So my game was cancelled tonight

[EroGaki]

I'm pretty upset by it. Two people in our group decided that they would rather get wasted at a Cinco de Mayo party than come come to game. Now, this wouldn't bother me very much if not for a couple of things. First, the jerks didn't call ahead and warn anyone that they were going to this party. They just up and decided a few hours before game to go. No call, nothing. Second, WTF are they doing at a Cinco de Mayo party tonight?! I could have swore that May 5th was almost a week ago!!

So now here I sit, bored. Nothing to do because these jerks decided to screw the rest of the group up. I've been looking forward to our game all week, and now it's not happening. Gah!!

 

[Volaran]

Hey there EroGaki.

I'm lucky enough to be involved in several games right now, so a single one being cancelled doesn't bother me much. However, I certainly understand where you're coming from.

An old friend who has been in many of my gaming groups had a bad habit of just not showing up for gaming without any warning, or only calling us after everyone had arrived, ready to go. His reasons ranged from valid (unexpectedly having to take care of his kids due to his wife working) to invalid (forgetting that it was game day, the same day we had been gaming every week for more than a year, and turning the phone off, and taking a nap). Directly addressing the issue would usually clear up the problem, but not for any longer than a two-week period.

Eventually, the group took to phoning him several times a week, the day before game day and several hours ahead of time, just to make sure everything was cool. Eventually I figure he started to get the message, as child-care seems to be the only reason he has to miss out these days, and we usually know well in advance.

Here's hoping this doesn't happen to you very often.

 

[Wik]

You know, if some friends decide that they'd rather go to a fun party instead of gaming on a saturday night.... so what?

yeah, it kind of sucks that your plans get screwed over. But unless this happens every week, I'd cut them some slack. I've had games cancelled when half of the players called and said they had a hockey game to go to... and I had to then explain this to the other half (we wound up watching Pulp Fiction). Just this last month, the playoffs have cancelled one game night (my bad... I'm a San Jose sharks fan, and I had to cancel the game when the Sharks were playing that night), and a local hockey game cancelled another.

Life happens, you know? And, personally, a Cinco de Mayo party actually sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

You know, if some friends decide that they'd rather go to a fun party instead of gaming on a saturday night.... so what?

yeah, it kind of sucks that your plans get screwed over. But unless this happens every week, I'd cut them some slack. I've had games cancelled when half of the players called and said they had a hockey game to go to... and I had to then explain this to the other half (we wound up watching Pulp Fiction). Just this last month, the playoffs have cancelled one game night (my bad... I'm a San Jose sharks fan, and I had to cancel the game when the Sharks were playing that night), and a local hockey game cancelled another.

Life happens, you know? And, personally, a Cinco de Mayo party actually sounds like a lot of fun.

Big difference is that your friends called. Having to cancel a game because of other events is fine. But there is no excuse for not calling unless it is an emergency situation.

 

[Wik]

Big difference is that your friends called. Having to cancel a game because of other events is fine. But there is no excuse for not calling unless it is an emergency situation.

Yeah, it can kind of suck when friends don't call. But I've had plenty of players do just that.

Yeah, it sucks, and if it goes on and on and on, you should rightfully be upset (we banned a guy from our group for the rest of the campaign because he was very unreliable like that). However, when it happens once... I dunno.

Different groups take the game differently, eh?

 

[BlueBlackRed]

I used to force the players to let others in the group control their PC's and get half XP.
If the PC died, oh well. You shoulda been there.

Now I just modify the game to work with those who show and no XP.

 

[Woas]

Yeah it's annoying.

Nothing else to do though with the gang that didn't go to the party? One-shot game, Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Halo, a movie, board/card game?

 

[Festivus]

Talisman... great standby for when the D&D game doesn't have sufficient players.

 

[Nifft]

My advice is to set a lethal trap where you expect them to be.

My game is down to three players, but they're good.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Agamon]

If it happens infrequently (read: maybe once a year) then it's not so bad. Stuff happens. But if the same person did that more often with no notice, I'd cut that cancer out really quick (having more players than I need helps).