Behind the Scenes: Why Early Tickets Matter
Finding a home for a LARP is tough. Maintaining that relationship is sometimes even tougher. Prices, scheduling, site management goals, and the day-to-day business of the site can all impact our ability to keep a long-term venue and grow a relationship.
We’re lucky we found Wildwood. It's a beautiful private site with a mission we can stand behind: bringing kids outside to learn, grow, and build community. They create transformative summer camp experiences for low-income Kansas City youth, guided by values of learning, stewardship, equity, and diversity. If you've visited the site, it's easy to see why Wildwood stays booked and busy. Every cabin has bathrooms and showers, the site provides access to a pool and lake, tons of shade, and places to explore (have you found the yellow brick road yet?). So when we book our weekends, they ask us to provide early communication on things like:
Estimated attendance
Whether we’ll need extra cabins
Special site needs (like the lake) or supplies (like firewood) or activities (like the ropes course or pool)
For example: if we need an extra cabin, we must let them know in advance of our event so they can work the cabin prep into their schedule - all while running summer camps, hosting other groups, and maintaining the property.
That’s why your early ticket matters.
Introducing “First Shift”
To thank you for helping us plan ahead, we’re adding benefits for anyone who buys their ticket within the first two weeks after ticket launch. It's our version of an 'early bird' ticket and we're calling it "First Shift" to fit with our Union-themed setting.
First Shift Tickets get:
+1 XP for free (a $15 value; doesn’t exceed per-game XP cap)
Guaranteed bunk
Early choice of NPC shift
When you check in at the event, just add the XP you purchase to your check in.
We’ll add your +1 free XP to your sheet before printing.
If you’ve already picked up your ticket and checked in (thank you!), we’ll make sure your XP is added when we print your sheet!
Other Ticket Options
Pre-Registration: Available until the Tuesday before the event. You still get a guaranteed bunk and NPC shift selection, just without the free XP.
At the Door: Always available, but bunk and NPC shift options may be limited.
Why Check-In Matters
Please check in after buying your ticket. This helps us plan NPC shifts, content, and print sheets accurately, making both the game and the check-in process smoother for everyone. We’ll periodically review check-ins and remove any without a corresponding ticket so players who have purchased can see accurate NPC shift availability. We know this is a change from how some other chapters (even us!) have handled it. After careful consideration, we believe this approach is the fairest way to honor “First Shift” benefits and give our team the best chance to prepare for a great event.
We’ve also added an Early Clean-Up slot to our check-in process. If you know you’ll need to leave before regular clean-up on Sunday, you can sign up for one of these limited early clean-up tasks instead. This way, you can still contribute to the event while accommodating your schedule. Day pass players will also select this option as their clean-up shift.
On Saturday, stop by Ops and request your early clean-up assignment. You’ll be given a task that should take about 20-30 minutes to complete. Once you’re finished, get a sign-off from Ops.
If you’re leaving site at that time, turn your sheet in to Ops.
If you’re staying for the rest of the event, hold onto your sheet until Closing Announcements (or your planned departure time) and hand it to Ian or a designated look-alike.
We hope this sheds a little more light on some of the behind the scenes of our new policies and provides transparency on our ticket windows. As always, you can email us for assistance or find us in the Discord.
