When to Call it Quits
- Thread starter Pandion
- Start date
Lord Zardoz
Explorer
Its all about intrest and schedules
Most people who get into D&D do so when they are in highschool, or University / College. This is a point in peoples lives when they are chronically broke, and have ample spare time. This translates in to many opportunities to game.
Once poeple have jobs, you see a bit of a split. There are those who will game because they find it to be an excellent use of their time. And there are those who will game when they lack the means to do something else. The people who fall into the 2nd category are still good people and good gamers, they just have other things that they can do that they enjoy more. They tend to be likely to opt out of a game for other plans. As an aside, there are aparantly alot of 'military' gaming groups. I assume that spare time comes up for these people, but they cannot otherwise go off base.
Once people have families, they end up with more obligations on their time. Adult gamers tend to have to deal with such troublesome things as thier wives and children. These people, if they enjoy gaming, are typically able to make time to play. It requires effort, but they can do it. But they cannot always guarantee that time on a regular schedule. Stuff comes up. And anyone who is married <which I am not> probably can recall instances where the spouse committed you to plans in your absence. Often, you would agree to the obligation if you had thought of it, or were asked instead of your spouse. These are the gamers who will say that they cannot free up the block of time.
But, while any individual can probably guarantee a 4 to 7 hour block of time to play D&D, it is very difficult to get to adult gamers to free up the same block of time, unless they are husband / wife.
Now, try to get a group of 5 adults with wives and / or children who can consistently free up a 4 to 7 hour block of time on even a weekly basis. No one wants to game on a night when they work the next day, unless the game is likely to stay capped at 4 hours. And weekends are often spoken for by their families.
This is why I only run my game once every 2 weeks, and on a Thursday. Its not that I think its the best gaming situation, but its one that I can guarantee with some consistency. And even that gets cancelled more often then I would like it to.
But, I am a gamer, and I game when I can. And while I cannot do D&D as often as I like, I do get to do it. And I have had success recently with getting co-workers to play Illuminatti with some frequency. The game can be run on short notice, and does not require very one intrested to be present at the same time for every game.
END COMMUNICATION
Most people who get into D&D do so when they are in highschool, or University / College. This is a point in peoples lives when they are chronically broke, and have ample spare time. This translates in to many opportunities to game.
Once poeple have jobs, you see a bit of a split. There are those who will game because they find it to be an excellent use of their time. And there are those who will game when they lack the means to do something else. The people who fall into the 2nd category are still good people and good gamers, they just have other things that they can do that they enjoy more. They tend to be likely to opt out of a game for other plans. As an aside, there are aparantly alot of 'military' gaming groups. I assume that spare time comes up for these people, but they cannot otherwise go off base.
Once people have families, they end up with more obligations on their time. Adult gamers tend to have to deal with such troublesome things as thier wives and children. These people, if they enjoy gaming, are typically able to make time to play. It requires effort, but they can do it. But they cannot always guarantee that time on a regular schedule. Stuff comes up. And anyone who is married <which I am not> probably can recall instances where the spouse committed you to plans in your absence. Often, you would agree to the obligation if you had thought of it, or were asked instead of your spouse. These are the gamers who will say that they cannot free up the block of time.
But, while any individual can probably guarantee a 4 to 7 hour block of time to play D&D, it is very difficult to get to adult gamers to free up the same block of time, unless they are husband / wife.
Now, try to get a group of 5 adults with wives and / or children who can consistently free up a 4 to 7 hour block of time on even a weekly basis. No one wants to game on a night when they work the next day, unless the game is likely to stay capped at 4 hours. And weekends are often spoken for by their families.
This is why I only run my game once every 2 weeks, and on a Thursday. Its not that I think its the best gaming situation, but its one that I can guarantee with some consistency. And even that gets cancelled more often then I would like it to.
But, I am a gamer, and I game when I can. And while I cannot do D&D as often as I like, I do get to do it. And I have had success recently with getting co-workers to play Illuminatti with some frequency. The game can be run on short notice, and does not require very one intrested to be present at the same time for every game.
END COMMUNICATION
Tetsubo
First Post
My latest campaign "died" about a month ago. I was forced to move to 2nd shift at my job. Which meant no more free Friday nights. The players just couldn't do a Saturday or Sunday game. I feel your pain.
I plan to look for new players in the Spring. My only real problem is gaming space. My apartment is just very small. Losing the old campaign meant losing some prime gaming space. *sigh* I'll think of something...
I plan to look for new players in the Spring. My only real problem is gaming space. My apartment is just very small. Losing the old campaign meant losing some prime gaming space. *sigh* I'll think of something...
JoeGKushner
Adventurer
I've been in a couple of groups where this has happened.
One of my friends is a great guy, good job, married, one child. He limits himself to playing once every two weeks, which is okay but... half the people don't make it that 2/month thing so when they miss a session, it's missing a month, and we only played for like three hours a session. I told the dude that if he wants to start playing board games or anything, give me a buzz, but I'm not wasting my time on it.
Another game was called off due to one guy working OT for the Holidays and another getting a second job.
Another game I've seen, but not been in, was because the GM sucked. Everyone knew it but wanted a game to play and eventually, they realized, that, hey, this game sucks, so they went on to play other games.
I've been pretty lucky in that most of my time has been spent with people I usually get along with. The new group I'm in has kindly taken me in and so far I've had a few good adventures with them and hope to continue the trend!
One of my friends is a great guy, good job, married, one child. He limits himself to playing once every two weeks, which is okay but... half the people don't make it that 2/month thing so when they miss a session, it's missing a month, and we only played for like three hours a session. I told the dude that if he wants to start playing board games or anything, give me a buzz, but I'm not wasting my time on it.
Another game was called off due to one guy working OT for the Holidays and another getting a second job.
Another game I've seen, but not been in, was because the GM sucked. Everyone knew it but wanted a game to play and eventually, they realized, that, hey, this game sucks, so they went on to play other games.
I've been pretty lucky in that most of my time has been spent with people I usually get along with. The new group I'm in has kindly taken me in and so far I've had a few good adventures with them and hope to continue the trend!
Thornir Alekeg
Albatross!
I think the only time to call it quits with a group is when people are no longer having fun. My large group gets together once every six weeks, and now sometimes much more than that. We play for about six to eight hours in a session. We have a lot of difficulty coordinating schedules which is why there is so much time between sessions. Do we wish we could play more often? Sure. Do we no longer enjoy playing because we can't play more often? Nope, so we keep going. Now admittedly the three of us in the group who are a little more into gaming than the rest have formed a second smaller group, but that does not mean we no longer want to play in the larger group, we just want to play a little more often.
robberbaron
First Post
I will game whenever I can, for as long as I can (all day-every day would be good).
Unfortunately, due to a couple of our group choosing to take every other Sunday "off" we all take every other Sunday "off" (not a criticism - kids and college work need time set aside for them).
We are, however, trying to get a regular LAN game of something together for the alternate weeks. Doesn't always work but, jeez, these are my friends (most of whom I've know for 20-25 years) and I want to see them as often as I can. At least we'll be playing something.
Actually, one of them has bought the "World's Largest Dungeon", so I expect we'll play that.
Over the years our group has gone from a regular 10-14, down to GM + 2 for a few games, and has now stabilised back at GM + 4/5.
If most of them decided to call it a day then I guess we would break it up, but several of us would just find other people to play with.
The way it appears to me is that if the games are good enough, people will make time to play them. If they are not, they will find RL things to do instead.
Unfortunately, due to a couple of our group choosing to take every other Sunday "off" we all take every other Sunday "off" (not a criticism - kids and college work need time set aside for them).
We are, however, trying to get a regular LAN game of something together for the alternate weeks. Doesn't always work but, jeez, these are my friends (most of whom I've know for 20-25 years) and I want to see them as often as I can. At least we'll be playing something.
Actually, one of them has bought the "World's Largest Dungeon", so I expect we'll play that.
Over the years our group has gone from a regular 10-14, down to GM + 2 for a few games, and has now stabilised back at GM + 4/5.
If most of them decided to call it a day then I guess we would break it up, but several of us would just find other people to play with.
The way it appears to me is that if the games are good enough, people will make time to play them. If they are not, they will find RL things to do instead.
TheYeti1775
Adventurer
Bi-weekly works good with my group
Currently the Heroes of Marchford (See Story Hour) are usually only every two weeks on Wednesday Nights, about 4-5 each session.
We are doing great, all of us are married with kids(or they are on the way) and we all work out are time together.
Currently the Heroes of Marchford (See Story Hour) are usually only every two weeks on Wednesday Nights, about 4-5 each session.
We are doing great, all of us are married with kids(or they are on the way) and we all work out are time together.
Still playing a couple of times a month
I aim to DM my campaign about once a month. We usually send round a calendar at the start of the month with all Friday and Saturday nights listed and people fill in the dates they are NOT available. Then I pick out one or two nights when everyone is free and we play on those nights. Some of my players are always available, but most of them and myself usually have some other commitments, so even with this level of organisation we sometimes have to play one player short.
To get round the long breaks between sessions, I tend to run bite-sized scenarios that I try to fit into a single evening's play. That seems to help but then you do end up with a rather episodic feel to your campaign. Fortunately, my players don't seem to mind although I did have one player drop out because he felt we weren't committed enough to roleplaying. Hell, I'd like to play more, but at least I am playing!
I also play in another group on a Sunday night, so I can often get in two sessions a month, one DMing and one playing. Woot!
Bigwilly
I aim to DM my campaign about once a month. We usually send round a calendar at the start of the month with all Friday and Saturday nights listed and people fill in the dates they are NOT available. Then I pick out one or two nights when everyone is free and we play on those nights. Some of my players are always available, but most of them and myself usually have some other commitments, so even with this level of organisation we sometimes have to play one player short.
To get round the long breaks between sessions, I tend to run bite-sized scenarios that I try to fit into a single evening's play. That seems to help but then you do end up with a rather episodic feel to your campaign. Fortunately, my players don't seem to mind although I did have one player drop out because he felt we weren't committed enough to roleplaying. Hell, I'd like to play more, but at least I am playing!
I also play in another group on a Sunday night, so I can often get in two sessions a month, one DMing and one playing. Woot!
Bigwilly
The Other Librarian
First Post
Maybe the schedule conflicted groups should consider running one-shots. They allow a bit more flexibility in who must show up, and you can take turns with GMing, as well as different rules, worlds etc.
