Post Office

Post Office Engagement (prt 2)

Howdy Wastelanders!

That’s right. There’s an immediate second pro-tip released this week! If you haven’t read the previous pro-tip released yesterday, I highly recommend reading that first before launching into this one. While the last pro-tip focused on expectations on interactions between you and the postie you’re working with, this one is focused on post office etiquette. Prior to writing this fun piece, all my knowledge of how to treat the post office have been verbally shared. And while that’s fantastic and highly appreciated, I recognize that maybe not everyone got the same experience. That’s why I reached out to our fantastic coordinator team and together, we compiled expectations for the post office. Thank you team for your assistance with this!

Post Office Etiquette Guidelines - 

  • Posties are Posties, not the person that’s portraying them nor their character. If your friend is behind the post office desk, they’re there as an NPC with no relationship to your character. That means that their regularly played LC cannot give you resources, provide insights into a situation, or have access to their skills/knowledge. Wait until their character is back in play before having that conversation. I stated that in the previous post but it doesn’t hurt to be repeated again.

  • You can send a letter to the post office stating that someone has access to your LIT. Just be sure to state who has access with their player number, what they have access to, and sign with your character name and number. If you’re at game, you can write this letter on a piece of paper and send it with the person who is needing access. If you are an Arkansas local player and you know you won’t be at a game but your crew needs access to items in your LIT, you can send an email to logistics@dystopiarisingar.com with the same information as listed above.

  • Can’t use the post office as a safe harbor to avoid conflict. Now, if you’re in the middle of a transaction and an NPC comes storming around to find you, you can complete your transaction and then go deal with that. Otherwise, don’t be hiding in the post office.

  • Keep the volume down. There’s a lot of conversations that take place and your postie worker is trying to help the person in front of them. It’s incredibly difficult to concentrate on the task at hand when there’s a million loud conversations happening around them. Try to keep it down.

  • If you don’t need anything from the post office, stay out. There’s a fantastic and roomy porch outside, equipped with benches that you can use to wait for folks. If your friend wants you to stand in line with them and you don’t need anything from the post office, stay outside. 

  • Postal workers reserve the right to request you leave the post office if you’re being disruptive or to quiet down.

  • Try to have all your things together before getting in line. Bring your blueprint, your materials, have your character sheet out, currency in your hand, an action plan of how to use your 5 card transaction (or 1 LIT transaction) limit. 

  • You have access to a player information binder and laptop. You can use the binder to get rumors, meeting locations for specific factions, CAPs buy list, local faction buy list, and more. The laptop is available for you to check your LIT. That way, if you think you have something in LIT and you aren’t fully sure, you can check before you get in line for the post office transaction. These resources are here for you to use before you hop in line.

  • Off to the side of the desk setup for the post office is a letter basket. That’s not for you to rummage through. That’s for the post office workers to hire folks to send letters. Please do not go digging into it WITHOUT permission from the working Postie.

  • Do not reach behind the desk. Unless you are an Arkansas trained coordinator guide, there should be absolutely no reason for you to reach past the laptops or go behind the desk of the post office. 

And that’s it!

Post Office Engagement

Happy Thursday, Wastelanders!

And once more, welcome back to our next segment of Pro-Tip Thursday. There’s a group of people that I’d like to take a moment and recognize. Our Coordination Guides - aka Posties. If you’ve been to our game this year, you’ve met and interacted with a majority of the Posties by now. However, I’d still like to introduce you to the team!

Lead Coordinator Guides

  • Nikki R.

  • Beth B.

Full Time Coordinator Guides

  • Ashlynn M.

  • Cydney C.

  • Cydney O.

  • Gaby W.

  • Kaci L.

  • Sarah M.

Part Time Coordinator Guide

  • Stephanie S.

What a fantastic group! That’s why this week’s Pro-Tip is dedicated to them. This is going to be a two-parter on Post Office Interactions. Today’s topic is how your character interacts with the post office!

How many times have you gone to the post office in a weekend and you had to wait a really long time for a semi-exasperated Postie to assist you? I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all been there. It can be overwhelming for yourself, your Postie, and others around you to have to navigate a bit of a post office chaos. I’m here to give you tips and tricks on how to ensure your encounter with your Postie goes as smoothly as possible to reduce stress for you, for your Postie, and ensure you get in and out in a timely manner. 

First, let’s cover some rules and expectations for the moment you sit down and begin your exchange with your Postie. 

  1. Treat the interaction with the Postie as though you are under a HIPAA contract. Focus only on your information, don’t eavesdrop  on other Postie and player’s transactions UNLESS you are asked to. Don’t blab what you overheard someone purchasing in the line next to you. On the flip side, whatever your interaction with the post office stays with the post office. For example, if you purchased basic thieves juice from the criminal buy list as your character and Dana Mangles was your Postie you worked with, Dana Mangles will NOT speak of it to other LCs, NPCs, or Posties. That information stays between them and you. 

  2. On top of that, if your friend or member of your crew is on Postie shift, they are there as that NPC. Not as your crewmate. Any conversation that is to be had with them needs to relate to post office business and not crew business. For example, if Nikki is on her shift Friday night and Sierra rolls into the post office, Lauren can’t look at Nikki and say “Hey Shelagh, I need 500 basic scrap. Can you send me some from your LIT?” That bird don’t fly. Don’t do it. 

  3. Know your production time. In DR: AR, a character can spend up to 2 hours of consistent production (i.e., crafting, agricultural, cooking, etc.) to get multiple items. HOWEVER, it has to be on the same skill set you’re cashing in on (no 1 hour of salvaging and then 1 hour of basic agricultural and then go to the post office to turn both in).

  4. If you are a cook or artisan, this next rule is important. While yes, you can spend two hours crafting/brewing, you cannot spend that two hours crafting an item/brew that goes into another item/brew. Let’s say that Sierra sat down at the crafting bench. In the end, she wants to craft a basic goat cycle. It takes a simple mechanical engine, a simple mechanical fuel system, simple mechanical iron alloy, and 5 basic scrap. I can spend the 80 minutes crafting all the simple mechanical parts (20 minutes per part). But I have to go cash all those parts in (with the blueprints and materials) before I can craft the goat cycle itself. 

  5. Have an idea of what it is you’re needing on your turn. You can do a 5 physical card transaction on your turn OR 1 LIT pull on your turn. If you need to do more, complete the current transaction, stand up, and go to the back of the line. 

  6. If you are crafting or brewing an item, please be sure to approach the post office line with the blueprint and the materials sourced. If you do not have the blueprint, you will not have an item. The post office does contain the cards for the production areas in play! So if you used the production area to reduce crafting time or increase the quantity of something you’ve crafted, let them know and they can check it. 

  7. If you are utilizing a vehicle or gizmo to increase productivity outcome, ensure you have the cards on you and ready to go. Otherwise, you cannot gain the perks of those cards.

  8. Check your cards before you stand up. Ensure that the correct level item is on the card, it’s dated, and it’s signed. The moment you stand and walk-away from the desk, you are signifying that you are satisfied with the card and accept it as it is. It’s incredibly disappointing to spend an hour crafting an item, spending the resources for said item, only for it to be invalid because you didn’t check for a signature. I’ve done it and I cried because of it. Don’t be like me.

  9. When you’re done with the interaction, either leave out of the correct door or get back in line.

And there you have it! Those are just basic things to start utilizing for a smoother post-office experience. Stay safe in the wastes!