problem with players and calander

[ldsjohn]

I am having a problem,

ppl will sign up at the game calander and send me pm's aggreeing to the game,, then they never show up, and never say anything about it...

I have 2 of 8 ppl show up every week, and I kick ppl from the calander and others show up and then they never come the ppl that come are the ones not onthe callander... everyone on these forums that sounded interested... only one person from here has showed up.

Fantasy Grounds is an awesome program.

my question is, is the community allways this un-reliable? do you all sign up for games and then never show up?

whats the point to a game callander that nobody follows through with?

is it because I am PST?

do any of you know of a place where I can find reliable players?

[Tailz Silver Paws]

I've had this problem even wih real life games. People are all "Yeah man I'll be there." and when it comes to game time they don't show.

Unfortunatly you have to gage people and discard the ones you think will be a "no show". You really have to sort out the good ones from the chafe.

Part of being a Game Master I think....

[Sigurd]

Thats a problem with players plain and simple. The Calender has nothing to do with that.

So far I've had no more than 5 sessions with any dm before he has to do something else. Not unrealistic considering that 5 sessions is roughly 20 hrs of game time (not including prep time). Players should be more considerate of DM's that put in the effort. I know I am.


Sigurd

[DarkStar]

I would create a black list somewhere. ;P

[ldsjohn]

it would be nice to have some type of rating system so I could maybe put negative marks on a users account for not showing up or something... I dunno its just frustrating, especially since I got a group lined up and they sounded exited... so I buy the game.. now that no one shows it doesn't feel all that worth it..

I guess I have no choice but to keep trying and trying to get new players till I finally get more than 2

[acmer]

And not blaming only players, the game The Gentlemens' Inn by Amurayi in calendar should have started Feb 21 but nothing happened. I was pending until 25 and then removed myself. Really looked forward to that and it didn't happen.

[Tailz Silver Paws]

And not blaming only players, the game The Gentlemens' Inn by Amurayi in calendar should have started Feb 21 but nothing happened. I was pending until 25 and then removed myself. Really looked forward to that and it didn't happen.

Game Masters are players too - some people get called away by various things, some people just forget, some people are just unreliable.

I'm planning to run a game in a while (its displayed in the calendar) but I'm not ready yet (still building the rule set) so the game is displayed but you can't join it yet.

I think the best thing to do is just think about what time "you" as a player have avalible to you and then consider the game and how much of a comitment it is going to take. A good game lasts over a number of sesions and many hours of game play - if you think your not going to be able to handle that - then don't join.

Many people don't think about the comitment required before they "sign up" for the game - thus we end up with people getting anoyed when they make the comitment but the others in the group don't or could not be bothered.

As much as I don't like the idea of a rating system - I think something like the eBay Feedback system would keep players honest and make them think about joining or not joining a game.

Also time zones are a very big issue.

I'm lucky I have a few players in roughly the same time zone who are waiting to join my game - I just have to get them to join this forum first! I'll work on that when the game gets closer to kickoff time.

[kalmarjan]

Well, you all have to understand that this is the internet, after all. Players are anonomys, so there is no real repercussion to not showing up. (Socially that is), so they do not feel like they owe anything to you.

More problematic are the people who DO show up for one or two sessions, then drop off the radar. when you have a core group of players, it can get frustrating trying to play in character when your comrades morph constantly based on who decides to show up.

One way I was working around this was to have a few cohort NPCs that the party had been working with. If a player wants to join, then they select the cohort NPC and play them for a few games to get the feel for the group. A good trade off is to allow all treasure/xp gained as the Cohort into the new character.

I do not beleive that a rating system is the way to go... think of this platform like gaming in a gaming store. There is a lot of traffic, you will have to improvise a little, but the game goes on. That is what is important. Nothing kills a game like no players.

Hope this helps,

Sandeman