Gaming group scheduling: what do you use?

[IronWolf]

Also, we just used Skype for an absent player (he was in Taiwan) for the first time. It went surprisingly well! And it was definitely entertaining
We had an iCamera to give him a close up of the maps 'n minis, and we set up a chat so he could roll online and our DM could see the results.

Yeah, we've done Google Voice and Video chat for missing players as well. It worked pretty well.

Most recently I ran a MapTool session for an occasion that I (the GM) wasn't going to be able to make otherwise. It worked pretty well too.

There are several tools these days to help avoid missed sessions if someone can't physically be there but otherwise has the time.

 

[karlindel]

For most campaigns I am in, just e-mail. For the one I run, I will generally try to plan at least a month in advance, so that players can schedule around the games. Occasionally we will go a bit farther out, particularly around the holidays when scheduling can be tight.

One of the campaigns I play in recently switched from e-mail to google calendar invites due to issues with one player not realizing when the games were scheduled.

 

[Rel]

I'll throw my opinion on the "have a set schedule" pile.

For a group of busy people it might seem like a good idea to have a flexible schedule but really it isn't. If you have a fixed schedule then you can pick a day and time that generally works for most of the group. Then, when other stuff comes up, they can decide in advance if that supersedes gaming.

Without a fixed schedule what happens is that other events get scheduled at times that might work well for the rest of the group. If they had known in advance that gaming was happening then they might not have scheduled that thing but now that they've committed to it then they don't want to break that. If this happens enough times then people get frustrated and it reduces their investment in the game.

We've been gaming on Monday nights for at least 7 years or so and it works well for us (late 30's guy who all have wives, kids and jobs) because we know when it's going to be every week. Sure people still have to miss now and then. When it happens we either run with what we've got or play a boardgame or something like that.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I'll add one more for establishing a set day and time. That was necessary even before the group started having children and it's very necessary now that we do have children.

For coordination we send mass e-mails. It's not fancy but it gets the job done.

 

[DumbPaladin]

I guess I'm in the opposite camp, and I wasn't really going to say anything since the original topic was "how do you schedule your game", and while my way works for me, I don't know if it'd work for everyone.

Roughly a week before the next month starts, I ask the entire group (via our Yahoogroup, or in person at the last D&D session) for Saturday and Sunday dates they are and are NOT available in the coming month. We all prefer Saturdays, but will go with Sundays if it's the only alternative. People all get roughly a week to send some dates my way.

After everyone's sent me dates (or the time period has passed), I choose two dates based on which days will give us as close as possible to perfect attendance. Honestly, with our group and our players' high level of interest in the game, this is rarely a problem. I have the Yahoogroup send out reminders via the calendar function ... and only once so far have I had to make a decision as to which player would be unable to make it, based on a date we chose.

Long story short, not having a set date can work just fine. We tried that, but it didn't work for us because of more important things coming up (like weddings, funerals, vacations, studying for finals, and what not). We've been meeting for 18 months, rarely with more than 1 person absent (and she's simply absent a lot).

 

[Pseudonym]

We have a set night for our games. Two campaigns have wikis set up, but they've sort of fallen in to disuse. We mainly use email for two games and a Facebook message thread for another.

 

[MarauderX]

Yahoo group for the last 6 years. Also I change the wiki front page to reflect the next scheduled game.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I run a once a month game and scheduling can be a bit of a challenge..

I recently moved to warhorn.net and you can see how my campaign is set up here


One of the nice things is that your players can RSVP for each event. I can see this very useful for a 'encounters' game day or its ilk.

I haven't used much of the rest of the site yet, but it works for me!

 

[Stoat]

How widely dispersed are your players?

For several years, I DM'd a game where I drove 5 hours to play, with other folks driving between 1 and 3 hours to make it. We played every 6 weeks or so for an entire weekend at a time. Under those circumstances, it was essentially impossible to schedule a regular game. I'd find a few weekends when I could play and send out an email to everyone else asking them to check their schedules.

That was an unusual situation, because everyone basically gave up a whole weekend to the game. If you're going to be playing a more typical 4-6 hour game, I urge you to set up a regular time and place to play. That way folks will start keeping their calendars clear and otherwise make an effort to get to game night. If you work on an ad hoc schedule, you'll be everybody's last priority.

For electronic tools, I'd suggest a private message board or website if you have the ability to do one. Start a thread titled "When are we playing again?" and encourage folks to post if they can or can't make it to game night. Establish a quorum. If X people can play, play.

A message board is also good for managing the game between sessions. Use it when PC's want to buy items, or choose powers or talk long-term strategy. Use it to distribute maps and handouts.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

We play every second Thursday night at 6:30pm. By making it a regular night players can schedule things around the game.

Obviously this isn't always possible. Provided I am given enough notice (a week or so is good) I try and reschedule the game so that everyone can attend. Sometimes this will mean the game shifts nights, sometimes it will shift weeks (meaning we have a 3 week gap between sessions and then play 2 weeks in a row). Other times it will simply be a case that the player misses that session.

Even though we play at the same time each fortnight I still send out an e-mail to the group a couple of days before the session, just as a reminded that we are playing. It's probably unnecessary but sometimes it serves to jog a player's memory that he had to ask me something about the game, or that he isn't going to be able to make the session.

Occasionally circumstances change, which requires the game time or day to change. For example, the train that I catch home had some line work done to it recently, taking the line out of use for a couple of months. As a result I had to change the game start time to 30 minutes later. Other times people's schedules have changed with work or other responsibilities resulting in a shift in game night. Over the 2 1/2 years the campaign has been running the game night has changed from Tuesdays to Wednesdays to Thursdays.

Olaf the Stout