Going through college, people grow into adults – and with adulthood comes a ton of stuff you have/need to do that makes gaming a little more inconvenient.
It’s easy to make time for video games and stuff like that, because you can play a little at a time and just go on a gaming binge whenever you can. But with table-top RPGs the situation is quite different, since any respectable game session needs at least a few hours and getting several people together in the same place.
Of course, I’m well aware that there are plenty of alternatives such as playing through some online method or stuff like that, but a big part of table-top gaming is getting together with your friends, having a few laughs, ordering food… you know, the whole “getting together part”.
Anyway, as we grow it becomes harder and harder to make time for games, but that doesn’t mean it’s insanely difficult. What really makes the whole situation frustrating is the schedule adjustment required so that a group of people with different occupations can make time – at the same time.
Even then, one of those things you notice as an adult is that you’re not quite as eager to fill in your day off with a bunch of activities. You get a free day, and you sometimes just want to relax and do nothing. Besides, a complete RPG session is pretty exhausting in its own right.
So as I plan to get a gaming group back together this year, schedules are on my mind a lot. I still need to wait a couple of weeks, though, so that I can actually “get into” the year and see what my own schedule is gonna be like. But until then, I guess not sleeping shall have to be there as my final option.
Good hunting;
O
I think I’ve had this conversation every time I’ve tried to organize a game. Every. Time.
And if it’s not trying to get everyone together on time and day, it’s trying to crunch the time while we’re playing to be done by a certain time. We must love our games to continue on under such harsh conditions. And we do. A lot.
Yeah, I do get that often: Your GM is your schedule manager: checking everyone’s timetable to finaly… find no solution…
I got three games going.
SUCK IT, BEYOTCHES!
I DM for 8 people. We have our own online forum to plan the meeting. Usually at least 6 people attend. Over a 5 year period, we’ve had 30 sessions. It feels like I’ve only been running the campaign for 2,5 so I’m still good
Did Al always have those sideburns? ._.
@Viking Jesus: Nope. They’re a recent addition.
yea, know the feeling.
Im almost 33, been playing for half of my life with the same people
We meet almost every Sunday… well, I’ll have to be honest, it’s turning into 2\3 but that is still a pretty good average.
Well, at that point you ask them, “do you, or do you not, want to play this game?” I work retail, so it’s not easy for me to get evenings off, so luckily we discovered that we can play on mornings. That’s because we wanted to play the game, which meant that we found a way.
online solutions do not work unless everyone is fully commited. I tried, and I found it even harder to sustain than a regular campaign. I advise against it.
Our group of friends found a solution for this problem : every year, we organise during summer vacation a gaming week. 2 to 3 DM, 10 to 15 people, playing from 12 AM to 22 PM each day + additional campaigns during the night for people wanting to play more.
It requires a good organisation for DMs, they volunteer for next year and spend several months preparing it, but everyone can book one week for gaming.
… well, everyone, except people with young children T_T
First panel, “BOOKSHELF NINJA!”.
With my new group I had it easy: I’m the DM and so I set the schedule in advance and then everybody whined and agreed on a date (every 3rd Saturday).
So my experience: Using the FORCE (of beeing the DM) to make people whimper helps a lot to get them to match their plans up. Because the alternative is for every single one to not play at all.
I know the problem i’m DMing a few rounds and am player of some (as they consist of mostly the same people that’s pretty neat). But i have a hard time setting the time to play due to our chedules AND the players complain that we’re playing so infrequently.
Know the feeling dude. The rule is to pick a night that suits most and go for it. Accept that not everyone will be able to make it, maybe find someone else interested – and if the missing member can arrange his schedule to make it – awesome. And there is no such thing as Carlos Day :p and if there were, surely giving up part of the day to indulge in something he loves would be acceptable
Yup, we have hardly gamed in months because we are always busy with something..
I understand this quite well. We’ve been doing once every other week, at best, and it’s exhausting.