When to Call it Quits

[Blue_Kryptonite]

I started gaming in the late 70s, and haven't left off yet. I was fortunate enough to marry a woman who loves the game as much as I do, and we have kids who play, too. They were always present, even as infants.

This may not work for some people. My group is my friends. If my kids bother you, you're not really a good friend, are you? As they got older and gained the verbal skills needed, they were included.

Again, this may not work for some people. The kind of person/DM I am, my games are PG-13 in all content. Always have been.

We have no time to play face to face. However, I do run our games online, over message boards, and being a family of 4 in a resturaunt discussing the game is endlessly amusing. Espescially watching the waitresses react.

It can work, you can game. The thing is, in my case, gaming is, in large measure, Who I Am. Its a lifestyle. And I will be slinging dice in the home the day before they pull me out for my autopsy.

 

[Chaldfont]

The hard part about infrequent games is that you have to schedule each game. My group had this problem a couple of years ago, when one of our players lived 2 hours away. We would try to play every two weeks, on the weekend, for 6-8 hours. It usually worked out to once a month and less in the summer and over the holidays.

Now we play once a week, during the week for 4 hours. Same time, same day, same place. Everyone can plan around the game. We still have to cancel every once in a while and sometimes someone can't make it, but it works out very well. We've been doing this for about a year now. All of us have jobs. Some of us have kids. But we just make the time.

Playing once a week also keeps the campaign going. Everyone remembers what we did the previous week and we keep that momentum going. In my experience, if you miss more than two games in a row, your campaign is probably done.

 

[spectre72]

We play every third Sunday from 1 PM till 8 PM, like clockwork.

The set schedule gives everyone plenty of warning about when we play, and almost everyone makes most sessions.

Any characters of players who are not there are NPC's for the session and gain 1/2 XP.

We have about 6 players right now in the session.

Or bigger problem has been finding someplace to play since one of our players is in a wheelchair.

Finding someplace that is handicapped accessible in Vermont is quite a challenge.

Scott

 

[nopantsyet]

We're "bi-weekly or so." Everybody understands that everybody's going to miss sessions, sometimes several in a row. I try to keep the group populated enough so we can reliably get together regardless of absences.

I know the Real Life (tm) story. I'm taking on more in my career, my wife's writing her PhD, and we've got two kids. But for me, gaming is something I consciously make time for. I spend time reading, worldbuilding, preparing for my game, and a regular stop at ENWorld. It's not a lot, but it's important time.

I've taken hiatuses (hiati?) but I'm always a gamer.

 

[Hanuman]

Damn it!!!!
Never give up never surrender!!!!

Funny how people find time for Golf games or Football but somehow D&D is always labeled as a geeky kids game that can take the backseat to everything else.

Hang in there! If it's important people will find the time.

 

[Liquidsabre]

Dagnabbit, if I'm not running a game in some geriatric old folks home taking my false teeth and flinging them down onto the coffee table in a fit of excitement, struggling to rise from my easy-chair, as I describe the size of a dragon's bite on one of the hapless player's minatures only to clutch my chest suddenly and in a final gasp whisper "Roll initiative monkey boy..." I'll eat my dice!!

Yea, I agree with the sentiment that gaming is without a doubt a lifestyle all its own and that I subscribe to this lifestyle with furor. I can't imagine ever *not* gaming egads! What I *do* understand is the constraints on free time and the organization of one's fellows for gaming goodness. Never despair on these two points however as there is never too much life that could get in the way for a gamer being the geek that he/she inescapably is! Such things can and will be shuffled, whether it be gaming friends or gaming times, always will there be bright and shining faces at the table and wonderful gaming experiences ahead! Keep the faith.

Game on.

-Brett