Has the RPGA failed?

[William Ronald]

For those of you who are trying to find gamers, there are a few options. We have the Gamers Seeking Gamers forum on the bords here. Also, you can try Meetup.Com and check for groups in your area.

It seems tht there is a desire for something like the old RPGA's Classic Play events, as well as something to help connect gamers and recruit new ones. So perhaps there might be a way to combine some of these efforts. Perhaps a few good volunteers can start something if there is sufficient interest.

 

[D'karr]

(after setting up an event, e-mail them at rpga-sanctioning@wizards.com; it normally takes less than 2 weeks to get the cards mailed out)

You can also go to your FLGS and ask if they have membership cards for your players. I did this to register the players in my gaming group.

You will still have to be a Herald-Level DM to add your home game as a sanctioned event. However, the test is online and should be accesible to everyone.

BTW, If I remember correctly you have to enter the event in the "Event Calendar" 14 days prior to the event. Make sure you add the adventures you plan to download for the event. A Home game can only have two adventures for a specific date.

If you are a DM and wish to play more, have one of your players take the test too. Then either one of you can download the adventures and run them.

Home Games usually give 1 point for player rewards. Some published adventures, mainly WotC ones, give up to 4 points. Usually points are doubled when you attend a convention game.

 

[Duncan Haldane]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Duncan Haldane
The RPGA only produces the adventures for Legacy of the Green Regent and Mark of Heroes, plus the classics. They facilitate the release of adventures by Living Campaigns.


Not entirely true. Most of the LoGR and MoH mods are written by freelancers, rather than paid RPGA staff.

Sorry, I should have written that more clearly. What I meant that the RPGA *produces* the modules for those campaigns. ie, the RPGA accepts proposals, sanctions their editing, etc. They arrange for the modules to be written and available. Some are written by RPGA staff, some by WotC staff, and some by freelancers.

For the Living campaigns the modules are not produced by the RPGA, but by the campaign staff - in LG this is the circle, in LA it's paradigm staff, etc. For these modules the RPGA facillitates the distribution of the adventures, by providing ordering and download facilities, tracking results, etc.

Is that clearer, Bill? Apologies for the poor wording in the initial post (I guess some people took "produces" in a different way than I meant)

Duncan

 

[Duncan Haldane]

BTW, If I remember correctly you have to enter the event in the "Event Calendar" 14 days prior to the event. Make sure you add the adventures you plan to download for the event. A Home game can only have two adventures for a specific date.

If you are a DM and wish to play more, have one of your players take the test too. Then either one of you can download the adventures and run them.

Home Games usually give 1 point for player rewards. Some published adventures, mainly WotC ones, give up to 4 points. Usually points are doubled when you attend a convention game.

They have changed the rules recently on the ordering period for events. Home games, because they aren't listed on the events calendar, only need to be ordered a few days in advance now.

Conventions, Retail and Games Day events are supposed to be open to all-comers, and so are required to be booked 2 weeks in advance so that potential players have the opportunity to attend.

btw, just so people know, most games are available for Conventions first, then Games Days and finally Home play, so people that want to play them first need to catch the events at a con or a games day.

Reward points are only doubled for *some* cons - the big three, extended premieres, etc. Rewards are sent out three times a year, and you get something for each 20 points of rewards.

Players get special cards, which can be used in RPGA games for one-off (per game) in-game events, for instance the "feign surprise" card which allows you to act in a surprise round that you may not otherwise act in.

DMs get the cards, Area of Effect templates for spells (eg fireball template), and special miniatures, depending on how far up the rewards tree they manage to make it.

Duncan

 

[Bill Muench]

Sorry, I should have written that more clearly. What I meant that the RPGA *produces* the modules for those campaigns. ie, the RPGA accepts proposals, sanctions their editing, etc. They arrange for the modules to be written and available. Some are written by RPGA staff, some by WotC staff, and some by freelancers.

For the Living campaigns the modules are not produced by the RPGA, but by the campaign staff - in LG this is the circle, in LA it's paradigm staff, etc. For these modules the RPGA facillitates the distribution of the adventures, by providing ordering and download facilities, tracking results, etc.

Is that clearer, Bill? Apologies for the poor wording in the initial post (I guess some people took "produces" in a different way than I meant)

Duncan

Yup, sounds about right. I just didn't want people to think that the small handful of paid RPGA employees were spending all their time writing adventures instead of administrating the organization. While SRM (RPGA Content Developer is his title, IIRC) has written a few adventures, the majority are farmed out for the actual writing, leaving them more time for more important things.

Bill

 

[Zaruthustran]

RPGA good for what it is

I got into the RPGA a few years ago. 3E had been out for about a year and my group was having a great time. Thing is, we all had jobs, families, and other time-sinks. Everyone wanted to play this cool new game system, but no one wanted to take on the responsibility of running games. Instead, we all wanted to play together.

Enter the RPGA. I made a post on the local RPGA Yahoo! group: "Experienced gamers seek fun DM. We: late 20's to mid 30's, gaming since grade school, good vocabulary, fresh breath. You: same, plus tend to roll more 1's than 20's."

Within a day I had a response from an articulate guy who volunteered to run a game for us and introduce us to the whole RPGA Living Greyhawk system. It was a total blast. The adventure was pretty good but the DM was fantastic: knowledgable, good role player, skilled at keeping the pace moving. The whole grip really clicked so for the next year and a half this guy would come over every other weekend and run a game for us. Since it was always the same players with the same DM he would throw in customization elements: recurring minor NPCs, slight adjustments to non-critical plot points, and whatnot. So we had the continuity of a home game with the flexibility of a distributed global game network (we did attend the occassional con; I took my character to GenCon one year).

I admit my experience was atypical and eventually my group chafed at LG's rigidity (and certain players). We've moved on to a homebrew, with each person sharing DM duties.

Point is: the RPGA is zero-effort gaming. Feel like playing D&D but don't want to regularly have to wrangle all your buddies into one place? Don't want to feel obligated to show up to each of your group's game nights? Don't want to bother with creating and running your own adventures? Go with RPGA games. All the organization is handled online (typically with a yahoo group), and you can game according to your own individual schedule.

-z

 

[RFisher]

Well, paraphrasing what I wrote on DF in a similar thread:

What would you want the RPGA to do for you that the ENWorld couldn't or doesn't already provide?

 

[MerricB]

Well, paraphrasing what I wrote on DF in a similar thread:

What would you want the RPGA to do for you that the ENWorld couldn't or doesn't already provide?

For it to be there.

One of the big advantages the RPGA has is that Wizards employs a few people to actually keep it running. Another is that it can use all of the D&D materials legally.

I've seen a lot of volunteer efforts just fall over - especially when they try to do things on any kind of scale.

Cheers!

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

My personal opinion is that they should scrap the whole RPGA and start fresh from scratch, using an online subscription model and central website that can communicate the organization's vision, purpose, and activities. Right now it just looks like a cash grab, IMO (that's why I quit long ago).

One of the principal purposes should be helping players get games together. Focusing all its attention on conventions is silly since people who can't find other gamers won't get into the hobby to begin with, let alone go to conventions.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

One of the big advantages the RPGA has is that Wizards employs a few people to actually keep it running. Another is that it can use all of the D&D materials legally.

Well, yes, technically the RPGA could use all the D&D materials. But they don't--some things are "banned" in Living campaigns. And some things are restricted to NPC's only.