So, last year I started with the first Longcon, a grand experiment in
having longer games set over an entire weekend rather than shorter games set to
slots. As we come up to the second
Longcon, I’m noticing a particular trend in the games offered and the people
signing up for the games, and it makes me question whether or not Longcon as a
concept is a viable one…
The thing is that a lot of people are signing up for games, so there’s
clearly a demand for longer games spread over a weekend, but they’re signing up
to games with people they already know, rather than signing up for games with
strangers. Understandable given that if
you’re in a four hour game with someone that you find you don’t like, you walk
away after a few hours and pay it no more heed.
But if you’re in that game with them for the whole day…
Well, that’s just got fail written all over it…
And as with all the conventions I run, if something is set to fail, I
have to do something about it…
There are more than enough people coming to Longcon that the costs for
the room hire are already met, so financially the convention is viable, and
it’ll be something that I continue to do as long as there’s interest.
However…
I want to know if all I’m doing with this is providing space for people
to meet up with their friends and have a long game (which is a perfectly good
thing to do), or if there’s actual interest in people coming along and trying
out longer games. Does the idea of a
longer game with strangers fill most people with dread, does the possibility of
being stuck for seven to ten hours at the table give everyone pause?
We try to mitigate the possibility of people having a bad game by
putting everyone playing in a game in touch with the GM in advance to work out
the details of characters, roles, and plotlines, so that all that has to be
done on the day is bring in the snacks and get playing. However, it is understandable that the
potential for a whole wasted day is present even with all the preparation in
the world.
Last years feedback from the Players was that the slower pace of the
games allowed people to really get into the game, to explore other avenues and
work through areas that they could never have got to in a regular four hour
convention slot. The result of this was
that almost everyone from the first year came back for the second year, and a
number of people who hadn’t made it for the first year came along for the
second.
From the GMs, at a regular convention running in four hour slots for
different groups every time, two solid days of running games should have been
an absolute bone-breaker. At the end of
the convention, as we all sat down on the Sunday to discuss what went right and
what went wrong, the overwhelming thought from all the GMs present was that
while tired, they weren’t anywhere near as tired as they would have been
running the equivalent amount of time in four hour slots. The primary difference being that the breaks
could be scheduled when they wanted them, you didn’t have to wrap things up to
be ready for the next one, and you didn’t have to spend an hour on
introductions to the next set of players.
All of the GMs from last year were up for coming back this year, even
though as it turns out only one of the GMs running last year returned this
year, the other GMs decided to play in games this year rather than running.
But while the interest in this is growing, I need feedback from another
group so that I can fine tune what can be done with the convention. That group is those who didn’t come along and
those who aren’t coming along this year.
If everyone has the time, I’d like to know if there’s anything in
particular that’s putting people off coming along? Any doubts or hesitations
regarding the format? What could be done to put people’s minds at rest
regarding the convention itself?
And I should point out that I have no intentions of Longcon becoming
something the same size as other conventions that I run, that would be at odds
with the nature of the games being offered. I know that the format works best
with people who all know each other, and I’m equally aware that the primary
attraction of the convention may well be the provision of a comfortable table
in a convenient place, rather than the games itself. Indeed it is entirely possible for all the
groups coming to Longcon this year to organise between themselves to have a
long weekend of gaming at any of their own houses and it’s likely that the
experience may not be all that different.
However…
For me, there’s always been something about the atmosphere at a
convention, even one so small, when games gather together to enjoy playing and
socialise in the evening till the small hours, so I think there’s still a place
for the Longcons of the world.
Discuss…?