Reposting below notes from Will (@xaosseed) who did amazing job putting all our thoughts together. Added some minor edits (hope I did not butcher it too much ):
Topic 1: On the goal of encouraging DMs
Question: How can we increase numbers of active game masters (DMs)?
@Rayce_Kaiser has run DM workshops previously, letās do more of those. Those can be done for different DM needs, e.g. ārun your first gameā, ārun great one-shotsā, āstart your first campaignā, then later specific campaign masterclass/troubleshooting sessions. Could be done on Thursday or Sundays to avoid collision with Fri/Sat games.
We could reserve a ā1st-time/new DMā table on Fri/Sat games where new DMs can give it a go. This table should have min 1 experienced player/DM to assist new DM.
Circulate a poll to check what blocks people from DMāing, what would help them get started to target our help
Create a roster/depo of recommended Adventurers League adventures - something that can be run withing 3 hours and tested by DMs before. Those can be further classified into subcategories (role-play, fighting, mixed) to help DMs to choose something fitting their style/abilities.
Topic 2: On scheduling tools & RPG Vienna website functionality
Would be great to have some type of event-calendar to gain visibility on events further out into future (a month?)
Current system where DM/players write short message to confirm attendance on Fri/Sat games works very well. Writing short message gives nice community feel to it in contrast to just pressing āRSVPā button.
DM & players should be able to confirm attendance for events further in the future
We want to be confident that at least some DMs will be available before publicising a date via Meetup/Reddit
@Neil & @cat4laugh have taken initiative to try some plugins/solutions to enable long-term planning & scheduling (google calendar, doodle poll, etc). Those will be run in test mode for next couple of month. Give them a shout if you have ideas or want to participate in testing.
Topic 3: On WoWKeepers
It would be great to get a locker for storage (books, spare game things from community can be stored there). Open shelving along the wall shold not be used & is to be kept clear
We could print battlemaps and put them under the perspex tabletops (@Otschi apprently has access to some A0-enabled printers). (Update from @Lux_Tenebraeque : Ad battle maps: Iād have access to a A3 printer and laminator - would work for tiled maps. I.e. find/create some maps with matching border transitions and plug them together (like the map books, but more robust and expendable/expandable))
Friday nights are usualy very quiet at WoWKeepers. WoW keepers are happy that we are filling the attendance gap with our VALUE games.
Action: investigate getting folding chairs; we use a lot more chairs per table than the rest of WoWKeepers. WoW keepers would be happy to accept and store those if footprint is low (hence foldable chairs).
Other undiscussed topics (due to the lack of time):
Bring back Indie/non-DnD5e game nights
Bring back tournament (same story done by different groups, best solutions wins?)
Collate all the āwelcome aboardā info into a single reference place where new arrivals can read about how our games operate, rules of conduct, how to become DMā¦
Surely I forgot something, please edit it if you have access right here or drop your comments below
Probably best to address the verein-sized elephant in the room!
The conclusion is that RPGVienna as a community is just not ready for it yet. It should still be discussed in future and remain open but right now the cons outweigh the pros.
Forum Features
We talked a bit about the forum and what itās used for. People seemed happy with the focused amount of sub-forums and the auto-close timer for posts in Arrange a Game. It feels tight and manageable which is what I originally intended.
I installed the ādiscord-eventā plugin over the weekend and itās now available when creating a post in Arrange a Game. Please use it when setting up an event and let me know if you run into any problems.
Iām also looking into a ātemplateā plugin that people can use when setting up a regular game so they donāt have to copy and paste info every time a regular event is posted.
Forum Donations
Everyone seemed happy with the possibility of donating towards server costs for the forum and offered to highlight the donation links in future games/posts. So, I donāt feel bad posting the links now!
Someone mentioned being a bit put-off that Patreon takes a high percentage in fees but I looked it up and Patreon takes 8% in fees. buymeacoffee was also suggested so I set up an account there too. (buymeacoffee takes 5% in fees)
Patreon if you want to set up a recurring donation.
buymeacoffee if you just want a one-off donation
Regular meetings
We also talked about having such a meeting at a (semi) regular pace which will remain open to all. Thereās still a lot to talk about (especially in regards to future events etc.) and Iām hoping to get a bit more involved where I can.
Once again thanks a lot to everyone whether you were there, or youāre just reading along.