Getting Players to the Table

[Trasilor]

Title pretty much sums it up...

I was curious if other Players/DMs have issues with getting players to the table. My current game of five players plus myself seems to routinely have difficulty getting together. Mostly it has to do with varying schedules. But lately, I feel it has more to with with people not enjoying my game. While I don't have concrete proof, it seems that people consistently are making other plans.

I would hope that if people were not having fun, they would come talk to me. Hopefully we would be able hash out a solution so that people want to come back to the table.

So, play-grounders, how have you encountered this? If so, how did you get players back to the table?

[hymer]

There will always be slumps. Sometimes people are just busy, and sometimes people need a little time away from the game. Of course, I can't tell if either of those is your problem just from your post, but I'd give it a while and see what happens. My experience is that late August and most of September are usually hard on gaming, though it surprises me every time until I stop to think.

It's worth noting, though, that there can be something of a snowball effect. If playnight gets cancelled twice in a row, people may start to doubt it'll happen next time around and plan accordingly, making it happen just so.

[ahenobarbi]

I skip pretty often but that's because I live quite far away from the rest of the group. And we play if one player can't show up for whatever reason (even if the missing player is DM, we just play WoD or Neuroshima).

And the DM always asks every player what he[1] did like about the session. And what he[1] didn't like. This helps with keeping game interesting.

[1] We're all-male group at the moment.

[Trasilor]

And the DM always asks every player what he[1] did like about the session. And what he[1] didn't like. This helps with keeping game interesting.



Good advice, I will do that next session.

Thanks

[Lord Il Palazzo]

This is pretty much the story of my DMing life. This spring, there was a three month period when I would email my players (five of them) every week to ask what times and days might work and nothing ever did. I have a policy that the game doesn't go on unless everyone was there, unless the players who were out gave their OK and I didn't expect any major plot advancement that was specific to their character (e.g. I wouldn't let the game go on without Player A if the party was on the brink of a showdown with the guy who burned down his character's village.) I've also got rules that I don't run with two players missing unless they've both OKed it, and I try very hard not to have one player miss two sessions in a row unless we've prearranged it.

Lately, we've been in another slump, which stinks because the game has gotten more character focused so it's much easier to have there be two or three characters who must be at the next session. We tried shifting to scheduling a couple weeks in advance, but that didn't work much better so we haven't played in about a month and have set a specific night of the week when we will play every two weeks. Hopefully the recurring appointment and the advance notice will help people keep their schedules open. We'll see soon enough if it helps or not.

[laeZ1]

It's important to know your players, in this instance, I'd say the biggest thing is to know how to reach them the best. I've missed so many WoD games because my ST made a facebook group and has been sending out game times via that (I've got a facebook, but go on less than once a month).
Most of my players I can text about five days in advance and it'll work out fine, one I have to skype (or find on LoL), and another I have to tell his girlfriend to tell him.

So to get your players to show up, ask yourself these questions:
How far in advance are you contacting them?
Are you using the correct form of communication?

Now, if it feels like they aren't showing up because your game isn't as fun as whatever else it is they're doing, don't get discouraged. Ask whoever you're closest with out of your playerbase what they think, and if (worst possible scenario:) they players decide they've had enough of your game, don't lose heart.:smallbiggrin:

I would also like to point out that school has started up again (at least in my area), and people have returned from their families. They might just not have enough free time right now.

[Fates]

My group has just established a regular time and hosting schedule. It's not perfect, and we have to cancel some meetings, but it helps for people to get used to things.