11/03/2023
STAFF ANNOUNCEMENT:
CHANGE TO EVENT REGISTRATION & PLAYER CAP POLICY
--- AND ---
ANNOUNCING SPRING 1 & 2 EVENT REGISTRATION
Dear players,
This is the message that no game ever wants to write, because no GM likes to turn away players who might be eager to play their game. However, one thing we pride ourselves on at Cottington is our ability to give a personal touch to our game, which becomes increasingly harder with the more players we have. We only have so many staff, so many npcs, and only so much time to write the plot for the game, and we want to be able to continue to deliver the experience that you all love.
We've been absolutely blessed that we have such an awesome and growing player base, and yet at the same time have stayed around 60-65 players attending an event, which is the high end of the sweet spot for being able to keep up that personal touch. However, when we look at the number of "active" players (folks who have played CW2 within the last year at some point) plus the number of new concepts received in the last 2 months (12+), plus the folks who have played CW2 we think might return, we realize that we are starting to get to a number that is beyond our comfort and what we think is a good number to run the game. Not to mention we might run out of beds if all the people expressing interest decide to play in the Spring!
We debated waiting to see if it would be an actual problem come the Spring events, but then decided that if we DID get too many registrations, we would either risk running a sub-par event because we had more players than we can handle (which, you know us, is likely what we'd do and probably burn ourselves out trying to make it amazing), or having to ask people who had signed up and were excited not to attend, and that people would rightfully be upset if it felt like we were changing the rules around event registration at the last minute after they had already gotten excited to play. We decided it was much better to announce a change to our event registration and our Cap Policy, rather than wait. Hopefully, we are worrying over nothing, and every who wants to play will get to play!
We debated first putting a lower PC cap based on NPC numbers, and only raising it if our NPC numbers increased, because we recognize if we have about 20 more players than we presently do without a meaningful increase in NPC numbers, we'd be less able to entertain you all, and the current PC-to-NPC ratio we have is where we'd like to be. We decided instead we'll start with a PC cap, and if NPC numbers in the spring inhibit our ability to entertain you all as well as we'd like, then we might revise this for the fall (setting a lower number and raising as NPC numbers increase). Please encourage your friends to NPC, so that this isn't a concern! :) Likewise, if we get a lot of NPC registrations, we might consider raising our cap. But please do remember that if we get 20 more PCs than we usually do without a corresponding increase in NPC numbers, our ability to reasonably entertain all of you without your aid will be diminished. We'll do our best, trust us we always want to make this amazing for you, but it's just something to keep in mind. :)
To that end, we are announcing that we will cap the total number of players per event at 80 going forward.
Now, we have yet to actually have 80 players at an event, because something always conspires where 10-20 of you cannot make any one given event, but we wanted to put this policy in place now so that if we did exceed the cap, we weren't after the fact introducing a lottery that might make folks upset. Here is our intention going forward:
Event / PC Cap Policy:
1. PC Attendance is capped at 80 players per event.
2. We might consider increasing the cap if we receive enough NPC registrations and/or enough PCs tenting/staying offsite to reasonably accommodate all players in terms of sleeping arrangements and enough NPCs to entertain. As it is, we feel our NPC numbers are a little low for 80 players, if only because we're very used to running with our current ratio.
3. Registration opening for Seasons (Spring 1 & 2, for example) will be announced ahead of time, and will open at the same time.
4. Registration will open first for players who have played within the past year and have attended at least half of all CW2 Events. For the Spring Season, this means anyone who attended Last October (Event 3) through now and has attended 4 or more events.
5. After 1 week, we will open registration to players who have played within the past year. (For Spring Season, this means anyone who attended Last October through now).
6. 1 Week after that, we will open registration to anyone who has ever played CW2.
7. 1 Week after that, we will open registration to new players with an approved concept.
8. 1 Week after that, we will open registration up to anyone.
9. If we receive more registrations in one of the 4 "groups" than we we have remaining space in the event, all registrants in that group will be put into a lottery. We will then draw names, first filling up the cap and then placing people on a waitlist (in order drawn from the lottery). We will do this for each grouping separately, starting with the group where we hit cap first. (For example, if we hit cap in the third group of "has ever played CW2" then, we will enter everyone who registers in that group into a lottery, and they will be registered/placed on waitlist in order drawn. When we then open registration for "has an approved concept" group, they will automatically be placed into a lottery since we are in waitlist, and then added to the waitlist based on their lottery.) If we need to do this for the "anyone" bucket, we will do the lottery 2 weeks after the anyone registration opened, and after that lottery, it will be first come first serve onto the waitlist.
--- If we don't ever hit the PC Cap, then registration is in order folks registered, but still within their grouping.
10. We will no longer offer Early Prereg CP as a result of this new system.
11. Payment is NOT due at the time of registration. Please do not let finances be a reason to or not to register. Payment will be due later, and we'll still offer flexibility for those who need it.
12. You may still register after your group window has ended, you just won't get the benefit of having registered in the earlier grouping.
For Spring 1 (April 19-21) and Spring 2 (May 17-19):
- Registration for BOTH EVENTS will open AT THE SAME TIME
- Players who have played within the past year (from Event 3 on) and have played 4 or more events: Registration will open 11/7 at 8:00pm
- Players who have played within the past year (from Event 3 on): Registration will open 11/14 at 8:00pm
- Players who have ever played: Registration will open 11/21 at 8:00pm
- Players who have an accepted concept: Registration will open at 11/28 at 8:00pm
- All Players can register as of 12/5 at 8:00pm
For NPCs
- You can register as soon as registration opens on 11/7 at 8pm. Please register early! This helps us understand who we will have in the spring for planning plots, but also the PC numbers we can support. Thank you in advance!!
We are opening registrations early because we want to begin planning for the Spring, and knowing who is coming (or who believes they are going to be able to come at this time) is critical for us to plan. Our Spring events only have 26 days between them, and we want to be able to prepare without burning ourselves out as badly as we did this past fall.
If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know!
Thanks,
Michelle, John & Cottington Staff
