D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
|
Post by D.T. Pints on Sept 1, 2013 19:02:21 GMT -8
This sure simplifies things. I endorse this product and/or service. Phew! That's a relief...the Aussie dwarf market is always a tough sell. Yep, I think keeping it small is perfect. And that in no way is a sly comment about dwarves...unless you want it to be.
|
|
|
Post by Kainguru on Sept 1, 2013 20:01:42 GMT -8
Yep. It's like those family friendly pubs where you can't swear, be crude, get pissed, shout at your mates (because that's called discussion), release gas etc etc . . . At that point, as you sit there nursing a warm pint staring at each other blankly, you wonder why you came to the pub in the first place. I remember as a kid it was perfectly ok for the parents to leave you in the car with a comic, a packet of crisps, fizzy pop and 'permission to play with the car radio' for an hour while they went off and did grown up stuff (like grab a quick drink in the pub). Somethings, not just porn, should be adults only - that hour in the car never scarred me for life, that I tell . . . *quietly pulls on gimp suit and starts to polish various implements kept in basement* Aaron
|
|
fredrix
Master Douchebag
Posts: 2,142
Preferred Game Systems: Fate, L5R, Pendragon, Gumshoe, Feng Shui
Currently Playing: Pendragon, Song of Ice and Fire, L5R, Feng Shui, Traveller
Currently Running: Fate, Coriolis, Nights Black Agents
Favorite Species of Monkey: 1970's NTV, dubbed by the BBC (though The Water Margin beats it)
|
Post by fredrix on Sept 2, 2013 5:37:06 GMT -8
My two cents: 1) if people think we need a policy, then, sadly, we need one (even though my soul screams out, as DT Pints said already I think "oh for the care-free days if the First jacker-con"). After all a policy is only putting into words "this is how we do things here".
2) my preference would be as short and plain as possible, so "Don't be a Dick... etc" is our platonic ideal.
3) kids. We are an 18+ group, with an explicit content warning. I don't mind kids - I've got a 13 yo girl in one of my groups - but it does mean I have to modify my behaviour. Call me an uncultured slob but one of the reasons I enjoy gaming is it gives me a place to say "fuck" among friends. And a PG13 rating makes JackerCon less attractive.
4) that said if we want to "grow the hobby" through JackerCon, we would need to offer Ganes suitable for younger players.
|
|
D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
|
Post by D.T. Pints on Sept 2, 2013 9:55:08 GMT -8
that said if we want to "grow the hobby" through JackerCon, we would need to offer Ganes suitable for younger players. If the second is as big(bigger ?) a hit as the first I'm thinking about setting up a basic "square space" style website where games can be posted, discussed, and of course a disclaimer/policy could be put up. Looking at the G+ pages they don't seem very intuitive and in fact I find them pretty clunky. (WTF Google ?) I just like the idea of ONE STOP posting. This is a con set up around Happy Jacks listeners/hosts and think keeping it connected to that is important. I'll message Stu about putting a sub topic header for Jackercon and that should be enough for now. Then as games get submitted I will set up a G+ page to just show the schedule because we will all be fiddling with G+ anyway (like the neighborhood altar boy...WHICH BRINGS ME TO Fredrix quote... I run games for 12-methuselah age at the local bookstore they are very PG rated. I was just reading Tyler's posts regarding We Be Goblins, I would love to hear Tyler run a goblins game for the hosts...I would also love to hear a goblins game run for kids. I JUST DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT HERE! It'd be like going down to the dirty books shop and picking up a copy of Goodnight Moon (yeah..yeah...I mean the kids book ). So, by all means find ways to introduce this amazing sport (I tend to get sweaty when I GM so I'm calling it a sport today) to the youth but lets keep the kids away from Jackercon. My two cents. 18+ folks. As a parting thought: Are there any web pages/podcasts devoted to a young demographic ? A "youth radio" for gamer kids ? I would have loved to had that as a teenager. Cheers, Curt J. And as another parting thought: My young teenager self would have been lurking all over these forums. "What are the BIG kids talking about?? Oh...ewww...that's gross."
|
|
|
Post by Stu Venable on Sept 2, 2013 10:12:48 GMT -8
I'm starting a monthly RPG podcast (RPGRoundtable.net) that will be clean.
Doing a virtual con for that could be a safe place for younger players (I'd still have an age limit, or perhaps younger kids could play with their parents?). Maybe even run kid-friendly games, like Hero Kids, Meddling Kids, etc.
But there needs to be a firewall between that and this collection of reprobates.
I'll set up a subforum for jackercon.
|
|
D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
|
Post by D.T. Pints on Sept 2, 2013 10:49:09 GMT -8
I'm starting a monthly RPG podcast (RPGRoundtable.net) that will be clean. Doing a virtual con for that could be a safe place for younger players (I'd still have an age limit, or perhaps younger kids could play with their parents?). Maybe even run kid-friendly games, like Hero Kids, Meddling Kids, etc. But there needs to be a firewall between that and this collection of reprobates. I'll set up a subforum for jackercon. Awesome! I forgot you had a direct link to these forums cybernetically implanted. No need to message...you JUST KNOW. And that RPGRoundtable is a great idea. Bringing together the various show hosts into a terrible Hivemind should provide some interesting results. Thanks again Stu!
|
|
SirGuido
Supporter
Drizztmas Santa
Ask me about the Drizztmas Exchange!
Posts: 2,127
Preferred Game Systems: L5R, Traveller, Fate Accelerated, Masks
Currently Playing: Nothing.
Currently Running: Nothing.
Favorite Species of Monkey: Anything in a Cage.
|
Post by SirGuido on Sept 2, 2013 14:51:29 GMT -8
I saw something at GenCon which I thought was a fabulous idea for just this sort of thing. They called it Carte Blance or "the white card." It was a big 4x6 piece of cardstock or index card that sat in the middle of every single game I played in the Indie game room. If at any time you got uncomfortable with the rp going on at the table you just held up the card and everything stopped and action picked up at a different place no questions asked. It didn't come into play in any of the games I was in but I saw it used at two other tables during the con. It seemed like it went smoothly and people didn't balk at all at its use. Maybe a virtual version of such a thing could be put into play here? A quick whispered message to the GM of "Hey can we back off this topic, I'm not comfortable here." could go a long way to insuring everyone has a good time.
|
|
|
Post by Forresst on Sept 4, 2013 13:05:03 GMT -8
I'd like to bring up one aspect of this to consider: If we intend to broadcast/record/etc. our games, the presence of minors complicates things. I don't know the law in the States, or in the UK or whatever, but I do know Canadian law to a small extent and have dealt with this before.
In Canada, no minor is considered legally able to provide consent for anything. They can't even get a cell phone because they're not eligible to sign contracts. So, if minors were to happen to show up, a blurb is not technically enough. To be able to have a broadcast or recording of a game involving a minor, you need to acquire parental consent (in Canada). I believe, although I'm not iron-clad sure (and I'll ask my one lawyer friend next time I see her) that the international, online nature of this would mean that every GM who was looking to broadcast or record their game must find out the laws in their country, and obey them.
None of the above is meant to discourage or encourage anything but I think we need to consider it at least.
The second thing I'd like to bring up is: I believe we absolutely must have a code of conduct or harassment policy or whatever we want to call it. Of course, everyone in this thread knows where the line is. However, any good thing is bound to attract attention and bring new people around eventually, and those people don't know our lines. Further, lines shift forward and back, side to side, all the damn time. If we codify the absolute lowest common denominator and make that our policy, then if someone does something really inappropriate later, it provides backup. Also, having a policy in place, to me, indicates that an organization has put the thought and consideration in to make the thing that much better in general. Even if it never gets used once, the existence of the thing is a positive mark for me and a lot of people like me.
|
|
|
Post by Stu Venable on Sept 5, 2013 13:18:44 GMT -8
With the Penny Arcade "Dickwolves" controversy rearing its ugly head once again, I am reminded that there is a smart and stupid way to deal with things like this. Denoting games with specific tags or labels might not be a bad idea, and GMs could be encouraged to do this. Things like: - "Light-Hearted, Funny, or Silly"
- "eroic," as in the PCs are expected to be paragons of virtue, not chaotic evil anti-paladins.
- "PVP," as in conflict (and maybe even combat) between PCs is okay, and the GM might actually instigate it ('cause he's a mean fucker who like to watch PCs fight amongst themselves).
- "Historic," for a game that would explore history, warts and all. Might involve things like the Salem witch trials, slavery, racism, or any other ugly occurrence in our history.
- "Dark and Intense," for games that might involve personal explicit violence against PCs or NPCs.
[li]"Political" or "Religion" if it might involve real-world politics or religious questions or institutions. Firstly, it lets the players know what the GM's expectation is regarding the game tone. It gets everyone on the same page. Secondly, it gives players the ability to not sign up by providing fair warning. I think it would suck if someone joined a game for a few hours of fun only to get surprised when something incredibly horrible happens in-game (the most common example is rape), causing the player to become truly uncomfortable, perhaps needing to leave the game in tears, get turned off to RPGs or this community, etc. We're all here to have a good time, and I don't think any of us set out to ruin someone's day. We are -- after all the bullshit and douchebaggery -- good people (yes, even the Australians).
|
|
|
Post by Kainguru on Sept 5, 2013 13:27:29 GMT -8
We're all here to have a good time, and I don't think any of us set out to ruin someone's day. We are -- after all the bullshit and douchebaggery -- good people (yes, even the Australians). Arrrgh, no . . . feel.alignment.slipping . . . must.hold.on.to.evil . . . (it's not fair evil was fun ) Aaron
|
|