In the vein of favourite moments, can we get a little staff appreciation going? This world has felt full and bright from the moment I joined, and the fact that staff can maintain that feeling with, what, 10 of you this game? Is incredible, and should be admired. You make the game what it is. You make us laugh. You make us cry. You make us seethe with rage, and at the end of it all, we love you. I’d love for people to post their favourite npc/crunchy moments from this (or other!) festivals.
I’ll go first; even when we’re fighting against one of the biggest and baddest, you all make me feel so safe in combat. I mean, don’t get me wrong; it’s terrifying because you are all so competent. But I know I’m not going to get harmed, and that everyone will play by the rules, and take feedback when given. I cannot imagine the physical stress you’re under giving us such high-powered and intense combat for three days straight, but you do an excellent job.
I have another one 
The RP skills are off the charts. Everyone is so excellent at embodying their characters. You push real buttons. Part of what makes the town feel real is the vast range of people you bring. I love interacting with my pitball wife, with the frogs we were training to hunt flies, with the eel sportspeople in spring, with Raithe and Saints Yoga (sorry for missing it this time!!), with all of it. Even just casually passing by people as we’re headed for breakfast. You bring the world to life. (Also your flexibility for my already difficult to manage face blindness is much appreciated; I’ve definitely gone “man you look just like another person who lives here” more than once)
The BGS writing is so good and then we come to game and meet some pretty amazing characters and also get to have absolute harrowing experiences. It’s so much work but you make the game amazing for us players.
I am blown away by the responsiveness of staff.
As an example, last BGS cycle I had a complaint. I didn’t expect much, if anything, to happen from my complaining in my PEL, but staff reached out to me to work it out. And I cannot overstate how much I appreciate that.
Somehow each game I go to is better than the last. I’m on a bit of a larp high writing this so apologies if I gush. Every single NPC I’ve interacted with has felt real and motivated and grounded in their place in the world. And this event in particular had SO MANY GOOD MOMENTS, many of which that were either well written ahead of time or expertly ad libbed in the moment, or both. I’m going to give a few specific Steve/Isaac perspective shout outs but I’ll almost certainly forget half of them as I am a sleepy noodle soup at the time (and also, oops, I don’t know every staffers name I am so sorry) but:
Kate playing my mom’s ghost actually had me crying and clinging to her at one point. And as shirtless cured Thaddeus had me in stitches.
The Jack/Lilydean/Charlotte research team that came to work with me and the Marini had such an incredible and complex dynamic not only with themselves but with Marinus Labs as well that was so consistent even though everything was moving SO FAST.
Pat’s Ferryman is calm and grounded and yet so CLEARLY a changeling, who remembers being Livewell but is not now, and gives me goosebumps to interact with.
Adrian plays such a diverse cast of characters who each feel like their own people and get such viscerally different reactions from Isaac. And also Dauphine is fucking hilarious and her dynamic with Anne’s pitball NPC (I am so sorry I’m blanking on her name) is delightful and pitball practice this game was amazing!
Eliot’s hilarious boxing match NPC is one example of many delightful characters, they were in almost every fight I saw take place busting their ass, and also they made what I have heard to be some delicious mochi of MULTIPLE flavors (which I unfortunately missed my chance to try 
)
Yelena as Daphne, doing Daphne things. I am going to be thinking about this nonstop for WEEKS.
Chris’s characters and contraptions consistently capture my concentration. Vanishing Isle is always one of my favorite mods and I am sad I missed it this time. Kendrick is one of my favorite NPCs I rarely get to interact with but always talk about.
Brian I mostly see interacting with others more so than we interact ourselves, that’s just how the plots/NPC dice roll for us, but each interaction feels consistent, real, driven by emotions that make sense, and feel like they build upon each other. And I almost constantly hear about how great Georgette is, though I don’t think I’ve ever interacted with her once bahaha
Haley alternatively ends up in many if my plots and makes for such cool and interesting and unexpected narratives, and is also extremely good about communicating about intention and boundaries and expectations within plots which makes it feel safe and encouraging to get weird with shit
AN NPC WITH RED HAIR WHOSE NAME I DO NOT KNOW I AM SORRY played a hilarious McHenry navywoman in our game on mod for my bachelor party who was great to interact with
Nik manages to play complex and silly characters alike but regardless of which it is he fully convinces me and draws me in. The roleplay is always immersive.
A general shout out to EVERYONE for combat. You all fought so much. SO MUCH over and over. And there are so many complicated builds in this game! That you have to remember how to perform but also respond to! And some of you learned most of this for the first time this game! And like Mal said, combat felt OOG safe while being in game terrifying and real. I felt incredibly immersed during the mechanical revenant fight, and when the EMP call was echoed throughout the campsite it was spine tinglingly cool.
ANSWERING OVER 500 BGS. AND GIVING PEOPLE BGS THEY DIDN’T EVEN ASK FOR. The amount of effort and writing you guys do is staggering, and so much of it is so good and has so many layers to it. Every [true] new thing I learn feels like a puzzle piece falling perfectly into place, and every [false] new thing I discover feels like it makes sense why it was presented the way it was under the circumstances.
Okay I’m getting sleepy and emotional and might add more later but mostly I just always want to emphasize that this game is amazing and really important to me, and it wouldn’t be possible without all of you. This world is real because you make us believe it is real.
I loved playing your mom, im truly honored to know i made you cry 
Y’all go hard and just don’t stop. Elliot being willing to make those screams as an NPC mechanic ghost was truly horrifying. I’ve never had a more “this feels wrong, but I’m almost glad someone just told me not to look into it because I feel like I have to stop this.” Moment ever.
Everyone embodies their characters in combat so well. Fighting humans? They act like humans in war. Fighting shadow fae? Menacing as all heck. The grass sprite things, playful and mischievous. The Summer Changeling troops, extolling us to do better as they came forward implacably: overwhelmingly good. You made each fight feel as if we were truly fighting the enemies there with your body language, your words and voices. Doing all that, while still competently and safely fighting is a heck of a skill, and you all do so well.
I’m always so happy to interact with any of the NPCs that come out, because you all embody them so well and throw so much energy and effort into such a demanding task.
On a more general note, I very much appreciate staff for a game where I felt I could still contribute and have fun despite not being at my best.
I have had a really rough past couple of months, and my physical health has taken a serious hit. Because of that, trying to find the hype for game was near impossible, and yet with Port Katherine I could still show up for just as long as I could physically manage, and still have fun and feel like I contributed. I could still see people and play in this fantastic world.
And that has meant so, so much to me. From staffers coming to find me and checking in if I was okay, to helping me move my chair so I didn’t get rained on. Those little things don’t feel little at all. And I cannot tell you how deeply I appreciate it enough.
Oh, shit. I forgot to post, here.
Staff, you all are great and create a fantastic atmosphere and a world that really feels alive around us. I love interacting directly with plots when I get the chance, and I also love hearing about all the shit other people have gotten up to that I didn’t even know was going on, and everything in between.
I like to think I’m very good at making my own fun but that does require a vibrant world in order to work, or stagnation sets in, and this world delivers. And the community you have cultivated is so warm and welcoming, and while it’s true that’s also due to the players, there’s a lot to be said for designing a game that attracts and keeps the right kind of players.
And I had so much fun last game; I think it might be my favorite session so far. It’s up there, at the very least. I am so sad that I’ll be missing Autumn, and I look forward to seeing you again in Winter.
Seriously this game is basically all I talk about for weeks after a session and my coworkers may or may not appreciate that but I sure do.