Beginners Guide: Deciding What to Do
You just bought a ticket to your first Megagame and managed to meet up with your team. The first thing the group needs to decide? What role everyone is going to play. (This is if the game has players decide their own role. Some games will have Control send out a survey and place you in a role)
How Do You Like to Play
While roles in every game are different, the first question you should answer when thinking about the role you want to play is 'What type of games do I enjoy the most?’ Some things to think about are:
Do you like negotiation?
Do you like resource management?
Do you enjoy role-playing?
Do you prefer strategy games?
Do you like your experience to be guided by rules or do you prefer something more free-form?
Do you like overseeing the team's strategies?
It's important to be honest with yourself when answering these types of questions. Most Megagames have roles that will check one or more of the boxes above and getting stuck in a role that doesn’t mesh with what you enjoy could sink your entire day.
Rank the Roles
There will, of course, be times where your heart is dead set on playing a particular role on your team. However, it’s usually a good idea to have the roles ranked in some kind of order. I suggest; want to play, will play, would prefer not to play, won’t play.
Want to Play: This is the role that tics all your boxes.
Will Play: This is the role that you think you’ll have fun in but there are parts of it you’re not 100% sure about
Would Prefer Not to Play: This is a role that you would play in a pinch but the majority of its responsibilities are outside your interests.
Won’t Play: This is the role that you would either actively dislike or one where you don’t see yourself having a fun time.
Only when we’re honest with ourselves and what we want out of a game can we be prepared to rank the roles.
One Other Thing
If there are role descriptions in the event or rules available, please read them. It's hard to decide that you'll enjoy a role if you're purely going off a title. For example, a Diplomat in one game may have a very free-form negotiations style but be a mechanics heavy resource manager in another.
As a player, you need to give yourself every chance possible to be successful. Control is there to help if things go sideways but it's up to the player to make sure they've put their work in first.
