Cancelling a session / not attending a session.

[Krensky]

Two things lead me to cancel my game.

Illness. People don't need to catch Peruvian death flu from me, and I'm likely not going to be able to provide an entertaining night.

Work. I don't always have control of after hours calls or dispatch. Occasionally I get assigned project work, after hours calls, or what not and can not be there to run a game because while I love gaming, I love a paycheck more.

 

[Desdichado]

ALL THAT SAID: I absolutely don't hold gaming on some high pedestal, nor is it a grievous sin to cancel occasionally. I just think that many of the previous answers don't address some of the additional complexities in gaming that are not present in, say, a backyard barbecue.

Of course it does. If you hold a backyard bbq, you buy and prepare a certain amount of food with the expectation that the people who said they were going to come would, in fact, come. If they don't show or cancel at the last minute, you're out actual money.

As far as I'm concerned, and maybe this is just because I'm at heart a cheap, Scrooge-like miser, that's much worse than not showing for a D&D session.

 

[S'mon]

As DM, I cancelled a session due to a date with a hot redhead. One player did not get the message and showed up shortly before the lady...he understood when I kicked him to the curb.

Why didn't you set the date for a different time?

It's a good idea to have your game scheduled for a time when it's not likely to be interrupted by romantic interludes. I find Sunday ca noon to 6pm is best; Saturday at the same time is second best as it's a good time to spend with my family after the work week. I keep evenings clear for the wife & child.

 

[Desdichado]

Although I will point out that other than being a bit put out and irked, it's not going to cause some kind of social scandal in my group of friends, cause me to lose a friendship, or even cause me to go rant about it on the internet.

It will, however, cause me to re-evaluate how much I can trust said person, and going forward, I will make sure to either not invite him to events that require his presence, on the chance that he won't make it, or have contingency plans, as in the case where he's the GM for the group or something.

 

[Pbartender]

In a word, this:

"real life trumps gaming, but gaming trumps other fun or laziness."

Dungeons & Dragons is by no means the most important thing we do in our lives. Though, as a hobby, others are counting on us to be there.

 

[Sammael]

Two things lead me to cancel my game.

Illness. People don't need to catch Peruvian death flu from me, and I'm likely not going to be able to provide an entertaining night.

Work. I don't always have control of after hours calls or dispatch. Occasionally I get assigned project work, after hours calls, or what not and can not be there to run a game because while I love gaming, I love a paycheck more.

That's about it for me as well. As for players, I'll run a 6-player game without two players, and a 4- or 5-player game without 1 player.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Why didn't you set the date for a different time?

You romantic, you!


RC

 

[S'mon]

Re illness, I had swine flu last October when I was due to play in a game. The first Sunday I was seriously ill, as was my wife, we could barely walk, I definitely could not have GM'd. I was off work that week - so a bunch of students didn't get their lectures either, first time that's happened in ten years of lecturing. The second Sunday I still was ill with the flu, but if I'd been due to GM I reckon I would have struggled to the game and done my best for my players, as I have seen other GMs do in that situation.

If you're a player, if you're sufficiently sick that you won't enjoy the game, I think it's ok to cancel.
Conversely, if you're a GM, you should only cancel if you are *unable* to GM. Even if you won't enjoy it, you still have a duty to your group.

 

[jdrakeh]

Why didn't you set the date for a different time?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it's because dating a hot redhead was a greater priority than pretending to be an elf.

 

[S'mon]

Of course it does. If you hold a backyard bbq, you buy and prepare a certain amount of food with the expectation that the people who said they were going to come would, in fact, come. If they don't show or cancel at the last minute, you're out actual money.

What, your BBQ guests pay you for the food they eat? Sunk costs fallacy, Hobo - you already spent that money.

I think the time a GM spends prepping plot hooks, encounters etc that gets wasted when a player doesn't show certainly can be comparable to BBQ food that doesn't get eaten. Though why you can't save that food (and often those plot hooks) for later, I don't know.