Yet another "I just got kicked out of my group" thread

[Ace]

OK, I didn't really get kicked out; I just wanted to jump on the fad before it was passe.

However, what does happen frequently to me, which is frustrating, is that my groups can't seem to get a campaign together which lasts. I recently (three years ago, now) moved about 1400 miles to a place where I knew only one guy (who doesn't game, by the way) so I had to go on a hunt for a gaming group. I found one through a Wizards of the Coast store. Pretty good group, but due to high turnover issues and the distances involved in coming from all over Metro Detroit and Windsor, we haven't seem to have had a long-running campaign at all. I found another group, closer to home and with friends I already had (who I didn't know previously were gamers), but we end up playing xbox, Heroclix, or just hanging around talking and eating or whatever more often than we game, and when we do game, it's one shots, or abortive campaigns that only run for a few sessions.

Have others of you had this same problem?

All of the time. Are solution was a little wierd though, we no longer play D20.

Instead we play L5r (well they do I am not in the game) and Buffy (which I run) these games seem to work for us

D&D otoh just doesn't work with this group for some reason

 

[Pants]

Bursts out laughing, spitting out yogurt all over the place.

You must spend quite a lot on yogurt

 

[Taloras]

The current group im in started a year ago this month. 5 guys, including me. 1 of those guys has since left the group, and we have gained 3 others. Havent managed to keep a campaign running for more than 6 months though. we got to 12th level in one, and it fell apart when john left. hopefully, the current one will last longer.

 

[Desdichado]

That's the other problem we're about to face -- one of the main guys in the group, who's done most of the consistent DMing, is moving for six months out of state. Then he's back. That alone makes it difficult to envision a steady state gaming environment for at least six months.

 

[buzz]

That's the other problem we're about to face -- one of the main guys in the group, who's done most of the consistent DMing, is moving for six months out of state. Then he's back. That alone makes it difficult to envision a steady state gaming environment for at least six months.

Well, take the reins. Start GM'ing a campaign yourself, and don't let it drop. Easier said than done, I know, but like the old saying goes, "If you want something done right, you need to force people to submit to your iron will."

Or something like that.

 

[hong]

Well, take the reins. Start GM'ing a campaign yourself, and don't let it drop. Easier said than done, I know, but like the old saying goes, "If you want something done right, you need to force people to submit to your iron will."

Or something like that.

Well, it's why _I_ started DMing.

 

[diaglo]

I must be unusual, then.

not for older editions.

but i have yet to find a new edition game that lasts longer than a year.

personality differences finally boiled over in most cases.

but also in the last couple years i've seen:

people moving. changing shifts. changing jobs. changing partners. losing jobs. getting married to a nongamer. graduation. returning home after their assignment was up.

 

[WizarDru]

but also in the last couple years i've seen:

people moving. changing shifts. changing jobs. changing partners. losing jobs. getting married to a nongamer. graduation. returning home after their assignment was up.

Heh. In the last few years I've seen the birth of my second child, every single member of my gaming group unemployed (some of us longer than others, and more than once), one major player change and at least one major house move. Go figure.

 

[diaglo]

i forgot to include birth of kids. death of parent. death of partner.

 

[Default Name Player]

Been tough staying or keeping a game going for any length of time. The below is neither a rant nor complaint, but just some of the things I've encountered in the past 2-1/2 years of gaming again with 3e (after a 10-12 year break before that from RPGs), and yup, all of it is strictly from my own POV:

- First 3e game was a face to face one - joined an on-going game, so I was the new guy. Nice people, and I learned the rules from them (esp. AOO's as a newbie). However, after a few months tensions between the DM and one of the players made it a bit uncomfortable. Plus, I think I pissed off the DM when he asked for comments, and I emailed and suggested that he narrow the number of dangling plotlines: we had 5-6 quests which we were suppose to complete, but we only completed them when we happened to be in the area - I probably wouldn't have said anything, but there were many times that it felt like we had no idea what to do next. I eventually left because tensions between the GM and that other player got uncomfortable.

- DM'ed two games per week on WebRPG and it was going good for around half a year...well, until 9/11. Being a New Yorker, I was still a bit shocked and pushed the games off for awhile, and my players were understanding. However, I had to end them and take some time off from gaming (around half a year or so).

- Joined a newly started face to face game. Was going okay, and the DM sent comments after each game to each of the players individually (with xp and comments). That was fine, and since he stressed role-playing, I did my best to try to improve (I tend to be on the quiet side). One of the things asked was to be descriptive in spellcasting (I was playing a Hathran), and I did my best, although I only went as far as "I place my hand on *name* and with a gesture, I mutter the blessing for healing to my deity Chauntea" or something like that, changing it around a bit depending on the spell. However, I still kept getting the "be more descriptive with spellcasting" request, although I wasn't about to start coming up with real gestures and words for each of my spells. Finally, a request to "act more witchy" prompted me that maybe this game wasn't for me. The game lasted for me around 4-5 weeks.

- Joined an ongoing webrpg game. Was going well, but after 3-4 months, the GM decided to go back to school and put the game off indefinitely. Also, it didn't help that 2 of the group members actually ended up in combat with each other due to some kind of antagonism, one of them who constantly "disappeared" from every session to do his own thing.

- Joined yet another face to face game, on-going one so I was the new guy once again. People were nice, game was a little more high powered than I thought it'd be, but it was fine. However, a mix of a longish commute (by both subway and bus), and the length of the games (7-8 hours) and I realized that I probably couldn't take it like I use to when I gamed in junior high and high school. This game lasted maybe 5 weeks for me, and taught me that I probably wasn't into RPGs like I use to be. This was all me, and a limitation to how much gaming I could take anymore .

- Joined a ongoing Star Wars OpenRPG game. After 2 sessions, the GM freaked when some of the players (myself included) offered some suggestions about the game on the group's yahoo board because he seemed to be stumbling (it was a bit of a free form "go anywhere" type game, but it was tough getting a sense of just what we were suppose to do, esp. in a SW game where you could literally go anywhere in a starship) The GM blamed the players for how the game was turning out...being that I was new, I have no idea what he was talking about. Apparently, there was some on-going tension between the GM and the players. However, what ticked me off was the GM saying how his "other" games that he GMed was going well, unlike this game. I would have settled for a "I'm ending the game because it's not working out", rather than the excuses the GM was heaping.

- Recently, I got booted for the first time: well, after 10 seconds of play . I had signed up for a Scarred Lands IRC game, and being a IRC newb, I finally found out the server name 20 minutes into what was to be my first session (I was given the channel name, but not the server info...and didn't realize this until the last moment that I needed to be on a specific server...yes, not a smart IRC newb here ) from one of the players after emailing everyone in the group. Signed into the game channel, changed my name to my character's name, and was subsequently asked to leave by the DM. I was in such a rush because of the lateness, that I didn't know what that was about and didn't want to make a scene, so I signed off somewhat dejected.


Overall, probably not the most fulfilling 3e experience, but just gotta keep trucking along to the next one