Boffer Festival Event Feedback Requested

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Boffer Festival Event Feedback Requested

Postby Wisp » Thu Aug 19, 2010 10:29 am

I'm finishing up the events I'm hosting for the year and turning an eye towards next years line up.

One of the projects I've had kicking around for a while has been really giving me an itch and so I figured I'd toss it up against the wall and see if theres any interest that sticks.

The concept is this... a boffer festival event.

Cross-gaming is a term that is pretty well common now. We've seen players attend events not of their "primary game" with great success and friendships formed. We've invited each other to attend and welcomed visitors with open arms. We've even seen blended events with a stripped down common rules set that simply rocked. I'd like to do something a little more ambitious and altogether different.

What I'd like to do, is produce an event where field space is provided for every group that wants to participate. Amtgard fields running Amtgard games while Belegarth fields run Belegarth games, and so on. Basically, one big site with enough event space where each group can run their own event at the same time as other groups run theirs. Play one, play em' all. Whatever you wanna do, however you wanna do it. There is no compromise in system or rules as each group is running their own thing. Maybe a stripped down common warskills tourney and of course, an actual Arts & Sciences tourney that has zero to do with any rules set or organization but other than that... each game keeps it's identity.

At night time there are no rule sets. Each group is essentially made up of the same type of folks who really enjoy this sub-culture. Common camp grounds, shared camp fires and parties. The atmosphere jumps from hanging out at a typical sized event to hanging out at a massive event with a festival feeling of tremendous participation.

With special organizational attention paid to the night time activiites such as organized bardic circles, bands, and parties, I think it could be really something special that isn't found anywhere else right now.

If the support is there, I'm reasonably certain I could pull something like this off and come pretty close to what I'm wanting to do. It would require the leadership from the surrounding area and groups all participating to organize their groups event at the festival, but I think that's do-able.

So, what do you think? Feasible or air castles? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Will
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Re: Boffer Festival Event Feedback Requested

Postby Loptr » Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:22 am

A worthy concept Will.

My concerns are:
1. confilicting with a "primary" event.
2. Getting peeps to travel with the impact of slow economy.

I wish the endeavor luck. Hold it in SLC and I am there.

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Re: Boffer Festival Event Feedback Requested

Postby Salamander » Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:07 pm

We did do something similar to this, Lord of War. While I had fun, it did get somewhat of a lackluster showing. Maybe it was the trying a combined set of rules. I kinda like the idea of having separate fields, but worry if that may not encourage the segregation, when everybody has their own sandboxes to play in.
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Re: Boffer Festival Event Feedback Requested

Postby Michael » Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:17 pm

I believe the way to make this festival happen most effectively and as Loptr pointed out the way to avoid conflict with primary events, is to use primary events as the lynchpins for the festival.

Hypothetically if the event combined a decent sized existing Bel event with a decent sized existing Amtgard event in the same campground but on separate fields, this could work much better and not conflict with primary events.

It also avoids the negatives the LoW faced in that many people didnt want the hybrid rules because who wants to learn a new set. Also people who are very loyal to only one foam organization might easily attend this sort of festival where they knew they would only have to fight by rules they knew and liked, where those same loyalists would (and did) deprioritze LoW.
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Re: Boffer Festival Event Feedback Requested

Postby Wisp » Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:59 pm

Michael,

Exactly.

Planning around Amtgard primary events is nearly impossible as Amtgard as a "core" event ever 1 1/2 months. Bel and Dag are much easier to work around.

The smaller regional groups that have the odd event lightly attended is who we would most want to work with. There are countless events just in my region (Midwest) that are very small low key events, but there is enough of them that you'll never pull em' all as everyone will always be in a conflicted time period. I belive the best way around that, is as you hit upon, part of the larger festival.

I believe the idea has merit.

You have to focus regionally. In this instance, I'm considering regionally, the midwest. You focus and try to get you're audience from the region it's in. If others outside the region come, cool.

Open it up to every single group you can find. Knights of the Timeless Realm, Melee, Nero, everyone. You might not actually pull any single one of those, but then again... you might. Once you get one group within a group to go along and make the effort, it's easier to get others.

Keep on the Borderlands will tell quite a lot of the story next month. I'm extremely excited to see how it goes.

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Re: Boffer Festival Event Feedback Requested

Postby Richard le Gris » Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:11 pm

I'd definitely be interested in attending such an event if you make it happen. Especially if there are multiple lit fields for night ditching, to cater to the two different combat styles present at such an event, as that would allow voluntary mingling between the two (I'm lumping Bel and Dag into one group) systems. It would be needful to keep 'em separate, and to have someone letting folks know what the basic rules are just to prevent too much culture shock, but that shouldn't be too hard to do.
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