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XP for Absent Players
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<blockquote data-quote="Kinematics" data-source="post: 7792640" data-attributes="member: 6932123"><p>There is definitely a difference between unavoidable absence and "I don't feel like it today" absences. Those are two entirely different issues.</p><p></p><p>I have encountered both in my time. Unavoidable absences are far more common. Things like being called in because someone at work was sick, or swapping shifts so that you can get the vacation days you want next month. Family events, such as taking children to scout meetings, family deaths, family visits, etc. Or just plain old being sick. With just a half dozen people at the table, you're going to encounter these things numerous times per year. You can't grant XP to "incentivize" people to not get sick.</p><p></p><p>On the other hand, there are those who join the game, play a bit, then decide that they're not feeling up for gaming today, and then next week, and then drop out, and then complain that you haven't invited them to the next game you start up. They casually miss games because 'reasons'. In that case, XP is (usually) not your solution, because the problem runs deeper than game attendance.</p><p></p><p>The only time I've found that rewarding attendance is relevant is in something like an MMO, where you need to organize people to show up to events on a regular basis even if they don't have any personal stake, or keep attending after they've gotten what they came for. It's the subtle shift from playing a game to working a job. It's that thing that you are given to get you to keep showing up even when you don't really want to. And if that's how you're treating your D&D game, I don't want to be a part of it.</p><p></p><p>So I feel that the idea that XP be used as an incentive for attendance is wrong from numerous perspectives. Either it's not actually an incentive, or it's an incentive for the wrong purpose. </p><p></p><p>I will note, though, that this is a different issue than the question of standard XP vs milestone advancement in game. There are different play styles that might prefer one or the other. However the choice should be made for in-game reasons, not out-of-game reasons (ie: reward/punish attendance). </p><p></p><p>Of course, "should" doesn't mean "must", either. I'm aware of highly unreliable players that you're still trying to get to be part of the game, that may require unusual design decisions to accommodate. Players who spend too much time on the phone, or constantly interrupt the game to tell some "amusing" story, or otherwise just don't want to contribute (perhaps only being interested in combat, for example). Finding solutions for that type of thing isn't always easy, and perhaps an XP punishment system is useful to you. However I'd consider those specialty cases, and not examples for a general rule.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kinematics, post: 7792640, member: 6932123"] There is definitely a difference between unavoidable absence and "I don't feel like it today" absences. Those are two entirely different issues. I have encountered both in my time. Unavoidable absences are far more common. Things like being called in because someone at work was sick, or swapping shifts so that you can get the vacation days you want next month. Family events, such as taking children to scout meetings, family deaths, family visits, etc. Or just plain old being sick. With just a half dozen people at the table, you're going to encounter these things numerous times per year. You can't grant XP to "incentivize" people to not get sick. On the other hand, there are those who join the game, play a bit, then decide that they're not feeling up for gaming today, and then next week, and then drop out, and then complain that you haven't invited them to the next game you start up. They casually miss games because 'reasons'. In that case, XP is (usually) not your solution, because the problem runs deeper than game attendance. The only time I've found that rewarding attendance is relevant is in something like an MMO, where you need to organize people to show up to events on a regular basis even if they don't have any personal stake, or keep attending after they've gotten what they came for. It's the subtle shift from playing a game to working a job. It's that thing that you are given to get you to keep showing up even when you don't really want to. And if that's how you're treating your D&D game, I don't want to be a part of it. So I feel that the idea that XP be used as an incentive for attendance is wrong from numerous perspectives. Either it's not actually an incentive, or it's an incentive for the wrong purpose. I will note, though, that this is a different issue than the question of standard XP vs milestone advancement in game. There are different play styles that might prefer one or the other. However the choice should be made for in-game reasons, not out-of-game reasons (ie: reward/punish attendance). Of course, "should" doesn't mean "must", either. I'm aware of highly unreliable players that you're still trying to get to be part of the game, that may require unusual design decisions to accommodate. Players who spend too much time on the phone, or constantly interrupt the game to tell some "amusing" story, or otherwise just don't want to contribute (perhaps only being interested in combat, for example). Finding solutions for that type of thing isn't always easy, and perhaps an XP punishment system is useful to you. However I'd consider those specialty cases, and not examples for a general rule. [/QUOTE]
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