How Do You Coordinate Your Gaming Sessions?

[CleverNickName]

My gaming group and I always struggle to coordinate our busy schedules with our gaming schedules. It seems that no matter how many tools I use, no matter how many text messages or emails I send out, there is always at least one person who refuses to participate.

• Joe doesn't check his email. Like, ever. I might as well be sending emails to donotreply@google.com or something. According to the return receipts, he hasn't opened a single gaming-related email since 2014. (He will open other emails from me, just not the ones from the gaming group.) He's quite responsive with tweets and texts, but if you need to send him more than 140 characters, he will ignore it.
• Bob won't update the online calendar--it's not because he can't, or that he forgets, or that he is too busy, he flatly refuses. "I like to keep my free time open, I don't wanna be tied down," he will say, in an infuriating tone of voice that suggests he is wiser and more learn'd than the rest of us, the same tone of voice that is usually reserved for pithy proverbs like "patience is a virtue." He does what's easiest for him.
• Jan is highly allergic to social media. She doesn't have a Facebook account, does not have a Discord login, does not use Twitter or TikTok or Instagram or Pinterest, and she has informed us that she will never, ever, have any social media programs of any kind, god as her witness. "If you want to get ahold of me," she says, "you know my phone number. You remember how to use a phone, right?" She will read and answer emails and texts with frightening efficiency, though: she's always the first to read our D&D correspondence, and always the first to respond.
• And on the other end is Tom, who loves social media so much that he has a new favorite program or app every week. If you send him a text or email, he tries to respond via Facebook. If you connect with him on Facebook and direct him back to the Discord channel, he will send multiple angry texts to Google Chat, MS Teams, and Facebook before he finally remembers "oh yeah, this group uses Discord." He never has the current email chain, or the current calendar.
• Chad and Kevin are diligent at reading and responding to our messages, and keep the calendar updated. No complaints. (They are also former DMs of this wacky group.)

Still, in spite of it all, we've made it work for 14 years and counting. It's not terribly difficult; our gaming sessions are always Friday night at 7:00 p.m. unless 2 or more people can't make it...so there's rarely any surprises. On a good week, it just takes a quick reminder text or email to the group with "Hey, could you guys fill out the calendar? I'm trying to see if we have enough players for Friday's game" and everyone will jump online and fill it out in a few minutes. And I've long gotten used to people not responding to (or even reading) my emails; I treat them more like notes to myself.

But on a bad week? Hoo boy. Tom will yell at Joe for not answering his email, and then Bob will cancel at 6:45 p.m. which causes the whole session to get cancelled, so Jan now has to call the babysitter and tell her not to come, and then Chad will send a blast message to everyone on Discord about basic consideration and being respectful of everyone's time, and Bob will get his feelings hurt and leave the group, and then I'll have to go outside and scream for a few minutes. The neighbors are starting to complain.

So anyway, yeah. I'm curious how everyone else coordinates their gaming sessions. Are there any tools or apps that you use?

 

[payn]

Was email from 07 until the pandemic. Now its all on discord.

 

[Velderan]

Text message group chat has worked for us the past 4-5 years. My previous group used a Google chat group.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Facebook group and Discord group. But, of course, about a third of them have quit Facebook and don't seem to check Discord, other than to periodically get upset that they've missed a bunch of games.

If someone has a perfect solution, don't keep it to yourself.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Jan is highly allergic to social media. She doesn't have a Facebook account, does not have a Discord login, does not use Twitter or TikTok or Instagram or Pinterest, and she has informed us that she will never, ever, have any social media programs of any kind, god as her witness. "If you want to get ahold of me," she says, "you know my phone number. You remember how to use a phone, right?" She will read and answer emails and texts with frightening efficiency, though: she's always the first to read our D&D correspondence, and always the first to respond.

I think Jan is working with a conveniently narrow definition of "social media" and is, in fact, addicted to her specific flavor of it.

 

[johnmarron]

We just have a set day we play each week, but use a group text to let each other know if anyone can't make the session or if we have to cancel.

 

[payn]

My game is locked into Friday evenings. It was every other, but now its every. I get that folks might toss a dart at whatever day works each month, but if you are already in this precarious position, you gotta expect it to be inconsistent.

 

[schneeland]

Was email from 07 until the pandemic. Now its all on discord.

Mostly the same here. New groups typically start on a public server, then move over to a private one, once there's consensus on who will play (and often also for the first session).

Then, for campaigns, coordination mostly means picking a weekday that suits everybody, then. In the past few years, the default has been to play every other week.
For shorter adventures, coordination might be a bit more involved (since online sessions tend to be shorter, we often need two or three dates), so Doodle (or something similar) might be used.

 

[Lanefan]

Other 1: pre-scheduling during the previous session, as in not ending one session before nailing down when we're playing next
Other 2: word of mouth, i.e. actually talking to each other in person (much less common these days than when we were all in university but it still happens now and then)

Email if something changes or if someone can't make it.

 

[Richards]

We nave two campaigns in two different gaming sessions: a weekly Wednesday evening session and an "every other Saturday" afternoon session. So at the end of every session we discuss when our next session will be, in case there's something that might interrupt our usual rotation. And I work with one of our players, so I see him every weekday in any case, so if anything comes up we can coordinate with each other and then inform our respective families that night after work.

Johnathan