The Value Of A Regular - An Appreciation Post

Photo by Shawn Smith

A few members of our staff were in the weekly print meeting recently, which is a meeting where national staff discuss upcoming print releases for the network. During the meeting, people talked about new players, and how we “needed to do something for them.” The urgency of taking care of new players is typical - and admirable - across Dystopia Rising: people want to make sure newcomers have a good time, and this is a good thing. We’ve also talked about taking care of returning players: people who haven’t played Dystopia Rising for some time, and how we’ve taken steps to welcome them back with our returning player drive. And we’ve talked about travelers too! We’ve talked about just about every group of people who could buy a ticket for our game… except one.

And so it’s time to show some appreciation for our regulars.

Your Attendance Is a Gift

There’s a very self-serving reason to give attention to new players: we want them to come back. If we’re doing really well with our new player experience, and we get four new players, only two of them will ever play again, and only one will make it to their sixth game (and these numbers are pretty generous). Returning players have an even worse chance of coming for six games, and most travelers who regularly play at their home game will manage only a couple of games a year. Going all out for these players is a matter of respect and courtesy… but it also helps bring them back, so we have more people to play with. 

Compare that to a player who has come to every game for a year or two. They’re likely to buy a ticket to the next game (they’re probably likely to buy an Early Bird ticket or extra XP). For Dystopia Rising New York, we know that there are about 50 players who make every single game, and another 20 players who attend almost as regularly. This is the core of our game: these are our storytellers and guides, these are the characters best known in the town… these players are essentially part of the setting. And it’s easy to simply expect that they’ll always be there.

But this is a mistake for two reasons: first… that player bought a ticket, same as the new person or traveler or returning player, and they deserve the same amount of attention. We’re not entitled to their attendance, and they deserve the same effort and respect as we give to the players we’re not sure we’ll see again. Their presence isn’t a right, it’s a gift.

Second, regulars always show up… until they don’t. One day, due to neglect, changes in game, or even just life events, they stop coming. If a regular stops playing Dystopia Rising because they move, or change jobs, or even just don’t enjoy larping as much as they used to, that’s okay. But if they move on because the game doesn’t demonstrate how they’re valued, then that’s a failure, and probably a bigger failure than if a new player tries out the game and decides they don’t like it.

Why Are Regulars So Important

Even if we could replace every regular player who quits with two new players, we’d still be losing something, and that’s because our players do so much work to support each other. It’s the regular who picks up someone’s tab at afters or drives them to the grocery store for supplies. It’s the regular who chimes in to give a ride to a game or pick someone up at the train station. The regular makes the food you buy at the game and probably has crafted more than a few of those cool boffers you use. Financially, a regular player gives us more than $500 a year in revenue… and with premiere events and advanced memberships, some give well over $1,000. Regulars are our guides, who do extra shifts and staff shambles. They’re our storytellers, who put in dozens of hours each month to produce this game. They’re the players who have been here two, three, or even five years and never get a mod designed for them. While we’re constantly talking about “players under 100 build” for items, what about the 50% of players who are between 100 and 400?

These players must be engaged, respected  and thanked for their support because this is our core group of players. And like any core group, their support becomes expected, and there’s a tendency to forget to give them positive reinforcement.

Thank You

We wanted to do more than just thank our regulars, so we’ve gone one step further. We’ve given every player who has supported (attended or bought non-attending) at least three games in a row heading into March 30 CAPs to show our appreciation. Further, we’ve gone back and given you another 10 CAPs for every game in your streak for the last year (so if March is your fourth game in a row, you get 40 CAPs, if it’s your fifth, you get 50, and so on… up to a total of 90 CAPs).  We wanted to do this to show that while we really want to take care of our new players, our returning players, and our travelers… we do appreciate that our regulars are the most important people to the success of DRNY.  Thank you.

Remember, we recently introduced new rules for CAPs at DRNY, so be sure to check out the announcement so you can use this token of our appreciation.

Thank You! Using Your CAPs

Photo by Shawn Smith

Dystopia Rising New York relies on you, the players, to make our events happen. Without your help, we wouldn’t be able to bring a hundred larpers to Forestburg nine times a year and make these amazing games. We often want to thank you for what you do, not just with words, but with something to enhance your play experience. Luckily, we have a way to do this… Community Action Points, or CAPs. You can spend these CAPs on a number of cool rewards, from Mind refreshes to extra resource production. But there’s a problem:

You never use them.

Every game we give out thousands of CAPs, and they just sit there accumulating in the database. For the #readytoreq campaign alone, a dozen people get enough CAPs to buy a “Blue Plate Special” (a meal that will refresh you to full Mind), only to see players never cash them in. So to fix that, we’re going to explain what you can buy with CAPs, how to know how many CAPs you have, and finally, make using them easier.

Bottom line up-front - You can now spend CAPs without ever going to the Post Office, just by writing on your character sheet that you used them for certain effects. 

What Can CAPs Do For You?

The Dystopia Rising main website describes Community Action Points, including how you earn them, and what you can do with them. Basically, they’re awarded by Guides and other staff members as a “thank you” for helping us. You can use CAPs for story rewards, to find teachers (or unlearn skills), and to establish play spaces such as Culinary or Agricultural zones throughout the site. However, there are three things you can do for your character at game, all for 50 CAPs or less:

• You can spend 40 CAPs on a Blue Plate Special. This is a meal that takes 10 minutes to eat and works as a full Mind refresh. You can only use this twice per event, they are non-transferable, and they expire at the end of the event.

• You can spend 25 CAPs on a G.O.G.O Gatherer: <skill name> for any gathering skills (Agriculture, Foraging, Hunting, Salvaging, or Trailblazing). You can use this when you perform the skill for one more of any single item you gathered (i.e. a one-time buy one, get one free). These expire at the end of the event, and you can purchase two G.O.G.O Gatherers per skill, and they are non-transferable.

• You can spend 50 CAPs for 3 Local Currency. There’s no limit on how many times you can do this.

These are cool, but we really want you to enjoy your CAPs. So here are some Requiem-Specific Uses for Community Action Points. 

• If you’re using a crafting or gathering skill, and are interrupted, you can spend 100 CAPs to call “Not Today.” You can ignore the interruption, and take up to a 5-minute break from the task. As long as you return to using the skill within 5 minutes, you may continue where you left off. You can use this ability once per event. 

• If you use a combat skill and that skill is countered (i.e. your attack is Avoided) you can spend 100 CAPs and call “Nothing Ventured.” You regain the mind you spent to use the skill. You can use this ability once per event. 

• If you’re an Aberrant, and you’re in an Area of Effect or By My Voice call that targets Aberrants or does Aberrant Bane damage, you can spend 100 CAPs and call “Just Say No.” For the sake of that one effect or call, you do not count as an Aberrant. You can use this ability once per event. 

You might notice these uses of CAPs are calls you would make in the middle of a fight, and not items you get from the Post Office. This is because we’re now letting you use CAPs and log it on your sheet, to make it easier for you (read on for more details).

How Many CAPs Do You Have?

All Community Action Points are associated with individual chapters, or with National (which can be used at any chapter). You can find your CAPs for all chapters (and National) on the Database. However, you don’t need to worry about that at an event, because your local CAPs will be on your sheet. Right below the boxes that record your Lores and Fractures, it should list the CAPs for the chapter that printed your sheet (picture in the next section). 

How Can I Use My CAPs?

Normally, you have to go to the Post Office, stand in line, and ask them to spend your CAPs. They’ll then give you an item card with the item you requested. Some uses require you to contact the Directors and take more time. However, we’ve realized that this is a barrier to use, so we have a local rule about using CAPs, to make it easier:

If you’re using NY CAPs, you can spend CAPs on Blue Plate Specials, G.O.G.O Gatherers, and any local CAPs calls simply by recording them on your sheet.

All other rules still apply: you have to spend 10 minutes eating a Blue Plate Special, for example, and you still have to go to the Post Office to use your G.O.G.O Gatherer. However, for any of the Requiem-specific Calls (Last Ditch Effort, Not Today, Nothing Ventured, and Just Say No), you can simply use them and record them on your sheet.

To record CAPs usage, write them on the front of your sheet, under your skills (the red circle shows you where you can find your local CAPs). 

We have one caveat: you can’t spend National CAPs this way, as National CAPs don’t show up on the character sheets. If you like, you can contact the staff or visit the Post Office, and they’ll convert your National CAPs to local. 

Why Are We Doing This?

Community Action Points are supposed to be our way of saying thank you to you… if you can’t use them, they don’t mean anything. We’re hoping by giving you more ways of using them (and seeing others use them as well), they’ll become more desirable and make our gratitude more meaningful to you.

We will be adding excerpts from this blog to the website under Local Mechanics.