What to do?

[Turanil]

I am a player-most of the time I DM, though...
Lack of commitment by some of the players almost lead to our demise...
I like lower magic, grittier settings (Conan, IK, etc.)...
The person who is the DM now is also the most unreliable-What happens when he doesn't show?

The unreliable DM for Eberron, and yourself as the DM for a Conan like campaign when the unreliable DM doesn't show up.

Right now, I would be trying to search for new players anyway; expanding the group to see if in the future a campaign more to your liking could be run.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

If all else fails, you can game online (via a program like OpenRPG). Lots of people do it, you won't be relegated to finding only people in your area and it's better (in the sense that it's pretty much real time) than PBEM or PBP.

Yeah, it's a little slower as people have to type rather than talk. And, yeah, it's not as much fun as face to face games, but it beats not having a group or having to play a game you don't particularly like.

 

[JoeGKushner]

How long have you been gaming? These seem like fairly simple and self obvious questions. How old are you?

I'm asking because while I don't think this is a troll, it's not really something deep that can be answered by us and as more details grow apparent, it seems that there are other problems in the group.

1. Life's too short to play crappy games. If you're there to socialize and hang out and play, that's cool. However, if you're there for the game, bug out.

2. Life's too short to drive hours to a crappy game. See point # 1.

 

[Piratecat]

You may want to set up a secondary game that plays only when the primary DM flakes out or can't make it. That way you still have your weekly game, AND one of them can be a lower-magic game than Eberron is.

I agree with Umbran; one session isn't enough time to really judge a campaign world, in my opinion. You may want to let your first impressions go and give it a shot.

 

[Dagger75]

I think I know what your talking about

The situation you describe sounds like mine: Everybody but 1 player can play on Sat, Its iffy that everybody can play Sunday. I would stick to Sat. It sucks for the 1 guy but its hard to change 5 other peoples schedules. And hell its the new players causing the problems with the schedule, if you don't want them in your group just tell them

One bad game is really not a good judge for a game but I can see how it could ruin a campaign for you.

Hope that helps.

 

[Rel]

Like others have said, give it a couple more sessions. This will let you do several things:

A) Discover if you were just having an off night and that the setting isn't really that bad.

B) If you still don't like it, you can home in on the particular aspects that you dislike.

C) You can determine how the new players are fitting into the group and how viable the group is going to be long term.


If A turns out that you actually don't mind or even like the setting then you don't have a problem. If B can be identified and minimized (by either you or the GM) then you don't have a problem. If C turns out to be a bad mix of players then you have a problem, but not the one you thought you had.

You need more information and the only way to get it is to go back and play again. With an open mind.

Good luck and try to have fun.

 

[Morpheus]

I think I know what your talking about

The situation you describe sounds like mine: Everybody but 1 player can play on Sat, Its iffy that everybody can play Sunday. I would stick to Sat. It sucks for the 1 guy but its hard to change 5 other peoples schedules. And hell its the new players causing the problems with the schedule, if you don't want them in your group just tell them

One bad game is really not a good judge for a game but I can see how it could ruin a campaign for you.

Hope that helps.

Yeah, the game wasn't that good, but I'll give it another shot. The schedule thing though...It will be tough to leave Shawn out in the cold. The other thing dealing with inconsistency, I'll have a talk with him and if it continues to be a problem, then I'll fix-one way or another.

JoeGKushner-Sometimes it helps to get a different perspective on a situation-that's why I asked on these boards. It has nothing to do with how much experience I have playing D&D (24 years) or how old I am (36). Thanks for nothing...

 

[Krieg]

It isn't a stretch to figure out the options available.

1. Reorganize the group (drop out, find new players etc).
2. Cater to the new players' wishes.
3. Ask the new players to cater to your wishes.

Apparently there are two "cater" issues, scheduling and choice of setting.
Those two issues can be worked out independently (ie ditch Eberron but play on Sunday or vice versa).

You are the only one who can decide what balance of options work. Whatever choices I (or anyone else on this board) would make are ultimately not going to be of any tangible help to you.

JoeGKushner-Sometimes it helps to get a different perspective on a situation-that's why I asked on these boards. It has nothing to do with how much experience I have playing D&D (24 years) or how old I am (36). Thanks for nothing...

But it does have quite a bit to do with maturity.

 

[Atom Again]

I like lower magic, grittier settings (Conan, IK, etc.)...

So what's wrong with magic trains and friendly dinosaurs?

I don't like Eberron either. I think of it as the Harry Potter campaign setting.

 

[DragonLancer]

Why not just say that you don't want to play Eberron, and discuss it with the others in the group.