Local & Regional Coordinators are no more

[Inxanity]

http://dndadventurersleague.org/rc-and-lc-roles/

Today there was a shift in the D&D Adventurers League. Wizards of the Coast is bringing DDAL communications with stores fully to its Customer Service and Retail Support teams. This means the role of Regional and Local Coordinators, which was primarily to support stores, is no longer needed organizationally. The role is no longer needed, but the people are. The D&D Adventurers League still values former RCs and LCs, as community members, organizers, DMs and Players, and we encourage stores and conventions to utilize their passion and expertise to grow their D&D communities.
We’re encouraging these folks to explore the possibility of membership in the Herald’s Guild Ambassadors Program, which supports a similar function in the community. More information about the AP can be found at: http://heraldsguild.com/ap/
Thanks to all of the Regional and Local Coordinators for helping us grow the great D&D community we have.

 

[Scorpienne]

This makes me very, very sad.

p

 

[Warmaster Horus]

I'm reserving judgement until I learn more. I do a good amount of AL DMing in my area and have done some local cons, too. Not sure how I feel about DM 'certification' or 'ranking' or whatever it is until it's better explained.

 

[Ace-Azzameen]

Not quite sure what to think yet... the fact that attending conventions is required to rise in position is lame. Some kind of way to drum up ticket sales for cons? Baldman: "We'll make you guys some money!"

 

[skerritthegreen]

I'm reserving judgement until I learn more. I do a good amount of AL DMing in my area and have done some local cons, too. Not sure how I feel about DM 'certification' or 'ranking' or whatever it is until it's better explained.

The ranking system and attending cons for it is part of their DM program and is not part of their grass roots community support ambassador program. They are not the same. You do not even have to be a HG DM member to join their ambassador program (which is a not for profit org, so its not about making money; remember the HG and BMG are not the same thing).

 

[Anthraxus]

I am Spider-man... no more.

I'll probably transition over to the Ambassador program, and continue to organize and run games in my local area.

#FormerLC

 

[smerwin29]

http://heraldsguild.com/ap-faq/ helps answer a few questions.

 

[kalani]

While I am no longer a Regional or Local Coordinator, I still plan to stick around to help answer any questions that people might have. My passion for the League, rules knowledge, and helping my fellow players is not dependent upon being a League representative. I have no intention of going anywhere and plan to continue being a public and supportive face of the community in the future.

 

[Steve_MND]

I believe we can thank the M:tG judges lawsuit for this one.

That said, i'm not sure how I feel about this yet. On the one hand, I always felt like Al should have been run and administered by WotC themselves to begin with, as opposed to the previous sort-of-independant-but-not-really-cause-everything-needs-to-go-through-us wonky system that was in place with the volunteer staff.

On the other hand, they are handing AL questions/store support, etc., over to WotC Customer Service, which is, for lack of a better word, abysmal when it comes to D&D (and has been for many versions now). And then the whole thing with Baldman, which I have severe reservations regarding and their ability to organize anything on even remotely that scale. Ah well, have to wait and see, i suppose.

 

[Pauper]

I believe we can thank the M:tG judges lawsuit for this one.

I agree. For those who aren't aware of the details, a good summary can be found here.

On the one hand, I always felt like Al should have been run and administered by WotC themselves to begin with, as opposed to the previous sort-of-independent-but-not-really-cause-everything-needs-to-go-through-us wonky system that was in place with the volunteer staff.

I've long felt that the volunteer staff was much more engaged and committed to supporting the program than the WotC employees, so I'm not sure simply adding more WotC employees would have improved things. Had WotC chosen to hire the volunteer staff, that would be a different matter, but that was (and is, as seen by this decision) never going to happen.

On the other hand, they are handing AL questions/store support, etc., over to WotC Customer Service, which is, for lack of a better word, abysmal when it comes to D&D (and has been for many versions now).

Yes, Game Support is pretty bad when it comes to answering rules questions, and I suspect they won't be much better about answering AL administration questions. I understand Convention Support is pretty good, though, so hopefully there won't be many changes seen by folks running the conventions too small for Baldman to cover.

And then the whole thing with Baldman, which I have severe reservations regarding and their ability to organize anything on even remotely that scale. Ah well, have to wait and see, i suppose.

I don't have a problem with Baldman; the organization has been responsive and dedicated over multiple iterations of Organized Play -- if there's any group that has the experience to be able to pull this off, it's likely BMG. (A paraphrase of the classic Winston Churchill quote comes to mind: "Baldman Games is the worst AL organizer, except for all the other groups who've tried.")

On the other hand, since there's no necessary relationship between BMG and WotC, I don't really see how joining the Ambassador's Guild 'adds value' to someone's ability to organize. If you're new, then being able to ask questions on a forum can be useful, I suppose, but anybody who was already an RC, or one of the senior LCs in a busy region likely already has all the information and contacts they'll ever need, and are probably better resources anyway.

Most places likely won't see much different in their regular AL games. But it's interesting that I now have just as much authority as Kalani when it comes to publishing rules interpretations! ; )

--
Pauper