TOPIC: A miscellany of suggestions/ideas

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Fiddy wrote: I hearby nominate Kirk to find enough additional volunteers to make this happen.

I already did the hard part, coming up with the idea, I'll leave the volunteers to you

I'm more of an idea rat.

Regarding the XP code cards, I know I received the wrong one for one of my runs - I got the puzzle card for my combat Underdark NM run.

Raven wrote: The Marriott had better lighting control, a more comfortable floor, and was a lot lower cost.

But it was also smaller. TD could run a Max of 2 dungeons in there.

I wasn't necessarily suggesting to move back to that same Marriot space, just that there are probably nearby hotels where we could go, and maybe even upsize, without paying extortionist prices.

Garrison wrote: * Have written text available for all important dialogue given by NPCs, especially if the dialogue is being played from a recording. Several rooms this year had instructions written on the wall, which made things much easier. For instance, in the ten talking mushroom area. However, having a scroll of text on each mushroom showing what it was saying would have been even better. I realize these signs are not quick and easy to make, but if something important to game play is being said it should be made explicitly clear; I can think of no sure way other than literal text on the wall to ensure this.

+1 on this idea. There have been times when it is near impossible to hear spoken clues over the speakers due to all the noise around you and poor speaker quality. And my hearing is very sharp....

Garrison wrote: * The production values of the dungeon are fantastic, no doubt. So many people pour so much energy and love into this thing that it's astounding. That said however, I will just express my personal opinion that if given the choice between maintaining these production values and increasing ticket prices, I will vote to keep the prices down every time. Heck, I would be fine with walls made out of hanging bedsheets and orcs in simple Halloween rubber masks if it meant we would go back to the days of 8 member parties and $38 tickets. I realize I'm likely in the minority on this, and have no illusions of things getting scaled back that much, but I might as well throw my voice out there.

TD is not a cheap hobby and never will be. That said, I am also getting tired of seeing the price for tickets go up each and every year.

Garrison wrote: * Churning through so many commons and uncommons (and even rares, to some extent) every year seems incredibly wasteful. I would be fine with some sort of standardized token set of commons and uncommons that doesn't change every single year. The rares and URs, etc. changing every year would be enough, methinks. With the saved expense of not having to redo all the commons and uncommons every year, perhaps there could even be a greater of variety of rares than the usual annual 40. Just an idea.

Totally disagree with you here. This would not be a good idea in that it would help cut out new players, not draw them in.

Garrison wrote: * Many people complain about inconsistent DM rulings, such as how one DM allowed a certain puzzle solution while another didn't, and so on. I believe it is a mistake to try and create a consistent way for each DM to run each room. Players must accept that this is not a tournament or a computer simulation, but a roleplaying game! If someone is trusted to be a room DM, they should be allowed the leeway to make on-the-fly decisions as appropriate. So many times, a DM has not allowed a perfectly acceptable solution or course of action simply because it wasn't on the approved list of officially acceptable actions, or the DM couldn't remember if it was listed as an acceptable option, and so they just default to denying otherwise clever and legitimate player actions. It seems pretty sad.

+1 on this one too. DM's should be encouraged to allow for clever solutions not printed on their card. One year, in a puzzle room there were planks you had to put down to cross a swamp. Turns out there were two ways to do it. We did it the way not written on the card. DM kept trying to tell us we failed... whole group was like "uhmmmm... nope, it all fits perfectly." DM relented and allowed it. Next day, did that same run again... that particular puzzle room had been altered slightly so there really was only ONE solution. But hey, at least the DM we had the first time was willing to allow for another solution when we showed him precisely that it worked.

Garrison wrote: * Most of the complaints I hear about True Dungeon - unreasonable or rude players, feelings of being insignificant, having tired and cranky DMs, etc. - seem to be a direct function of the number of people involved. No matter how well you organize things and try to run them smoothly, the simple fact is that the potential for problems increases dramatically with the number of people involved. Where am I going with this? Try to cut down on the number of players in a run. I realize doing that without creating a cost increase would be very difficult, but consider my point on production values, above. Simply saying "you can buy out a run and play with fewer players if you want" is NOT a solution. The vast majority of players are going to be thrown into a room with a dozen or more total people; it's inevitable that they will eventually question whether they're getting their money's worth.

Getting stuck in a bad game/run is possible no matter what you do or what game you play, not just TD. D&D, board games, card games... each genre of gaming has its share of problems, and those never go away. Is it worth discussing for possible ideas to make things better? Sure, but there is no end-all solution.

Brad Mortensen wrote:

Raven wrote: The Marriott had better lighting control, a more comfortable floor, and was a lot lower cost.

But it was also smaller. TD could run a Max of 2 dungeons in there.

I wasn't necessarily suggesting to move back to that same Marriot space, just that there are probably nearby hotels where we could go, and maybe even upsize, without paying extortionist prices.

Is there an off-site facility outside of the main convention hall that has the same amount of space, or more space, that can be had for the same or less money?

bpsymington wrote:

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Fiddy wrote: I hearby nominate Kirk to find enough additional volunteers to make this happen.

I already did the hard part, coming up with the idea, I'll leave the volunteers to you

I'm more of an idea rat.

It's a rat! Kill it! Kill it!

STOMP!

Oops! That was just Brian polymorphed as a rat. Sorry!

::considers wiping the blood off the Dirtdazzy boots but just decides to toss them::

Incognito wrote:

bpsymington wrote:

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Fiddy wrote: I hearby nominate Kirk to find enough additional volunteers to make this happen.

I already did the hard part, coming up with the idea, I'll leave the volunteers to you

I'm more of an idea rat.

It's a rat! Kill it! Kill it!

STOMP!

Oops! That was just Brian polymorphed as a rat. Sorry!

::considers wiping the blood off the Dirtdazzy boots but just decides to toss them::

Dirtdazzy would not be happy with you.

FirstGladiator wrote:

Incognito wrote:

bpsymington wrote:

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Fiddy wrote: I hearby nominate Kirk to find enough additional volunteers to make this happen.

I already did the hard part, coming up with the idea, I'll leave the volunteers to you

I'm more of an idea rat.

It's a rat! Kill it! Kill it!

STOMP!

Oops! That was just Brian polymorphed as a rat. Sorry!

::considers wiping the blood off the Dirtdazzy boots but just decides to toss them::

Dirtdazzy would not be happy with you.

Well, if that's what it takes for Dirtdazzy to return to TD then a smushed Brian rat and some bloodied boots would be worth it!

I believe you will find the ticket price just covers the rental on the location, Gencon upcharge and the cost of volunteers (room/board/etc). The props and walls are more related to the token sales. Expanding anywhere will just up the cost, and likely add to the ticket price.

If you want to run with 8 people, bust buy 10 tickets and run it with 7 friends. The ticket price effectively goes up by 20%, but it will get you the reduced group size, and if you run with friends, then you do not have the problem of the mixed level group. Dedicated runs have been tried before and caused more problems than they solved.

Incognito wrote:

bpsymington wrote:

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Fiddy wrote: I hearby nominate Kirk to find enough additional volunteers to make this happen.

I already did the hard part, coming up with the idea, I'll leave the volunteers to you

I'm more of an idea rat.

It's a rat! Kill it! Kill it!

STOMP!

Oops! That was just Brian polymorphed as a rat. Sorry!

::considers wiping the blood off the Dirtdazzy boots but just decides to toss them::

Et tu, Incognito?

Incognito wrote:

FirstGladiator wrote:

Incognito wrote:

bpsymington wrote:

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Fiddy wrote: I hearby nominate Kirk to find enough additional volunteers to make this happen.

I already did the hard part, coming up with the idea, I'll leave the volunteers to you

I'm more of an idea rat.

It's a rat! Kill it! Kill it!

STOMP!

Oops! That was just Brian polymorphed as a rat. Sorry!

::considers wiping the blood off the Dirtdazzy boots but just decides to toss them::

Dirtdazzy would not be happy with you.

Well, if that's what it takes for Dirtdazzy to return to TD then a smushed Brian rat and some bloodied boots would be worth it!

Okay, if that's what it takes...

CrowOfPyke wrote:

Garrison wrote: * Most of the complaints I hear about True Dungeon - unreasonable or rude players, feelings of being insignificant, having tired and cranky DMs, etc. - seem to be a direct function of the number of people involved. ...

Getting stuck in a bad game/run is possible no matter what you do or what game you play, not just TD. D&D, board games, card games... each genre of gaming has its share of problems, and those never go away. Is it worth discussing for possible ideas to make things better? Sure, but there is no end-all solution.

Yes, there will always be a chance of being stuck in a bad gaming situation. But the chances of that happening in a 10-player, 7-DM, 3-NPC, 2-blue-hand dungeon is dramatically higher than in a 4-6 player evening around the dinner table.