Thank You.

Some things become bigger than a hobby; Stoke By Night has been one of those things for all of us.

When Cat and I took the mantle of running the society our immediate concern was whether we would be able to maintain the high standards that everyone before us had set. Stoke By Night came with a long history and a standard that was recognised by many. It was a daunting task.

Kev was brought on board as Assistant Storyteller quickly and his role in the game remains unsung. As well as ensuring that things ran smoothly at the front of the house, he proved an invaluable sounding board for Cat and I. Others have done this as well over the years, but Kev always provided level headed comment on issues when they were raised alongside providing atmospheric ST'ing for the short-scene storytelling at which he excels.

The three of us quickly realised that we needed to build upon the strengths of the game and try to establish a way forward for it; there was no point just trying to emulate those who had gone before us so we chose a new path for Stoke By Night. It was not always easy in those early days, especially with a number of external factors but pretty soon we latched onto the thing that we felt was different about Stoke By Night, what se it apart from any other game being run at that time - the sense of community that came with it.

This community soon became the byword for all the decisions we made - and we made sure that the community had a say in the decisions that affected everyone. I gave Cat, as Herald - the voice for the players - a final say in all decisions, even above my own. A year later we had left behind the Camarilla and decided to branch out on our own - some said that we would never survive the transition.

Three years later we are still here and with more members than ever.

The focus of the game changed almost over night. We were free to explore strange new ideas without being bogged down by what we had seen as an unnecessary bureaucracy; not all of them worked but it was fun trying. Themes emerged and the game took on a life of its own.

Now, four years on it is time for us all to move on. Looking back all three of us agree that the community has become the game - without you (the players) supporting us at every turn it would be impossible for us to do this on a monthly basis. We will all take fond memories of Stoke by Night with us, but it is time for someone else to make their mark on it. We don't want to risk the game getting stale - or too set in our ways! - and want, if you will forgive the immodesty, to leave whilst we are riding high. We wish Chris & John the best of luck; it is hard and at times it seems like a never-ending struggle to get things done, but it is also immensely fun and rewarding. Please show them and their deputies all the support you've given us: they'll both need and appreciate it.

So if we are going to have one final message, it would be this; The story continues...

Click Here to Close this Window.