NOTICE: Furnace Game Slots

[ElaineM]

Following feedback in previous years and committee discussions, we've decided to make a change for Furnace 2012 to allow more time for food, socialising, slot changeover, etc.

We currently have two 3-hour slots at Furnace (Saturday and Sunday morning) and three 4-hour slots (Saturday pm and evening, and Sunday pm), with an hour in between each slot.

This year, we're going to extend the space between slots from one hour to TWO HOURS. This means shortening the 4-hour slots to 3-hour slots, but if you want or need your game to last the full four hours, you have the time to do so and we're not going to police it and kick you out of your rooms after three hours.

Therefore, the slots for Furnace 2012 will be:

Saturday am - 10am to 1pm
Saturday pm - 3pm to 6pm
Saturday evening - 8pm to 11pm
Sunday am - 10am to 1pm
Sunday afternoon - 3pm to 6pm

Furnace is still gonna be fast, furious and fun, but there's additional time for food now to allow for any delays you might experience.

Comments, questions, wailing and gnashing of teeth, praise and relief? Lemme know.

- Elaine.

[Evilgaz]

I think its a top idea. Woo-hoo!

It might mean Spearing doesn't get as nervous when something goes wrong with my food order for the third year running - there'll be more time to sort it out!

[First Age]

I think its a top idea. Woo-hoo!

It might mean Spearing doesn't get as nervous when something goes wrong with my food order for the third year running - there'll be more time to sort it out!

I hadn't even thought about that. I just felt a sudden wave of panic, to have it all immediately dissipate!

[w00hoo]

Won't this lead to enforced socialising?

I've always gone out for food and never found an hour to be an issue, I've had players get food delivered to the table duing evening games which hasn't disrupted things and if anything with an early end to the afternoon slot it's been 'how do I use this chunk of time?' with the best will in the world you can only spend so much time perusing the traders before it becomes stalking. Could getting the GM's that want food to the top of the list not be an option?

Not being a high speed GM I've had more than one game eat in to the 11-12 buffer anyway so I may rethink my evening offering.

[Evilgaz]

As Elaine has said, you can still use the full time if you want. As long as players buy in...

Might be worth having something on the sign up sheet indicating its a longer game (or a high visability sticker, or different colour sheet) and something on the game descriptions and slot summary prior to the con stating its likely to over run the three hours.

As much as I love Furnace, its always been manic and flies past to quick IMHO. A bit more breathing space might allow for more savouring of the experience.

[First Age]

Won't this lead to enforced socialising?

It's one of my greatest reservations. I will monitor any such frivolity closely.

You can still have your 4 hours should you wish it for three of the slots. We'd just need to help you make it clear that that was what your game needed. A symbol on the sign up sheet for longer games will probably be easiest.

[w00hoo]

Bit confused how that works, thanks to the unique way Furnace is signed up no evening game can start before 8pm which means there must be a hard cut off of midnight so a maximum 4 hour slot even if there's an over run on the 11 o clock stated finish?

My laissez faire come haphazard GMing approach is to give players room to play characters if they want to rather than 'pushing plot with a solid eye to this percentage acheived in this time' which tends to lead to an overrun in a four hour slot anyway, it's why I choose to run in the Saturday night slot. Don't Rest Your Head ran to about 4 hours 30, Penny for Your Thoughts last year ran to around 4 hours 45, I believe the Unknown Armies game ran to 4 hours 15 or thereabouts. I prefer to make players aware that we're heading for an overrun rather than block what they are doing to get plot in. For all their length as far as I'm aware everyone at the table has enjoyed the game and was happy with where it ended (no-one has ever told me otherwise and everyone has been all 'don't worry' when I've apologised about an overrun at the end). Penny being particularly difficult to govern time wise as there's no real GM we ended up with a player deciding to leave the game as his lift was going, then reappearing 5 minutes later having told his lift he wanted 30 more minutes because he had to see how the game ended. So for players who are looking for that type of game, it seems to work for me.

If I'm just misunderstanding and I can start the game at 7 with players permission then alls good and I'll just go back to being mildly confused. If the game has to start at 8 but can run to midnight (I've always assumed we lose the rooms at midnight whatever?) then I'll have to look at a game I think will fit in 3 hours that might overrun to 3 hours 30, rather than one that I think might fit in 4 hours but could overrun to 4 hours 30 is all. Even then, I'm not sure I want to still be gaming by the time it's Sunday morning. I'll fit in with whatever ends up happening, I'm just trying to get my head straight over the options.

[zackspacks]

I can see where you're coming from Furnace Commitee, but wrt the feedback options: it's 'Rage Infected gnashing of teeth' from myself though.

My intention was to run 1x3hr and 2x4 hr slots. I struggle with writing a 6 player game for only 3 hours, whereas 4 player is much easier. Anyway, this is about feedback, and I guess it's probably my fault for not giving feedback 'keep it exactly as it is'. I appreciate you are trying to change stuff, but this seems a huge step change, there is no 4 hour slot there now, what about the 3.5 hour slots with 90 mins between each game ?

The biggest problem I can see is the Sunday afternoon slot, in which I traditionally run Napalm Jones. Getting people to stay back past 6pm is unreasonable, so I am going to try and pull this forward. Problem is, is that if the morning slot game GM decides to overrun by an hour, a player wanting to play NJ just won't get in. Err, and if I am in that game, I will just have to get up and leave ! Also, how the heck do people sign up for a game running half an hour or an hour earlier than the 3 hour slot time ? Quite tricky, so I would probably be better moving that into Saturday afternoon instead, and running it for 4 hours. Cripes.

Ultimately I will go with whatever you guys decide, as you put an awful lot of effort into arranging and organising the event.

cheers
Paul

[ncmreynolds]

Comments, questions, wailing and gnashing of teeth, praise and relief? Lemme know.

Having just done these kind of slots at Conpulsion, they worked for me.

I think they have less of a negative effect on play time than you'd assume. I reckon people arrive 'ready to play' rather than 'ready to faff' because they've barely finished eating and are still winding down from the last game.

[Newt]

Myself, the Gow and Mr Milner have just returned from the gaming chill-out that is Conpulsion at Edinburgh. One of the things that made it so chilled was the 3 hour slots that gave us relaxed 2 hour lunch breaks, more than enough time to socialise and get a bite to eat even when the main food outlet was busy.

We talked a lot about Furnace, since its the next time the three of us are all together, amongst ourselves and other Furnacees who were there. Collectively our only criticism of Furnace is the manic nature of the food breaks and lack of social time. It was obvious seeing it in action and experiencing it that adopting the 3 hour slot model would sort it

I' ve previously been a very vocal critic of having 3 hour slots, but after Conpulsion I'm a big fan of them and had no trouble adapting my four hour games to a three hour game. In fact they where better games for it.

[queenortart]

Could we compromise on an hour and a half?

[Neil Gow]

A bold move and one that I applaud wholeheartedly. As Newt has alluded to, the one fly in the almost perfect Furnace ointment has always been the ridiculously short food breaks and subsequent lack of downtime. Running Slot One and Slot Two means you have to be bang on time finishing, sprint to Morrisons, inhale food, sprint back (and seriously, when I say sprint you know I mean ramble with purpose. I haven't sprinted since 1993) and then prep for your game and regain composure. In an hour.

The shorter slots allow for game overrun as an option - with the four hours, there was no option. It just made the sprint-scoof-settle cycle shorter and more frantic.

And I wouldn't call it enforced socialisation, I'd call it socialisation. Whereas before, there was none. A quick snatched comment here, a gasped conversation over a rapidly disappearing sausage roll there and then a pint after in the bar. It may be all about the games, but it has to be about the people as well. I hate that post-Furnace feeling of 'oh ****, never got to talk to Gaz/Keary/Andy/Newt etc again'

If it works, fantastic. If it doesn't, it can always change back next year.

[GuyMilner]

As Newt and Neil have suggested, I'm in favour. We can always shift back if it doesn't work out, and I also think it'll actually make games easier to schedule to time - previously, overrunning by even 15 minutes was a right arse because you had to race to get food and stuff - wheareas we have got the option to do that now.

[dpmcalister]

I'm highly unlikely to be able to go ( ) but I think it's a great idea. You have 3 hours assigned but, as others have said, you can overrun without feeling like you've got to cut the game short in order to eat and/or prep. A different convention I know, but I wonder if Conception would benefit from a similar arrangement (or, perhaps, as a compromise, 3.5 hour slots with 1.5 hour breaks)?

[w00hoo]

Having just done these kind of slots at Conpulsion, they worked for me.
I think they have less of a negative effect on play time than you'd assume. I reckon people arrive 'ready to play' rather than 'ready to faff' because they've barely finished eating and are still winding down from the last game.

Other viewpoint, I've done a selection of Cons with 3 hour slots and never really got on with them, especially as a GM. I mentioned somewhere nearby that finding a game I was happy to run in the morning 3 hour slot had already been quite restricting. Removing breaks, absolute start times rather than 'I'll just nip to the bar' and giving less pre-game info is definitely an option to make up the shortfall.

[This is meant as just a question, in the end you run the Con however you want to and I turn up as a consumer. Just getting the process straight in my head]

Out of interest, which bit of feedback is this addressing? I'm not sure 'this is the feedback we got' has become public domain, but are we talking feedback of '4 hour slots are too long, I want shorter slots the 3 hour morning slots are much better' or feedback of 'rushing around between the slots is all a bit frantic, I'd like that fixed'. If it's the latter then was bringing the Con start forwards 30 minutes considered?