Being an adult sucks. It always and it always will. The silver lining is you're free to do as you damn well please with your own time, like eat ice cream for dinner organize stuff.
Life has kept me and the small crew we had down pretty hard. The only way to afford to have time to play on Saturdays (or Sundays) was to work on Saturday and Sunday. I'm sure you know the problem with that... But we still have other resources. I still have that plank foam because I haven't had time to make shields. Nor have I had time to really buckle down with the fabric (or buy another sewing machine!), and if I
do have time, I'm the coordinator for twelve people going on a road trip to new jersey in a couple months. But I'm still thinking, still wondering how to get this to work.
Mixing the two parks is probably a good idea. If two small groups cannot sustain themselves on their resources, one larger group probably could. The hard part is swallowing your pride and taking the plunge; especially for a you, Ben. You and Bloodgood have put a lo of work into Diablo's Cauldron, it's gotta be tough thinking about handing of your baby y'know? But volunteer groups are like that. Blood and sweat, sacrifice. Little pay-off. It's a matter of integrity not payout though, and it shows character that you're still doing this despite the troubles. When I get time, I'll swing down and see if we can reintegrate. Especially since I wanna network with some folks who make good garb and armor :3
You still have my contact information, aye? I'll see what I can do to bring people in. I recently found a net group in my area who may be willing to give Amtgard a shot – if you up the garb and RP, and such.
Remember, 4 good solid members beats 10 half-assed players.
This, mate. This right here. Quality over quantity you know? Getting those 4 players decked out, rules savvy (that's a big one!) and friendly is all you need, and your park will grow.
Work on rules savvy especially though. I was surprised to find that when I was playing, only you, Bloodgood and I even read the rule book in the last six months. People were using versions of spells that didn't exist, casting them wrong, and actively leading others astray. When a player finds out that he got in trouble for something another player told him was alright, that player gets upset, and probably won't come back.
Gearing up is easy, too. You want loaners which lend towards flavor. Not sub-par construction, but not the best either; having a ready supply of weapons allows folks to try new things, but of thu want a light weapon, perfectly made, they should do it themselves. And then, that nice looking but slow and heavy staff, or axe, or flanged mace can sit on the side to encourage new folks to come up and bash folks' heads in.
And the friendly atmosphere... That's the important one. Nobody was willing to talk to each other, and some of the people were actively considering. It cooking back because they felt alienated. Remember, new members are life's blood, and as soon as you have an Old Guard reminiscing about how the game
used to be, you have a group who exists to mock, deride and exclude those vital newbies. And that's terrible.
I work on an iPhone. Sometimes it "corrects" my spelling in all the wrong ways.