How Often Do You Actually Play?

[WayneLigon]

All of us are professionals with demanding jobs, but none of us are on swing-shifts or anything like that; we're mostly 8-5 M-F people. With two exceptions, all of us are married. Two have small kids, two have adult kids.

We play once a week and it's unusual that anything interferes with this because of one simple principle: We've all accepted that a commitment to an entertainment activity is of equal importance to any other type of commitment. It's not treated as the thing you do only if you don't have/find anything better to do. It's a plan like any of the other various plans we make during the week, and exists on the same 'level' of priorities as the vast number of other things. You would not allow a spur-of-the-moment thing to disrupt your kid's Sweet Sixteen party, and so we don't have members who suddenly decide it's a good thing to blow off Game Night to go to the movies or get drunk or whatever.

The various husbands/wives/boyfriends/SO's are also on board with this philosophy. They know not to pull plans out of their ass at the last moment; really, anything worth doing is also able to be planned and scheduled at least a week in advance. That anniversary trip? Sure, that's something that you should take off for but at the same time it's not like the anniversary date sneaks up on you at a different day every year. It's right there on the calendar, so you can tell people 'I'm not going to be here in three weeks' rather than call up five minutes before go-time to tell us you're not coming.

On the other hand, none of our members are so anal about such a date that they MUST take off on that exact date. This year, an anniversary date falls on game night this year. The couple is going the next day, so everyone can be happy with the least amount of disruption.

The only thing that trump it are the normal things that trump all other plans -- unexpectedly sick kids is a great example, for the couple that have small kids. We've long since weeded out the people who are too insecure so as to demand that their plans are inviolate and should be made without an eye to this thing that - for most of our members - is the main entertainment they get during a week.

 

[Aeolius]

this thing that - for most of our members - is the main entertainment they get during a week.

You would have lost me as a gamer long ago. I am the father to seven children ages 7 to 17. Four of my kids have special needs and, while we have help with my oldest son for a few hours after school, I am the only one in the house that can lift him for the remainder of the day. Thus for the past 17 years, I have been "on call" for my kids' needs 24/7. As important as exercising my creativity may be, my family comes first.

Granted for the past 16 years I have been running play-by-post games and/or chat-based games online. My wife and older kids know how important Sunday nights are, to me, but if I have to tuck in one of my youngest or help my oldest with his MacBook, I simply get up and do it. Chances are good that my chat-room players didn't even notice my absence. It isn't a perfect solution. I'd like to upgrade to MapTool and Skype one of these years, but many of my players would have trouble with the tech.

Online, I can be picky. I can run my underwater 3.5e World of Greyhawk game on Sunday nights, knowing it isn't everyone's cup of tea but I might find a new player every blue moon. Running such a game offline, in my town of 7,000 folks, would be a disaster. I would have to run the game at my house, of course, and players would have to get over my frequent interruptions to help my wife and kids. I hope all of the players are non-smokers and they'd have to keep the language kid-friendly. A beer or three would not be an issue, so long as it was the right brand - I am in the beer business and cannot have a competitor's product on my property. Granted, if you had pet allergies you'd be right out, as I have a plethora of critters around here.

To top it off, to appease the masses I'd have to run a game that the majority wanted to play. No thanks. I'd run my current game even if none of my players showed up. My NPCs are quite demanding.

I'm glad that those who insist upon running face-to-face games can find the time to do so. I begrudge them nothing. But my online game is just as real, just as valid, and serves the same purpose for me and my players - and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Nebten]

Wow. 5th edition, "how often do you play," "closet gamer" threads all within a year of each other. It looks like TV shows and movies aren't the only ones re-treading old ground this summer. (Am I the only one sick of the new throw-away term "reboot"?)


http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/273394-how-often-do-you-play.html

To answer the question, every 2 or 3 weeks. I'll play PbP games depending if I'm "jonesing" for more gaming action. Right now I'm in just one but I've been in up to 3.