The Welcome Wagon for new roleplayers, and old!

[Crystal Dragon]

I will be hosting "Introductions to roleplaying" sessions biweekly Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening at 5:30PM EST starting this week. (7/16/21 being the first class night.) Classes are walk-in welcome and held in different locations each session. Monday will be Q&A for any topics, or issues that came up during the weekend class sessions and for work-shopping character backgrounds, details for bio writing, and other roleplaying related information to be shared and worked on as a group. Sessions are NOT a requirement, and players can join the Q&A sessions for a fast work through and problem solving workshop if desired. New teachers or guides are welcome to join the sessions to get an idea of how I'm working with the planner and organizing their own scheduled sessions in turn if desired as well. 

 

I do not expect to headline this forever, but I welcome mentors and guides that would like to participate to sit in during a session or two before beginning their own scheduled sessions, and please join the Roleplaying Guides Collaborative club so we can make sure schedules don't overlap one another and organize the planners so we cover the most important topics first. If you would like to participate or just want to dip in and see what this is all about, I only ask that we are respectful towards one another as players of the same game and not to interrupt or override one another in chat. These sessions will be hosted on Everlasting on my main character, Crystal Dragon, and I do welcome anyone that is willing to to dip into new ways to enjoy the game content. There will be other mentors that will be hosting their own scheduled sessions most likely in the future and are trying to work with the same scheduled times and days so that we can take in more new players at once, and do our best to guide them along the way.

 

Mentors signed up

@CrystalDragon

@McSpazz

@SolSoldier

Guest Mentors (Irregular mentors willing to assist with the sessions and guide things along.)

Wingman

@Wylde Fyre (Will fix if this tags the wrong Mel!)

@Grey-Ghost

Fox Fyre

@Shadeknight

 

TBA (And yes, if you wish to sign up as a mentor, we're looking for more!)

 

This will get updated as new mentors volunteer and I want to thank everyone for taking your time to vote and letting me know in-game what issues are the biggest to approach and tackle in the first sessions, I cannot tell you how valuable that input is for shaping these meetups.

 

Uh, might need translators fluent in Portuguese and Spanish in the near future.  (Saw some Roleplayers speaking Portuguese and roleplaying in Atlas Park today and this reminded me that there were other languages spoken and used in a game that may need translations.)

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by CrystalDragon
Language help needed! Updating guest and assisting mentors list.

[PlanetStar]

The first session went very well. Although, I see there is a lot of information to be had. 

There can be a lot of questions for a newbie who is completely unfamiliar. But, I'm sure it can be very rewarding once things start rolling. I do have to say that the presentation from both of you was excellent.  

[Crystal Dragon]

1 hour ago, PlanetStar said:

The first session went very well. Although, I see there is a lot of information to be had. 

There can be a lot of questions for a newbie who is completely unfamiliar. But, I'm sure it can be very rewarding once things start rolling. I do have to say that the presentation from both of you was excellent.  

Yeah, we're breaking the sessions up into hour long gatherings so that we don't cut into other events that take place on the server at this time. @McSpazz did a fantastic job deep delving into many of the topics we brought up during the session and I'm very happy to help anyway I can. Thank you, we both were going off the cuff with how things were presented and it just felt like it fell into place.

[Crystal Dragon]

Tonights class is going to be held in the Dragons Cafe (basecode: DRAGONSCAFE-20744). 5:30PM EST, class sessions are about an hour, to hour and a half length. I will be teaching this one solo tonight, so go easy on me as a first time solo guide here, haha!

[Crystal Dragon]

If anyone would like to donate base spaces for hosting these events, please do let us know. We're trying to find quiet, calm spaces that aren't overwhelmingly brightly colored in lighting, or noisy.

[Crystal Dragon]

Our next class session weekend will begin July 30th, at 5:30 PM. Location TEATIME-17990 

The 2nd class on the 31st will be mobile, as I do plan to attend the CC coming up on that evening, and would like the participants in the class to see some of the bios and descriptions written by other players in the contest. This one will likely be held in league chat, to avoid spamming the local channel with our RP chatter and lessons.)

The 3rd class will be held at 5:30PM on the 1st of August at a Roleplay-A-Day location, we will be moving together as a group so league may be needed for fast transport and teleportation to safe locations for the lower level attendees.

 

Edited July 30, 2021 by CrystalDragon

[Crystal Dragon]

Hosting at 5PM to try a different time slot. Raiders are welcome to drop by to join the discussion sessions, and yes practice will be a thing just on the workshop day. (Thank you for that suggestion Madame Mirage.)

• 8\13 - We will be revisiting Part 1 of introduction to roleplaying in a new location
• 8\14 - Reviewing Part 2 in a new location.
• 8\15 - Reviewing Part 3 in a new location.
• 8\16 - General conclusion and assistive workshop to practice and answer questions that we didn't during the earlier classes during the weekend. 

All classes will be held in a different location each evening, and will be announced in-game prior to the meetup time from 4PM until the start.

Tells will be answered as quickly as I'm able to get to them, please have some patience if I do not respond immediately, I promise I will get to you as quickly as I can. 

Any immediate questions or recommendations for base locations to visit are eagerly welcomed in this thread, thank you all. 

@McSpazz will be leading class this coming weekend, as I had some rescheduled appointments come up and will not be able to make it until later in the evening.

Edited August 11, 2021 by CrystalDragon
Change in schedule and mentorship lead

[McSpazz]

Hey yall! It's me! @McSpazz! Yes, I just tagged myself. Why? For the funzies.

As Dragon mentioned yesterday, I will be fully leading the next few classes! Tomorrow (FrIdAy ThE 13th!!)! We'll be going over part 1 of the lesson plan and all that good stuff.

 

We will be meeting in Atlas Park! None of the classes I will be hosting this weekend will be in bases. Instead, I'll be spotlighting cool RP spots in the game world.

 

See you all tomorrow!

[Crystal Dragon]

Next class semester will be held at 5pm Sept. 10th, 11th, 12th, and workshop on the 13th for new and old players interested in learning more about roleplaying, or refreshing their personal knowledge base. 

We moved up the time schedule to allow for a little more wiggle room between raids being held on Everlasting. 

All classes at this time, are being held on Everlasting as it is the unofficial roleplaying shard of the server.

[Paragon Vanguard]

I may be able to make it on the 13th, hard to tell with work as that schedule is not out yet. 

[Crystal Dragon]

On 9/5/2021 at 4:32 AM, Paragon Vanguard said:

I may be able to make it on the 13th, hard to tell with work as that schedule is not out yet. 

Would be a delight to have ya there P.V. 

[Crystal Dragon]

Notice to all mentors and volunteers participating with the Welcome Wagons Intro classes: Due to health issues, I need to take the weekend of the 10/8 - 10/11 off to attend to medical problems that I've put off to get my doctors attention on. Please know this isn't me quitting, I love the hell out of hosting these classes and hearing the other vets chiming in and helping out is absolutely wonderful to see.

Mentors, if you aren't signed up with the Roleplaying Guides Collaboration club, please sign up so we can keep the classes organized and rolling out to welcome the new folks to the server and the shard both. 

Students I wanted to say a hearty thank you and a big hug to you all for participating and joining in the sessions to help welcome the new folks to the server and making things comfortable and welcoming for everyone involved. I'm giving @McSpazz a heads up about this so he has time to make adjustments or plan fill-in's as needed. Hugs and apples to you all for making this project become a reality! I'm not quitting, but I do greatly need this break and hope the class weekend goes smoothly for all those involved.

Edited September 29, 2021 by CrystalDragon
Yep, flubbed the month, if that doesn't tell ya how bad I need the break, I dunno what does. LOL

[GraspingVileTerror]

Sorry, @CrystalDragon, but to confirm:  Do you mean 10/8 to 10/11?  That is to say that your leave will be in October, and not September?

[Kismet Cowboy]

Was a good session yesterday with some great tips, and was lovely meeting everyone who came. Thanks for hosting @CrystalDragon!

[Crystal Dragon]

On 9/26/2021 at 11:26 PM, GraspingVileTerror said:

Sorry, @CrystalDragon, but to confirm:  Do you mean 10/8 to 10/11?  That is to say that your leave will be in October, and not September?

Correct.

 

On 9/27/2021 at 6:49 AM, Kismet Cowboy said:

Was a good session yesterday with some great tips, and was lovely meeting everyone who came. Thanks for hosting @CrystalDragon!

Your welcome hun, hope you find some lovely stories here. 🙂

[Crystal Dragon]

Class time coming up this weekend folks!

 

[Crystal Dragon]

Updating the status on the class structure and other information.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WhWMFcjS50s1NBqEWxntRrBNW0h2bXsA/view?usp=sharing

 

As the organizer for this program I've been in a bit of a bind in the last month or so. And yeah, I'm opening up about this to the public. I've been in therapy actively for the last four years, but the last year now I've regressed in a way that has me seeking more help at this time medically. My schedule is shifting drastically because of this and I need the community to pitch in with keeping this project alive. I really do. I understand we all have priorities and employment to focus on, and that's great, wonderful in fact! But this community does need this class project for the new folks joining the game and just starting out as beginning roleplayers. 

 

I have put a lot of effort in to keeping things organized, schedules open to the community and ensuring newer players have mentors to turn to if they run into an issue that needs explanation or guidance to work through. My goal with this project wasn't to lord over roleplaying, or to judge others for their play interests or styles, but to help newer budding roleplayers learn their way through the maze of questions I'm sure most had starting out. I tailored the classes to be warm, welcoming, and open formed so that everyone gets to be heard, questions get addressed, and if they don't get address right then, it will in the next session the following day, or during workshop on Mondays after the class weekend. I aspired to keep the classes fun, engaging, and welcoming to all levels of play experience while opening up dialog that covers all styles of roleplay, not just the basic story telling perspectives but defining it down to the context and content to be expected and abbreviations that most don't care to take time to explain. 

 

I know that I have @McSpazz in on this for the long haul, he's made that very clear when I opened up about this to him privately. But I'm here to ask the community to lend a hand, even if it's just for a weekend out of each month, to help mentor these newer players. We had a LOT of people show up this past weekend, and I can't thank City of Roleplays vets enough for jumping in to help us out with juggling the number of questions and topics that came up during workshop yesterday. If we can have mentors from the group drop by more often for these classes, that would help out tremendously! But I would like to kindly ask the community to please put into consideration that these classes were designed for growth in mind, growth and education on the basics to the more advanced details about roleplaying in our community. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I have a three page syllabus that breaks it down to the very basics that says otherwise. 😄

 

My case and point, @McSpazz might be assuming organizer role for a while for this project to continue while I'm taking time away to focus on my mental health care. Not to beat around the bush but he does have a pretty tight schedule at times and could use extra mentors to help out with keeping the classes on schedule and assisting him with the number of attendees that show up to learn. The more the merrier I say, but keep in mind, this project exists because the community does have a niche and need for it. Please help me keep it alive while I try to take care of my well being. 

[Crystal Dragon]

On that note: Next class semester begins on the 19th of Nov. Vets and mentors interested, please do drop by during the sessions so we can talk over how you can help keep this program alive. Otherwise, please reference to the Roleplayers Guide Collaberative club for more details.

[Crystal Dragon]

 

For this coming weekend; We are taking a tally of new player/roleplayer interests in a late nighter class period, scheduling roughly around 9PM Eastern or so. Please let me know if your unable to make it to the 5PM classes, I will invite you to the 9PM if you are available so we can take a headcount at the beginning of class to estimate interest and decide on creating the second class timeslot. Late night vets interested in mentoring, we are still seeking mentor volunteers, please reference to the Roleplayers guide club for more details or contact any of us involved with teaching the classes. We'll be more than happy to help you find your footing and get you set up with the framework we are running the lessons off of. Thank you again everyone for all of your wonderful support. ❤️

 

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by CrystalDragon

[PotatoLove]

I think this is awesome that so many vet roleplayers are helping new roleplayers. I'd very much be interested in a late night class. Sign me up!

[Crystal Dragon]

You missed the first night's class, but I will keep my eyes open for ya this evening so I can catch ya up to speed with the rest of the content being taught tonight. ^^

9 hours ago, PotatoLove said:

I think this is awesome that so many vet roleplayers are helping new roleplayers. I'd very much be interested in a late night class. Sign me up!

 

[PotatoLove]

I didn't know you'd started it. I thought It was a thing to start. I didn't even read the post until like 2am. 😢😢😢

[Crystal Dragon]

12 minutes ago, PotatoLove said:

I didn't know you'd started it. I thought It was a thing to start. I didn't even read the post until like 2am. 😢😢😢

It's perfectly okay, we do get late comers to the classes so it's totally okay. I can catch ya up to speed. 🙂

 

[Crystal Dragon]

Thank you @Wylde Fyre and Platinum Diva for helping me out in a pinch. I had forgotten Spaz is doing Pathfinder this evening and was going to be locked in for that. Any new players interested, or needing a refresher, please reach out to them both in-game on Everlasting.

[Crystal Dragon]

Notice of Class Closure for the holiday season.

 

It's not permanent.

---

 

We are undergoing some syllabus restructuring and a topic shuffle on the planner, as well as time slot shuffling to sort out within the project mentors.

We are still looking for active and willing mentors able to join us and assist new players learning to roleplay, and veteran players are ALWAYS welcome to join us and assist with welcoming the new baby roleplayers to the server.

If you want to feature your super groups for recruitment, or want to suggest coalitions to join and social groups to mingle with for new players to get comfortable with and meet other roleplayers,

we're always looking for folks to drop by as a guest speaker for the classes. 

Additionally, we would love to hear what the community thinks needs changing or updating with the program as we have it now.

Feedback is ALWAYS welcomed, and having more of an idea of what the community wants and needs, will help us better adapt to teach.

For now, over the holiday season, we will be eagerly looking for more mentors willing to commit and able to fill in for the 5PM and the 9PM time slots for an hour long class session,

we have a guide to help with the lesson plan for each class night, so you don't be winging it solo without a clue,

and we do sometimes sit in during the lesson when we simply just don't have the steam to run it ourselves, just to pitch in help and offer support.

We're very flexible in regards to how the lessons are taught, and (thank you diva and wylde for this) love to see teams working together to make solid examples of the subjects we teach.

Some classes will be held in popular spaces,

leagues may be required in some cases, being familiar with the league UI may become a must for mentors in the future, but this isn't set in stone requirements.

If you can teach, the world will know it by how you handle new players, and how you address fellow players both.