When we started out hosting games, we explicitly weren't
concerned with quality. We specifically said that up-front... the
game profiles (a vestigial one can be seen at ) were
completely unedited, and so it was assumed that if there were
typoes and disgrammars and AWESOMELY munchkinlike
statements, that's exactly what you could expect from the game,
so if you didn't mind that you'd sign up, and thereby the GM would
get exactly what he deserved. Or something.
Anyway, the focus in those days was on continuity... the goal was
to make sure that gamemasters stuck with their games, regardless
of the "quality."
Somewhere along the way, that sort of changed. But as discussed
in a recent (well, relatively recent) chat, people would rather be in a
mediocre game that *continued* than in a brilliant game that flamed
out midway through the third scene.
Anyway, so we've been beating our foreheads against walls in an
attempt to come up with a way to make games last longer... either
to prevent GM burnout, or to reliably replace GMs that can't
continue.
We're seriously considering no longer allowing solo gamemasters.
This is sort of a drastic change in policy. We're not necessarily
going to demand that new games have a GM team, just that they
have a definite backup GM or two in place, *and* a "To Be Opened
Upon The Current GM's Demise/Disappearance/Retirement"
envelope. This has been the most effective way any of our current
games have carried on after the departure of their initial
gamemasters (do we have any followon gamemasters running
games right now? Raise your hands), with either a strong player or
a particularly attentive lurker stepping in to take over.
This wouldn't particularly affect existing gamemasters, other than
you maybe want to think about exactly what *would* happen to
your game if you got hit by a bus. Which of your players *would*
make a good successor? Or is there somebody outside the game
you could recruit to watch over your shoulder, be let into all your
secrets and assistant-GM once in awhile?
Better ideas? Magic questions we could ask applicants that would
allow us to determine if they're going to finish their game? Bueller?
-- --------------------------------------------------------------
Game(s): The Whole Phoenyx
Listowner tools are found at http://www.phoenyx.net/listowners/
