Generally Discouraged (In-Person Gaming)

[Retreater]

I've been trying to revitalize the local RPG community in my town, creating organized play events at our gaming store. I've put a lot of time in setting it up, gathering material, promoting online and in the store, etc. Today marks the lowest point of that project - not a single person came to play today.
This attempt to meet gamers through organized play was a last ditch effort to play in person. Other attempts have included asking co-workers, people I used to game with (before the pandemic moved them all to other hobbies that could be done at home), meeting random people at bars, volunteering for a nearby library's game club.
I feel so thoroughly defeated by this. I haven't had this kind of trouble finding players since the waning days of AD&D in the 1990s.

 

[payn]

I was in the office last week. Saw a few dozen people but its still a long far cry from how it was pre-pandemic. Though, when I was in the office several months ago it was a ghost town. I'd be lucky to run into anyone else.

Folks are really really liking remote options for work. There are folks who prefer to be in the office, but most seem just fine at home. I think thats going to be the way it is for awhile. I think you can swap work for gaming and a myriad of other things. Eventually, folks will really jump at the chance to do something different and play face to face again, but it's going to take some time.

 

[Greggy C]

Clearly you need to use the nuclear option. Find a partner who wants 5 kids. Create your own gaming group.

Or move to a city.

Finding random people in a bar seems the least likely chance of success.

Playing when you were broke in college in the late 80s was perfect, there was nothing else to do that cost zero money.
Nowadays people have lots of entertainment options. For you to find adults willing to commit to a campaign, I mean that is a significant relationship. Maybe you should set your sights on one-shots and use meetup.com or something.

 

[Hussar]

Is there a particular reason online is not an option?

 

[Endroren]

I've been trying to revitalize the local RPG community in my town, creating organized play events at our gaming store. I've put a lot of time in setting it up, gathering material, promoting online and in the store, etc. Today marks the lowest point of that project - not a single person came to play today.
This attempt to meet gamers through organized play was a last ditch effort to play in person. Other attempts have included asking co-workers, people I used to game with (before the pandemic moved them all to other hobbies that could be done at home), meeting random people at bars, volunteering for a nearby library's game club.
I feel so thoroughly defeated by this. I haven't had this kind of trouble finding players since the waning days of AD&D in the 1990s.

Sorry for your struggle. I imagine it's like anything today...you're effectively offering entertainment content in a world saturated with entertainment content. Throw in COVID and it's hard as heck.

I wouldn't give up! Libraries are good options...posting a "learn to play" event is a great way to meet prospective players in my experience.

Have you also tried the various looking for group threads here and elsewhere? It's surprising how often you discover someone local!

Again...hang in there. It can be demoralizing.

 

[prabe]

So, this sucks, and nothing anyone says is going to change that it sucks.

Serious question: Are you looking for commiseration or suggestions?

 

[R_J_K75]

Folks are really really liking remote options for work. There are folks who prefer to be in the office, but most seem just fine at home. I think thats going to be the way it is for awhile.

I don't think things are ever going back to the way it was. Now that the pandemic has proven that its possible to work effectively from home, telecommute, people don't want to go to the office. I read two articles within the last week. The first was that London is experimenting with trying out a 4 day work week. The second was saying that businesses in the US are having trouble getting people to come back into the office. At first people showed up to see their co-workers but because management is afraid to enforce rules based on when a person has to come to work out of fear of losing employees, people that were interviewed said that even when they were in the office, no one else was, and most were only showing up twice a week and on their own schedule. I think the 40+ hour work week and commuting as we knew it are dead. Obviously there are jobs were employees still have to show up like manufacturing but even then a portion of the supply chain shortages can probably be attributed to lack of employees in those jobs too. I think this is just one more facet of peoples mindset nowadays that they're just as comfortable finding things to do online in their homes rather than actually going out. Myself included I rarely go out except to run errands and prefer to have a small group of friends at my house so I understand its hard to find people to play face to face RPGs let alone keep a group together.

 

[MGibster]

I don't know if there's a strong connection between the desire of employees to work from home and someone having trouble finding people to play D&D face-to-face. The employees who want to work from home, largely desire this because it saves them time & money. From the first quarter 2020 to third quarter 2021, I worked from home and didn't spend money on fuel, clothing, or lunches and ended up having more time on my hands each day because I had no commute. In effect, I got a raise without actually getting a raise and more free time. I don't believe the same dynamic applies to most leisure activities including role playing. Someone who wants to work from home 4/5 days a week probably isn't going to mind getting out of the house once a week to get some game time in.

I've had tough times finding a reliable group of people to game with in the past, and this was pre-COVID. Gaming is a very social activity, and you have to find the right people to click with and that's not aways easy. Getting gamers organized, especially when you aren't already established friends, is like pulling teeth at times. A number of times I've tried to get campaigns started by contacting people through the local gaming groups, only to find that a lot of them just don't make it to game night regularly.

 

[R_J_K75]

I don't know if there's a strong connection between the desire of employees to work from home and someone having trouble finding people to play D&D face-to-face.

I dont know if there is either but just making an observation based on my own personal experiences and from things I've read recently.

I've had tough times finding a reliable group of people to game with in the past, and this was pre-COVID. Gaming is a very social activity, and you have to find the right people to click with and that's not aways easy. Getting gamers organized, especially when you aren't already established friends, is like pulling teeth at times. A number of times I've tried to get campaigns started by contacting people through the local gaming groups, only to find that a lot of them just don't make it to game night regularly.

I've had the same experience. Since I've started playing its always been hard to keep a group together. There's usually 1 or 2 constant players that I can usually get to play when trying to get a group together but my groups have usually only lasted a few years at any one time. Right now Im working on picking up the pieces of our last group with two of the players and start again with the 3 of us. I don't prefer to look online or at game stores, I've done it and as you said a lot of times we just didn't click as a group or it was a revolving door of players. At this point Im not interested in younger players or people new to the game. I want people who know the game, are engaged and show up. I've come to the conclusion that actively looking for a new group only leads to frustration, wasted time and effort. I find usually that being patient most of the time it comes down to being at the right place at the right time and having an off-handed conversation about gaming with either an old friend or someone you just met and next thing you know you have a new gaming group.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

COVID aint over. It's still a potentially very nasty virus that has moved from epidemic to endemic. It's going to be many years before things go back to how they were before, if they ever do. Many people have learned how to entertain themselves without leaving home and don't see a need to go back.

I'm not surprised by your problem, and don't see a solution. Loneliness is a very serious issue, and not one that can easily be fixed.