How to Schedule a Game

[tonydowler]

o schedule a game, start a new thread and put the time slot at the front of the subject. That way when people sort the forum alphabetically they'll see all the game slots in chronological order, like so:

FRI-01 Blades in the Underdark (4 players)

SAT-01 Fiasco, 5th Edition (5 players)

You'll want to provide all the usual information: how many people you're looking for, the game system, etc. Putting that info in the thread title is not a bad idea. Coming back and editing your thread title to show how many slots you have left, also a good idea:

SAT-01 Fiasco in the Dark (Blades Hack, 4 players needed)

If you're not sure you want to commit to a scheduled game, or you just want to kick around ideas, get thee to the Brainstorming Games forum.

BE HONEST

If you're offering to run/facilitate a game, people are going to assume you know the rules really well and have played it before. If you don't or you haven't, it's extremely good karma to say so up front. People will still play, but they won't show up with false expectations. They may even make the effort to learn the game ahead of time and help you out. Be honest.

Same thing for homebrewed, kitbashed, experimental prototypes: we loves gaming dangerously, and we loves cutting edge playtesting, but we also like making informed decisions. Tell people what they're signing up for.

FINALIZE YOUR ROSTER

A few days before Go Play NW you'll need to go back into your thread and post a list of who is playing in your game, say whether you still have slots available, etc. That's the list we'll print and post on the wall. We're not going to go through the threads and interpret who's playing and who isn't -- that's on you.

The final roster date will be about a week before Go Play.

[venn]

How are we handling space allocation this year?

I've seen one person claim that they're reserving a room by writing it into their event description; that approach seems fraught with potential misunderstanding and overbooking of rooms, mostly because there's no way for me to know whether anyone has booked the space I want for my games without going through and reading all of the descriptions closely, and even then those of us who live with attentional differences may find that approach inaccessible.

Is there one post on which we can add our space requests? A standard format for including it in the post title, right after the slot ID? How can this be simple and easy?

Seems like we need a list of spaces that includes their canonical names and a brief description of what they're good for.

Something like

• anywhere - your game could be played anywhere, don't reserve a space
• biglounge - the big lounge up on the top floor of the dorm; can accommodate a large group of people moving around, eg for a dance larp or a workshop
• classroom - one of the classrooms accessible through the big lounge, up on the top floor of the dorm; good for privacy, could accommodate a larp with some creative rearrangement of furniture
• glass - the glassed-in area in the lobby, good for tabletop games that require sound separation
• lobby - one of the tables or seating areas in the lobby; good for intimate tabletop games that don't require privacy
• lounge - one of the dorm lounges, good for tabletop games that require privacy or sound separation, could accommodate a larp with some creative rearrangement of furniture
• tabletop - one of the tables in the main room, good for tabletop games that don't require privacy or sound separation

[tonydowler]

I would advise any group to assemble in the lobby or ballroom and then proceed to their preferred gaming area. Although we have a diverse set of spaces available in Campion Hall, Seattle U can (and sometimes does) use those rooms for other programs. Also, people who don't have on-campus housing cannot access the elevators without a card key.

[venn]

Hey Tony, yes that's all true! People can't access the elevators without a keycard, it's good to meet in the lobby and then proceed to a playspace, and SU might have other groups using the spaces we want to use.

That last thing seems to me like it makes this overbooking issue more significant, not less.

As some of us are running LARPs, or other games that call for larger spaces in which to play, we need a way to coordinate with each other about which rooms are in use by us.

[xenopulse]

As the person who called dibs on a space in my game description, I agree with Venn

My game in particular needs not just a big space but also requires setup, so just meeting in the lobby and then running around trying to find somewhere to go at the beginning of the slot won't work.

Yes, SU can maybe override our plans. But it would be good for us to coordinate anyway amongst ourselves.

Like Venn said, maybe we just start a single thread called "Room reservations" or something so we have at least a place to suss it out that people will notice when they look at the forum.

[tonydowler]

In the past, room reservations haven't been much of an issue. We rarely have more than 1-2 games that need them. But now that Go Play is getting bigger, I can see it's becoming more important. I will reach out to SU and see if we can find out what spaces are available all weekend.

[venn]

As the person who called dibs on a space in my game description, I agree with Venn
...
Like Venn said, maybe we just start a single thread called "Room reservations" or something so we have at least a place to suss it out that people will notice when they look at the forum.

You and I could normalize the thing that takes less remembering, by starting to identify our games' space requirements in their post titles...

[xenopulse]

Done!

[Philip]

Hey, on the topic of room reservations and available spaces, the event coordinator at Seattle U has told us:

“Another group has the 12th floor lounge reserved from 1-7 p.m. on both that Friday and Saturday.”

It’s not clear whether that includes the side meeting rooms, but as you have to enter the lounge to get to them, that entire area may be off limits to us during those times. We’ll try to get clarification on that.

[tonydowler]

I contacted Seattle U and they have confirmed that the 12th floor rooms are all in use. The basement rooms are available. We may have a special event going on in the fishbowl, but the details of that are still being ironed out. So if you have a large group that needs a dedicated space, one of the rooms in the basement is probably your best bet.