Hello RFR Community,
Treasurer here! The recently announced crossover warday fundraiser event seems to have sparked some confusion/concern among the community so I wanted to take an opportunity and address some of the various things brought up since the announcement. For starters to get it right out in the open - There is no need to panic! Now, more specifically and in no particular order:
1. Isn’t WW breaking even?
It is! Though this “35 players” number that keeps getting quoted is pretty out of date. Around the time Port Katherine was still running this was the case but due to rising costs, most notably several rent increases from Camp Middlesex over the years totaling ~$1000 since then, have raised that number closer to ~43 registered players needed to break even. Since we’ve been hitting player cap for quite some time now, this has happened fairly consistently.
It is worth noting that this is a new thing for the game - Back when Port Katherine was still running neither Witchwood nor Entanglement were breaking even, both games were being floated by the overwhelming success of PK. When PK ended many of its players jumped ship to WW and ENT, which pushed WW over the line into breaking even and brought ENT substantially closer to that line.
2. Isn’t ENT breaking even? What’s up with the sliding scale?
Sometimes! The sliding scale price ENT uses is designed to allow the ENT community to help facilitate continued LARPing for players who can’t afford a full ticket. Some players pay less than the asking price and other players pay above the requested ticket sale to compensate. Since its implementation this system has worked as intended and each event averages ~asking price per player. The game has had slightly less luck in the scheduling department, as it has a large and enthusiastic player base that has recently been otherwise occupied by life events and/or other LARP events (the double edged sword of the hobby rising in popularity).
3. What are the “break even” numbers for each game?
WITCHWOOD:
Camp Deposit: $470
Camp Reservation: $2350
Food: $600
Storage/Insurance/Bank Fees: $420
Total Cost: $3840
Min # Reg: ~43 players paying $90
ENTANGLEMENT:
Camp Deposit: $250
Camp Reservation: $2200
Food: $300
Total Cost: $2750
Min # Reg: ~35-37 players averaging ~$80
4. So, why are we having this fundraiser?
For a number of very good reasons, to be honest!
a. The biggest is of course, raising funds. We want to help ENT bridge the gap across some busy seasons causing registration fluctuations. More importantly though, it is a Recruitment effort! ENT has plenty of room for new players, and while its combat system can seem intimidating on paper it is actually incredibly easy to pick up and very satisfying to engage in. A few more regular players can make all the difference re: breaking even.
b. LARPs are expensive to run, to maintain, and to start in the first place! We have many other systems in place to offset costs where we can (donations list, volunteer crafts, Middlesex cleanup day, etc) and this is merely another tool in that effort.
c. More opportunities to see friends! Some of us literally only ever see each other at RFR official events, and sometimes it is nice for an excuse to see each other more often. And if it happens to financially support the organization that facilitates these events in the first place, so much the better!
d. Cross pollination of our two games! This past WW event felt pretty well staffed I bet, huh? That is because we had a bunch of great crunchies who came over from ENT to help us out! If you had a good WW S2 this year, it was largely thanks to ENT!
e. More single day/single weekend events potentially opens the doors for folks who want to run shorter form games/campaigns under the RFR umbrella! Between Witchwood, Entanglement, and Port Katherine, RFR has only ever run “forever” games, but the opportunity to run several hour one shots (Intercon style), weekend long oneshots, or limited run one year/several year campaigns is an exciting, untapped avenue for this group!
f. On a more personal (non Board affiliated) note, based on things I’ve seen said about ENT by WW players, there seems to be a large amount of misrepresentation/misunderstanding about how ENT as a game setting and combat system works, and I think that the opportunity for WW players to get a taste of it would be worthwhile.
5. Will RFR be releasing financial statements?
The RFR Board strives for transparency whenever possible. In terms of financial statements, book keeping was kept to a minimum during the run of Port Katherine and very little was available to hand off during the position transfer. As mentioned at WW S2 End Game Announcements, I only ever took on the Treasurer position in an Interim capacity and am looking to hand it off to a more specifically experienced individual to help rebuild these records as much as possible. For now my efforts as Treasurer have been focused on monitoring the individual financial health of our two games to ensure their continued respective runs.
If there are further questions we are open to answering to the best of our ability. I only ask that folks proceed with these discussions in good faith and assume best intentions with actions and words. This is a great community and these are two well loved games that we put on together!
Thanks,
Steven Grabowski
RFR Treasurer