Boy, talk about a flashback. It wasn't long ago that post could have been mine, Shadowslayer.
After the best game group I had ever had to that point broke up (a very long story, one not worth going into here), I spent more than six years trying to find another group. I had moved to a different area of the country, one that, despite its population, seemed to harbor a mysterious dearth of gamers. I looked everywhere, it seemed, in the local area, but without success. The closest FLGS I found (if you could call it local) was over 40 miles away, and notices left on the bulletin board went unanswered. I tried hitting up my brothers (all three of them had RP'd before) for a game occasionally, but found little enthusiasm there. My wife, as a gaming spouse, is one of those "I get what you see in it, but it's not for me" types, so trying to tap her or (after a couple of tried) her pool of friends was out.
Anyway, long story short(er), I can understand Shadowslayer's position perfectly. Even after several years, I was still buying gaming material and enjoying it, so it wasn't like I had left the hobby, but I desperately missed the social aspect of a gaming group, where you can groan together over a natural 1, pore over the map together to figure where in blazes that secret door is that you know is there, and actually hear the DM describe some choice bit of scenery that's been worked on. Those are things that CRPG's, online RPG's, PBP, PBM, and PBeM games just can't reliably replicate. It's also one of the reasons that, despite the doomsayers, I don't think tabletop RP'ing will ever truly die out.
In my case, my gaming group drought ended with a lucky lightning strike. I was changing careers, and beginning my student teaching for a secondary teaching credential. My Master Teacher, of all people, recognized me as a gamer from various discussions we had, and introduced me to her husband, also a gamer. After meeting him, it turned out I was the catalyst for putting back together his old college/military gaming group, which he had been looking to do for some time. For the last couple of years, we get together once/twice a month (about as often as possible when one is trying to coordinate the schedules of six working adults, some with families and two with night jobs), and all is once again right with the world.
I'm afraid that I don't have much help to offer, Shadowslayer, outside of some very heartfelt commiseration. In my case, after all of the effort, finding another game group came down to a stroke of luck. But if it helps at all, as you can see from this thread, you are certainly not alone.
Good luck in your search.
