How long is your sessions, and how do I extend my?

[Decamber]

Hello!

We have a little problem in our group that we can't play for too long at a time. Our meetings usually lasts but seven hours or so, and hearing out from others who plays long-nights and all that, you get a little disappointed at yourself. The reason of the short sessions is because of instant boredom. The "funness" on a session illustrated as a curve, would be a long line of funnyness from start to about seven hours later where it occurs an instant drop to the ground.

What should we do to extend the gaming sessions? We've talked over it a bit and the first thing to try will be to play Star Wars some sessions, and then perhaps Call of Cthulu a little while. We think that trying a completely different role-playing game could give us some positive relief.

Any tips or something like that?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Buttercup]

Dude! You think 7 hours is short? I'm exhausted after DMing a 4 hour session. If I were playing instead of DMing, I might be able to go as long as 5, but why?

Everyone in my game has enough other committments that we're lucky to get a 4 hour session in once a month.

 

[Decamber]

Dude! You think 7 hours is short? I'm exhausted after DMing a 4 hour session. If I were playing instead of DMing, I might be able to go as long as 5, but why?

Everyone in my game has enough other committments that we're lucky to get a 4 hour session in once a month.

Oh, then maybe we should be happy instead?

 

[Darklance]

As a DM...I don't think I could handle more than my normal 5 hour sessions. After that I'm exhausted and usually nearing the end of my prepared material.

 

[Fast Learner]

Our are 4 hours, once a week. Every once in while we do a 7-hour or so on a weekend, but it's very rare (maybe 3 or 4 times a year).

It's true that many years ago we used to pull 10- and 12-hour sessions, but we were young (under 21) and stupid then.

Once we got rid of young, getting over a little bit of stupid made us decide that there was, in fact, more than life to gaming.

 

[Buttercup]

Oh, then maybe we should be happy instead?

Yes, from where I'm sitting.

 

[Piratecat]

Buttercup, he's young and strong, full of youthful exuberance. We used to play for really long stretches, too, but not in fifteen years.

Except for rare occasions, we play from 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm, every other week. I'd like it to be longer, but some is better than none!

 

[John Crichton]

Many years back I'd run massive sessions that would last 12+ hours. A short session would be like 8 hours.

Now, I try to get in about a 4-8 hour session each week. It usually ends up being something like 5-6 hours (sometimes less). I try to save the 7-8 hour sessions for times when something really needs to get done, like before a few week break or at the conclusion (or start) of an adventure.

But on average I'd say our weekly runs go about 5 hours. That's when I DM. For others it's more random.

 

[mattcolville]

People typically start showing up for our Friday sessions at 5pm. We start playing around 7, sometimes earlier, sometimes right at 5. We usually stop around 1am. So that's 6 hours or so.

 

[Zappo]

Whoa!

OK, here's my situation: I can DM for six, seven hours easily, though I think I could resist for ten if I had to. Provided that I have the adventure. Unfortunately, in the past few months I'm having a sort of a block in that I find it very hard to come up with a long story and the details that go with it. So, we usually play once or twice a week for 4 or 5 hours, which is the time I can sustain a half-prepared, half-adlibbed adventure before having to stop to pull the threads together.

As a player, I could go on until I fall dead. Well, almost. I can't remember a single instance when I wanted to stop playing (not even with the worst DMs I gamed with), except at a convention when I had been playing for something like 20-25 hours, breaking only to find a new game (in that instance, I played Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying for 12 hours straight IIRC; with the best DM I've ever had the honor to meet). Even then, I had to stop to get some sleep, not because I was becoming bored. First thing I did after waking up (I slept on a bench at the con) has been eating something, second has been finding a new game. There's something about RPGs, any RPG, that simply switches off my boredom neurones.