Belegarth

So my brother Poo and I are the realm leaders of one of the newer realms called Forodwaith in Waukesha WI and we seem to be losing our normal member base.

We have been having weekly practices on saturdays 1-4 and have been present at pretty much all of them (with a few exceptions) but it seems that for us Belegarth is a much more serious thing while the other people that have shown up to fight... well not so much

Anybody have any tips on how to "inspire" the fighting spirit in our comrades?

wait till the summer? a lot of this disappearing act is to remain in the cave for finals and then reemerge for the summer. that's probably what's going on.

A lot of people like to fight as a fun and casual thing, and may not become the hardcore players. In my realm for every 10 members, only one is interested in perfecting the craft and attending events. You can decide whether you want a realm of 4 people who show up to everything or a realm of 40 people who play around casually and really just focus on having fun. With big groups: you can fight more new people, hardcore people can stil fight other die-hards, new people can see some members are hardcore (and importantly the hardcore are teachers as well as stompers). If you are ego-tripping and stomping every newb and casual player, then your group will get smaller until only those who can take the heat remain. You just have to decide what type of realm you want. Somethings that can help tip people over to hardcore are: getting people to events or hosting one if they won't leave home base, talking about how really awesome events are and how cool it would be if they go too, getting other realmers to visit you to talk up events, teach people how to beat you (I mean really beat you). When they are better than you, you can learn how to beat them all over again and everyone gets better. Good luck!
-AoC
True that school stuff-lots my peeps been out for testing!

fight when you can
the usual things in life, usually come before fighting
patience, that is all

I would say half of all fighters never even go to an event.

Springwars 08, 2 out of 4 went to the event
Ocfest, 5 of us got to go. There was around 8+ people that stayed.

and this is planning from Puerto Rico that requires a plane to get most of the way
Statistically, this is quite standard

First so off I want to thank all the people that responded your advice is all great

It is not so much that we are not having good enough players (although when we travel to other places and fight we have much more fun with more experienced players) Its just we want to get a consistent amount of people coming each week

going there to only find my other 2 realm leaders there is not so much fun

Advertise craigslist
Advertise Larpalliance.com or other LARP sites (I know...I know...but there is crossover)
Find local D&D, gamer, RPG, or other like-minded groups-these are great places to recruit from
Advertise Meetup.com (you can find similar groups and pst on their sites)
Advertise to ARMA
Keep a list of all connections in your area and be on good terms with them-they might send people your way.
Advertise to other contact martial arts sports people
Look up local student/college groups that might do this (RPG, Gamer, Fencing, Archery, ect)
Make a presence at Comicons, Anime Expos ect

Once you have done all of these, you have truly exhausted where you can recruit from. The secret to having high numbers is to always be recruiting. People will come and go, but as long as you have a stream of new people, the fighting numbers will be higher. Good luck.
-AoC

sounds good Thanks!

I have found that once you get a small base of people that are really interested it really takes off. That being said getting to small, dedicated group can be hard. I myself am trying to start a realm at the college I attend. That hardest part that I have seen will be finding a time when I can get the most members of that group to come. So that might help. Good luck!

Make sure everyone has fun at every practice. Forget about even the idea of running drills or workouts or organized training beyond the basics, unless people seem interested in that last bit. Make sure you keep the battle type switched up, talk up events and tell tales at water breaks, and get to know/joke around with every newb that hits the field.

Fun == Retention.

Retention == Skill.

Skill == Fun.

Arrakis wrote:Make sure everyone has fun at every practice. Forget about even the idea of running drills or workouts or organized training beyond the basics, unless people seem interested in that last bit. Make sure you keep the battle type switched up, talk up events and tell tales at water breaks, and get to know/joke around with every newb that hits the field.

Fun == Retention.

Retention == Skill.

Skill == Fun.

This is some seriously good advice-follow it always.

ya because of all the new people in our realm we generally play fun games (respawns, monarch battles ect.) and everyone seems to have a really fun time just want people to thoroughly look forward to coming each week like the other realm leaders and I do

Hold practices at a public place and try to get at least 3 people to commit to "no matter what, I will be there at x time."

Most new people who show up won't announce it ahead of time. They will drive by the park at x time, not see anybody there and go home. They won't wait around and they won't call anybody.

Ya we have me and my brother poo and our friend (who will not be named because he does not have a fighting name yet) are there every week and people say they want to show up and fight so hopefully things will look up



thanks for all advice

also remember, that for every 100 people that see it, 10 will be interested, and 1 will be interested enough to try it out.

Then you're lookin' at about 1 out of 5 or 1 out of 10 people out of those who try it out that will actually stay.

Advertise to catch the attention of many different groups. There's so many different types of people who are interested in this. Not just to geeks.

I know I, personally, have tried a LOT of different approaches depending on the audience that I'm talking to. Football players like smashy smash, book worms like history, geeks love rp'ing, and so on and so forth.

This game has something for almost every type of person out there, you just have to tap into that.

Really good ideas here everyone. My group of friends , 8ish, are all thinking of trying out. When is the next big event thing? (we live in west IL ) I think this would really get us started.

Where at in west IL?

~Noik

Noik wrote:Where at in west IL?

~Noik

We live in St. Charles, me specifically Campton Township. Thats right were a town now
! Actually, i guess were more North and a little west.

Hi. I'm Eris. There are currently practices in Elgin, Batavia, Yorkville, DeKalb, Palatine, Romeoville, Rockford, and we're going to start one in Geneva and one in Cortland. PM me for details on the area practices if you are interested.

Spring Wars is the soonest big event in the area. It will be held at Stonehouse Park (about an hour from where you live) May21st - May 25th. It's a good idea to hit up at least one practice before your first big event. We can talk to you about what to bring, arrange for garb for you, make sure you have a place to camp, and someone you've at least met before throwing you to the wolves.

If practices aren't feasible for you right now, I work in Geneva and can meet with you to discuss any questions you have. PM me and we can figure out what works best for you and your group.

Got good news!!

looks like some of our regulars are looking to attend spring wars so there will be more than just the realm leaders there!!

Keep a heads up for the Forodwaith Realm i'm excited to meet some of you guys!

Come to mel this weekend. For real.

A bit busy this weekend for a 5 hour drive... sorry, we'll be at spring wars with 5-10 guys.

So recently this weekend Poo and I presented out AP English 12 project on Belegarth and it went over very well with everyone