Main Difficulties in Hosting Local Games (GMs)?

Tarin Greenflame · Nov 3, 2018

When looking for players as a GM, what are your most common or most frustrating issues? These can be barriers to starting a game, or what derails a running game.

Feel free to comment with more info or standout stories, especially if some factors prevent games starting while others cause an established gaming group to implode.

Odysseus · Nov 4, 2018

I've been running a game at my house every other weekend for over ten years now. And I think can could answer yes to all of the choices.
But the biggest problem is finding players near enough. There are players but most don't want to travel more than 20 to 30 mins tops.

pming · Nov 4, 2018

Hiya!

I went with "Compatible personalities" and "Other".

We are an older group (the youngster in the group USED to be 36?...'ish...?; but my nephew is up for the next couple months so he's temporarily the youngest at 19...or 18...'ish...

). As a bunch of old farts we have families, jobs and a shared "childhood/highschool baseline". If someone makes a joke about the Barbarian "Wanting a new drug...or maybe duck", we all "get" the song references. If someone says "That's a big twinkie..." after hearing the description of an extraordinarily large wagon or mundane item...we all get the reference. Oh, and none of them have their phones out once the session gets going.

As for "Other"...it's usually related to, well, being older. We enjoy playing games with each other. Hanging out, rolling dice, making up stories, etc. As such we generally don't sweat the small stuff. This kinda falls into the "Agreeing how to play the game system", but it's more than that. It's how we actually approach the game system. For instance, when we play Hackmaster 4th, we generally stick to the rules if there are any for the situation before making something up. With 5th, it's 50/50 on that; sometimes we will delve into the rules, others we just pick a DC and make a roll. With a game like SUPERS! Revised Edition it's usually 'make it up on the fly' because 9/10 times doing that is what the rules call for anyway.

Also falling under "Other" is the simple fact that where I live, there are not a huge amount of players that don't already have game groups. It's the capital city of the Yukon (Whitehorse), but our population is only about 30,000. Hell, the population of the entire Territory is only about 36k, and the Yukon Territory is 186k square miles (482k square kilometers). Or about 20k square miles LARGER than California (or about 2/3 the size of Texas?). Needless to say...our player base is fairly consistent and groups tend to stick together for years or decades; not a lot of cross pollination, so to speak.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

dragoner · Nov 4, 2018

Compatible personalities is probably the hardest, and it's not that difficult; no cheating, rules lawyering, excessive arguing, trying to ruin the game for everyone else, etc. ad nauseam.

Next hardest, under other, is turning people away; so when I ask for five, I get ten, and I hate to turn people away, but too many people becomes unmanageable.

Tarin Greenflame · Nov 6, 2018

Thanks for the insight, Paul! I hadn't thought of ruling style as a major group dynamic, but I can definitely see that in past groups I've been in.

Gradine · Nov 6, 2018

For the first time in my life ever, I find myself with too many people interested in playing and not enough people willing to run a game. My gaming group of friends is 12-strong at this point, but I'm the only one with any real drive to DM or any experience in general.

I'd love to break it into two groups and find somebody else who's willing to run but I don't think it's going to happen for a while.

practicalm · Nov 7, 2018

My other, is that I don't have a problem.

I've got a semi-public venue at my church. Because it's a my church I open it up to everyone.
I rarely have less than 10 interested players and we play at a set time so the attendance varies from 4 to 10 players.

Celebrim · Nov 7, 2018

I would say the difficulties of a GM finding players pale in comparison to the difficulties of a player trying to find a GM. The lack of GMs is the chief hindrance to the hobby.

I have two younger relatives seeking groups closer to their age, but to no real avail. I GM in large part because no one else will, and not because I don't enjoy being a player.

pogre · Nov 9, 2018

Gradine said:
For the first time in my life ever, I find myself with too many people interested in playing and not enough people willing to run a game. My gaming group of friends is 12-strong at this point, but I'm the only one with any real drive to DM or any experience in general.

I'd love to break it into two groups and find somebody else who's willing to run but I don't think it's going to happen for a while.

I always have too many people. It's a good problem, but it is hard to tell friends I just don't have anymore room in my campaign.

LordEntrails · Nov 9, 2018

I don't even know why most of those would be a problem for a DM...

Schedules - I'm the DM, I say when I'm going to run my game. Either it fits in your schedule or not, but there are so many players will just pick up someone else if 'you' can't make it.
Venue - Maybe, but game stores, bookstores, libraries, civic facilities and there is always your home.
System - I'm the DM, I decide.
Style - I'm the DM, I'll tell you how it's going to be, want to flavor it another way? Better talk or your out.
Age - Its not a dating event, why do I care about their age? I've played with 10 year olds and 60 year olds.
Personalities - This is what I voted. Usually not a problem because I spend a little time getting to know people before I commit.
Mastery/Optimization - I don't have problems teaching people how to play, and since I run the style I have laid out, level of optimization has never been an issue.

Effort- .... Well, this is something I've always accepted as the DM. And it's why the answer to the first questions are what they are. DMs put in much more time than players, therefore players don't get to decide what the DM does. Why would I, as the DM, pick a time that's not convenient for me or run a system I don't prefer or allow a style of gaming I don't enjoy?