Re: Whats everyone Playing at the moment?

From: "Lepidus" <lepidus@io.com>

Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 12:45:03 +0000

Carol Mulholland wrote:
>I agree with you that it's a good idea for a new moderator to plan for
>a conclusion to the new game. This would get so many people out of
trouble!

Yep, it's my one safety line in one game I run: from the outset, it was
declared to last for just one night of game-time.  Without knowing dawn
was around the corner, I'd have thrown the towel in..

>I don't think, myself, that money is the main motivation for commercial
>GMs. Moderating is only piecework, and a very hard way to make a living!

So the money is just for costs and to weed out riff-raff?

>I've been to pubmeets and conventions, and they're great social
occasions.
>It seems to me to be too much of a restriction, to play only with people
>one already knows.

Well, I meant that with respect to the Internet.  I'm a fan of
conventions, too - it's the only time I get to play new games. :P

"Playing with people I know" meant people who have an established identity
and some investment in a larger group online: it naturally gives me a more
reliable pool from which to recruit, and one which'll have some common
ground - not just some anonymous guys who showed up with their yahoo
addresses.. like you said, it's demeaning to process turns for them.

Charging money would have the same effect, but I wouldn't want the
pressure.  I'm a writing snob, but it takes waaay too much work for me to
produce top-level stuff - no illusions there - so doing it for free lets
me get the turns out pretty fast, without worrying about whether they
noticed this or that flaw.
And how good does a game have to be before it's worth money, anyway?  I
don't ask because I'm cheap, but because I'm not sure I could make my
newer one better without spending A LOT more time on it, to the point of
it being a part-time job!  Even if I imagine having the time, inclination,
and expertise in the software, I'd still feel as though I'd lost some
important part of the spirit of it; I think my players have more fun
because they know I want to be doing it, too - it's low-tech, but it's
fast-paced and genuine, without anything at all to cloud our motivations.

I've never played in any of the commerical games advertised here, btw..
I'm just pretty sure that our style of game couldn't stand the
introduction of payment any more than I could give a local DM a fiver for
his game when it comes time to pay for the pizza delivery!

Colin

References

Re: Whats everyone Playing at the moment?
madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral)
Wed, 23 Oct 2002 10:27:23 +0000
Re: Whats everyone Playing at the moment?
"Lepidus" <lepidus@io.com>
Wed, 23 Oct 2002 13:23:34 +0000
Re: Whats everyone Playing at the moment?
Carol Mulholland <carol@flagship-pbm.co.uk>
Wed, 23 Oct 2002 21:29:16 +0000
Re: Whats everyone Playing at the moment?
"Lepidus" <lepidus@io.com>
Tue, 22 Oct 2002 21:56:42 +0000

Referenced By

Re: Whats everyone Playing at the moment?
madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral)
Wed, 23 Oct 2002 10:27:23 +0000
Re: Whats everyone Playing at the moment?
"Lepidus" <lepidus@io.com>
Wed, 23 Oct 2002 13:23:34 +0000
Re: Whats everyone Playing at the moment?
Carol Mulholland <carol@flagship-pbm.co.uk>
Wed, 23 Oct 2002 21:29:16 +0000
Re: Whats everyone Playing at the moment?
"Lepidus" <lepidus@io.com>
Tue, 22 Oct 2002 21:56:42 +0000