Got my copy of the new magazine today, it looks wicked. Good content, interesting reading and some pleasant surprises. Massive step up from the last one. Still a few kinks to iron out, but nothing major.
Gonna be especially interested to see what Mike does with Multiverse, I’ve read Moorcock on and off over the years and like some of his stuff. Are you planning on having an immersion focus Mike? 
Neither do I.[/quote]
Please don’t take this as picking a fight, I am genuinely curious - why not just join nzLARPS? As far as I understand it, you play Stargate and between paying for that and the magazine, it’s far better value to simply join.
If there is a reason that is holding people back from joining, then we would like to know about it, so we can fix it. 
Kia ora
erm I would say a big reason for people not joining nz larps is apathy. Maybe they haven’t been asked clearly enough yet with enough compelling reasons?
I may not be typical but I suspect there are a few out there like me…
play Mordavia (and skirmish) but the discount never seemed big enough to bother joining ‘right that moment’
only just signed up to Diatribe after Mordavia Endgame so only just found out about the newsletter after reading the forum
And only ever used to go to the Mordavia website rarely
I’m a passive player not an active instigator just cos I’m so busy with other stuff - so I’m going to need nudging quite hard to join up to something else.
It would be a good idea I think in the wake of Endgame to write to/email everyone who’s ever played or crewed a Mordavia with a specific offer to ‘join nz larps’ hightlighting all the benefits and making it really easy to sign up:
If you can think of a reason to ‘do it by x date’ all the better - maybe do it by x date to get a hard copy of the first edition of the newsletter.
You could also do a ‘friend get friend’ kind of offer maybe
Just a thought
There’s a stronger reason for game organisers to join nzLARPS though.
As an incorporated entity, a game run as an nzLARPS project has a number of benefits -
*) financial security and support
*) gear library
*) legal status for events (eg you can legally provide transport to events)
*) added clout if trying to get access to council venues etc
*) cross-advertising
For players, the lower game fees are a start, but the slow rise in the number and quality of games available is a longer-term win. We might also in the future have more offers open to only member, such as the Paddwhack members’ discount.
I know that our change to membership making it 12 months from point of joining rather than from AGM will decrease membership (people will wait to join until they have a financial incentive to do so - why renew immediately when you can wait until the next game to do so…?)
Is this a hypothetical decrease at a future date? Because it seems that people were already taking that approach (notably joining just before Mordavia or before buying weapons from Paddywhack) under the old system, and they still are. It was under the old system that fewer people re-joined at the AGM.
Can’t see how it makes any difference which system it’s under, the financially tight will wait until just before needing a discount to join either way. Although the magazine could work as an incentive against this, because it’s not a discount it’s a bonus.
We’ve added 10% off at the Medieval Shop to the list of reasons for joining the society, which I think was very nicely done.
Be interested to hear what other benefits members could gain from the society.
For example, perhaps members should be able to borrow from the society equipment pool for larp events that are lent equipment by the society? It would be nice for players to not have to make a new costume for every event and be able to borrow stuff instead, and from the society’s point of view if they’re lending stuff to the event anyway it’s not much more hassle to lend stuff to players at the event too.
OK, so that was a hypothetical opinion
Basically, under the previous ‘membership for operational year’ method, you’d pay the same amount for a half-year no matter when you paid. So people might as well join up early as it doesnt save them anything.
Under the new scheme ‘membership for 12 months from date of joining’ then you save money by not joining until you need the discount, even if you want to join. This (in my mind) is a disincentive to renew immediately once your membership expires.
Anyway, this has all been discussed and voted on, and we changed to the 12months method (which reminds me, I need to send the council the updated constitution! Oops…) We’ve not been running long enough to make a comparison of renewal rates between the systems in any case.
I guess what we need to do is make enough benefits throughout the year that people need to renew as soon as possible… maybe give a membership discount if you renew immediately? Maybe I’ll propose this at the next meeting…
My opinion is that you don’t join nzLARPS for the discounts - they’re just a bonus that happens to end up saving you money. Here’s why you should join nzLARPS from the committee’s perspective.
Motivates the committee to be (even) more proactive in achieving the society’s goals.
Shows a credible base of willing larpers to potential game creators
Raises our membership numbers improving our ability to get grants and recognition
Lets us contact you with important (and not so important) larpin’ stuff.
Even if you have just a passing interest in larp joining the society is a no-brainer! We’re out to make larp happen so get-in-behind.
While I agree that’s the big picture. I think some people respond better to clearer rewards for their investment.
I think the rewards are already substantial, and as Kath says probably the missing element is getting the message to people and asking them to join. But it also wouldn’t hurt to look for more ways the society can help members as well as larp projects.