Player canceling late

[Engilbrand]

I agree with the idea of removing him from the game. He doesn't have the time for gaming. Life's busy, he should take care of it. If he's playing Everquest instead of D&D, that's just immoral. I've never booted a player, and I've never been booted, but I've been in games where we've unanimously booted players. Attendance is one of those big things.
I'm a teacher. I can handle creepy people, be they students or gamers. Doesn't matter. What annoys me is when people don't show up. If there isn't a really good reason, then you have an excuse and that's not good for whatever's going on. If someone is doing poorly I talk to them in class. Here are examples of conversations:

Me: Where's your homework?
Student: I didn't do it.
Me: Why?
Student: I was beating the water level in one of the older Mario games.

or

Me: Where's your homework?
Student: I didn't do it.
Me: Why?
Student: I was working/practicing/doing other homework?
Me: Quit your job/the team. School's more important. (If they were doing other work, I laugh at the excuse.)

I have no sympathy for lame excuses. "There was an emergency." Ok. Perfectly fine. The rest of it just sounds like this guy's a jerk. I'm sticking with drop him.

 

[boerngrim]

Hi
I don't think its unreasonable to ask him to bow out of the game, even just temporarily.
Thanks.

 

[sniffles]

I have a friend who knew that his family issues might prevent him from attending a game regularly, and he intentionally created a character who could be run as an NPC in the player's absence. I wish that more players were as considerate.

Life interferes sometimes, as much as we dislike it. But common courtesy (which isn't so common these days) would suggest that if a person can't make a social commitment, they should let the others involved know as soon as possible. And explaining the reason behind the cancellation will often go a long way toward smoothing any ruffled feathers. People are usually pretty forgiving if it's a good reason.

Unfortunately it sounds like the player in question doesn't realize this. He may have legitimate reasons for his absences, but his failure to notify you in a timely manner and give those reasons is causing hard feelings.

If he's not a close friend (not necessarily just of yours, but of anyone in the group), you might be better off booting him from the group. But if he is a friend, try to work something out, such as letting his character become an NPC when he's not available.

 

[Whimsical]

Players who don't think it's important to make game on time should game with other gamers who believe the same.

 

[Phlebas]

I deal with this in a different way. I set a parameter up, some rules that the players must follow.

This system works for me, because I give out an experience report to each player at the start of each game session.

First, I set a quorum up for play. If I have 3 players, we need 2 people to be there to play; 4 players, we need 2 people; 5 we need 3; 6/3-4; 7/4... you get the idea. I never want anyone to have to cover more than two characters if I can help it.

I do something similar - i'll cover for one player absence but not 2 (unless given some decent notice so i can adjust plot / game). I've only cancelled games on the night due to this a couple of times, but its been fairer on the players than watching me trying deperately to re-write plot lines on the fly.

Second, I instill a contact clause if you are going to be late. It is the player's responsibility to contact me. Email is fine if it is early enough, but calls are better. If you show more than one hour late, you get a penalty (see below).

this would be the dealbreaker for me. I have a mobile, everyone in the group has one, at the very worse case you can always text sometime. someone who didn't let me know they weren't coming without a very good excuse would not be invited back as you can't keep the group hanging around too long. Same if you're going to be late (unless you pre-warn that there's a risk) so i can keep the other players going

Third, if you miss the game entirely, or are more than one hour late, you get a penalty which I call "Quiet Mode." Quiet Mode essentially means that you get a 20% penalty on gaining experience for the game. That amount is what I figure you get for just running your own character. If you aren't there, you don't get the bonus.
........

I keep it simpler - no show, then no XP. No exceptions.
after 2.5 years of bi-weekly adventures there's less than 10000 xp (and 1 level) between highest / lowest PC

(I know it culd be considered controversial - ever since i posted a few months back on this topic - but i haven't had any complaints from my players, especially as i will do occasional filler adventures if a player has had to miss several sessions due to work / family / holiday but YMMV)