The Kingdom of the Emerald Hills

Ok folks, Dragonmaster 30 is going to be a big deal and we want it to be as successful as possible. In order to do so I am requesting the opinions of those who plan to enter this historical event. We have two ideas for the when and where the event will be held.

Idea 1: Dragonmaster 30 will be held on February 18-19 with one day in Oklahoma and one day in Texas.

Idea 2: Dragonmaster will be held in conjunction with midreign.

I know that I stated prior to elections that I would prefer DM not to be held at Midreign and that it should be its own event. In speaking with Alby and others, the benefits of holding the event at a single location for this particular Dragonmaster have become more evident. In doing so, we can insure that the same judges are used for the entire event. Certain entries, such as the fine drinks our brewers and vintners create, will be able to be entered as well. The downfall of a single location are that crafters from the northern lands may have a hard time entering the competition. We have considered that and have plans in the works to insure that everyone who wishes to enter will be able to do so.

So, if you plan to enter the competition, please post here which idea you would prefer. Please refrain from replying if you do not plan on entering the event as this poll is for the benefit of those who wish to participate in Dragonmaster 30. Also, please feel free to post any questions or concerns you have about either of these ideas or the event itself. This poll will be closed on January 1st and the idea with the most votes will be chosen. This is probably the only time that the crafters themselves are given a chance for input on particulars of the competition. Please use this opportunity for your benefit and lets make Dragonmaster XXX a memorable event.

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Duke, Squire Docsi HardAnvil
aka the Mad Dwarf
GMR of Dreadmoor
Squire to Sir Logan T. Black
Clan Chieftain of the Turtle Clan
Ship's Surgeon, HMS "Turtle's Revenge"
Gaslight Sky Pirate

"Dwarves and mountains have one thing in common: It takes an almighty hammer and a tremendous amount of persistence to overcome them."

i like the idea of having it at midreign, here's why
1. gives a consistency in judging (in the past it's been hard to get judges that will do both days or hard on the ones that are willing to do it because of the traveling)
2. gives the people entering something to do while the judging is going on, normally it's done in conjunction with weapon master which the crafters don't necessarily enter, so the judges end up with an audience.
3. gives the opportunity for judges from out of kingdom if too many of the crafters (who are usually the ones willing to judge) want to enter.
4. more time to work on things and get them to the best they can be
5. gives the opportunity to show off some of the stuff you feel is award worthy as kind of an encouragement to others and maybe get people excited about learning new crafts.
6. the people wanting to do alcohol don't have to worry about how to get it the judges with out us getting kicked out of the park, or just giving up on entering those items

I agree with Wallflower.
In addition, my park is a Saturday park so having DM at a Northern park counts me out in entering. I have alot of kids as most of you know so making arrangements to be able to travel to another park on weekens is dependent on which one and what weekend it lands on.
The idea of having it Midreign does sound promising. However, I remember once when Olympiad was to be held at TWF and some folks bitched about not being able to have adequate food prep areas. (Olympiad was set at a different venue because of this. If memory serves.)
Pluses, TWF does have plenty of tables/seating at the Feast area so it would make it easier to set out DM entries. There are the canopies that folks could hang up items as well. You'd only need to just have it all day Saturday and look the tables/canopies would be already set to go for Court/Feast.

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Lady Mistress Crimson
Prime Minister of MWG
ORK Goddess
Mom to most of the Mourningwood Glenn Goblin Horde
Ilharess Qu'ellar Renor Cryso
Mistress of Garb aka Master Garber (I am a proud Artisan)

My preference would also be to have it at Midreign. Not to beat a dead horse with reasoning, but there's more space, would be more consistency with judging and there wouldn't be an issue with dry parks. As for the issue that was brought up with food prep, this would be a problem no matter where DM was held. It's something all entrants need to plan for anyhow. At least at TWF we all know exactly what is and is not available to assist with that.

I was also a big fan of the proposed idea of finding OOK judges. I believe it would help quite a bit with fariness in judging. I'm not saying any imbalances in that regard are intentional. It's simply that when you know who made something, and there are times it's obvious no matter what precautions are taken, you tend to look at it differently. The person colors your opinion of the object rather than simply letting it speak for itself. Holding DM at TWF would make this more easily accomplished if it was decided that this was the route to go.

Another point that had been addressed was that having DM at TWF would allwo the entrants something to do other than hover around the judges. This can become a very big issue. It makes the judges antsy and tends to affect their judging and can completely blow the idea of anonymous entries when someone says something to the effect of, 'I know who made that!'

Anyhow, that is my $.02 on the subject.

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Let us drink and be merry, all grief to refrain
For we may and might never all meet here again

Well, there are only a few days before a decision is made, so if you want your opinion known, better get it on here quick. I greatly appreciate those of you who have taken the time to post your opinions.

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Duke, Squire Docsi HardAnvil
aka the Mad Dwarf
GMR of Dreadmoor
Squire to Sir Logan T. Black
Clan Chieftain of the Turtle Clan
Ship's Surgeon, HMS "Turtle's Revenge"
Gaslight Sky Pirate

"Dwarves and mountains have one thing in common: It takes an almighty hammer and a tremendous amount of persistence to overcome them."

ok my two cents how about mayday? its being planned for the same park as park wars. equal distance for both north and south. no amenities, does have bathrooms and showers. there are sevral pavilions ........

but asking everyone to go to tanglewood a 2-8 hr drive is abit unfair to the north.

I have been to a few DM/WM in my time in this game. I have seen judging last about 6 hours on Sat and 6 hours on Sunday. So with 12 hours of judging how are you gonna pull that off at midreign and still leave time for feast and court? I like the idea of having it in one place but I see a time constraint nightmare for the judges. I can agree with Wallflower and Crimson with their reasons for having it at MR, but rushing judges at DragonMaster could be a problem.

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Would somebody kill that Fuc#ing Archer--Sir Gavvin

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Nexus Crow: "Please don't let your Amtgard titles be the only thing that's going for you....it's sad."

Dame Nightengael Bahuas
Nightmare of Artus Pass
Dragonmaster X XX XXX
Sable Pride Stormtrooper 66

Personally I prefer holding the event at Mayday but the problem with having DM at MayDay is this: If we hold the event so late in the reign, it throws off DM for the next regent and leaves only a very short while for people to prepare for the next DM event. The fix to this dilemma, in my opinion, is this: Have this DM during Mayday, and the next DM during November Park battles...both events are held at the Atoka site which is central to the entire kingdom, the site has a huge pavilion to hold the event under, but is lacking in food prep areas, alcohol IS allowed for our brewers/vintners. I, as a crafter, would prefer DM to be held later in any reign to allow me more time to create the best items I can. I have never liked the idea of holding it so early in the reign, it makes me feel rushed, and now that I am regent, I like it even less...hehe.

In order for a change of this magnitude though, an Althing would be required with a change in the corpora to state DM is recommended to be held at these two events instead of prior to midreign. There is plenty of time for awards to be prepared for end-reign.

I completely agree about the anonymity problem. IF the event is held at midreign, and that has not been decided yet, my intentions are to hold the DM as far from everything else as possible and to keep, if possible, everyone other than judges and their helpers away from the area until the judging is complete. Once that happens, then open the area to those who wish to see all that our wonderful crafters have created. I don't think time will be a problem for the judging itself. If everyone other than the judges and their staff are kept away, there will be less distractions and more time for the judging itself. I have more ideas on the actual event that will be posted once a decision has been made for the location.

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Duke, Squire Docsi HardAnvil
aka the Mad Dwarf
GMR of Dreadmoor
Squire to Sir Logan T. Black
Clan Chieftain of the Turtle Clan
Ship's Surgeon, HMS "Turtle's Revenge"
Gaslight Sky Pirate

"Dwarves and mountains have one thing in common: It takes an almighty hammer and a tremendous amount of persistence to overcome them."

No Corpora revision would be needed. The Corpora simply suggests the date, but it can be held whenever. That being said, I think Mayday is too late in the reign for DM. I also think having it at the land has more drawbacks than benefits.

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Forest Evergreen

Puppet Master of the EH

"Of course you are Forest. You're like the Mr. Burns of EH." - Finn

(insert titles and awards here)

I know this doesn't pertain to the poll but I'd like to know about your categories for DM if you already have an idea your going with. Not sure if you posted elsewere on this. Thanks.

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Lady Mistress Crimson
Prime Minister of MWG
ORK Goddess
Mom to most of the Mourningwood Glenn Goblin Horde
Ilharess Qu'ellar Renor Cryso
Mistress of Garb aka Master Garber (I am a proud Artisan)

I'm also not a big fan of holding DM so late in the reign.

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Let us drink and be merry, all grief to refrain
For we may and might never all meet here again

I do have a plan, but I will wait until the site is decided to post it as that will impact some of how things are run

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Duke, Squire Docsi HardAnvil
aka the Mad Dwarf
GMR of Dreadmoor
Squire to Sir Logan T. Black
Clan Chieftain of the Turtle Clan
Ship's Surgeon, HMS "Turtle's Revenge"
Gaslight Sky Pirate

"Dwarves and mountains have one thing in common: It takes an almighty hammer and a tremendous amount of persistence to overcome them."

Although I sort of like the idea of holding it at the park near Atoka ...we just don't make enough of a profit with having the gate fee of ten dollars. Plus the pavilion rental fee is an additional seventy five dollars. Yes there are heated bathrooms, electricity and running water at most of the camp sites. It would cut the travel time fairly for both north and south parks too. Raising the gate fee would help offset this tho.
The park is already booked for May Day.

Holding it at MR does give us a lot of space...all the pavilions/tables can be set up. We have access to electricity for slow cookers ect. I don't know who the judges will be, BUT if some are Knights ..we have to leave a gap of time for their Knight's circle meeting on Sat. I think we have to plan on having the entries done early in the day and the set up as well...so we can clear it all out for Feast and Court. It excludes almost all of the northern parks that have the same reasons for not traveling 6-8 hours that the southern ppl have for not coming up north. Although those of us that do come down to TWF can bring their entires, it is far better to attend the event.

Holding as per usual also has it's pluses since everyone in each area can get to one day of DragonMaster without much fuss ...except the panel of judges that should be the same for both days.

Another idea would be to hold one DragonMaster in the Spring down south and hold the Fall DragonMaster in the north. Each region gets to host it and those that want to travel still have the option to do so.

"Another idea would be to hold one DragonMaster in the Spring down south and hold the Fall DragonMaster in the north. Each region gets to host it and those that want to travel still have the option to do so."

Now that's a damn fine idea....

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Duke, Squire Docsi HardAnvil
aka the Mad Dwarf
GMR of Dreadmoor
Squire to Sir Logan T. Black
Clan Chieftain of the Turtle Clan
Ship's Surgeon, HMS "Turtle's Revenge"
Gaslight Sky Pirate

"Dwarves and mountains have one thing in common: It takes an almighty hammer and a tremendous amount of persistence to overcome them."