And that split carried over to after the adventure? As in, if someone gave you 250 g.p. to carry, that money was yours to keep?
'Cause if not, you needed a treasurer to keep a tally.
Well, no, the DM is keeping a tally, in order to award XP.
That in itself would provoke an argument, as some would see the Caller's role as being that of outright party leader or boss. That's a large part of why the concept just never caught on here.
That's a problem with the understanding of the concept of a Caller, not with the concept of the Caller itself. Like I said, it was never explained very well, and was sometimes conflated, intentionally or unintentionally, with the idea of a "party leader."
Which is to say, if you're saying, "We never used a Caller because we didn't like the idea of one player being the leader," then I don't think there's any disagreement. Each group is going to do as they do. But you're saying the idea of a Caller as I described it (and how I think it should have been described) wouldn't work with your group. And if a reason is, "People will think the Caller is the leader," then there is a more fundamental issue of what the Caller
is, before even getting to what the Caller
does.
That assumes the players said all those things beforehand.
Yes, that's how it would work if a group used a Caller.
I mean, what you're in effect saying is, "A Caller wouldn't work for my group because we would never play in a way that utilized a Caller." Which is fine. If you've got your own rhythm, your own methods, and ways of smoothly managing a variety of actions and perspectives, more power to you. You don't need a Caller. A Caller, like the Moldvay Combat Sequence, or Reaction Rolls, or Dungeon Stocking system, is just a procedural tool to help manage the work of being a DM. And like those other tools, it's one I find very useful and helpful.
This is what I'm used to, and IMO it far better preserves player agency. I'd have them move their minis on the board to show me where each is going, then deal with them in short time increments until-unless something happened.
I don't think use of a Caller has any effect on player agency. It certainly doesn't have any effect in my groups. Players still interact with the DM to clarify things, and do their own thing when they want to. If anything, it just encourages more discussion and coordination among the group. The final decisions are the players'. All the Caller does is relate those to the DM in a nice package.