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Coming soon to a Thane election near you...

Hello, and welcome to my campaign thread! I'm running for Thane of Werewolf and I hope to earn your vote in the coming election. In the mean time, here are my answers to the campaign questions :]

1) Why are you running for this position?

I’m running because I want to continue to develop Werewolf in Wintreath. Werewolf has a long and storied history in the region and I aim to build upon our current foundations and grow the game.

2) What do you aim to accomplish as thane? As part of this, you must include at least one thing that you promise to do beyond the minimum listed duties of the position during your term. It should be measurable, so that it's black and white whether you fulfilled this mandate at the end of the term if you are elected.

There are several ideas I want to develop to strengthen the foundations of Werewolf. For example, I want to continue to update the Upcoming Hosts thread, keep it a place where upcoming games. I think we should consider ideas on how to prevent the thread from becoming too long for use, such as new threads after a specified amount of time or games. I want to develop a rating system for Werewolf games so potential players know, roughly, what kind of game to expect, be they more chill or more complicated. Finally, my main goal would be to try and facilitate a game every 2-3 months. I would try to keep a balanced mix of more vanilla and more out-there games and to try and encourage more people to try their hands at the game and grow our player pool.

2a) If you are an incumbent running for re-election, did you fulfill your mandate from the last election? If not, why didn't you?

Not applicable

3) What qualifications or experience do you have in the area that you are running in?

I have previous experience with running Werewolf games, having previously hosted Werewolf VIII: Welcome To This Thing Of Ours and the currently ongoing Werewolf game, Werewolf XXVII: A Golden Affair. I also have experience in government, both in the region and outside, having previously served in twelve Underhusen terms, including one term as Speaker, currently serving in the Dungeon Masters for the Thane of Gaming, and having served as the Prime Minister of Thalassia for two terms, among other positions.

4) How do you plan to have the time to fulfill the duties of the position until the next election?

I will have the time to participate in government and the region as best I can thanks to my current schedule, its not too stressful or time consuming.

5) Are you currently a part of any other NationStates regional or organizational government? If so, please include those regions and positions.

I am not, no.

I'm more than willing to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, and I hope you have a nice day :]

Hi there Aren and welcome to the race! Love the poster, by the way.  I think Teen Wolf could have been much better as a comedy if he turned into that.

As you know, Werewolf has had an issue lately with participation.  We've generally tend to have to use all sources to pull from out of Wintreath to get people to sign up, since our own folks either burn out or generally just avoid signing up despite playing previous games.

My questions are: Why do you think this has been a continued problem, and what are some potential ways you think we could bring back player interest here and reduce player burnout?

Hey Aren, agreed, nice poster~

We were discussing your idea of a rating system for the Werewolf games before all of this, so I’m excited to see it made its way into your campaign! Why do you believe our Werewolf games would benefit from a rating system?

I loved the poster! Question: how many werewolf games have you played? Always nice to find out how much experience someone has

Hi there Aren and welcome to the race! Love the poster, by the way.  I think Teen Wolf could have been much better as a comedy if he turned into that.

As you know, Werewolf has had an issue lately with participation.  We've generally tend to have to use all sources to pull from out of Wintreath to get people to sign up, since our own folks either burn out or generally just avoid signing up despite playing previous games.

My questions are: Why do you think this has been a continued problem, and what are some potential ways you think we could bring back player interest here and reduce player burnout?

I think the issue has three main things that contribute to that problem.



First, from what I have seen, the recent games have been more complex (I am guilty of this with Werewolf XXVII too, I will admit), which may lead newer members of the community feeling unsure of themselves or feeling like the game is a bit daunting to get into, which leads to them not wanting to play out of confusion or uncertainty. I think if we host one or two games regularly which are more vanilla and market them to newer members of the community, we might get a bit more traction. There are other ideas, like a sort of tutorial game, or maybe a mentorship, which might help address that problem.



Second, and I want to stress that I'm not calling anyone out or accusing anyone of anything, but I have noticed that sometimes games can get a bit of an aggressive environment to them. While many players might be ok with such an environment, I worry that more casual players might be turned off by an environment like that. Newer player probably would too, while they try to learn the game and are met with an uncomfortable environment for inexperienced players. I feel like a ratings system, combined with a few casual vanilla games, might help to acclimatize potential players to the game and grow the player base.


Finally, and I again want to stress that I'm not calling anyone out, I feel like, from what I have seen of the recent games, that they were not marketed as best as they could have been. I just think that a better job could have been done with marketing it, for example, in the last year and a half, from what I saw, Werewolf was only actively advertised 4 times on the RMB. I also think more active marketing and engagement outside of the werewolf channel in the discord could go a long way. If elected, I would try to promote Werewolf on the RMB and on the regional discord and engage with potential players.

As for solutions, I think that planning and running a few vanilla games, developing a ratings system, marketing these games to the current citizenry and potential players and engaging with the community to try and develop ideas the community might be interested in and executing them as best we can.

Hey Aren, agreed, nice poster~

We were discussing your idea of a rating system for the Werewolf games before all of this, so I’m excited to see it made its way into your campaign! Why do you believe our Werewolf games would benefit from a rating system?

I think one of the main reasons that some newer players might be a little nervous joining is how daunting a game can be, especially if you've read previous game threads. With so many roles, rules and variations to Werewolf, the experience you have playing can vary wildly from a more vanilla game to more complex ones with complex systems, roles and rules. I feel like a rating system would help with that, telling people what kind of game they can expect if they join.

I loved the poster! Question: how many werewolf games have you played? Always nice to find out how much experience someone has

Thank you all for the compliment on the poster, I had a lot of fun making it :]

As for your question, oh, I don't know, I think I've played 8 or so Werewolf games on the forum? I've also played hours and hours of Town Of Salem, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Mafia and other, similar games.

Excellent answers, and for now that's all I have for you.  I wish you luck in the race!

If we were only running games every 2 - 3 months that would be 4 - 6 games a year. What balance of vanilla and complexity would you want to establish here and where would games such as my spin off fit into the schedule as it's not traditional mafia?

If we were only running games every 2 - 3 months that would be 4 - 6 games a year. What balance of vanilla and complexity would you want to establish here and where would games such as my spin off fit into the schedule as it's not traditional mafia?

I'd like there to be at least 2 vanilla games a year, minimum. That, I think, would allow a fair mix between more complex games and easier to learn in games. So, at our most efficient, I would want 2 vanilla games to 4 complex games to keep things fresh and to keep things interesting for all our players. As for your spin off and similar games, I would be more than willing to work together and fit into a period between games so we won't have any problems with player bases or the like. The period between the end of one game and the launch of signups for another should, hopefully, allow enough time for other events like your spinoff, to be hosted as well. Ultimately, I would be more than willing to work with you or any prospective hosts to try and find a workable schedule for everyone.

Yes sorry Abbi again from WW1 news Boston. Sorry to bother you again. 



Who would be in charge of deciding the rating of games in your rating system? Hosts could overlook or not fully understand how their game systems may add undue burden to players.  But having a single person or even a panel look over a game to judge its complexity would lock them out of playing. 

Yes sorry Abbi again from WW1 news Boston. Sorry to bother you again.



Who would be in charge of deciding the rating of games in your rating system? Hosts could overlook or not fully understand how their game systems may add undue burden to players.  But having a single person or even a panel look over a game to judge its complexity would lock them out of playing.

I really can't comment on how specifically the ratings system will work, at least now, but there are some core ideas that should work. For example, I want to create a list with the ratings on it, for example, 5 stars, 1 being the simplest and easiest and 5 being the most complex. We would have check lists for each star that would help prospective hosts determine which star their game would end up as, for example, a closed or open setup adding or subtracting a star. That way hosts would be able to grade their own games. They could also request a manual, outside review at which point either a volunteer or the Thane could go through what they have planned for the game and grade the game for them. As it stand, the ratings system proposal is not set in stone and I do intend to seek community input to craft the best policy for everyone.

I stated when (technically before) nominations opened that I believed collaboration between the Thane of Werewolf and the Thane of Gaming could be a mutually beneficial arrangement for overall Culture in Wintreath. What were your thoughts on that and the potential of some duo-sponsored events (for example, I’m envisioning a Werewolf and related games tourney somewhere down the line)? 

Additionally, if you are in favor of such a scenario, do you have any ideas you’d like to bring to the table?  

Yes sorry Abbi again from WW1 news Boston. Sorry to bother you again.



Who would be in charge of deciding the rating of games in your rating system? Hosts could overlook or not fully understand how their game systems may add undue burden to players.  But having a single person or even a panel look over a game to judge its complexity would lock them out of playing.

I really can't comment on how specifically the ratings system will work, at least now, but there are some core ideas that should work. For example, I want to create a list with the ratings on it, for example, 5 stars, 1 being the simplest and easiest and 5 being the most complex. We would have check lists for each star that would help prospective hosts determine which star their game would end up as, for example, a closed or open setup adding or subtracting a star. That way hosts would be able to grade their own games. They could also request a manual, outside review at which point either a volunteer or the Thane could go through what they have planned for the game and grade the game for them. As it stand, the ratings system proposal is not set in stone and I do intend to seek community input to craft the best policy for everyone.

I actually had a thought on this and would love your input.

Following the K.I.S.S mindset (Keep it Simple Stupid for those who have never heard of it), what if the rating system was similar to:

1 Star - Obviously 100% vanilla from the flavor to the roles being a traditional setup.
2 Stars - Different roles are sprinkled in outside of the traditional (Hunter, Elder, Gambler, etc...), while still keeping it pretty traditional for the most part.
3 Stars - While still a mostly traditional player setup (IE vanilla townies, normal WWs, and only possibly a couple non-traditional roles), there may be possible flavor changes to shift the game on occasion (think the Until Dawn game with the Player).
4 Stars - There is nobody with a vanilla role, with everyone including the wolves having some kind of possible power, roles may more than likely be hidden.
5 Stars - Similar to the direct above, only now there's the added definite flavor changes that shift the dynamics on a dime.  Players may know they exist but may not know how they're triggered (think Silv's Portal game as well as WWXXV).  Overall, this aint you Grandma's WW.

Other factors obviously could mix in, such as the rules on things such as role revealing being a factor (which in a more complex-minded game, rules against could add to the complexity), how long the phases are (since shorter phases would be less simple and more brutal), and the like.  But I figured it'd be a nice starting point as an idea rather than having it be a guessing game as to how to rate games.  What are your thoughts on something like this that could be published in a sort of ratings guide to give folks an idea of how the ratings are done?

My core worry being that a rating system actually just causes more problems where by we can't find players for either end of the spectrum and further divide our player base. But I'm out of questions.

I don't really have questions, just a few thoughts

Hi there Aren and welcome to the race! Love the poster, by the way.  I think Teen Wolf could have been much better as a comedy if he turned into that.

As you know, Werewolf has had an issue lately with participation.  We've generally tend to have to use all sources to pull from out of Wintreath to get people to sign up, since our own folks either burn out or generally just avoid signing up despite playing previous games.

My questions are: Why do you think this has been a continued problem, and what are some potential ways you think we could bring back player interest here and reduce player burnout?

I think the issue has three main things that contribute to that problem.

First, from what I have seen, the recent games have been more complex (I am guilty of this with Werewolf XXVII too, I will admit), which may lead newer members of the community feeling unsure of themselves or feeling like the game is a bit daunting to get into, which leads to them not wanting to play out of confusion or uncertainty. I think if we host one or two games regularly which are more vanilla and market them to newer members of the community, we might get a bit more traction. There are other ideas, like a sort of tutorial game, or maybe a mentorship, which might help address that problem.

Second, and I want to stress that I'm not calling anyone out or accusing anyone of anything, but I have noticed that sometimes games can get a bit of an aggressive environment to them. While many players might be ok with such an environment, I worry that more casual players might be turned off by an environment like that. Newer player probably would too, while they try to learn the game and are met with an uncomfortable environment for inexperienced players. I feel like a ratings system, combined with a few casual vanilla games, might help to acclimatize potential players to the game and grow the player base.

I do have a feeling that some of these are negative feedback loops; hardcore players make things too intense for some players, more casual players retire, so we lean even more into the hardcore playerbase eg from outside Wintreath, etc. etc.

Hey Aren, agreed, nice poster~

We were discussing your idea of a rating system for the Werewolf games before all of this, so I’m excited to see it made its way into your campaign! Why do you believe our Werewolf games would benefit from a rating system?

I think one of the main reasons that some newer players might be a little nervous joining is how daunting a game can be, especially if you've read previous game threads. With so many roles, rules and variations to Werewolf, the experience you have playing can vary wildly from a more vanilla game to more complex ones with complex systems, roles and rules. I feel like a rating system would help with that, telling people what kind of game they can expect if they join.

I like this. This sort of rating system makes sense to me; it lets people get the vibes of a game at a quick glance to be able to tell whether it's a kind of game that they'd be interested in. Since it's a descriptive system, it just helps people understand what type of game it would be.

I stated when (technically before) nominations opened that I believed collaboration between the Thane of Werewolf and the Thane of Gaming could be a mutually beneficial arrangement for overall Culture in Wintreath. What were your thoughts on that and the potential of some duo-sponsored events (for example, I’m envisioning a Werewolf and related games tourney somewhere down the line)?

Additionally, if you are in favor of such a scenario, do you have any ideas you’d like to bring to the table? 

Oh, I would certainly be in favour of such a collaboration, I think the ToG and ToW working together could really be beneficial to both Thanseships. As for ideas, there are certainly some gaming events we could work on together, like a discord One Night Ultimate Werewolf or similar game that both Thanes could work on together.

My core worry being that a rating system actually just causes more problems where by we can't find players for either end of the spectrum and further divide our player base. But I'm out of questions.

Well, the proposal, along with other proposals to try and grow a local player base, would be implemented on a provisional basis, if it has a positive effect, wonderful, if it has a negative effect, it can be reworked or removed as is needed. I want to work with all members of the community to find a system that works for everyone.

I actually had a thought on this and would love your input.

Following the K.I.S.S mindset (Keep it Simple Stupid for those who have never heard of it), what if the rating system was similar to:

1 Star - Obviously 100% vanilla from the flavor to the roles being a traditional setup.
2 Stars - Different roles are sprinkled in outside of the traditional (Hunter, Elder, Gambler, etc...), while still keeping it pretty traditional for the most part.
3 Stars - While still a mostly traditional player setup (IE vanilla townies, normal WWs, and only possibly a couple non-traditional roles), there may be possible flavor changes to shift the game on occasion (think the Until Dawn game with the Player).
4 Stars - There is nobody with a vanilla role, with everyone including the wolves having some kind of possible power, roles may more than likely be hidden.
5 Stars - Similar to the direct above, only now there's the added definite flavor changes that shift the dynamics on a dime.  Players may know they exist but may not know how they're triggered (think Silv's Portal game as well as WWXXV).  Overall, this aint you Grandma's WW.

Other factors obviously could mix in, such as the rules on things such as role revealing being a factor (which in a more complex-minded game, rules against could add to the complexity), how long the phases are (since shorter phases would be less simple and more brutal), and the like.  But I figured it'd be a nice starting point as an idea rather than having it be a guessing game as to how to rate games.  What are your thoughts on something like this that could be published in a sort of ratings guide to give folks an idea of how the ratings are done?

I think that's a wonderful idea, a system like that is exactly what I envisioned, a clear, easily identifiable ratings system that would allow players and hosts to accurately grade their games and let people know what kind of game to expect.

I don't really have questions, just a few thoughts

Hi there Aren and welcome to the race! Love the poster, by the way.  I think Teen Wolf could have been much better as a comedy if he turned into that.

As you know, Werewolf has had an issue lately with participation.  We've generally tend to have to use all sources to pull from out of Wintreath to get people to sign up, since our own folks either burn out or generally just avoid signing up despite playing previous games.

My questions are: Why do you think this has been a continued problem, and what are some potential ways you think we could bring back player interest here and reduce player burnout?

I think the issue has three main things that contribute to that problem.

First, from what I have seen, the recent games have been more complex (I am guilty of this with Werewolf XXVII too, I will admit), which may lead newer members of the community feeling unsure of themselves or feeling like the game is a bit daunting to get into, which leads to them not wanting to play out of confusion or uncertainty. I think if we host one or two games regularly which are more vanilla and market them to newer members of the community, we might get a bit more traction. There are other ideas, like a sort of tutorial game, or maybe a mentorship, which might help address that problem.

Second, and I want to stress that I'm not calling anyone out or accusing anyone of anything, but I have noticed that sometimes games can get a bit of an aggressive environment to them. While many players might be ok with such an environment, I worry that more casual players might be turned off by an environment like that. Newer player probably would too, while they try to learn the game and are met with an uncomfortable environment for inexperienced players. I feel like a ratings system, combined with a few casual vanilla games, might help to acclimatize potential players to the game and grow the player base.

I do have a feeling that some of these are negative feedback loops; hardcore players make things too intense for some players, more casual players retire, so we lean even more into the hardcore playerbase eg from outside Wintreath, etc. etc.

Hey Aren, agreed, nice poster~

We were discussing your idea of a rating system for the Werewolf games before all of this, so I’m excited to see it made its way into your campaign! Why do you believe our Werewolf games would benefit from a rating system?

I think one of the main reasons that some newer players might be a little nervous joining is how daunting a game can be, especially if you've read previous game threads. With so many roles, rules and variations to Werewolf, the experience you have playing can vary wildly from a more vanilla game to more complex ones with complex systems, roles and rules. I feel like a rating system would help with that, telling people what kind of game they can expect if they join.

I like this. This sort of rating system makes sense to me; it lets people get the vibes of a game at a quick glance to be able to tell whether it's a kind of game that they'd be interested in. Since it's a descriptive system, it just helps people understand what type of game it would be.

Those are good points and I'm glad you like the ratings system idea, thank you :]