OK, only 5 days to go, so I better actually post some updates as to exactly what's going on.
The cottages can be found here:
They are collectively called Meadowview Cottages.
One of the cottages will be open to us from 1pm. The other is available from 6pm. This is great because we're not really supposed to have them at all until 8pm. I will do whatever I can to get there for 1 and be there for the next person who arrives. I think I have all your email addresses and will email you all my mobile number in case you have problems*. You might want to do the same so I can get hold of you if need be.
Claire and I will be bringing a simple Bolognese and a few other bits for dinner. We'll be serving at 8pm. The idea is that this means nobody has to worry about getting there and cooking the same night.** If anyone's vegetarian or has any other weird dietary requirements, please let everyone know now so that alternatives can be found. I don't eat fish or mushrooms for example. I'm also allergic to E132, which is a fairly common additive. It's easy to avoid though, because it's a blue food dye. So please don't feed me anything blue.
Once we've established a beachhead at Meadowview, I'll head into Long Buckby to forage for supplies. Anyone travelling long distances or using public transport (Malcolm and Iain for example) please let me know what you want and I'll pick it up for you. No point carrying beer all the way from Scotland when we have perfectly good beer/bacon available here in England.
Graham, you're vastly better than me at making charts and stuff. Can you make a blank timetable in Word or Excel so I can print it up and we can use it to plan stuff? I'm thinking the schedule looks basically like this:
9am - 10am: Breakfast
10am - 12noon: First game slot
12noon - 2pm: 2nd game slot
2pm - 4pm: Lunch & discussion
4pm - 8pm: 3rd game slot
8pm onwards: Other stuff (dinner, talks, booze)
Repeat for Sunday.
We need to be out by 10 am on Monday.
Please ask me any questions you might have in this thread. Anything I can't answer, I'll try to find out.
* it turns out I don't have an addy for James. Scott, can you pass my number on to him when you get it?
** Janos, I understand you have problems with wheat. Does this mean Pasta's out? If so, please suggest an alternative. Rice or something?
(Geoff, if you're reading this rest assured that I will contact you forthwith to discuss funds)
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Spodley.pdf | 36.06 KB |
I'm fetching Iain and
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Tue, 08/05/2007 - 14:18.
I'm fetching Iain and Malcolm from the airport as I drive past, so no worries there Rich. Their plane gets in to Brum at 1555, and its about 45 minutes from there to Spodley, so we should be with you just before 5.
I'll endeavour to pick up supplies en route, so if you need something, send me a text middayish.
We're staying until monday morning too, if that makes any difference.
I know we had a lot of offers to cook, but do we want to nail down who is doing what so we don't over/under supply? I'm happy to make fajitas for some/all, or I can take a backseat for dinner and just bake a massive batch of brownies for snackage/dessert instead (I'm doing this anyway mind you).
Food
Submitted by Rich Stokes on Tue, 08/05/2007 - 15:20.
I've started another thread to discuss catering.
Hooray! Listen, um, are we
Submitted by Graham W on Tue, 08/05/2007 - 16:01.
Hooray!
Listen, um, are we running strictly to time or are we being relaxed?
I prefer to be strict: I'll get twitchy if I'm running a game at noon, but the first game is still running because they want to finish a scene.
But, if other people want to be relaxed, I can attempt to suppress my anal retentive side.
Graham
Graham, I'm with you. I
Submitted by Malcolm Craig on Tue, 08/05/2007 - 16:03.
Graham, I'm with you. I think we need a level of strictness in terms of timings. It's unfair to some if we don't do that. yes, this is going to be fun and relaxed, but we don't wnat some people losing out on opportunities.
I am currnet printing, guillotining and hole-punching some playtest versions of Okhrana. The kitchen table is a mess right now.
Cheers
Malcolm
Contested Ground Studios
How about strict but
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Tue, 08/05/2007 - 16:25.
How about strict but relaxed. So we strictly keep to slots, but the slots themselves leave us with ample time?
And you're shaming me Malcolm - I'd best get some stuff printed out too before thursday!
Schedule
Submitted by Rich Stokes on Tue, 08/05/2007 - 16:45.
The point with the schedule is this:
If you have a two hour slot to playtest, what you actually have is 90 minutes to play and 30 minutes to discuss how it worked. If you treat it like that, you'll be OK. Maybe you'll lose some discussion at the end. That's no biggie because you can discuss things more at lunchtime.
Sure, if a game just fails miserably and has to be culled after an hour, why not start the next one early? But slot end time really need to be pretty strict.
>Maybe you'll lose some
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Tue, 08/05/2007 - 17:15.
>Maybe you'll lose some discussion at the end. >That's no biggie because you can discuss things >more at lunchtime.
Or at any point over the weekend. We kinda have a captive audience here, so it's not as though people are going to vanish.
>why not start the next one early?
Well I'm assuming groups will swap about between games. How were you planning on divvying people up? I'd recommend asking for a show of hands for each game (either after breakfast or before each slot) and then making sure that a) everybody is playing something and b) every game has roughly equal players?
Here is a provisional
Submitted by Rich Stokes on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 09:55.
Here is a provisional schedule
Kudos to Graham for the original design.
Excellent stuff. That's a
Submitted by Malcolm Craig on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 10:14.
Excellent stuff. That's a kudo to Mr Stokes and a kudo to Mr Walmsley. Yeah, sure the singular of kudos is kudo? Right?*
I've the feeling that this weekend with either be as awesome as
THIS
or potentially as amazing as
THIS
Cheers
Malcolm
*Yes, I am aware of the sheer incorrectness of this.
Contested Ground Studios
It could be made all the
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 10:54.
It could be made all the more amazing by the inclusion of Eurovision on the saturday night ... coupled with a Eurovision-themed Umlaut game. After all, Lordi set the precedent last year ...
I've used my evil overseer
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 11:12.
I've used my evil overseer powers to attach the spreadsheet to Rich's original post, for once putting them to the use of the forces of good and not evil!
Excellent.
Submitted by Graham W on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 14:12.
Excellent.
When do we decide which game goes in which slot? I'm primarily concerned that Kenrick doesn't fill all the spaces with Six Bullets For Memento and Bored Elves With Bad Memories, repeated over and over, throughout the weekend.
In other words, I'm venturing into the thorny area of how many slots we each take.
(My provisional calculation...and I defer to Rich or anyone else on this...is that it works if four designers each get a two-hour slot and a four-hour slot; and two designers get two two-hour slots. But, like I say, highly provisional, and I imagine Rich secretly has this all figured out.)
Graham
P.S. I actually like Andrew's games.
P.P.S. Oh, maybe we do this on Friday evening, is that the idea?
Yes, we'll do this on Friday
Submitted by Rich Stokes on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 14:30.
Yes, we'll do this on Friday evening, that's the idea :^P
As I've said before, please think about the slots you want. Assume we get 2 slots each. There are 6 designers and 12 slots. Yes, two people will only get two slots of two hours each. If you can test both your games in two hour slots, please do so.
Oh, excellent, thanks
Submitted by Graham W on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 15:27.
Oh, excellent, thanks Rich.
As an advance thing, I volunteer to be one of the designers who only gets two two-hour slots. So one other person needs to be as altruistic and selfless as I am.
Graham
Graham, if only everyone was
Submitted by Rich Stokes on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 15:54.
Graham, if only everyone was as altruistic and selfless as you are...
Slots
Submitted by Rich Stokes on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 19:28.
Here's a thought:
The second morning slot could become a 3 and a half hour slot for half the people.
That is: Half the people play a 2 hour slot, then make lunch. The other half play a 3 nad a half hour slot, taking a half hour out when lunch is served.
This will be rather tiring for those involved though.