Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nicko Muti. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nicko, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I helped create Thaliondor at its inception, and I have run it for the last ten years. Over those ten years, I have molded, shifted, and shaped Thaliondor into what it is today. And what I think it is today is the best blend of all sorts of foam fighting games that are played currently. I think that Thaliondor has the best chance to gather the most amount of players with its diverse methods of play, while also being simple enough to pull new players off the street. Which I think will cause the game to grow, and I hope it does.

I guess, to answer the question directly, I hope that foam fighting grows. I don’t want my game to be the only thing that grows, but LARP and foam fighting as a whole to grow in our society and become a bigger part of people’s lives, like it has for me. I hope that my game creates a gateway for players to get into the sport, and that the community as a whole grows because of it. And if this game becomes one of the new standards of play in the future, I wouldn’t mind that either. Right now, we’re just in Central Florida, but we’re working on spreading games throughout the country. And we’re growing by the day.

I’ll be running this game and fighting weekly til the day I die, and I hope that people use my drive and dedication as an example to propel both Thaliondor and foam fighting as a whole forward when I’m gone. I hope that all my efforts are carved in stone instead of sand, and that the foam fighting world is better for it.

Nicko, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Well, my name is Nicko, and I run Thaliondor: Fantasy and Medieval Combat in Ocala Florida. We are a full-contact foam fighting game that meets weekly at Brick City Park. In laymen’s terms, we hit each other with foam sticks for fun. Think airsoft or paintball, but instead of guns, we use swords. We play a variety of game modes, go on “Quests” and hash out disputes of a collaborative story on the battlefield. And its a great time!

I got into Thaliondor through a phone call. A close friend asked me if I wanted to hit people with a foam sword and I scoffed, saying “Of course!” And that was ten years ago. I’ve been out at that park fighting and organizing events for the last ten years, missing less than a handful of weekends. And through that time, the game has grown substantially, surprising even me sometimes!

Thaliondor, as it is now, is set up and ran at a local park for a few hours every weekend. Players and patrons can come play the game for free, as we are run on a donation system. Gear, water, and structured games are all provided to the player upon arrival. We have inflatable bunkers (like those you’d see at a paintball field) that we use to create unique arenas every weekend, and run a multitude of different game types in. Its a great time!

I thing I am most proud of is the community that we have cultivated. The group feels like a family, through and through, and when one of us has a problem, we all share that burden and help each other out. I know my life has been changed thanks to the people who show up and support the game every week, and I only hope that their lives have changed for the better because of Thaliondor and my efforts as well.

Thaliondor is its own game, as well, meaning there aren’t any others in the world like it (besides our Gainesville Chapter we’re working on). There are games that are like it, but there are no other games that are exactly the same. Some games are more complicated, using a ton of roleplay elements like magic and abilities that people can perform to enhance their fighting, where other games are strictly fighting, without much being left up to the imagination. Thaliondor is the perfect blend of the two of those things. While the game has magic and abilities that you can utilize in the game, the class and magic system are VERY basic and easy to pick up in a one-time, bite-sized rundown of the rules. Our game is also very physical, like other games, so those who enjoy that facet will have a good time as well. What this type of ruleset does is attract all sorts of walks of life to play the game together, and we have done a good job of balancing the game so that every type of player is equally needed, viable, and fulfilling to play.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I tell you I haven’t missed a Thaliondor meetup in ten years but a handful of times, I mean it. Ten. Whole. Years. That’s 520+ weeks (barring some hurricane and covid troubles). If there is a meetup, I am there. I don’t care what’s going on in the world, what’s going on at my main job, or what’s going on with me. I am going to Thaliondor, I am setting up that field and I am swinging stick.

If I’m sick? I’m going to Thal.
If I’m tired? I’m going to Thal.
Its raining? Rain doesn’t exist, fighters to the field.
If there’s another event, family or otherwise? Sorry, I’m missing it, Sundays are for Thal.
If I’m at another event, even if its out of state? We’re leaving Saturday night, and I’m driving through the night for Thal.
If I was in the hospital the day before? I’m going to Thal.
If I had surgery the day before and shouldn’t be getting out of bed? I’ll sit on my comfy chair on the field and watch Thal.
I have half the mind to think that if I dropped dead on Saturday, my body would somehow find its way to Thal on Sunday.

There are other people on my team that can take care of the game for me. I know that. I know that missing one week wouldn’t kill me. But if it is PHYSICALLY possible. I am going to be there. Personal gripes, fatigue, sickness… none of that matters. We have a game to run, and I am going to be there to run it.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

“More isn’t always better.”

When Thaliondor started out, we had three classes. The Holy Trinity. Fighter, Archer, and Wizard (Wizard had heals). That worked for about a year, but after that, we started to notice people started dropping off. Less and less people would show up, other things became higher priority, etc. So we thought to ourselves, what would keep people interested? We looked to other forms of media like movies and video games. What do they do different? They do more! Sequels, DLCs, expansions, etc. That’s what Thaliondor needed!

We made a fourth class, the Cleric, and moved heals off the Wizard and made the Cleric the full support build. We added levels for each class, that you can achieve by attending the game more and more, to entice people to come back out. It was a tight rope to walk, because we didn’t want veterans to over power newer players, but we wanted newer players to see the abilities that you could unlock at later levels, and want to get them.

This worked tremendously, and we saw more people come to the game, and more people stick around. And when the numbers started to wane again, we needed to do MORE. We upped the level cap, we introduced new abilities, new special weapons, new trials to achieve new abilities, etc. We had A TON of things going on in the game.

Then we added Non-Combat Classes, that modified the combat even more. And added MORE stuff to the game. Not a lot of people joined in for this, but we wanted to get as many as we could.

And then it hit us. More isn’t always better. There was too much going on in the game. Too many levels, too many classes, too many special weapons. It was impossible to keep up with all of it for us veterans, much less a new player.

Ironically, it happened around Covid, and when we came back to the field, we wiped the slate clean. We removed half the levels, two thirds of the special weapons, and got rid of the Non-Combat Classes. The game is now way more streamlined and easier to pick up. We added more “clout-chasing” additions to keep that thirst for progression alive, and keep people coming out, but we also made our trials to level up harder, to keep people attempting them a bit more than before. And thankfully, our retention has stayed well since after adopting this change.

So I guess the main take-away here is: There are other ways to make the game more interesting and retain people, you don’t have to consistently add more and more. When it comes to non-foam fighting companies, you don’t have to expand your services or offer more food on your menu, refine what you have, make what you have the best in the business, and go from there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thaliondor.com
• Instagram: @thaliondor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thaliondor
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thaliondormedievalcombat
• Other: TikTok: @thaliondor
  Patreon: patreon.com/thaliondor