The erratic gaming group

[MarkusDark]

Hello everyone,

I have a question/discussion ta talk about. I currently have a group of 6 players who are 'in' my Champions game. However, attendence at it is sporatic at best. The players have other commitments and conflicts that spring up on a regular and irregular basis and most of the time, I am lucky if I can get 3 people at a game.

I find myself trying to figure things out and where to go with the game. I, myself, would say I am about 75-80% 'jazzed' about the game and I know that a good part of that missing 25% is due to the spotty attendence - so I am not thinking up front of ditching everything and walking away. But I am trying to decide on which course would be best - or if there is an option that I haven't thought of yet.

First is to find a new time to play. Friday nights were about the best time for everyone but the more we get into the summer months, the more people have 'other things to do'.

Second is to find more players. I prefer about 6 people at the table but as things stand now, that would mean I would need about 12 players to make that random 6 that would appear on one night. This is twofold trouble. First, I have to make the games very generic as I don't know who will be there each night so personal character treatment falls off. Second, if, by some miracle, all 12 show up at the same time, it would have very much the same effect and probably only get half of the actual episode out.

Third is to knuckle down and increase the 'quality' of the game overall. As it stands now, I like to feel I run a pretty damn good game. My thought would be to produce incredible games so that others would decide to go to the game than do other things. The trouble with this is that I would have to put in even more time into the games (still making them generic) and I also don't want to feel like I am competing for someone's attentions. Bad form there if you ask me.

So, is there something I am missing? Or have I basically summed up all of the possible modes and need to go from there.

Thanks for your input.

[Monolith]

Well, my first though is, have you talked to your players about this? They might not really understand that it bothers you that much. It's easy for players. They do not have to worry about making a good session. They just play. If you told them that it bothered you some of them might curtail their no-shows.

I have a standing policy that I need to know 3 days before a game who is going to be there and who is not. Yes, emergencies happen, but if a player skips the game at the last minute to go and see X2, then I am very unforgiving. Sometimes players need to think of the game like they would any other life commitment. If the players would not miss Tuesday night Judo class then they should not miss Friday night’s Champions game. A commitment is a commitment, whether you are playing for it (as in the Judo class) or not. I would be very hurt if players did not come to my game without even the courtesy of letting me know before hand.

Finding a better night or time might just be what the game needs though; perhaps Saturday or Sunday afternoons would work better instead of Friday evenings. Most people in our age bracket like to socialize to some extent, and it seems like most of that socialization takes place at night. I am currently playing on Sunday afternoons 1 to 6 and that seems to work well for everyone right now.

As I said above though, my first course of action would be to talk to the players and let them know it bothers you. If they care about the game they should be willing to be more responsive to your feelings and the needs of the game.

[MarkusDark]

Well I should say that it doesn't really bother me, per se. If a game is cancelled, I always have Shattered Galaxy waiting for me online and I can spend another week fine tuning the event. I just don't want the game to be half hearted as the more that happens, the less the game is involved, the less important and fun it becomes and soon I'm known as the GM who had that really crappy game in Fremont. Yup, it is all about image.

I have talked to the players, we have tried to work out schedules and the usual comment that is made if we need to wait more than two weeks is "Ew. We shouldn't wait THAT long," so it sounds like they want a regular game. Just seems the fates are against us is all.

[Vanguard00]

There are a couple of options available to you, some of which you've already mentioned.

First, the night you play. Ask all your players to pick a night. It doesn't have to be "every other Friday" or anything like that. Just pick one night a week or two in advance and schedule a game. Ask your players to commit. Remember not to be too harsh or you'll drive them away. Let them know you're committed to the game on whatever night they can get together. Communication is the key, here.

Second, don't find more players. You'll drive yourself nuts with that many people the first time too many show up.

Third, how do you know the quality of the game isn't up to par? Have the players complained? Chances are your game is good enough but, as you said, it suffers from attendance issues.

Here are some fresh thoughts:

1) Be prepared to can the game. First and foremost. If you try and hold on too hard you'll make it highly unfun for everyone, including you. I'm not saying you should give up--far from it--but be prepared for this eventuality.

2) Consider alternative methods. So a few players show up each time. Is it the same ones every time? Build your adventure around them and let the others come and go as "guest stars".

3) Keep each gaming session encapsuled. By that I mean make it so when you stop, if you absolutely had to you could continue on in a different situation. For example, maybe you have a "Big Bad" who needs his buttocks whooped, but you can't keep your players together long enough to get to him. So on Friday your Brick player has a good time and busts some henchmen heads. Next week, however, he doesn't show, so you NPC him getting a call from mom in the hospital and he in turn calls his buddy, Energy Blaster Guy, who takes over from there. Does that make sense?

4) Take all the characters yourself for the duration of the adventure. Players who show up must choose from a core group of characters who are a must to the adventure. Yes, they might get played a little differently each time, but you'll have consistant characters even if you don't have consistant players. This might cause a little feedback from folks but I've seen it work. It will require you to explain the situation clearly so no one is offended, and a player should get to play his own character if he so desires, unless he's so inconsistant that his character has been relegated to "back burner" status in favor of a more centrally involved character.

I hope this all makes sense. I just thought I'd hammer out some thoughts while I had a moment.

Again, though, start with communication. Talk to your players before making any changes. Ask them their opinions on the game, on you, on attendance, etc. Give them a chance to solve the problem for you.

[MarkusDark]

Thanks for the input. Oh, also wanted it to be known that one of the reasons I am posting about this is that I am sure others suffer from similiar troubles and wouldn't hurt for a reference to be made. Always thinkin' about the others.

Plus, it gets me away from the political boards for a while...

[zornwil]

How often are you expecting to play? What sort of other commitments do the players have - families, jobs, avocations? All three of the latter will take a lot of time. Groups are different of course but the group I'm in I'd guess that most people play 4 games in a month in a GOOD month and probably 2 on average. The issue are the other interests. Anyway, I'd say gauge these things and set realistic expectations for yourself. If most people have families (that don't play), "serious" jobs, and/or "serious" avocations, then weekly gaming with any consistency is out of the question typically.

That being said, unless there's some sort of issue with your games I don't think you need to go to heroic lengths (no pun intended) to attract players. If you do that, likely you'll burn out soon and/or it just won't be as much fun doing all that work.

I think the suggestion another person made about letting your group schedule is a good one, but I find that players need a little guidance/prompting. You may want to throw out some alternative dates and see which ones stick. Typically in our group there's 2 of us steadily GMing right now, we each post a date to our e-mail group usually 2-4 weeks in advance for what amount to monthly games, then see what people say. That or we ask people when we're all convened for a game.

[Blue]

GOOOOOD LUCK organizing a time where everyone can show. I know how hard that is.

Though I have yet to run a game with my current gaming group, I have taken it upon myself in the past to try and organize days/times for people to show up. Sadly, we are down to playing once very two weeks. And we've had to skip the last several sessions. Tomorrow is the first time in OVER TWO MONTHS that I've had the opportunity to roleplay.

The issues...

• Families... Four of the players have spouses and/or kids.
• Dating... Yes, some of the group shirk their obligation in favor of women. Hard to believe, I know.
• Vampire... One of our players doesn't like to play "evil" characters and dropped out.
• Two players have long drives. One of them has to come about 90 Miles.

There are about three of us who are there rain or shine. Come to think of it, since I began playing three years ago with them, I'm the only person who has been at every game.

I try to get a consensus by E-mail, but some people take forever to reply because they rarely check their e-mail, and others chime in right away before they check their schedules then have to cancel out within days of the game.

[Kaeto]

Be glad you don't have a GM like I had. Who when one person didn't show up completely cancelled the game.

[Alien Knight]

That exact issue killed my superhero game. I recruited five folks hoping that I'd be able to manage at least three players every game. That apparently wasn't a reasonable expectation.

After we didn't play for a month because of 'life issues' I had to cancel. I don't trust my GM abilities and player attention spans enough to keep a plot going on the every-other-month plan. That's with a written adventure log detailing the high points of each session mind you.

Dunno what to tell you except that you should keep it up as long as it's still fun for you and drop it like a hot potato if it's not. Too much work if you're not getting the 'GM rush.'

[BlackSword]

One of the groups I game with defines erractic. I stick with it because they are good friends and I enjoy hanging out with them. But...

We started the campaign in early march with nine people. There was a game in early April, but it was them wrapping up a d20 game. The next campaign game was May 3. This happened because I sent out an e-mail asking when everyone could game and the GM said, how about Saturday (his e-mail was sent on Thursday). Three of us agreed and we gamed. Then he sent another e-mail early last week that said, how about friday night, so three of us (and I was the only one that was consistent between the two weeks) played again. The next date is completaly unknown. I keep throwing out, lets at least make _one_ consistent weekend (first full weekend of the month) and then game at other times and it keeps getting glossed over. Most of the gamers do have families which makes it more difficult to plan. Mainly I have to get the DM to commit since we play at his house and he doesn't seem to want to commit.

[DocMan]

Never leave a gaming session without knowing when the next game will be.

If they don't want to commit to the next session, obviously they don't want to play. Ask them to leave. When you advertise for new players, be sure to note "Serious enquiries only."

It may be harder to put a game together, but once it's together it'll stay together.

Oh, and if one person misses at the last moment, play anyway. If two people miss, pull out backup board games. If they keep missing, they're out.

Doc

[MarkusDark]

Personally, I don't mind people having other activities. I just like to have them there once in a while. I know that if I had 'more of a life' I'd probably just cancel the game myself in lieu of, oh I dunno... dating.

[Toadmaster]

Might be the group is being unrealistic about how frequently you can all get together, I'm in a twilight 2000 group and at best we play once a month, rarely twice and occasionally one every 2 months. Yes the story suffers since it generally takes awhile for us to remember what was happening the last session etc but its still good fun. We won't play unless all can make it which is part of the reason for infrequent games. If the cancellations are caused by one or two individuals it might be appropriate to single them out and either ask them to leave or run two games, one when they can make it one when they can't. If its a matter of most of the group how about running several games based on who shows up. I know none of these will be popular but I've found that is just a fact of trying to game as an adult.

[DocMan]

Originally posted by MarkusDark
Personally, I don't mind people having other activities. I just like to have them there once in a while. I know that if I had 'more of a life' I'd probably just cancel the game myself in lieu of, oh I dunno... dating.

It's not a question of saying that people can't have other activities. They can. It's more a question of mutual respect and personal responsibility. The person that won't pull out their calender and pick a date for the next gaming session is irresponsible. The person that shedules a session, but then doesn't bother to show up because "something better came up" is saying that the game, and all the members in the group, are insignificant and not worth bothering with.

Personally, I would find it difficult to have fun with someone in my gaming group who considers me a nobody and is only there because they couldn't contrive to have something "better" to do. It's easier to have fun with players who actually want to play the game. It's a lot more fun, too.

Yes, regular gaming schedules do get distrupted. Yes, people do get sick at the last moment, or have family emergencies, car accidents, etc. But responsible players also let the group know what happened as soon as they can.

Doc

[Trencher]

Smaller groups are the way to go! It is much easier for two-three people to get together rather than four to six