| |
Franklin Cain and I ran two 4-hour, 24-player scenarios at Dragon*Con in Atlanta
this past Saturday. Lessons learned:
(1) Two experienced referees are BARELY enough for this many players.
(2) 4 hours, when at least one will be consumed in setup and the first
(teaching) moves, is not enough time for people to work up from cutters to
serious ships. Need more time or a different scenario.
(3) An age cutoff is required, at least for a large game. I'm thinking perhaps
12. I wish that I had asked our youngest players their ages, so I could set it a
bit above that :-( We had two in one game, three in the other. They were
actually GOOD kids, and helped us happily and creatively in the setup, which is
one reason we cut them so much slack in the game . . . because, between short
attention spans (e.g., off somewhere else when they should be moving) and a MUCH
greater enthusiasm for dealing damage than for taking it, they interfered
significantly with the ability of the older players to enjoy the game. Childish
adults wish to hang out with other childish adults, not necessarily with real
children :-)
(3.5) On the other hand, we had a couple of players whose age I'd guess at 16,
who were among the most fun in the game. Old enough to understand all the rules
and play well, young enough to display contagious enthusiasm.
(4) I modified the combat charts before the game, and I liked the result. In a
nutshell: Hull and rigging are both now +3 to hit. Hull and grapeshot hits are
now significantly more productive. Grapeshot now triples the distance modifiers
(bonus or penalty, either way) to hit. We had more people using hull and rigging
attacks "properly" rather than firing at the deck every time. Grape is still not
quite nasty enough at close quarters, but it's getting there.
(5) Those players who were eliminated in the first few turns were re-started at
Port Royale but required to join different fleets (most of them just united into
their own new fleet). That kept people from feeling rooked when they had bad
luck early on.
|
|
| |
In lugnet.fun.gaming, Steve Jackson writes:
> Franklin Cain and I ran two 4-hour, 24-player scenarios at Dragon*Con in • Atlanta
> this past Saturday. Lessons learned:
>
> (1) Two experienced referees are BARELY enough for this many players.
>
> (2) 4 hours, when at least one will be consumed in setup and the first
> (teaching) moves, is not enough time for people to work up from cutters to
> serious ships. Need more time or a different scenario.
>
> (5) Those players who were eliminated in the first few turns were re-started • at
> Port Royale but required to join different fleets (most of them just united • into
> their own new fleet). That kept people from feeling rooked when they had bad
> luck early on.
I'm curious as to what the scenario set up here is. You mention people
starting with cutters, and 4 hours not being enough time to upgrade (from my
experience, 5 or 6 hours may not be enough either), but have the players
divided into fleets. Is the purpose of the fleets to reduce the mess of a
total free for all?
I'm definitely interested in ideas on how to resolve the issues around younger
players. You did mention they were helpful during setup. I suspect in general,
one is just going to have to set an age limit and then be prepared to deal
with the occaisional immature player (and there is nothing saying that player
won't be 20 - I've had some immature players in college). You may still be
able to let them help set up, but it may be best not to get their hopes up.
In a smaller game, the solution may be to set the younger players of in an
insulated corner, bordered by understanding players. Make sure there are some
interesting islands for the younger players to explore, and just hope they
don't cause too much disruption (the younger player in the Brickfest game
caused no disruption because she was exploring an island no one else was near).
Of course some young folk may not even become an issue. While we were setting
up the Brickfest game, there was one youngster who wanted to play. He just
commandeered one of the ships and sailed it around the play area. By the time
we actually started, his parents had taken him and left (they were just
dropping in). He was causing no disruption or damage, and seemed to be
enjoying himself, so I just let him be. I'm not sure what I would have done
had he wanted to play (one thing I probably would have done would have been to
talk to the parents and point out that we planned to play for quite some time,
and that while the game is open to some coming and going, it could present a
problem, and also explain that the game is certainly an adult type of game. I
would hope such discussion would get the parents figuring out how to lure
their child away from the game).
Frank
|
|
| |
In lugnet.fun.gaming, Frank Filz writes:
>
> I'm curious as to what the scenario set up here is. You mention people
> starting with cutters, and 4 hours not being enough time to upgrade (from my
> experience, 5 or 6 hours may not be enough either), but have the players
> divided into fleets. Is the purpose of the fleets to reduce the mess of a
> total free for all?
That, and to give some social structure to the game. Most people want to team up
anyway . . . this just formalizes it a little bit and invites more roleplaying.
Sometimes groups of friends form fleets. Sometimes I can use experienced players
as the nuclei of fleets, and thus lure them into training their fleetmates
rather than taking advantage of the newcomers.
> I'm definitely interested in ideas on how to resolve the issues around younger
> players. You did mention they were helpful during setup. I suspect in general,
> one is just going to have to set an age limit and then be prepared to deal
> with the occaisional immature player (and there is nothing saying that player
> won't be 20 - I've had some immature players in college).
Yes. And at one con where I've done the game three times now, there is a regular
player who is physically adult but mentally and emotionally much younger. He
tries to be good, and we work around him. He's good about accepting cautions,
even if he does not remember them very long. He loves the ships . . .
> In a smaller game, the solution may be to set the younger players of in an
> insulated corner, bordered by understanding players. Make sure there are some
> interesting islands for the younger players to explore, and just hope they
> don't cause too much disruption (the younger player in the Brickfest game
> caused no disruption because she was exploring an island no one else was near).
That could work. Have to think on that . . .
> Of course some young folk may not even become an issue. While we were setting
> up the Brickfest game, there was one youngster who wanted to play. He just
> commandeered one of the ships and sailed it around the play area. By the time
> we actually started, his parents had taken him and left (they were just
> dropping in). He was causing no disruption or damage, and seemed to be
> enjoying himself, so I just let him be.
Right answer :-)
Yes, some parents will be understanding. And some want to play WITH their kids -
I had a game not long ago where the father and three old-enough kids were
playing enthusiastically (and the mother kept orbiting and whining "How long
does this last," but that's the way it goes). I have also encountered parents
who saw the game as a place to dump the kid for a few hours so they could go
party. Bad, bad.
|
|
|
