. I watched PCs give their lives to save their friends; jumping in front of flintlocks, in front of arrows and swords. This is the excitement, the engagement, the freaking ridiculous amount of fun that we crave. THIS is what the game can provide for us!
To all our new players: Well Done!!! I do not remember the last time I had such great active and fun RP with so many new players (other than MY first year…)! The MTLs almost every week, the blur in the corner of my eye that was Ren a moment before, the Barbaric Yop sounded by Thog every time he ran into combat (Yes, Every Time!). I cannot wait to see what they all bring next year!
As always (and as we all should!) I will, with all humility, thank the Staff!!!! These are the people giving their time during the week, not just on game days, to make this game the wonder that it is. I am truly in awe of the amount of work this team takes on and their ability to show up week after week to provide us with the game we love. From the team (literally risking life and limb) clearing trails all year round, to the GMs running their teams to create the missions, to the Safety team making sure we are supplied, to the bar staff keeping you fed, hydrated, and warm. No one gets paid for this and rarely do some staff members get to participate in a complete game, getting pulled aside to deal with an issue. Sure there are some in game perks, but Crew Points don’t buy food and shelter. These people give of themselves, generously and sadly, thanklessly.
There drops the shoe folks! You knew this couldn't be all sunshine and roses. As I said, I was watching our community as much as the operations of the game. Let me add some inside perspective for you. During one of our monthly meetings (yes, we do those too!) I was told point blank, “This is one of the worst years for staff treatment.” To which there was a sad chorus of “Yeah.” My heart dropped, no word of a lie. Sure, doing Weapons check last year I had to deal with a few uppity people about a failed weapon or aspect of a failed kit check. At the time, I got it. It wasn’t what you wanted to hear and it affected your day. But what could make it so bad this year? Well gang, here are a couple of the things the staff have had to deal with this year:
Constant OOC messaging: We all have lives, and sometime those lives will take precedence of the game. Why? Real life is real! I was quite put-out a few times this year getting messages from players that they, “had given plenty of leeway,” or “I need them to respond quickly,” or (and this one still gets my hackles up), “you need to replace them!”
Game Day disrespect: Oh yes. This one will floor some of you. Imagine you are giving your time to the game and someone walks right by you as you do Kit Check and gives you some snide answer when you ask them about it. Or maybe you are in the middle of preparing for Mission and someone gets in your face about an unreturned message (see above!), Or Or, someone corners you in town (read: In Character) and starts talking about how you need to do a better job. These are all real events, kids.
As a response to these, as I am sure some of you might be a little defensive if you recognize this behaviour in yourself, I offer this:
Timeliness is important, Peter! There are kingdoms to run/character to level/phys reps to get!! - Of course there are. But answer me this. Who is going to die in the real world if your trade agreement isn’t complete? Will you lose a limb if your AP didn’t get updated? Will the Gods smite you if the Dragon Claw is a few minutes late to open? I know the answers.
I would say the underlying thing in all this is simple to identify. It is insidious, invisible, and malicious. It is Entitlement. I know that may come across as the current watch-word for HR teams and political arguments and agendas. But I assure you, it is alive and well at MC. Just look at the previous examples. The mentioned actions are not those of people supporting a community. They are the actions of people who have placed their own expectations on others. They are the actions of people who have developed a sense that they deserve more than others in the game, both IC and OOC. They are the people who believe the game owes them; who believe that the game should conform to them and their desires.
Hopefully by now some of you are shaking your heads, wondering who, what and why. Some of you might be feeling called out or offended that I name Entitlement as the biggest problem MC faces. To the former I say, “Thank you!” This should strike a chord in all of us. To the latter I say, “Good. Check yourselves!” Thankfully I believe those in the latter category are few in number.
I challenge every member of this community to take some time this off season to think about how you interact in this community. Ponder your role in it. How will you contribute? How will you repair any damage you might have caused? How can you make it better? We need to lose the entitled attitudes. If you find my words are resonating then NPC more. Volunteer more. Or, at the very least, cause less issues.
We have an amazing community and I want it to thrive! Look at what we have accomplished together already. This season we had weddings in real life, not IC. And these events will most likely lead to another generation of MCers, if you know what I mean!
We all come to the game for our own reasons. Maybe you want to take your TTRPG to the next level and play your character at MC. Maybe you love to fight and this the least injurious (and legal) way to do that; maybe, you're like me and you find the “real world” noisy and annoying and MC is a fun escape. Or maybe MC is where you fit in like nowhere else. Everyone of these is a valid reason to play the game. Everyone of these is a valid reason to be respected and valued in our community. Whatever your reason for coming to MC is; I’ve got you!
My head isn’t so far into the clouds that I expect everyone to be best buddies outside the game. Heck, I know myself well enough to know a few (a lot?) of you aren’t too fond of me. And that is okay. All I expect from now on is that you consider your actions.
My number one rule has been and will continue to be, “Don’t be a Dick!.” Are you about to take an action that will ruin someone’s day at MC? You’re probably being a Dick. Feel like sabotaging the mission because you are in a bad mood? Yup, you’re a Dick! Feel like volunteering to help the game succeed? NOT A DICK! See where I’m going?
During the off season I will be looking over the staff structure and making some changes. Here is your chance to help out. Volunteering and contributing to the game makes it that much more rewarding. Without volunteers the game would not, and will not, be what it is and what it can be. Feel free to message me if you have some ideas of what you might like to do. We will be looking at the Crew Point system and making some changes there as well to make them more rewarding.
Thank you for reading this far. There is a lot to unpack in there and my “door” is always open though it may take some time to get back to you (read above section regarding real life coming first). To quote our President in Absentia Jared, “Everyone should be able to play this game. Anybody who is there should be happy to be who they are.” If my words haven’t swayed you, perhaps his will.
Yours in humility,
Peter Abrahams
General Manager, Medieval Chaos Productions
