Discussion on the future of the Auckland Gear Library

nzLARPS
#1

Disclaimer: This post does not necessarily reflect the opinion of all of the committee members.

TLDR: Although I hope that everyone will take the time to read this important message about the future of the Auckland Gear Library. If you cant bring yourself to read it, please note we will be having a committee meeting specifically to discuss this topic and gain the feedback of the community. Date and venue TBA

This post is intended to summarise the thoughts and investigations regarding the storage of the gear. Please note that no decisions have yet been made by the committee regarding this as we would first like to hear from the community. Please also bear with me because this is going to be a long post around an issue that is complex and very important to the future of NZLARPS.

Firstly I would like to discuss why we are talking about this at all. Since it’s inception, NZLARPS has been growing it’s gear library as the community itself is growing. We have always relied on the generosity of our members and their families to house the gear. Even at the beginning when there was less gear, this was actually a pretty big ask. The gear takes up a substantial amount of space on people’s’ properties and fairly regularly people would come onto these properties to access the gear. We are now at the point where we have so much gear that it can no longer be kept in the small shed that we purchased 5 years ago and it needs to move from the current location.

Arguably our gear is our biggest asset. What it means to have gear is that games can run with crew who do not have to bring any of their own costuming. This means that people who are students or do not have the money to invest in costuming for a weekend game can still participate. It also means that it makes it easier for people to run a project, instantly giving any new project access to our gear, meaning less outlay needed for a new game. It also means that it is easier to attract new larpers as they can give larping a go without having to make an initial big investment in a hobby they may not enjoy. Even though we know they will be hooked, it can be a big ask to ask someone to try a new hobby and lay out a hundred dollars plus for their own costuming. So the conclusion is, if we want to keep the gear library and grow our community we need to have good storage for our gear. This means a place that is accessible, is well insulated to protect our gear and is secure.

I have investigated options for gear storage as follows:

Council Community Building Lease:

I have spoken with the person at the Council which organises community spaces leased by the Auckland Council as well as looking at the written information about applying for these spaces.
This would be the ideal option if we were able to get it because the Council pretty much will give us a space where we can store our gear/have offices for only the cost of power and water ongoing. However I have been advised that there is over a year waiting list and the Council only tends to approve applicants who can go in with similar groups or other community groups. I still think it would be worth applying for this and applications open in February, however we still need to sort the gear out this year. Although it is likely we may not get a community leased space unless we can find another community group to co-lease with.

Theater Groups:
I have contacted several theater groups to ask them if they would be willing to share their spaces or let us rent some space in their theaters for our gear but all of them have said that this would not be possible. Apparently there are many small starting theater groups looking to do the same thing and there just i no space.

Lotto Grants:
There are quite a few lotto grants available to community groups, however nothing really that our current circumstances allows us to qualify for. There is no fund for ongoing rent of storage but there is an interesting grant for building a community space which we have to be able to prove we can maintain plus we have to own some land first. Something maybe to keep in mind for the future when we are bigger.

Rotary Funding:
There is no grant that covers ongoing rent costs unfortunately.

Motu Moana:

I have spoken to Motu Moana and they have advised that they will not allow a storage container to live there and also that they don’t have any space in any of their sheds.

Paid professional storage:
The cost for a storage space that has 24 hour access, good security, insulation, power and enough space to hold gear rationalisation days will cost approximately $3000 a year.

So if we are to consider paying $3000 a year in gear storage we have to think about how NZLARPS will be able to afford this ongoing cost. Even though NZLARPS is currently in a good financial position, we will need to make at least $3000 profit every year to be able to cover this cost, and realistically even more for unforeseen expenses and purchases. This means that the community will have to start paying more for games.

I think it is important to note that we (the committee) don’t want to charge more for games but if it is the will of the community to keep and grow our gear library then we will have to. We need to know that the community will be okay with costs going up. If we don’t have buy in from our members there is no point in raising costs. So the questions is, if we have to move our gear into professional storage and the community is not willing to pay more for games, what are our options?

Firstly it could be that the community decides that we move more towards how games are run in some European countries, which is to say that they do not have a gear library at all and crew are expected to provide their own costumes. This option means that we will have to disband the current gear library by selling off the costumes but it does mean we never again have to worry about gear storage. It also may mean that we have a harder time getting new people to come to games. I think the supply of gear to games is one of the twin pillars of the society, the other being funding. Without gear, about half the perceived purpose of the society would be removed, however this is a very serious option if the community is unwilling to pay more for games. Although this is a serious option if the community is unwilling to pay more for games, I would like to note that we hope that this option wont be the one we go with. Many projects over many years have worked hard to build the gear library that we have today and it would be a shame if this is the route we take.

Secondly it means we try and find another member to take in our gear into their home, but do not grow the gear library any bigger than it currently is. As it stands, we may have to disband some of the gear anyway to be able to do this option. This option may mean we will find it hard to grow games bigger than what they currently are without game organisers taking on a considerable amount of personal financial commitment.

This thread is about getting community buy in and seeing what our members want. Please note we are very happy with any suggestions regarding this issue that I have not mentioned here, but please investigate your suggestions before you make them, to make sure that the suggestion is actually viable. Discussion about the specifics on how we can raise $3000 profit as a community is in a separate thread. I have decided to split these discussions because I think that the question of whether or not to take on the financial commitment of $3000 a year is a discussion in on itself and even though the two topics go together, the first step is to decide what to do about the gear. The last thing I am going to say is that it is really important that we get your buy in on this topic, and there will be a special committee meeting held (date TBA) specifically to discuss this very issue. In the end, it will be the committee who votes on what we will do with the gear, but we want to hear everyone’s opinion before we do. I would strongly encourage as many members to attend this meeting as possible, because it is a complex issue, and this decision will have broad reaching consequences on the future of NZLARPS in Auckland.

#2

I am completely, utterly and unequivocally against selling our gear library. It is unconsciencably disrespectful to the decade of work gone into fundraising for it, building for it, maintaining it. It is an asset that is fundamental to the growth of the hobby and it is not in the best interests of the community to get rid of it.

#3

What Anna said. If there is ever any doubt about it’s future I will store it myself. The only downside is this means storage in Hamilton. However I can offer free indefinite storage.

#4

As someone new to larping, I agree that selling the gear library is a BAD idea. It was pretty much the only reason I was able to attend my first two Auckland games. Without it, I would not have been able to go at all.

On that note, as a student, costs of games are difficult enough to budget in and I think that raising the costs will simply make this harder and depending on how much the cost is raised by, could exclude myself and others who are on limited funding to begin with from attending Auckland games.

#5

[quote]Council Community Building Lease:
…
This would be the ideal option if we were able to get it because the Council pretty much will give us a space where we can store our gear/have offices for only the cost of power and water ongoing. However I have been advised that there is over a year waiting list and the Council only tends to approve applicants who can go in with similar groups or other community groups. I still think it would be worth applying for this and applications open in February, however we still need to sort the gear out this year. Although it is likely we may not get a community leased space unless we can find another community group to co-lease with.

Theater Groups:
I have contacted several theater groups to ask them if they would be willing to share their spaces or let us rent some space in their theaters for our gear but all of them have said that this would not be possible. Apparently there are many small starting theater groups looking to do the same thing and there just i no space.

[/quote]

Am I the only person who sees a potential connection here? If there are small theatre groups needing space, and the Council can give community space to co-leasers…why not contact some of these small starting theatre groups, or other community theatre groups who don’t have their own space, about sharing gear storage?

I won’t go into why I think selling the gear library would be an appalling idea because Anna and sibehuskies already covered it, so basically, what they said.

#6

I think the question around the storage is a little strange as it seems to be an emotional or financial decision for the moment, rather than one taken in context with the values and long term plan for the society. To me that is more the question, where do we see the society in 5 or 10 years and what will it be doing then? The longer term strategic plan should drive the shorter term goals, if those goals mean increasing gear amounts or having storage then the question is only around funding, not around whether or not the gear should be kept.

#7

[quote=“sibehuskies”]As someone new to larping, I agree that selling the gear library is a BAD idea. It was pretty much the only reason I was able to attend my first two Auckland games. Without it, I would not have been able to go at all.

On that note, as a student, costs of games are difficult enough to budget in and I think that raising the costs will simply make this harder and depending on how much the cost is raised by, could exclude myself and others who are on limited funding to begin with from attending Auckland games.[/quote]

The problem is that either way its makes it harder, raising the costs but having the gear or keeping the current costs but having no gear. I believe that the latter would be much worse, and am very much against selling the gear.

The thing is that it is twofold (hence the two threads). We would very much like to keep the gear, so yes it is a question of funding. I think the reason why Nikki put the option of disbanding the gear library up on the thread is one, to show that it is an option that was brought up in discussion, and two, because if we can’t procure funding it may be one of the only options.

My feeling from committee discussions is that it is not the desired result at all, but in order to procure funding we definitely need the support of the community at whole, especially when one of the possible funding sources is raising the cost of games.

#8

I really don’t think Nikki actually wants to sell off all the gear, or be disrespectful to anyone who has contributed to stocking the gear shed. I think she is simply trying to cover all possible bases here, and get some traction on an issue that’s been building for a while. Not having to manage gear going forward is simply one of those options. It’s good that people feel strongly about the gear, and with that kind of passion it looks like there will be plenty of buy-in for whatever action is needed to ensure the gear has a loving home and continues to be available as the community (and the quantity of gear) grows.

Also, just as an aside, I’d encourage anyone with a passion for the gear to come to the gear rationalisation being held tomorrow (Sat 10 Jan). See how much there is first-hand, and help keep it in good shape. (It’s heaps of fun and you get to see all sorts of oddities!)

#9

I hope my post didn’t come across as accusing Nikki of wanting to sell the gear. I feel rather vehemently that it is utterly detrimental to the community in the long run and every other possible solution should be tried first. I think out of two impossible situations, raising $3k annually is more feasible than running this society with no gear library. Sausage sizzles and raffles ahoy!

#10

Specialised fundraiser games are cooler. At standard Wellington rates, a 40-player theatreform will gross $600 - $800, on fixed costs of $200. Which would be a nice little contribution to the gear fund. If you could get community-members to write you one such game a year, it would reduce the load on other events, and provide a steady source of such games to fill out the Chimera schedule :slight_smile:

#11

Specialised fundraiser games are cooler. At standard Wellington rates, a 40-player theatreform will gross $600 - $800, on fixed costs of $200. Which would be a nice little contribution to the gear fund. If you could get community-members to write you one such game a year, it would reduce the load on other events, and provide a steady source of such games to fill out the Chimera schedule :slight_smile:[/quote]

The good thing about sausage sizzle/raffle route is that it doesn’t only fundraise of existing members of the hobby but also those in the community at large… which means its not such a drain on our limited pool of resources… however I’m a fan of doing both, or maybe even themed fundraisers that also act as marketing opportunities.

#12

Agree with Prema’s point, running more games to fundraise is just taking more money from our members.

The other fundraising idea that was mentioned down here was doing photo shoots for the general public where we set them up with some of our gear and take cool pictures of them. Unofficially tie it in to Lord of the Rings or something (“Middle of Middle Earth”). Also works as a rpomption for NZLARPS, as in we can hand out business cards to people who like it and want to get invovled.

Agree with not wanting to disband the gear library.

Just my 2c.

Jon

#13

There seems to be two uses of the gear library:

  1. providing equipment and costumes to new players who do not have their own gear (typically as NPC’s, but there is no reason that PC’s couldn’t utilize this).
  2. providing game makers with gear, particularly large props

The first is fantastic and should definitely be maintained as a core function of NZLARPs, at least as far as providing costumes, weapons, shields and armour goes. The costume boxes stack very nicely, and while the weapon’s and shields don’t store quite that easily they are very useful.

I think it is the second that we can scale back a little on, or outsource the storage to the game makers. That is, NZLARPs will help fund the creation of props for the game, but not the storage of them. This would include things like gates, golem/moster costumes, and so forth. Perhaps NZLARPs could still keep storing things like the lights and smoke machines (if we still have them), which are relatively small compared to some of the other bulky props.

There is a huge advantage to securing a cheap, large, indefinite storage space, as it means that high quality props can be created and improved on over the course of several decades, but realistically I think this will only be feasible when the community is much larger, and might go hand in hand with securing a permament gaming venue with onsite storage, which will probably be out of Auckland.

#14

How much storage can you offer? Alternatively, are there any places near Hamilton that can store a large amount of gear (I’m thinking farms)? And would the community be happy moving its games to venues nearer Hamilton to take advantage of potentially better storage options around there?

#15

How big are the professional storage spaces you are talking about, Nikki? And what room is there for growth?

#16

In my garage I could take about 2m3 while I could store gear at work of 6X6x1

The issue for work storage is me needing to be on site to load either way and similarly for my garage space.

My point is, if it came down to it, I am able to store gear if the alternative is to sell it. Whether this be partial, archive, or all of it.

My father lives out of Papakura and it is possible he would store gear there too, as he is rural with 5 acres.

#17

[quote=“Lady Prema”]
The problem is that either way its makes it harder, raising the costs but having the gear or keeping the current costs but having no gear. I believe that the latter would be much worse, and am very much against selling the gear.[/quote]

Is the problem that we have to move the shed or that we are outgrowing the shed?

Surely a third option is to rationalise what we keep down to an amount that fits in the shed? It might be hard to make the call to get rid of some things but it is a third option.

#18

The current gear shed is 2.25m x 4.5m IIRC, and this comfortably fits stacked boxes of gear. However about 1/3 of the shed has bulkier gear, like the tentacles, armour, shields. There is also stuff stored inside the house, which is the expensive electrical items and perishable stuff like make-up. And then there are the big props that don’t fit inside the shed, which is currently in the lean-to addition of the house, like the Obelisk and new stone golem creature used in Teonn. There are some big items earmarked for selling, (such as the Western saloon doors, and Stone fountain) however I hadn’t got around to it whilst gear officer last year.

With the increase in size of games, and the numbers of crew NZLarps is now expected to outfit, the number of costumes have increased as we have more costumes. For example one box that was “fancy” clothes, is now split into separate boxes of fancy tops, bottoms, skirts etc, each full to overflowing. So while there are some big items we could prune out, there has also been a generic increase in gear, which is the staple of the multi-genre games.

Just as an example storage place, there is a cool graphic to help picture the sizes available here kennards.co.nz/search/size. The “small car garage” is about what we have at the moment, ($265/month). I would have thought the “single car garage” ($295/month) would more comfortably store what gear we have. Note this is a random storage website, and if we decide to go with that, then Nikki offered to get several quotes from different places to ensure we get the best value.

There is likely to be variation in cost based not only on size of the unit, but also the location, and potentially the quality of the storage unit. I would expect units that are fully insulated, with 24hr access availability, and electronic security would be more expensive, and in my opinion, these 3 things are nice to haves, rather than essential qualities of the storage space.

It has been suggested that some gear is deteriorating due to the uninsulated gear shed and that having insulated premises would alleviate this problem. I guess it will depend whether the extra cost (if any) will outweigh the cost of replacing any gear items that may be affected in this manner. I don’t recall any items having been affected this way. They are most likely to be mouldy because they are damp when put away, and insulated premises won’t help this issue. In fact air flow through the storage space is going to be a good thing, to reduce water vapour build up, in which case insulation isn’t very effective for the space.

That is a nice offer Jared. However I think the hassle & cost of transporting from Hamilton to Auckland for each game may outweigh the benefit. Papakura is also quite a way out of central Auckland, however is not that far away from Hunua, where Crucible is being run, so that might be a potential candidate.

If anyone else has contacts for a long term (5-10 years) premises or land to put a shipping container, then now is the time we want to hear from you. :slight_smile: We are currently paying $500/year koha. But we don’t want to go through the process of re-locating after a couple of years. We’ve done that enough in the past, and want a long term solution this time. We currently have the luxury of having time to have this discussion with the larp community before we need to shift out of the current premises. But the current situation was never meant to be a long term arrangement.

#19

Just wanted to add to the camp of “I’d REALLY prefer the gear not to be gotten rid of”.
The reason being, that the lack of provided gear in Europe is actually what kept me from starting LARP in the first place, I believe I already had an interest in LARP when I was… what, 12? And my first game was when I was 17, on the other side of the world =P. The provided gear REALLY makes it a lot more friendly to newcomers and a lot less daunting. I reckon that if the NZLARPs community wants to keep growing, that the gear is crucial.

On the other side, I’m a student and I don’t really have any money practically speaking, but I reckon a price increase, if reasonable, wouldn’t keep me away from LARPing. There are more expensive hobbies out there =P.

Then finally, a question: What kind of price increases on games are we talking about? Say, a game now costs… $110, what would the price be if storage would cost $3000 a year?
Edit: Nevermind, read the other thread, the added price seems to be below the $10, so I’m not too bothered about that personally, sure, it adds up, but I guess it means a pizza less per month (For me) XD.

#20

I agree that there is minimal appetite for liquidating the gear library, so solutions need to focus on meeting our storage needs. Speaking as the original gear officer (I hosted the gear in my shed for 3 years), here are the critical requirements we need to resolve:

  • Continuity - the library has moved multiple times, and is a real effort to move it. We need a long term solution, and I believe that this means a commercial solution.
  • Location - The library needs to be reasonably central. Locating the gear too far from central Auckland will add friction to running a game.
  • Load In / Out - There are multiple times a year in which we load in/out the majority of the library. These include rationalisation days and weekend events. Being able bring in the trailer or a truck to within a reasonable distance is important as it means we can more easily load in/out
  • Working Space - Smaller games require searching through the gear for specific boxes and items. We need to be able to move stuff around to do this, so there needs to be a facility for this. Would commercial operations be happy with us temporarily moving stuff onto the common walkway area, or would they expect us to keep our gear within the confines of our storage space. This has implications for the required size of the storage space.
  • Gear Growth - Many games build new props and costumes. These all add to the storage requirements, so we need to ensure that we can a) increase our storage area and b) cover the cost of the increased storage. Crucible plan on spending $4000 on props for the first weekend game - that’s a lot of new gear. We need to be able to handle this kind of ambition.