Encouraging people to show up

[lesliev]

We played a FG-Con game this evening and only 2 out of 5 people showed up. One of the players said that his previous game had failed because of the same problem. Any ideas on encouraging people to keep to their commitment? We discussed how paid games, where you pay a small token amount at the beginning of a long campaign, can help filter out people who don't take the game seriously. But is there anything else anyone's doing, particularly for one-shots where the commitment seems to be even lower?

[Gwydion]

We played a FG-Con game this evening and only 2 out of 5 people showed up. One of the players said that his previous game had failed because of the same problem. Any ideas on encouraging people to keep to their commitment? We discussed how paid games, where you pay a small token amount at the beginning of a long campaign, can help filter out people who don't take the game seriously. But is there anything else anyone's doing, particularly for one-shots where the commitment seems to be even lower?

That really stinks when you put a lot of time in up front. I've been fortunate/lucky with my one-shots. The things I try to do are as follows:

1 - Make sure to sign up 5-6 people so if 1-2 no-show it isn't a big deal (which you did as you had 5 sign up)
2 - Impress upon folks when they accept the game that others are counting on them too and if they can't show just to give me as much notice as possible
3 - Communicate in advance. I really try to communicate quite a bit in the week(s) before the session. Make sure folks stay committed, get them interested in the game, etc.
4 - Session day. I usually reach out again to confirm. Make sure everyone is still in, particularly if I haven't received communication back from 1-2 people

Not sure what else you can really do. Sorry it happened!

[Nylanfs]

Flogging.

[lostsanityreturned]

Having a small entry fee could be a good idea if a little against the spirit.

Having a friend in the wings incase people drop out

I dunno really, people are flaky and that is just something to expect sometimes sadly. I would be tempted to keep a black book and never allow those people into my games / warn friends. But I wouldn't want this sort of info to be shared around much as it is prone to abuse.

[Myrdin Potter]

I had the same experience in previous FG-Con's and this year I had 6 that all showed up and showed up early. It is person by person, unfortunately.

[damned]

We played a FG-Con game this evening and only 2 out of 5 people showed up. One of the players said that his previous game had failed because of the same problem. Any ideas on encouraging people to keep to their commitment? We discussed how paid games, where you pay a small token amount at the beginning of a long campaign, can help filter out people who don't take the game seriously. But is there anything else anyone's doing, particularly for one-shots where the commitment seems to be even lower?

Hi lesliev Im sorry to hear about your frustrating experience.
The only way I have found to have people reliably show up is when they are part of a regular group and I communicate with them during the week.
I was quite fortunate and both my FG Con games had all booked players show up - although two arrived only after an email at game time + 15mins - but they are also GMs and heavy players so tend to be on the more reliable side.

The two things that work for me - over the long term - are to always run the game when I say I will. Even if I only have 2 players. I might not play the scheduled material - we might play a side mission or something completely different, but we play. Of course - I have come down sick on game day once and I have had no power on another - nothing is perfect. By me turning up AND playing (eg not cancelling a game for low player numbers) it builds a reciprocal commitment from players. And communicate regularly. Be proactive with your communications and ask for and expect the players to reply to confirm their participation. For regular groups this is much easier to achieve but insist on it for one shots too.

[JohnD]

Absolutely communicate in advance by email as soon as you receive the contact information. Also a day ahead of time and maybe an hour ahead of time, even just to say FG is online.

[Trenloe]

Communicate, communicate, communicate!

Related to FG Con:

You don’t need to wait for damned to send out the email with the list of booked player details - you’ll get the player email with the original booking auto notification email and you can also get the email addresses of all currently booked players from the FG Con console: Events -> Bookings.

It’s also vital in your communication with the players that you re-iterate the time of the event (and you stick to that time - be online 15 before your session) - people can forget, get mixed up, not enter their time zone correctly, etc..

If you don’t hear from a player with the first email, try to contact them again (and again). If you don’t get any response then consider removing them from the event (or if you’re not full assume they won’t turn up).

Even if you try hard with communication you’ll get no shows. But good communication will reduce that considerably and hopefully identify any potential issues early.

[Targas]

I‘ve one of my players usually sleep (alot) before the start of our session, and need someone from our group call him. We usually start 15 min. late, until everyone is in - even if I enter half an hour before session start. That‘s obviously draining game time - and we have just 3 hours, so it‘s abit...

[notrealdan]

I have the same kind of problems with my in-person group. I ask people to arrive between 5 and 6, game starts at 6. I ask them to come closer to 5 if they want to eat (I usually have pizza waiting for them) or go over anything with their character or whatever. Most of them arrive around 6:15 and ask what kind of pizza we have this time... The answer is always the same: cold pizza.

Communication is absolutely key, whether the group is online or in-person. I also find that a mass email to the entire group is less effective than individual emails or texts directed to each person. If an email that requires action is directed at many, nobody individually feels responsible for taking action.

[Targas]

I think it‘s disrespect not to join in time. Image a soccer game, where the goal keeper will join the game 15 mins. late... ... or the referee...
When people take it for granted not to show up in time, you should usually exclude them from gaming. Maybe I‘ll do this if my patience is getting thin.
A GM invests a fortune in time and money. If people are not willing to play, they should stop playing. A cinema movie will start regardless if someone joins in time, too.

[notrealdan]

I think it‘s disrespect not to join in time.
...
A GM invests a fortune in time and money.

Yes, and I think that many players don't really get this, especially new ones. I imagine something like FG Con attracts many new players. I find the players who most often show up on time are the ones who have also been GMs.

[lostsanityreturned]

Yes, and I think that many players don't really get this, especially new ones. I imagine something like FG Con attracts many new players. I find the players who most often show up on time are the ones who have also been GMs.

I actually find the opposite to be true, new players tend to be more excited and eager to please so they arrive on time.
Old GMs tend to be prone to derailing a session or rambling before a session.

I was trying to get a game in order a year back and was having issues with a particular player who would always turn up 30 minutes late and not have his food ready/eaten.
His excuse was "we always start late anyway"

After he left the group every game has started within 5-10 minutes from start time on average. (there have been a few times when work has run late, but overall it has been reliable for 9 months of weekly games)

[damned]

I have the same kind of problems with my in-person group. I ask people to arrive between 5 and 6, game starts at 6. I ask them to come closer to 5 if they want to eat (I usually have pizza waiting for them) or go over anything with their character or whatever. Most of them arrive around 6:15 and ask what kind of pizza we have this time... The answer is always the same: cold pizza.

Communication is absolutely key, whether the group is online or in-person. I also find that a mass email to the entire group is less effective than individual emails or texts directed to each person. If an email that requires action is directed at many, nobody individually feels responsible for taking action.

Man! You put on the game AND the pizza?

[notrealdan]

Man! You put on the game AND the pizza?

And beer, but I make that myself. I order out for the pizza. :)

[damned]

And beer, but I make that myself. I order out for the pizza. :)

5pm you say? :)

[notrealdan]

5pm you say? :)

I'll provide pizza and beer, but sadly not airfare and lodging!

And thankfully my players are pretty good at reimbursing for the pizza. Most of the time. ;)

[GavinRuneblade]

Hi lesliev Im sorry to hear about your frustrating experience.
The only way I have found to have people reliably show up is when they are part of a regular group and I communicate with them during the week.
I was quite fortunate and both my FG Con games had all booked players show up - although two arrived only after an email at game time + 15mins - but they are also GMs and heavy players so tend to be on the more reliable side.

The two things that work for me - over the long term - are to always run the game when I say I will. Even if I only have 2 players. I might not play the scheduled material - we might play a side mission or something completely different, but we play. Of course - I have come down sick on game day once and I have had no power on another - nothing is perfect. By me turning up AND playing (eg not cancelling a game for low player numbers) it builds a reciprocal commitment from players. And communicate regularly. Be proactive with your communications and ask for and expect the players to reply to confirm their participation. For regular groups this is much easier to achieve but insist on it for one shots too.

This goes for me too. I will even play if only one person shows up. I have had a lot of fun with 1 or 2 player groups, it is a different experience from big groups but it can still be fun.

[Hector Trelane]

Flogging.

Close. The real answer is:
1) Send your players poisoned twinkies.
2) Inform them after they’ve eaten them that the antidote will he sent at the conclusion of the game session.

I haven’t had any repeat offenders with this method.

[Bidmaron]

One thing that helps when it happens is to have pregens of the proper level for fighter, wizard, thief/rogue, cleric, and then you let those who do show run what you are missing so you get to 4 PCs, since that is what most modules are designed for.

[lesliev]

Close. The real answer is:
1) Send your players poisoned twinkies.
2) Inform them after they’ve eaten them that the antidote will he sent at the conclusion of the game session.

I haven’t had any repeat offenders with this method.

Excellent!!

[lesliev]

One thing that helps when it happens is to have pregens of the proper level for fighter, wizard, thief/rogue, cleric, and then you let those who do show run what you are missing so you get to 4 PCs, since that is what most modules are designed for.

We did this - the two that came each played two characters. It really kept us on our toes!
But it's not ideal and I think it only works with fairly experienced players.

[JohnD]

I have a pretty standard approach that I've used for running online games since around 2003.

Get an email address from everyone.

Use the Game Calendar if, for nothing else, the voting on game sessions. Make voting yes/no an expectation.

Clearly establish a "3 strikes" rule where 3 games missed, no communication, no voting - removed. A GM is better off with a smaller player count that can be relied upon to show up than a larger list but never knowing if you'll have enough people show up.

Schedule games a week or two in advance if possible. Email your players when the game is in the calendar. Email again a day or two ahead of the game. Outline how the voting looks and whether you are on track to run with the existing people who have indicated they can make it.

Establish what your "minimum" attendance is to run the game. I am a little different here from others in that most of the time my target is 50%+1 of the player list present to run the session. If the situation is such that I'm willing to run even with a smaller group, I say so in my emails.

The reality is we are playing online. In very few instances will you ever actually meet the people you game with and for some this makes the group dynamic weak; if there is a commitment that is competing with a game, it is easier and more comfortable to blow off a group of strangers than people you know personally.

Understand that outside of a Con game, you will churn through players until you bit by bit accumulate a group of like minded people and then you have ongoing group stability until real life intrudes in the form of work shifts changing, new employment, life challenges, etc... get in the way.

Last year I made a big effort to get a substantial game going and I didn't turn anyone away. So from that I had enough players "interested" to have 3 groups of 8 players each. Over a few months one would drop here, another there. Invariably it was the new people to online gaming in general or new to FG. Some were nice enough to send an email, others went from "great game" one week to poof... gone.

You can deliver the best game on FG but things can and do happen.

[Hector Trelane]

Lots of good advice on this thread.

I’ll start doing the more frequent emails and one-on-one approach to “which pre-gen do you want”?

I had been communicating via the comments on the page for my event on the FG-Con website, and I still will, but I don’t think that defaults to auto-email the approved players so it relies on people to check that event, which they clearly aren’t doing sufficiently enough on their own.

This bleeds into another topic that could fill another thread: how much between-session homework, er character planning, rules & background reading, and play-by-post, do players do? I personally love that stuff since it keeps the game alive in my mind between sessions, but my anecdotal experience is that it’s seems less common among players.