Wednesday, June 21, 2023

The Culture: Macris Contributes To The Conversion On The Hobby Culture

The other day, Alexander Macris dropped this on the Arbiter of Worlds channel.

Macris is on the ball here, even if he hasn't caught up to the Multi-Referee/Multiple Active Party elements that are common in the #BROSR.

I will point out the best points here:

  1. Treat it like a sports league: Macris has it nailed here. Using this explanation gets the point about attendance and persistence to people, and given that he already pointed out that MMORPG raiders already comprehend the requirement to show up on time, be ready to go, and to stay for the duration this is not an alien concept. Committing to a session means blocking out that time and giving it your full attention for the duration. This is not a stress-free chill time to relax and unwind.
  2. People Have To Make The Time: Again, nailed it- including how little time is actually required in a week compared to alternatives. I've been a hardcore raider in World of Warcraft; 20-40 hours per week is not an exaggeration.
  3. Setting Clear Expectations: This, for some reason, is not the norm. It needs to be; tell prospective players what will they do, and what is required of them, up front.

For a player who wants a consistent, but not constant, hobby pursuit playing a fantastic adventure wargame as an adventurer is ideal. They need only stay in contact with the Referee, and then be there for a full session when they commit to one. Today that's very easy thanks to email, Discord, Twitter DM groups, and so on; Discord also becomes very easy to facilitate play across entire continents and multiple time zones.

Fortunately those currently running campaigns in the #BROSR have this sorted, but that it needs to be stated at all shows that it is not the norm- and where language is vague, boundaries get blurred and bad actors exploit that murky mental space to do damage and push the poz.

We are better served by being clear, concise, and consistent what what we do, how we do it, and what is requried to participate in it. This is another step forward.

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