val Holryn wrote:
on the issue of getting more GMs ... I'm all for it.
But I would note that several times I have volunteered to run at Origins and not had a table of players. This includes the first BI at Jappa (Where is your God Now), a slot last year, and both of my Friday slots for this years Hard Point 8 this year. So it seems to me that either I'm just unlucky. Or there is a surplus of judges at Origins - my guess. (Or maybe the slot marshals don't think I'm a good judge...hopefully not, but you never know).
Ultimately I think the issue of rewards is a very minor component of finding or encouraging judges either at big cons or closer to home.
I'm of mixed opinions on your statement about GMs for Origins. On the one hand we did release judges pointing to have more than we needed for given slots. On the other, I don't typically GM at Origins, but because of how hard a time they were having of getting judges I volunteered to run. Maybe that's just the natural cycle and I hadn't really noticed before.
In terms of how big of a deal it is to get rewards or not, I don't know. It may in part depend on whether your general inclination is more run or play. You're more on the run side and it shows at your tables. You're well prepared, people have fun and I've never heard anything but praise for experiences with you. I am more on the play side of fence and hope it doesn't show too much at my tables.
If you're more on the play side, the character advancements tend to matter more.
One of the advantages of the old 3.5 days is that people were generally familiar with the system and there was a low to no threshold of investment needed to get a local group set up. Once you got people hooked on the setting, all of the additional materials and crunch were enticing. There was more of an opportunity to get people hooked first. There was a lower barrier to giving it a try.
As for how to get more groups started / GMs I expect it's a combination of factors that could help improve things. I guess we'll see how things progress.
With a sweep of his hat,
Paul