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  1. #11
    Maybe a specific "looking for game" channel might help? That way, GMs know who to ask, especially for pick up games.
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  2. #12
    Mask_of_winter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grimtina View Post
    Maybe a specific "looking for game" channel might help? That way, GMs know who to ask, especially for pick up games.
    Yes!
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  3. #13
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    I had two no shows, one due to a timezone issue and the other I am not sure, however you have to expect this to happen. Things come up last minute in life, and as a GM you just need to prepare what if I am running the game with two people or running it with the full 6. Either way I still run it, I probably still run it with one if the player was keen.

    My only thought would be on bookings instead of have a single GM running 4 pathfinder games, he can only start of the beginning of the Con listing two maximum, this allow some the other unknown GM or unknown rulesets too get those player numbers, then in the final weeks allow GM that want to do more then 2 to list the others. This is just a thought, cause as you said some GM could not get the numbers to run there games, and if they got a little more of the playing field they could of.

    There might be some GMs that want to run games but afraid they never get the numbers, so they choose not too, this might help them get the confidence to give it a go.

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ardem View Post
    My only thought would be on bookings instead of have a single GM running 4 pathfinder games, he can only start of the beginning of the Con listing two maximum, this allow some the other unknown GM or unknown rulesets too get those player numbers, then in the final weeks allow GM that want to do more then 2 to list the others. This is just a thought, cause as you said some GM could not get the numbers to run there games, and if they got a little more of the playing field they could of.
    To be perfectly honest most of the people who played Pathfinder in this last convention only played Pathfinder, so delaying the "release" of Pathfinder games wouldn't really help finding players for other, non Pathfinder, games. Plus, it would be a massive increase in the administrative overhead for, IMHO, very little gain and I can see it being more confusing with players swapping their games around as more games come available. Also, if a GM is willing to advertise 4 games when bookings open why should we penalise them?

    The small handful of games that GMs cancelled due to low sign ups had been advertised for a long time, so there was plenty of opportunity for interested players to sign up; or to swap from another game they had booked onto earlier. There could also be an argument that these games were cancelled too early as we always get a last minute bunch of bookings (over 30 the day before the convention started and continued bookings during the convention itself).

    We're not going to put restrictions on how many sessions a GM runs or when they post it on the website. We give GMs one month to post their sessions before player bookings are opened, so there's plenty of time for a GM to post their game before players can even start booking games.

    We help any GM that asks for assistance in getting organised - which can include one-on-one FG sessions, proactive advertising of games, etc.. There's really no need for a GM to be afraid that they won't get the numbers...
    Private Messages: My inbox is forever filling up with PMs. Please don't send me PMs unless they are actually private/personal messages. General FG questions should be asked in the forums - don't be afraid, the FG community don't bite and you're giving everyone the chance to respond and learn!

  5. #15
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    Besides the usual no-shows I felt like there wasn't enough games this con, especially 5e games that were in demand. What are the basis of this "feeling"? Well, I follow Damned on G+ and he didn't have to advertise FG Con and try to fill out games nearly as much this time around. It was a struggle to get the minimum of players in the seats in previous FG Cons, not this time.

    If you've never run a con game for strangers before I say try it, you'll be hooked! Ask ShotgunJolly hehe
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  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mask_of_winter View Post
    I felt like there wasn't enough games this con
    Yeah, this was my big take away. We had a lot more players than before looking for games (see the number of hits on my summary thread) but we struggle to get GMs. We actually had two GMs drop their games late on because they couldn't "work out" Fantasy Grounds - unfortunately when we offered to spend time with them one of them didn't even respond.

    It takes a GM who knows FG to run a convention game (I've said this in the last few convention summary threads) - they need to be prepared, know their way around Fantasy Grounds and the specific ruleset they're using. They don't need to be experts, but they need to be familiar with it and not have a negative attitude if they can't work things out. This will always mean that we have a limited number of GMs who can run games at the convention - assuming they are actually free for the weekend we select. This is the main thing we'll be trying to address for the next convention - newbie GM motivation and support.
    Private Messages: My inbox is forever filling up with PMs. Please don't send me PMs unless they are actually private/personal messages. General FG questions should be asked in the forums - don't be afraid, the FG community don't bite and you're giving everyone the chance to respond and learn!

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hector Trelane View Post
    Well done, once again, organizers! I could only participate as a player in one session this time, but intend to GM (at least one session) next time.

    I'll second Mask's point about facilitating new players to find sessions at the last minute.

    It may also make sense to save some seats for late-showing players, so they aren't frozen out. (Yes they "should" register earlier, but human nature being what it is...) Do you organizers have a sense of how many players may not find a seat given them finding out about the Con late? One way to approach this might be to allow the minimum number of seats for any given game session to be booked well in advance, but hold the remaining seats up to the maximum capacity of a game session for registration in the final 48 hours. Just toying with an idea here...
    We had over 50 new accounts register on the FG-Con website in the 3 days of the Con. Only some of these players would have found game sessions. I am far more in favour of making it as easy as possible for the GMs in that they have to do so much prep and make a firm commitment to run the session etc. So Im really in favour of getting the games booked as early as possible.

    I do want to improve the email communications - giving the GMs an easier way to communicate. One of the software packages we use has a $75/year upgrade that can add scheduled emails etc to all bookings. FGCon is totally community run and funded and we are already spending money and time on other parts of the system.

    A wait list or shortlist might be good too. A lobby would be good but it needs to be manned then - and manned pretty much the whole time so there is a serious time commitment there. If we had 4-8 people willing to spend time in the lobby etc that would work. Leaving it up to a small number of people is just too big a time commitment.

    For the most part we have kept the organisation and running of FGCon to a very small group because the time commitment often gets too much for volunteers and they drop out. IanMWard assisted for FGCon6 and Mask_Of_Winter is joining for FGCon7. If people have ideas for FGCon7 or want to help out in some way (other than the GMing of course - without which none of this matters!) please make contact with Trenloe and/or myself - you can use [email protected] as well. If you do express an interest in assisting be aware that the time commitments may be far bigger than you expect and dropping out tends to add more work back on the remaining team, so we want you to be as sure as possible that you have capacity to take it on

    At FGCon6 we had 4 sessions streamed. We will be investigating doing more of this - possibly setting up a streaming channel for FGCon7. We will also likely run some more hangout sessions so will be looking for some GMs who are pretty proficient at their ruleset or FG in general to do some demo/presentation/Q&A sessions etc.

    There is always a feel good buzz at and immediately after FGCon and we want to keep building on that. We had more sessions this time but the actual participant numbers were about the same as the Hangout Sessions at FGCon5 had some good participant numbers.

    Keep the feedback coming!

  8. #18
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    Trenloe, perhaps your right I just felt for any GM that had to cancel due to low numbers, while other have no issues. It is my natural socialist side coming out <wink>

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ardem View Post
    Trenloe, perhaps your right I just felt for any GM that had to cancel due to low numbers, while other have no issues. It is my natural socialist side coming out <wink>
    I don't think it had anything to do with Pathfinder being popular and hogging the spotlight. Some of the PFS games struggled to get bookings as well. Many factors come in to play with timezones being number #1 I think. Making the add for your game enticing is something that comes with practice. Some hobby enthusiasts prefer to stick to the game systems they know and prefer and others like to try out new things. If there's another thing that stands out to me for this Con is the selection of different games. Pathfinder, Savage Worlds and D&D 5e lead the way once again but there were games not previously offered. In my own experience, there will always be a market for "niche" games too.

    I hope more and more GMs offer games for FG Con, especially since it was obvious some games on TS weren't FG Con 6 events which is disappointing. Personally, I put my own campaigns on hiatus for the duration of the Con to run events but understand how this is different for other GMs and their group. But this rant is another matter altogether hehe
    Writer for Just Insert Imagination and co-host of the Wild Die Podcast.
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  10. #20
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    I would suggest that 4 games for any GM is probably the max they would/could/should take on too! Ive done four sessions a couple of times and I found it very tiring - and impacted things with my family too!

    I too invite GMs that are on the fence to get involved. We had several GMs that hadnt run anything at FGCon before, several GMs that havent been using FG for very long etc.

    We have also had GMs for some smaller rulesets struggle to get numbers at past FGCons and come away feeling down about it. At FGCon6 we only had 2 events that didnt meet their minimum numbers. This will always happen to a couple of events - sometimes the timing isnt right or the pitch just doesnt grab attention. If you have had this happen to you - dont get down about it - it happens - Mask_Of_Winter and I have both posted OneShots on Steam before and got no takers but the next game fills up.

    With more players being drawn in by the 5e and Pathfinder and to a lesser extent Savage Worlds crowds we will get more spill over. Id love to see more Cthulhu (always with the Cthulhu!) even though these games struggle at times. ShadowRun will be released befor FGCon7 and hopefully Paranoia will be too. DCC is making progress. We have seen extensions for CallOfCthulhu7 and for Dresden Fantasy Role Play in the last 2 weeks. Star Wars is very popular and the movies will generate more interest there. TrailOfCthulhu is getting some updates. Champions might be ready too. There are lots of good things happening and FGCon can leverage off them all and in turn help grow this product/platform and community.

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