Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Importance of Transparency

LARP is not a very good business. Very few can turn a profit, and even fewer can support themselves off of a LARP. However, it's a totally bitchin' club that lots of people enjoy.

With that in mind, I want to go back to one of the things that I try to tell people all the time.

The processes behind the LARP need to be transparent.

There are a few different reasons that support transparency.

1. Proof That The Game is Active
If you've got a way to keep updating your players on the goings-on in the game, the players (as well as any outsiders) will know that something is going on. One of the most frustrating moments for a player is when they know something is wrong or something needs to be done, but there is no evidence to show that anyone is doing anything about it.

2. You're Not Hiding Anything
But even still, stories will come up. When players don't know what's going on, they're going to assume the worst and start making stories. By having a high level of transparency, you'll be able to reduce the number of stories by having a lot of visible information. Additionally, when the big, juicy gossip stories come out, you'll be able to nip them in the bud.

3. Player Input
By having transparency, you'll be better able to gauge the players' reactions to various changes in your game. In some cases, the push-back from the players may be a sanity test that you need to determine if something is a good idea or not. And in the cases where you don't actually need input, you can at least make the players feel like they're "in on it."

So what's that all translate to?

Make a blog for your game with regular updates on what's going on!

No comments:

Post a Comment