The Angry GM on D&D Encounters

[Barantor]

Why does this remind me of the whole fiasco with Gencon?

I've never been one to be excited about 'official' content anyway, but the organization of some of these events seem like they are out of touch with what the intention is.

Nothing bad about the volunteers mind you, it just makes me wonder if the whole thing ever runs smoothly beyond big events like Acquisitions Inc.

 

[Pauper]

I wonder if the store organizer notified the LC that the event was occurring. (As I am in SE WI) I know the LC for Milwaukee runs at different local gaming stores twice a week; which is not at all part of the job of being an LC. Its just something he does.

That's very cool. I'd like to point out that I wasn't trying to single out the Milwaukee LC with my example; the same likely can (and probably has) happened in just about every region, and Milwaukee is just one I have first-hand experience with. (To my mind, a concrete example is superior to a hypothetical.) As for why I didn't offer to DM -- I didn't show up to DM, so I didn't have any of my support material. I might have brought a couple of AL mods and my initiative board if I'd thought about it, but I didn't -- I came to play, not to represent AL in a store I'd never been to, for a bunch of players I'd never met before.

If you think about it, 'represent AL in a store I'd never been to, for a bunch of players I'd never met before' is a pretty reasonable Local Coordinator job description, which is why that should probably Be A Thing That's Part Of The Job.

 

[Pauper]

Nothing bad about the volunteers mind you, it just makes me wonder if the whole thing ever runs smoothly beyond big events like Acquisitions Inc.

I'm not aware that Acquisitions Inc. is or ever has been part of Adventurers League.

That's a wholly separate marketing thing for D&D.

 

[koga305]

Well, we're seeing some new developments. The Mad Adventurers Society (the same website that publishes Angry Rants) just published a response article written by a former Local Coordinator. How "former?" Try two days ago. In the article, Voltramax (the author) claims that he was "kicked out" of the Adventurers League leadership for engaging with the Mad Adventurers Society at all, which motivated him to write an article in response.

As the actual article goes, I don't find Voltramax's points to be nearly as salient as Angry's. Of course the adventures are going to be a little bit railroaded, that's the nature of organized play! As long as both players and DM buy into this, it works just fine. It seems like there's a lot of salt regarding the way Voltramax's ideas were treated, but even taking those claims at face value that's not really a problem with the program. The article overall rambles quite a bit, so it's hard to get at the exact points Voltramax is responding to.

That said, it does seem worrying if the "official" AL response is to try and silence someone who wants to critique the program from the inside. I suspect we don't know the full story, and it's possible Voltramax misinterpreted what he was told about the issue. This could also be a case of one authority figure getting a little overzealous in addressing the issue without checking in with the rest of the leadership.

Regardless, at this point it seems that the best response from the Adventurers League would be to have one of the leadership figures write something explaining what happened. It'd be even better if they addressed Angry's points while they were at it, but at minimum I'd like an official explanation of what happened with Voltramax. If he really did get asked to leave just for engaging with Mad Adventurers, that doesn't seem right.

 

[skerritthegreen]

If you think about it, 'represent AL in a store I'd never been to, for a bunch of players I'd never met before' is a pretty reasonable Local Coordinator job description, which is why that should probably Be A Thing That's Part Of The Job.

There is a fairly extensive document telling LCs what they are supposed to do if they volunteer, but running games at stores isn't part of that. LCs are there to assist stores in finding DMs when asked, but they are not a free DMing core to tap for anyone that wants a DM (there simple are not enough LCs for that). I will also note that 'represent AL in a store I'd never been to, for a bunch of players I'd never met before' is not the same as DMing; though many DM because they wish too. They are expected to go to stores and talk to people about the AL and assist store organizers in getting things going.

Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...-GM-on-D-amp-D-Encounters/page3#ixzz3nQRAddct

Local coordinators are expected to:

 Help maintain the League’s social media presence by:
o Posting on the League’s global, regional, and local websites;
o Answering League-related questions on such websites; and
o Helping to maintain and expand the League’s wiki.

 Support stores in their areas by:
o Visiting them at least once a month to get to know players, DMs, organizers, and store owners and to answer their questions; (frequency varies with size of coverage area and number of stores)
o Advertising League-related store events in social media and at conventions;
o Helping stores find players, DMs, and organizers; and
o Helping stores join Wizards Play Network (WPN)

 Support local and regional conventions by:
o Identifying conventions that offer, or might want to offer League games;
o Helping conventions to find organizers and DMs;
o Advertising League games at conventions in social media;
o Helping conventions to advertise in social media; and
o Attending conventions.

 

[skerritthegreen]

Regardless, at this point it seems that the best response from the Adventurers League would be to have one of the leadership figures write something explaining what happened. It'd be even better if they addressed Angry's points while they were at it, but at minimum I'd like an official explanation of what happened with Voltramax. If he really did get asked to leave just for engaging with Mad Adventurers, that doesn't seem right.

That's not going to happen. When someone, in this case Ryan, does something that forces us to remove them, we are not going to detail situation that for the public. That would be unprofessional and inappropriate. He was not removed "just for engaging with Mad Adventurers" as engaging with social media is definitely part of the LC job (see my post above). We would much rather people sling their stones and arrows at us rather than us trying to pile on an individual. There's no right way to game, and I hope everyone that is inspired to play D&D (or Pathfinder, or Shadowrun, or Call of Cthulhu or any number of great games) outside the DnDAL has lots of fun. Growing the hobby is good for everyone and you should definitely work to make sure you do what is right for you group of players so that the most people are happy and having fun, because this is what it is all about.

 

[Steve_MND]

Regardless, at this point it seems that the best response from the Adventurers League would be to have one of the leadership figures write something explaining what happened.

Not gonna happen. Just like any business or large organization, you almost never, ever provide details of why a person was let go publicly, both for the company's and the individual's sake. That's between them and them only; if Voltramax wants to go about throwing his (understandably-biased) opinion on what happened, of course, that's his decision, but I doubt seriously WotC/Al/Hasbro would bother writing up a rebuttal as to why a random volunteer was let go.

That said, i did catch one comment that struck me as absurdly funny in Volt's article: "This quote, 'Encounters is okay, but let’s be honest, it’s a marketing scam and involves as little effort as possible on WotC’s part,' is entirely accurate."

Well, yeah, duh. Who was saying otherwise? I mean, marketing is not going to come out and say it's a marketing scam, but hey, that's what marketing IS -- a means of getting you to part with your money for their products. Organized Play has been part and parcel of the marketing arms of WotC (whether officially or unofficially) ever since they took over the RPGA and began dismantling it for parts, years and years ago. I honestly wasn't aware anybody didn't realize that already.

That doesn't make AL any more or less fun, but let's be honest -- I don't think anyone thought WotC/Hasbro as an entity was doing all this stuff (however minimal it might be) out of the goodness of their altruistic, loving corporate hearts.

 

[Halivar]

Bah, he says he's angry, but he never really cusses, so I think he's just a big ol' softy. ;P

 

[Pauper]

Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...-GM-on-D-amp-D-Encounters/page3#ixzz3nQRAddct

Local coordinators are expected to:

 Support stores in their areas by:
o Visiting them at least once a month to get to know players, DMs, organizers, and store owners and to answer their questions; (frequency varies with size of coverage area and number of stores).

So the 'go out and visit stores running AL' thing already is part of Local Coordinator responsibilities. Good to know. Consider me educated on this point.

I can accept that actually running AL games would be a nice bonus for an LC, but a bit much to ask as part of a regular responsibility (which is why it's cool that the Milwaukee LC does it).

--
Pauper

 

[Barantor]

I'm not aware that Acquisitions Inc. is or ever has been part of Adventurers League.

That's a wholly separate marketing thing for D&D.

All events should be under the marketing department in one way or another, what it makes me wonder is that if the precedence for the big 'showy' things being top billing are going to continue.