Fwd: [Us-announce] Live Game Update: April 2021

[Jacob Slutsky]

Discuss?

Locals lounge discord is one option, also here is ok.

Jake Slutsky

US2004071626

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: US National Coordinator <n...@c.modernenigmasociety.org>
Date: Sun, Apr 25, 2021 at 8:44 PM
Subject: [Us-announce] Live Game Update: April 2021
To: US General <us-ge...@lists.mindseyesociety.org>, <us-an...@lists.mindseyesociety.org>

To all members of the Modern Enigma Society,

I know it has been some months since we last addressed the issues of live
play with the pandemic, as well as the penalties that were laid out by the
NC and NST offices; specifically the statements that neither XP nor
prestige would be granted for the month for anyone who had been found
attending live games.

I will address the XP concern for now, as this is easily done. When this
was last brought up, the XP progression for any venue had not been
finalized. We have moved away from awarding XP based primarily around
attendance and instead every player now has the same XP for a given month
as any other in play, barring differences for MC level or event XP. Also,
with the recent handbook, all XP penalties have been removed as options
from arbitration. As such, there is currently no means nor method of
penalizing a player in any way with a loss of XP. I hope that this
clarifies this matter moving forward. I will be moving on to the greater
issue of live games in general.

This update is being delivered at this time due to the fact we have seen
notable changes within the world, which has prompted the question for the
timetable of live games once again, which is perfectly reasonable. For
clarity, this question has come from singular members, coordinators, and
other avenues of staff.

As a whole, the MES continues to hold to the fact that the club will not be
sponsoring any live events or games. This has been previously discussed
with the BoD and the NCA, along with the rest of National Staff. Club
events will be returning in 2022 at the current timeframe. This covers any
potential regional and national events, outside of online conventions run
through the NCA office.

However, domains are a different matter. We are seeing growing numbers that
are either mostly or fully vaccinated, as well as following restrictions as
laid out by the CDC and their local guidelines as well. To continue with
our previous stance in the wake of lifting restrictions and upheld
guidelines would be to ignore the efforts and changes for the positive
within the greater world. It is also simply not feasible for myself, or any
other officer, to understand or personally oversee each and every domain’s
situation.

After speaking with the Board of Directors, and giving this a great deal of
thought, It is the stance of the National Coordinator’s office that we will
leave the matter of live games to the discretion of their Domain
Coordinators. These are the officers who know their direct situations best,
not only of their membership but the local guidelines to follow for setting
up live play.

For this, however, I will highly recommend certain guidelines be upheld for
any domain wishing to host these events:


   1.

   If you are feeling ill, or showing any signs of sickness, do not attend
   game. Period. As stated above, XP for attendance is no longer a
   consideration, so do yourself and your fellow members the courtesy of
   staying home. I cannot stress this point enough.
   2.

   I recommend requiring vaccine cards showing someone to be fully
   vaccinated, or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of any live event.
   3.

   Masks should still be worn in line with the posted CDC guidelines. Even
   if you are not showing symptoms, you could still be asymptomatic. Also make
   sure you are maintaining any local guidelines as well as the above.
   4.

   Keep travel to an absolute minimum when you can; if nothing else, try to
   follow posted guidelines in your area (or the CDC) for how many should be
   in proximity to one another.
   5.

   Online options should still be maintained for anyone who does not
   attend, for any reason (this can and does include personal choice to not
   attend a live event). No one should be penalized in any capacity for not
   showing in person, should a domain decide to host.


With those guidelines, let me make some points expressly clear. A DC, or
any officer (even a DST or VST), is fully within their rights and
responsibilities to deny someone entry or play if they appear sick. If, for
whatever reason, a DC decides not to host live games or gatherings, the MES
will not entertain any calls for referendums that are related to that
decision. Featured Games of the Month, as their purpose is to boost
attendance and invitations from those outside of a domain, are also not
recognized at this time, nor will they be considered or approved.

Any member who argues with or tries to undermine any of these points will
be held accountable to the standards found in the membership handbook.

In conclusion, no matter what any domain decides to do, the Modern Enigma
Society is ultimately not responsible for any actions members take for
their own personal well-being, nor can we be held accountable for choices
that are made in this regard. Once again, we will continue to not host any
live events at the National or Regional level at this time.


Thank you all for your time, patience, and understanding.

_____________
Phillip Trad
US NC
US2009094795
_______________________________________________
Us-announce mailing list
Us-an...@listmx.modernenigmasociety.org
http://listmx.mindseyesociety.org/mailman/listinfo/us-announce

[Nate Stowes]

I'm fine returning to local game when the domain is comfortable doing so. I would prefer to wait until we don't have to wear masks but I accept that this may still be the case for now. That said I do have some questions with regards to the post:

1) is there a timeline for when local games can be held in person (I may have missed it but I didn't see anything)

2) when will we not have to wear masks

3) does the club has the authority to mandate all members must get vaccinated

3a) for those who aren't vaccinated for one reason or another will that permanently preclude them from playing in live games again

4) Do officers retain the authority to reject players who they believe to be asymptomatic

-Nate

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[Jacob Slutsky]

Hi Nate,

  We will in no cases get out ahead of local, state, and federal health guidelines.

Other than question 1, the following are personal opinions of mine.

  1) I assume your first question is about what our specific Domain timeline will be?  The answer is we of course need to discuss this as a Domain.  Personally, I think we could start at the earliest in June, but potentially quite a bit later depending on personal circumstances of members and the progression of the public health situation.  I would think we would start with a moral-building social, but let me try not to get too off track.

  2) Masks are trickier.  We will follow the local and federal health guidance so long as it is applicable, and that's a moving target (I hear there might be something from the CDC on outdoor masks rule update sometime today??).  I certainly understand the preference, I would think with the weather that we'd aim for outdoors if possible, as well, early on.

  3) No. Free country, etc.  The Domain, and whatever property-holder hosts the event, do have the authority to make certain requirements for entry to an in person event, though that's not practically enforceable to my knowledge beyond refusing access to folks who are obviously sick, same as for drunk, the latter of which was always the rule.  I would very strongly encourage people to not attend social events unless fully vaccinated, under the assumption that you can't assume others will be.  This can be especially difficult for folks who might be immunocompromised in any way, and I'm not sure what the response should be, I'd leave it to the individual and their doctor.  It will be an individual risk each of us has to decide about taking (for this and many other aspects of life) based on our personal risk from the disease and to a lesser extent our trust of each other.  Personally, I will rely entirely on my confidence in the vaccine immunizing me, YMMV. 

  3a) If we are talking about people who honestly admit to not being vaccinated, I think that could be very hard to accomodate in the near future, especially considering that our games are run at private residences for the most part, would you expect the owner to welcome that risk into their homes, and for their guests?  Nobody can answer the long term question yet, I think, but for early re-opening, if we start having a policy of letting in unvaccinated folks this summer, I'll leave on principle of not supporting dangerous public health behavior.   Losing out on access to v-larp is not nearly so unfair as contracting the novel coronavirus would be.

  4) I think this is just question 3/3a again? We are way past the early days of the pandemic with widespread confusion.  It is a respiratory easily transmitted virus that unvaccinated people can easily transmit before the onset of symptoms. The vaccines are extremely effective, and reduce not just personal risk but the chances of transmission, particularly asymptomatically, which is I think the only reason we are considering restarting.  We will in no cases get out ahead of local, state, and federal health guidelines. I do not see us organizing a gathering where asymptomatic transmission is somehow an accepted outcome!  That said, my main concern is that multiple individuals will willingly attend unvaccinated, and one will catch the virus from another, or worse yet, one will pass the virus to someone who was vaccinated but for whatever reason it did not provide full protection (maybe like a 1 in 10k chance last I read, that info is less certain, given how short the timescale of the vax program has been).

To conclude, I'm really not at all sure what we will do, but we will not rush it, nor minimize the risks potentially involved.  At some point soon, though, I do think that we will return to normal human social patterns, and I know that at least in our Domain there is now a large number of open vaccination appointments available to all members, so planning at minimum 6-weeks out to consider a game is no longer premature.  I would really like to hear from folks to the extent they feel comfortable, either here, on discord, or privately to Brian or myself as they feel comfortable sharing.  

Thanks,

Jake Slutsky

US2004071626

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[Nate Stowes]

Jake,

Much appreciated thank you for your thoughts and guidance. I'm looking forward to the forthcoming discussions. A six-week+ timeline for initial planning purposes makes sense. 

Nate

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[David Williams]

Though I'm fully vaccinated I personally am not yet comfy with large indoor gatherings. I think it's psychological. I suspect that over time that will fade. I've started eating out indoor. I've volunteered indoor at a vaccine clinic. So in the next couple of months I'm hoping my brain settles down.

6 weeks is good to plan for.

David Williams

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[Jacob Slutsky]

I think I'm there with you on the mental thing.  

I also want to repeat that aside from the bold/underlined comment of mine, I'm definitely open to being persuaded on things in directions.

Jake Slutsky

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[Brian Ward]

Couple of things.

1. I really, really need anyone with comments or an opinion on this topic to please speak up.  Our numbers have dropped significantly over the last year, so every voice matters.

2. I will say right now that I have gotten the first shot, and I am currently schedule for my second vaccination in the second half of May.  So, from a personal standpoint, I do not plan organizing or attending any live events before then.

3. I plan on adding quick links to MD, DC, and VA sites (plus the CDC) to our Discord server under important links/documents for us to have ready access to, so we can keep up to date with the latest recommendations.

That's all I'll say for now.  I'm sure there's a lot more to be discussed.

PS: Still looking for people willing to be mentored into future officer material.

Brian Ward US2002022619