At My Most Burned-Out in 35 Years

[Retreater]

Be happy you have that many gaming friends

Oh, I am thankful for it. Growing up during the 80s in a small town in the South, I was lucky to find a single player.
Before the popularity of 5e, I had to scrounge for a 4th player to round out a party.
I'll partly attribute my overbooking to those foundational memories in the hobby.
And honestly, without the group of teenagers (and their adults) [which will be disbanding in a couple months], I doubt I would have any regular, in-person game at all.

 

[TiQuinn]

The players with the worst strategies (i.e. using a buff in the last round, not targeting the nearly dead enemy with the magic missile, etc) are usually the adults who have been playing 10 years or more. Same thing with the complainers.
The teenagers seem to take it in stride - not expert players, but they largely remember their abilities. If they have an issue, they act recklessly to pull off plans - which at least keeps it interesting.
I have 6 players. That's only one more than is recommended for 4e - and that sixth player often misses half the session because of her work schedule.
All the players are interconnected - so I can't uninvite any of them (siblings, spouses, etc.)

Can I suggest half assing it then? Phone it in for the rest of the campaign. Minimum effort. You don’t owe them your best.

Look, I know they’re spouses and siblings but none of them are giving you that consideration in return.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Can I suggest half assing it then? Phone it in for the rest of the campaign. Minimum effort. You don’t owe them your best.

Look, I know they’re spouses and siblings but none of them are giving you that consideration in return.

I bet they won't notice the difference. You could run a whole session on, "Ninjas have kidnapped the President. Are you bad enough dudes to rescue the President?"

And if a group wants to spend 4 hours rechecking hallways, why should you complain? The party is free to spend their time however they want. Thats less work for you.

If a few players are hyper fixating on a task that is boring to everyone else, just say so. You could just say, " please raise your hand if find this task boring." If a bunch of hands go up, you can take that as a go ahead to make changes that increase the fun. No hands go up? Then your good to go. Not your fault players failed to raise objections when given the chance.