What to do now?

[Drawmack]

Me and my fiancee finally decided enough was enough with not gaming and now I run a one player game for her. It's our weekly night together.

 

[bento]

Like most folks here I can sympathize. I game with a university student group (I was their sponsor last year) and sometimes a few months go by without a group I can regularly count on due to class conflicts. We switch to shorter games and even board games. It gets frustrating because we have an on-going campaign, but we just can't find the time to meet.

Maybe a stint of board games might fit the bill. There are a bunch of good ones with playtime of 1 to 3 hours. Its a lot easier to fit that in. Go to boardgamegeek.com and find something you like.

This would be my suggestion as well. Board games attract a wider audience than RPGs, and you might be able to find a group that plays at either a local library or bookstore. You might also look into games that you can play solo, like Runebound. Also I find that my wife will play a board game (and now my kids) more than they would want to play D&D.

You might also find neighbors who would be interested in a game night once in a while. Just be flexible to the possiblities of playing Spinners or cards!

Good luck!

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Scheduling conflicts suck. I run a game with 5 players once a fortnight on a Wednesday night. I don't think that we've ever played 3 sessions in a row without having to reschedule due to work, someone being out of town, uni exams or assignments. On the plus side, playing fortnightly means that I can move sessions back or forward a week without disrupting the schedule. Apart from shifting session dates by a week we have only missed 1 session in the 7-8 months that we have been playing.

My advice would be to play on weeknights. Sure, you can't get as much done since time is limited but some play is better than none. Find a night that works best for everyone and make sure that everyone tries to keep that night free. I found that the only way I could get a weeknight game started was to DM it myself. As the DM it gives you a bit more sway over the whens and wheres since without you the game cant go ahead.

The other advice is to be persistent. It took me about a month before anyone responded to the notice that I put up in my FLGS. However I got another response in the same week and we started gaming a week or so after that. As they say, when it rains it pours.

Good luck with it Calico Jack.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Treebore]

OK, my scenario is not only do I have 3 kids, a wife who is disabled that she has to spend most of her days in bed ( something similiar to severe congestive heart failure), and we rescue horses and goats (Its really my wife who does this, I just get to do all the work, not that I am truly complaining, we have saved some darn great horses from ugly deaths, want any?) Plus I myself am a 100% disabled veteran.

So other than D&D (actually Castles and Crusades) as great family time with my wife and our three kids, I would have to drive to Sierra Vista, which is an hour away, or Tucson, which is over 90 minutes away, to get to the games I have found out about.

I might be willing to do that if I ever buy a car that gets around 30 MPG. 15 MPG is just too much on top of too much time driving round trip.

 

[pogre]

Here is the question, I've been gaming for so long, what do I do now? I'd prefer not to shut myself inside my house and play nothing but console/computer games. What do most gamers take up for a hobby when it is time to put the dice away?

Nothing wrong with taking a break or even stopping altogether. Have you thought about joining a sports league - bowling, softball, volleyball, or whatever? Or perhaps you need to get a poker game going?

I do a lot of stuff after the kids are in bed - guys don't usually mind starting a poker game after 8 PM.

An outlet for me was to do some miniature gaming when I took a break from RPGs. It's still gaming, but I painted and prepared figures on my own and then played maybe once a month.

I have a great RPG group I really enjoy right now, but I totally understand where you are coming from.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Man, that is rough. I've been in that situation myself a couple of times. Maybe you can post your own ad, so this way you can set the terms of meeting?

Yeah I did that but the group got together and decided that they wanted to change the schedule and faulted me for not being flexible.
Weeknights are a no go for me as well. I have to get up at 0430 in the morning every weekday to beat the traffic on my commute. By the time my wife and I feed the baby, bathe him, put him to bed, and finally have our own dinner it is bedtime for me as well.

Tivo is my friend... it seems that all I do anymore is watch Heroes and Supernatural.

 

[Treebore]

You could join the Monday and Thursday night chat game I am part of. The DM lives in Florida and the game goes (your time) 8 PM to 11 PM. The only problem I see for you is that it is Castles and Crusades, so you would have to be willing to play a simpler game.

I also play in another one on Sundays, 2 to 5 your time.

I much prefer chat over PbP, plus we are looking to utilize teamspeak soon.

 

[IcyCool]

Here is the question, I've been gaming for so long, what do I do now?

Join the grognards, and start wargaming. You occupy most of your free time assembling and painting models and creating strategies, and you occaisionally get enough time to set aside to play a game with someone. Just be careful with your kids. Some mini's have small parts that could choke them, and all multipart minis are doomed in the hands of children (my poor old all metal Carnifex, which I though could never come apart, met is match with Grabtar the Babe-arian). So, you'll also spend some of your free time fixing damaged minis.

It's a labor of love, you see.

Wargames I've had fun with and can recommend:
Warhammer and Warhammer 40k (easiest to find opponents for me)
Warmachine
Flames of War (Excellent WWII wargame)

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Join the grognards, and start wargaming. You occupy most of your free time assembling and painting models and creating strategies, and you occaisionally get enough time to set aside to play a game with someone. Just be careful with your kids. Some mini's have small parts that could choke them, and all multipart minis are doomed in the hands of children (my poor old all metal Carnifex, which I though could never come apart, met is match with Grabtar the Babe-arian). So, you'll also spend some of your free time fixing damaged minis.

It's a labor of love, you see.

Wargames I've had fun with and can recommend:
Warhammer and Warhammer 40k (easiest to find opponents for me)
Warmachine
Flames of War (Excellent WWII wargame)

I played WH40K waaaaay back in the day (Rogue Trader) and I had a lot of fun with it (which is why my fave computer game right now is Dawn of War: Dark Crusade). I could get back into it though I'd want to find a group of adults in the 30+ age range like myself.

I'll think about it. I'd want to find a group I get along with first before committing the money involved in a WH40K force.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

You could join the Monday and Thursday night chat game I am part of. The DM lives in Florida and the game goes (your time) 8 PM to 11 PM. The only problem I see for you is that it is Castles and Crusades, so you would have to be willing to play a simpler game.

I also play in another one on Sundays, 2 to 5 your time.

I much prefer chat over PbP, plus we are looking to utilize teamspeak soon.

If the game was on Friday evening I'd be up for it (I've played C&C). I get up at 4:30 am on weekdays so the Monday and Thursday night games wouldn't work. Sundays I'm out with my wife and my boy doing family stuff so that wouldn't work.