xp for regular dm'ing

[Adanu]

My number one challenge as a DM is assembling a regular group of players at a specific time each week for sessions.

This is easy with a tiny bit of legwork, IMO.

[Darkmystic]

DM'ing is fun and should be rewarded as well, another suggestion is that you dont remove the active DMs.

[JonnyJerny]

damn whatup man

[Darkmystic]

They remove DMs who make sure Alfa is pure.

[Swift]

Hardly the place to go dredging Darkmystic. Take it to the appropriate channels.

[JonnyJerny]

Wanna talk about it

[orangetree]

I really like this idea.

[Ithildur]

Not a fan of this idea. It's a bit of a stretch as is that people can level up and become more powerful by spending lots of time sitting around taverns; we're using a game system that allows for some xp gain via pure RP so I can see some justification for xp drip/fairy scripts and such, but theoretically with this idea you can eventually lvl up without even RPing your PC much.

If we need to come up with incentives for DMing (and I do agree we do), let's do it, but please, not this way. So many better and more creative ways to do it than xp bribery.

[FoamBats4All]

So many better and more creative ways to do it than xp bribery.

Elaborate?

[Khazar Stoneblood]

Not a fan of this idea. It's a bit of a stretch as is that people can level up and become more powerful by spending lots of time sitting around taverns; we're using a game system that allows for some xp gain via pure RP so I can see some justification for xp drip/fairy scripts and such, but theoretically with this idea you can eventually lvl up without even RPing your PC much.

If we need to come up with incentives for DMing (and I do agree we do), let's do it, but please, not this way. So many better and more creative ways to do it than xp bribery.

XP really wouldn't be an incentive for me... but honestly I can't think of what would be an incentive to DM.

Those who DM the most seem to be those who enjoy DMing. I'm not sure there is an incentive to DM other then the fact you find it enjoyable. If you don't, then I'm not sure anything would change that.

[Ithildur]

A couple of basic ideas: it's not that different from incentives/motivation for any kind of volunteer effort that involves work and planning. Genuinely recognize them on your server and ALFA wide. The DM appreciation threads are good; expand on them perhaps and have a more official 'DM of the month' 'Best low lvl campaign' 'best high lvl campaign' 'best plot DM' etc recognition threads. Use the vote capability of the forums to have players vote for DM of the month type of stuff. Or have HDMs do it. Whatever.

btw this extends to folks like the tech crew, admins as well, but we're focusing on DMs here.

Also, publish stories of why DMs find it enjoyable to DM. Have recognized/respected DMs share some of their insights and trade secrets and lulz stories and highlights/lowlights.

It doesn't have to be elaborate (no need to add lots more to the workload) but a simple 'Here's why I'm having fun DMing', or maybe a more elaborate 'I recently finished running plot xyz ... was getting such a kick out of character x doing y while his girlfiend was doing blah blah behind his back, all the while npc z is trying to secretly kill them off, but the party proved too clever or lucky, narrow escape #45 happened, meanwhile they found this pretty cool sword, I couldn't believe when they pulled off abc, etc" can highlight positives, help DMs reflect and remember why they enjoy it, get players interested and hopeful, etc.

Fact is, DMing can be varying degrees of work sure (though honestly, you CAN do a lot of spontaneous DMing without a lot of prep and players will still enjoy it), but it can be tremendously fun and rewarding - it's ultimately the only reason to do it, because it's enjoyable! Anytime someone who enjoys activity xyz shares why/how he enjoys that activity, it has potential to communicate in an appealing way and get other people interested AS WELL AS multiply the enjoyment they get from the activity for themselves.

At the end of the day, something like ALFA or any other hobby/game project prospers or fails based on such stories of 'man that was fun, let me tell you about it' type of testimonials. You need a constant supply of such stories from both players and DMs, but this is about DMs. "I DM because I enjoy it, it's a blast" is what we want, not "I'd rather be doing something else but eh at least I'm getting xp for this" - no.

[Ronan]

I agree its not the sort of idea to have lots of fans. As I've stated numerous times, I'm not a fan of OOC rewards at all; they don't incentivize me to play or DM at all. The thrust of this thread was that giving OOC rewards for DMing probably makes more sense than giving OOC rewards for RPing. If that same trickle of XP makes a DM log in, it would create more RP and XP. Kid has stated he would have DMed more if DM-XP existed.

I couldn't care less about the appreciation threads and rarely look at them. I don't put much value on signalling though; I figure if players join my games (not that I've had any real sessions for a while) then I'm doing a good job. If not, then I'm not.

I think reducing the costs (the learning curve, the multi-DM environment, the B-game) of DMing in ALFA is probably going to net more gains than increasing the benefits, which are much less tangible.

[Zelknolf]

It is surely worth noting that reducing the cost to be a DM isn't a zero-cost thing, and it's a non-zero-cost thing that people largely don't want to work on. How many "documentation heads" have we had, for instance? And note the "DM Tips" thread took, with its current organizational state of "not." There's backlash for formatting things for legibility, and there's pretty overwhelming evidence that people aren't reading the things we do get out there. And of course from the things that need a technical implementation, it's all the same problems plus that there's a limited group of people who already have the necessary skills (with another group of roughly equal size that could quickly get the skills if they could be motivated to learn and maintain them, but also with any such work being done resulting in someone feeling threatened and trying to undermine it).

That's not to say that the summary "(the learning curve, the multi-DM environment, the B-game)" isn't true. I guess the point to drive at is that these are problems we've been trying to fix and have largely been failing to fix.

[Castano]

I got a lot of heat for this last time I said it, but have not changed my view. When it comes to Castano doing stuff outside of keeping the module alive and able to accept log ins (e.g. anything extra for you) I tend to be much more motivated to stop what I am doing and help people faster who contribute in ways other than playing. I would rather give these people XP though, then a cut in the line for their custom requests.

[Castano]

as for those opposed to a trickle of DM XP...ponder this...RPXP trickles in for cyber (and the more graphically descriptive and longer the session the more they get - sorry fade to blackers that only gets you 1 tick on the meter). Nobody should be getting any XP points for that...

I'd rather see RPXP removed if we are gonna talk about purity. The only justification offered for it is it makes people log in. Which would be the same justification for DM XP.