Hard to Find a Game?

[bobndiller]

Hello. I just discovered this software from a link in the DDO community. I haven't bought it yet but it looks promising. My only concern is that it would be hard to find a group, or that groups would tend to fall apart easily (random people that you don't really know just stop showing up). What has been everybody's experience? I dont have any RL friends who play so I would be relying almost entirely on this community. I know this is the LFG forum but I figured those would be the best people to ask this question.

[Ram Tyr]

First, check out the
Review.

For Fantasy Grounds here is how it has worked for me.

Find a group of people that were interested in playing D&D and weren't able to game in face to face games, or wanted to supplement their face to face games. We agreed on a regular gaming schedule to ensure that we weren't wasting our time. One of us obviously volunteered to DM. Then we looked at all our options. We decided on FG as the best option for us. We liked the tools, we liked the one time fee (not ongoing monthly fee), and we liked the support that FG appeared to be getting from the developers. Paying the modest fee also ensured a modicum of committment from each player. We only lost one person after everyone made the purchase.

We bought the software and spent a few weeks learning it. Then, the DM set the date for our first session...and history was made!

I use the FG forums to find additional games. I'm in a couple of FG campaigns at the moment. Also, check the community links at the FG website.

Most of our group actually bought the Full version I think only two people, including the person that dropped out, bought the lite version. This is great because my second campaign was actually the same group of people, only someone else DMing on a different day of the week.

I suggest grabbing a friend and downloading the demo to test it out.

Later.
Ramza

[Alkaven]

I first tested the demo with my girlfriend for a couple days beore considering it. The price was too much for me and her to afford for the both of us. (That comes to $80, and we know anyone else we know we want to play with won't settle for the lite version). However, the fact remains, you get what you pay for, even if it's alot more than it's worth. The application is very nice. Runs very smoothly, and you can have a very decent game in it.

In my opinion, there are not enough players here. There are indeed more players than DMs, and odds are good DMs play as well, but it took an entire month before I finally got my game going.

I would suggest you try out the demo for a couple days, if you like it, go for it.

[kalmarjan]

Well, for players and DMs alike, it can be daunting to find a game.

My experience went thus far:

I am DMing RTTTOEE. I have a user group, with about 60 people as members. I am lucky enough to have 5 "core" players right now. That tells you something. 55 people who attended one or more sessions have dropped out. On my part, it is just a matter of believability. My game is always open, and I take all comers. One time I had 10 people playing. Thing is, experience wise, it kinda all balances out.

So, be patient, keep looking, and you will find something. There is always my game if you don't mind playing on saturdays.

Just check out my WWW link

Cheers,

Sandeman

[Alkaven]

Well, for players and DMs alike, it can be daunting to find a game.

My experience went thus far:

I am DMing RTTTOEE. I have a user group, with about 60 people as members. I am lucky enough to have 5 "core" players right now. That tells you something. 55 people who attended one or more sessions have dropped out. On my part, it is just a matter of believability. My game is always open, and I take all comers. One time I had 10 people playing. Thing is, experience wise, it kinda all balances out.

So, be patient, keep looking, and you will find something. There is always my game if you don't mind playing on saturdays.

Just check out my WWW link

Cheers,

Sandeman

Holy friggen moly! 55 people bailing... Are you serious? Man, this is why I don't run campaigns anymore, but Fifty-five? I've never seen a number that huge yet.

Kalmarjan makes a good point though. While there are lots and lots of players out there, only a hand full will stay true to the game. So while only one DM may have one vision, only a portion of those hundred players out there will have the same vision.

In that sense, it is harder for a player to find a game than it is for a DM. DM's got the pool of players to pick from, while the player doesn't have quite the same size pool of DMs.

[SalmonElla]

/mindless babble on
I am currently running star wars and here is my experience:
I purchased FG full version after I messed with the demo for about a day. After looking for a game for a while ~2 weeks and not finding one that ran during the day or started after midnight I decided to try running star wars. Perhaps star wars is not that attractive to most people but I was only able to get 1 person from the boards here to join in. I twisted some arms at work to get the rest of the players.

Star wars is not the flavor of the month anymore, like Eberron, and so I will not get hte Eberron response. I think that there may not be enough players to support the frustrated 'want to be a player' people that instead move to running a game.
/mindless babble off
--SE

[TruthRevisited]

/mindless babble on
I am currently running star wars and here is my experience:
I purchased FG full version after I messed with the demo for about a day. After looking for a game for a while ~2 weeks and not finding one that ran during the day or started after midnight I decided to try running star wars. Perhaps star wars is not that attractive to most people but I was only able to get 1 person from the boards here to join in. I twisted some arms at work to get the rest of the players.

Star wars is not the flavor of the month anymore, like Eberron, and so I will not get hte Eberron response. I think that there may not be enough players to support the frustrated 'want to be a player' people that instead move to running a game.
/mindless babble off
--SE

As a player in this particular game, I have to say that I am having a wonderful time.

I can see where one might get sort of frustrated about finding a game. I advertised a game, and got no response... nothing at all. Thats ok, Salmon here has decided to play, and several people from another game I play have also decided to join. Sometimes, you just have to get out there and recruit. My advice, stay the course, and dont get discouraged. Afterall, things worth doing are rarely easy to accomplish. If a spot opens up in my game, I will definatly send ya an invite.

Of course, if you are wanting to try it out, and would like a one shot, let me know. I am sure I can put something together for ya.

Cheers.
TR

[kalmarjan]

Holy friggen moly! 55 people bailing... Are you serious? Man, this is why I don't run campaigns anymore, but Fifty-five? I've never seen a number that huge yet.

Keep in mind that I have been running this campaign since the beginning of February.

It is not so much about vision, or conflict, some people just like to hang out for a session or two, and move on. That's the unfortunate reality of online gaming.

I am happy that I have my core players, as it is far easier to cater to their needs in the game, as any good DM is to do.

As for PNP gaming, over the years, the biggest group I ever DM'd was 18 players large... (I was playing in a local gaming store, so go figure...) People drop out, get new hobbies, or whatever the reason is. But the game rolls on. The online experience exaggerates this, that's all.

Cheers,

Sandeman

[Snikle]

While I am not, nor have I hard any trouble getting people to purchase and play in my game using FG. I have been contacted in the last month or so by around 5 peopel I have played with preivously and when I mentioned FG and that it was what I was using, all were scared off. Personally I think this is silly thinking, I mean heck the lite version costs less than me taking the family to McDonald's for dinner! But I guess some people are just cheap. LOL

[Alkaven]

Yah, but at least each person gets to eat at that McDonalds for $5. Try taking out four people to play some FG together. That won't cost you less.

I 'usually' aim for core players to start because although the casual gamer just wants to try it out for a short bit, I put alot of work into my adventure designs... Kinda a shame for all those maps and sketches and background and lore entries to go to waste, dontcha think?

What I like to do (as some of you might have noticed in my Broken Mountains post) is translate most of the logs from the game into an actual story, following a simple diagram of course. And since I like being constructive, I build it like I would a program. I do a rough diagram of all the events, and then put each part together then combine them into a chapter.

I treat each stand-alone adventure like a novel kinda. Obviously I can't publish it or anything, but it's fun to tie each player to the grand timeline of the world. And after each adventure, their story is told and carried down to the many generations that follow.

Now if you wanna just... run through a linear story and build a character up to level 20 and fight a big monsterous demon at the end.... Guess I can't really can't help yah. But I do feature some really fun battles. Like fighting two or three hundred enemies.