What is the ideal session length

[Nightchilde-2]

How I wish for those old-time long sessions....

However, kids, family etc. have shortened me to about 5 hours, IF IF IF everyone gets there on time, etc.

Yeah, so we usually get about 4 hours' playtime in.

 

[Qualidar]

That describes my group almost exactly. In our 30's/early 40's with responsibilities. We play 7-11 on Monday nights, as that's the only night we all have free.

That's us too. Early/mid 30s, 8:30-12 on Wednesday nights.

~Qualidar~

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

That describes my group almost exactly. In our 30's/early 40's with responsibilities. We play 7-11 on Monday nights, as that's the only night we all have free.

Sounds alot like us. Monday nights, 6:30-10:30, most of us married, all of us working.

I also play in a Wednesday night game that runs 6:30 to 9:30, but thats an unusual group in that 2 of us are in our 30s, 2 in their 20s, and 2 teenagers. so between work and school nights, we keep that a short game.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

For a weeknight game, we like to play from 7:00 to 11:00, 11:30, so a 4-4.5 hour session. For a weekend game, usually on friday night, we play from 7:00 to 2:00, 2:30, so about a 7-7.5 hour session. For me, the ideal session length is about 6 hours, but I very well know that it's not feasible during the week.

Of course, sometimes a session is cut short when a TPK happens...

AR

 

[ioun_stone]

Playing time, good times...

Back in the day, it used to be a module on the weekend, a good 12-24 hours of mayhem over two or three days. But time wears on, and with responsibilities I'm down to 5-ish hours once a week, although once a month I go to a local gaming store and play/paint for about 12 hours on the occassional Saturday.

 

[Mercule]

Tuesday nights 7-10:30 pm is the reality. Everyone is married or engaged, and I've got kids.

My preference would be to play on the weekend for 5-6 hours, maybe a bit longer. Of course, since I'm DM, I'd either have to put in a lot more work than I currently have the time for (I can barely keep up with a 3 hr/wk gig) or do a lot more winging of things.

 

[IronWolf]

Currently playing in a Monday night game that runs from 6pm to 9pm to 9:30pm. Weeknights work best due to family committments.

While the 3 to 3.5 hours is decent I would prefer to be in the 4 hour range, maybe from 6pm or 7pm to 10pm to 11pm. A good reliable game with those hours would suit me rather well.

 

[DragonLancer]

I find 4-5 hours is best.

 

[eris404]

If I could swing it, I'd love to play during the week - I think a Friday night game like our group used to do would be great. But since I have trouble staying awake past 10 and our players come from or work in so many different parts of the city and suburbs, it isn't a great option. So we tend to play Saturday afternoons, usually for at least 5 hours. We're a chatty bunch (and I tend to be horribly tardy) so we usually need an hour at least to get started. Anything less than 5 hours usually means that we get to do very little gaming.

 

[painandgreed]

I'm all about the weekend, start around noon with lunch in hand and play till 10 to 12 with a break for dinner around 6.