> Its 9:03 > My players were supposed to log into roll20

>>43747089
Players are scum

roll20 is being derpy

>>43747089
Contact the group via skype or whatever the hell you're using and teel those lazy gits to get to da chop- roll 20. It's not hard.

>>43747089
>not talking to your players before the session
>not even asking them what's going on

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>>43747089
There, there OP. Everything will be fine.

>>43747089
I bet they're just drifting in one by one, each looks around and goes, oh nobody else is around, no reason for me to stick around then either.

>>43747279
>having to be a babysitter
>having to be a secretary
>having to do that on top of being the one running the game

>>43747405
>I've never single-handedly held a group together
>I've never been the force that allows gaming to happen
It's terrible but humans are forgetful, wanton pieces of shit that you gotta wrangle

>>43747458
No game is better than bad game

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>that one guy who never makes it in time
>even when you adjust and say 'okay we start at 9:20 since you always take 20 minutes off from our usual start time'
>you end up starting at 9:40 anyway
JUMPING JEHOSHAPHAT

>>43747279
You really shouldn't have to do that. If they can't even remember the game exists they don't deserve to have you GMing it for them.

Wrong time zone

>>43747405
>not spending at least some time out of session with people you DM for
>not caring whether something you're interested in happening happens

If your group has this low level of cohesion no wonder your sessions do not happen.

>>43747585
I did that with my old group and it fell apart immediately after session 1. I don't know why people are such flakers.

My current roll20 group has a skype room where everyone idles basically 24/7
Doesn't mean people actually read it, but it's there so at least they glance at it. Sometimes we have conversations. It helps getting to know each other. Which improves the game for everyone involved.
Also we're always on time.

ITS OKAY GUYS

THEY WERE ALL PLAYING FALLOUT, SO ITS OKAY THAT THEY WERE LATE AND DIDN'T BOTHER TO TELL ME.

Also roll20 is on the fritz so its not like we can play anyways

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>>43747819
>everyone was just playing singleplayer videogames (which they can do at any time) instead of being timely on their weekly commitment to play with a bunch of people
Find another group.

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>not being in contact with your group all throughout the week
>not dishing out the bantz in random skype calls that have nothing to do with the game
>not actually being friends with the people you game with
>not showing up to game day 30 mins early so you can shitpost at each other and chill before the game
>mfw people have groups where members actually just "show up" to the roll20 room, play a session, then don't interact again until the next game day
>mfw people think groups like this can actually function

>>43747930

But its Fallout so according to them its okay.

>>43748002
Listen buster I was up all night last Friday playing Fallout took a half hour power nap, and then drove an hour to play in a game that Saturday. You're group is bullshit!

>>43747488
>playing only 20 minutes after the designated start time
I envy you anon. Even our DM gets here like 30-40 minutes late

>>43747819
Were they at least playing new vegas?

>>43748114

the new fallout of course

>>43748086
I know this feel, my game used to start a 6pm, now I'm lucky if everyone is ready by 8pm.

>>43748146
Drop those tasteless chumps.

I have one guy that always shows up late and always starts with "Sorry guys. I have an excuse, but..."

and here are some of his excuses

> I'm tired
> I took a massive shit
> I was reading
> I was eating
> I was playing Destiny
> I was playing Fallout
> I was playing Minecraft
> I forgot what day it was

>>43748465

I have no excuse, is what I meant

>>43747998
Our group does this except it's 30 minutes of sitting around wondering when the gm will arrive cause he's off putting some ikea bookshelf together.

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>Internet games

>>43748549
Our group plays EDH for 4 hours and then play with whatever time we have left, though we try to start at noon.

>>43748465
Start playing without him early, and explain that his character has terrible hemorrhoids. Also, don't give him any XP for tasks completed while he was gone.

>>43747089
Alternatively
>gonna play deathwatch with my friends 8:00 central time.
>in mountain timezone
>think this means I'm behind an hour for some reason
>sleep in till 9:00, realize I'm really late
>scramble to get a username and password for roll20
>log in
>No one's there
>wtf
>Wait
>I'm AHEAD two hours, not behind
>sit at my desk feeling like an idiot until the game starts

I do this 2 more times.

>>43747819
>>43748002

That's like saying it's fine I am late for a HIV test cause I am busy having sex.

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I'm getting so fucking tired of internet games. I miss the games we had in highschool.
>8 pm start time means 9:30 pm start time because the players show up 10-20 minutes apart one at a time
>takes 10-20 minutes of waiting to get a reaction out of them or for them to finish their turn in combat
>"Sorry sorry was raiding in WoW / FF14 / shitty MMO of the week"
>"What are my bonuses for this again"
>(GM) What's your AC? *complete silence for 5 full minutes* (Player) I dunno
>(in the middle of the game) "going to the gym, back later"
I've got another game planned but I don't know if I can go through with it. If I get more of this shit I might just quit altogether and hope I can pull a real-life group together.

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>>43747089
I once had a friend in a real-life D&D campaign I was GMing. He would consistently show up 2 hours late. I'm not even kidding, 5 hour sessions and he'd come in nearly halfway through complaining about how bad traffic was. This was a saturday afternoon game mind you, he didn't have any prior engagements that day so nothing could have delayed him. I believed him the first two times, the third through eighth time his excuses fell flat. I didn't want to kick him because he was a friend of mine from outside of gaming, so I came up with a plan.

For our ninth session time I repeatedly told him the game was at 11 a.m. instead of 1 p.m. because I had family dropping by at 4:30 and couldn't host them past then. I told everyone else the game was at 1 p.m. and being cool people they didn't tell him the real time. So, naturally, he shows up at 3 p.m. anyway, expecting to be FOUR HOURS LATE FOR A FIVE HOUR GAME.

mfw he showed up, complaining about being caught up in traffic for FOUR HOURS.

I dropped him immediately and haven't played with him since. If you can't arrive on time then you shouldn't be allowed to play.

>>43749432
Literally boot. I'm guessing you chose anyone/ took the 'best' of a few applicants. Trust me, people out there that you dream of play these games.

We exist.

>>43749432
The games I had in highschool were garbage and I've gotten far more serious, decent roleplaying on the internet.

>>43749181
>in mountain timezone
>think this means I'm behind an hour for some reason
What country are you in? Because that's how it is in the US.

>>43747322
Background looks nice. Is it worth to watch?

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>Have the most rigid schedule ever where it is only possible for people to meet every two weeks for 3 hours.
>Guy has emergency and can't make it.
>Bust out contingency plan in case one of the six people playing doesn't make it.
>Guy tries to make me put it off another two weeks.
>Threatens to quit when I don't.

I'm new to DMing. I convinced him to continue but am I in the wrong for not wanting to lose momentum?

>>43749920
>but am I in the wrong for not wanting to lose momentum?
No, not at all. Good on you for keeping the game going. Cancelling just because one person is missing is unfair to you as a GM, unfair to the players who showed up and hurts your game in general.

>that feeling when your group starts chatting on skype a half hour before the game starts.
>that feeling when you start talking to one of the other players during the week and suddenly start developing character interactions that happened in off-screen downtime
>that feeling when most of your group spontaneously assembles and either lore about the world or mini-sessions start
>that feeling when you or your fellow players individually put in time and effort to finish personal projects to further the enjoyment of the group
>that feeling when your group makes time for an offline meeting and you all drive through the night to have an all-weekend party

Sometimes, the gamefinder thread works.

>>43750115
Nice. I wish my groups were anywhere near that cool.

>>43747488
>>43748086
>>43748157

I DM on Saturdays. One of my players is consistently late by about an hour. As an experiment, we set our start time for 1 hour early and didn't tell him. Thinking that I had an extra hour to sleep, I rested easy.

Everyone showed up "on time" - as in, one hour early. Even the player who is usually late.

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>>43750115
>that feeling when your group starts chatting before the game starts and delays the game for a whole hour
>that feeling when character interactions happen 70% between sessions now and you're left out because you don't have as much free time as everyone else
>that feeling when your group gets together with a spontaneous session without you and you miss the climax of your own character's arc
>that feeling when players put in so much work into their characters backstory and character development that they become wildly inconsistent between sessions due to all this unseen downtime activity
>that feeling when a group member comes over to your place for beer and board games and they spend the whole time asking why your two characters don't get along that well and why your Lawful Neutral Fighter can't learn to like her Chaotic Evil Telepath who's been mind-wiping and murdering innocents since the second session

This group is suffering.

>>43747322
Emergency hog

>>43747930
Is it okay if it's a multiplayer videogame, then? Because I disbanded my last game after one player ditched for an MMO and the other ditched for The Ponies Who Must Not Be Named and I just got fed up.

I mean I totally understand if life happens. Birthdays, deaths, a job, whatever. But you made a commitment, at least show a basic attempt at maintaining it.

I've driven 45 minutes to the nearest FLGS, waited a solid FOUR HOURS for members of one group to arrive, gotten pissed, driven 45 minutes home, only to log onto Steam and see a message saying "Dude, we showed up like 30 minutes after you left."

>>43749814
Gravity Falls is fun as hell.

>>43750338
That sucks, and it's part of why I don't play IRL anymore. If nobody shows for an online game I do something without them, and if they don't have a good excuse I kick them from the group.

>>43749432

This is why I often demand online sheets from them. If they don't give me their AC in two minutes, I do the roll for them.

>"What are my bonuses for this again"

This isn't a grief of online game. I find it more problematic IRL as people think since they're at a table its harder for them to get booted.

>>43750743
Two minutes? Wow, that's ridiculous. My current policies as GM are:
>If you roll and can't figure out what your modifier is within 10 seconds, you fail
>If you can't remember how a spell or ability you have works, you can't use it
>If you can't decide what your character will do within 15 seconds of your turn starting, you lose your turn
>You state your final attack / damage / check value. If you count out loud I subtract 1 for every useless number you say
>If you delay the game with an anecdote or pointless interruption, I add a d6 to the next time your character takes damage. I don't do this if it makes the group laugh, comedy is always fine with me.

You would be AMAZED how much faster combat goes these days. I didn't even have to kill any characters to do it.

>>43749814 Yes

>>43750486
Yeah, they had good excuses(jobs), and it turned out that I had gotten there waaay too early. Lack of proper communication on both parts was also a factor. We've since cleared it all up, of course.

>>43750889

To be fair, two of my players are legit dyslexic so.

They can read and type, it just takes them longer to do so.

>>43747089
>8:30
Did you tell them which time zone that was supposed to be?

>>43747089
>Playing online games
Your life is Pain

>>43750937
Well sure, if they have a learning disability like that you cut them some slack. One of my players is dyslexic and I don't penalize him for vocalizing his numbers since otherwise he more or less can't count. Being from the southern U.S. will do that for you.

>>43750889
>>You state your final attack / damage / check value. If you count out loud I subtract 1 for every useless number you say
What a useless shit you are. "Oh no, someone's doing quick math, BEST PUNISH THEM".

>>43747089
Hahahahaha. That's nothing
> Wake up 2am every Tuesday to play 5E
> DM is really good
> All the other players are flaky as shit
> Every session at least one of them will be missing
> By the time we start the actual campaign because one of the players wanted to start at lvl 1 to learn the ropes only me and the DM show up on time
Christ. All I wanted to do was play some fucking TTRPGs, but apparently it's too fucking hard for some people to show up.

>>43750316

...how would you ditch for MLP? I don't actually understand that.

>>43751334
Apparently people have MLP viewing parties, fuck if I know.

Just DVR it like a normal person and don't miss game day.

>>43751370
Or watch in online, like anyone does with any show ever anymore.

>>43747806

I only have two players that reliably do this.
I'm running a SW Sagas game on R20 and they both have put in so much effort on building the setting. ;-;

>wake up
>don't have any online tabletop games to play
>or IRL ones
>haven't touched WoD in years
>played a lackluster DnD game online for like a month before I got bored of the shitty story and lame players
I miss muh roleplaying, /tg/. I miss players who put more thought into their characters than "Night Elf Rogue" or "Scruffy Adventurer".

>There are human beings who try and run games without some sort of regular group-chat between players that persists throughout the week
>There are actual living people who literally let people sign up to a game, and then just expect them to show up.
>Literal homo sapiens who expect a group to function that consists of strangers never speaking to eachother and then just arriving at a pre-set time to play a game with people they've never met

I wish you all would just find a new hobby.

>>43751412
>>43751370
>>43751334
It's because they have no real friends, so they meet up to watch the show so they feel like they belong

>My session just ended.
>This group has been playing together on Roll20 for 1.5 years now.
>Only have to cancel sessions once every few months.
>Everyone shows up every Friday at 10PM just like they have been for over a year now.
>We talk for a few minutes about funny things we've done or seen during the week, then get into the game quickly.
>4-5 hours of session with the huge majority always devoted to in-character roleplaying.
>Except tonight, they had a fight that started last week with a terrifying nest of an Ettercap and a giant Ogre Spider. Lots of dynamics, tough fight, good time had all around. Lasted 1hr30ish.
>Rest spent roleplaying with guards and their Field Marshall.
>Just an average week.

You guys must be miserable, really. Maybe put some actual effort into finding a group instead of sending out applications consisting of "lol i want play gaem", and/or just accepting the first 5 fucktards who send that to you? Maybe care enough to talk to people between sessions?

Nah, who am I kidding. Caring about that is too much effort.

>>43751467

What, you mean like a significant portion of people who play tabletop games?

>>43751621

>People who play tabletop games
>Not having real friends

Ah, I see. You're one of those "internet gamers."

You have my condolences, friend.

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This thread, and many other like it, have inspired me to write an illustrated etiquette book for the modern gamer.
It would include common sense items like showing up on time, communicating when you cannot, and the essential of personal hygiene.
I might start another thread later to poll for Miss Manners questions.
Thoughts?

>>43752337

It's not a majority, or even a large percentage, but I've known whole groups of people who game with each other in person who only hang out because it's the only game in town and those are the only people they can interact with. I've known it to be the case more in tabletop gaming than any other subculture.

>>43748146
Drop those ungrateful fucks.

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Alright, so finding a pretty good group on gamefinder threads isn't hard, but it takes a while. You have to sift through some guys, pick what looks like the best ones. Contact them, start your game. But it doesn't end there; you have to add/remove people as time goes on, taking out the people that gradually demonstrate autistic tendencies and stuff, or who are just flakes (the most grievous offense, in my opinion). You can't be afraid of giving them the boot. Also, as a GM, you need some sort of consistent chat, like in skype. The only good games I've been in are the ones where the players talk to each other about things other than the game outside the game. These are the good groups, and you have to nurture them and cajole them along to that point.

>>43753194
If they don't know how to do that already, odds are it's too late. Some people are just terminal flakes.

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>>43750115
I found one such a group on roll20, imagine that!

>>43751463
I did that the first time I joined a game with the RPG club at uni. Went quite well.

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>>43747089
>new to RPGS
>invited all my friends to try, since they are even newer I am the DM
>usually meet once every two weeks on payday night at the LGS and play
>next scheduled game is black Friday
>half of party out of town half week, other half unavailable the other half
>they want to play earlier, the Sunday before, which is tomorrow
>haven't had a chance to plan shit even though I never plan shit but I haven't made any cool rewards since they finished their last mission but had to go before I revealed I didn't have proper rewards
>was sick all week but had to go to work anyways so was constantly dead whole time
>really don't want to DM Sunday after planning ANOTHER game the night before with ANOTHER group of new to rpg people but also don't want to wait three weeks for a game and lose steam
F-fuck.

>>43748465
I took a massive shit is a viable excuse. I'm sorry if it cuts into game time fellas but that's my me-time right there. No one is interrupting my stinker time so you can wait 10 minutes.

>>43753194

People know this stuff, they're just being shitters.

It's like going to a convention and being surrounded by people who didn't shower. They clearly know how, they just can't be bothered.

>>43753615
>They clearly know how
Don't be so certain.

>>43750316
I understand anon. While my players didn't "ditch" for stupid shit I have had several of them flake on me at the last minute or not bother to tell they couldn't make it.

Everyone agreed to Saturday afternoons. Then people couldn't show up. Then people asked to have it changed to Sundays. I said fine since I wasn't busy, people still couldn't show up. Then "CAN WE CHANGE IT TO FRIDAYS". No, fuck you assholes. As if I have nothing better to do than DM for you ungrateful flakes.

Can't stand this shit. I'm glad I have several games I'm in IRL so I don't have to rely on internet flakes.

I was going to join a 5e game so I sat in on a Skype call with the players. No big deal, seemed like cool guys. "So, next Saturday at 1 pm Mountain time, right?" "Yep, 1 pm Mountain!"

I get online about 12:30, play a game in the meantime. 1 PM hits, the DM gets online, is on Away status. Ask what's going on, no reply. 2 PM hits, no game started. Make lunch, watch some TV. 3:30 hits I have a message from one of the players 'Hey we're playing now'

Great, 2 1/2 hours later and no one bothered to tell me despite me messaging the GM. Deleted those assholes pretty quick.

That's the nice thing about having games IRL or other online games - you aren't relegated to taking shit from a bunch of assholes. It's easy to just tell them to fuck off if they have punctuality or communication problems.

>>43753622
This

>>43751424
I feel you deeply

>>43751424
>putting thought into your D&D characters
They're level one, they probably won't survive past three sessions. They'll get fleshed out if they do.

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Part of me enjoys the fact I don't have to suffer roll20 any more. The other part sees >>43753805
and thinks "Why not start the characters at a really young age? Anime does it all the fucking time! It allows for development! And possibly paedophilia."

>>43747522
If your players aren't excited to play with you, you are shit and shouldn't DM.

>>43747089
>Roleplaying this early in the morning

But why?

>>43754091
Maybe it's 9:03 at night.

>>43754102
So it was, my bad

Again though, that doesn't leave a whole lota time unless you stay up way late. Maybe it's just my group, but we can't get anything done unless we set aside almost an entire day

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>run a 5e game for a year now
>pretty sure some of the posts here are from players i've kicked or who have quit

>>43754126
I usually find 3-4 hours to be enough.

>>43750042
It depends on how many player's you've got. 3 players is the minimum imo. Two players is boring.

>>43754056
You're either a perma player and thus your opinion is irrelevant or you live in happy fantasy land where bad players don't exist.

>>43750889
>>You state your final attack / damage / check value. If you count out loud I subtract 1 for every useless number you say

Now that's just you being a piece of shit. Also meta damage is a fucking awful idea.

Everything else I agree with.

>>43753194
I'd actually love the idea

>>43749778
Canada, and you are right, timezones confuse me. However it works, I thought I was really late when I was actually really early..

>>43747819
Get rid of them. It's one thing to be excited about a new game and skip a session, it's another entirely to do so AND NOT TELL THE GM.

it's beyond me.
we're constantly chatting on skype with our group almost every day about different topics, vidya and stuff.

>>43754624
Telling the GM in advance wouldn't make it acceptable dude. Why should I put all this effort into making a game work for you when you're just going to ditch to play a video game?

>>43754691
As a GM I'd rather delay the game than have my efforts wasted on a group that would rather be doing something else. The hypetrain will pass.

>>43753507
That's an arousing smile.

Was that deliberate?

>>43754961
Personally, I put what is sometimes a very substantial effort into running the weekly game. Thinking up good session content can be hard, especially when I'm really adamant about not being a flake myself.

Now, if you're not engaged enough with the game to take your head out of Fallout for a single night and roll with me, it doesn't feel fair that you'd expect me to continue putting in that kind of effort weekly for you. If you're going to tell me in advance about it, I can respect that a lot more than just not showing up. But if it's more than an isolated incident I'm going to be looking for a new player to replace you.

>Be preparing for a session on Wednesday
>Guy who might not have been able to make it confirms the day before he can come
>Other guy cancels at the last minute
>Asks if we can move it to Saturday
>We agree and move it to Saturday, confirm the plans on Thursday
>On Friday the guy says he might not make it, with this guy it almost certainly means he won't be there
>Propose a session without him if he can't turn up. People agree.
>Saturday comes, guy indeed cannot be there.
>Friends housemate has a friend over to do uni work
>This compels both the DM and the player that live in that house to feel "too autistic" to go downstairs and play D&D in a different room

Fucking Christ my group makes me want to punch them in the face sometimes. It's been two weeks of this on-off cancellation blue balls bullshit. Sunday doesn't work because we're all in a different campaign and it isn't long before everyone goes home for the holidays.

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>>43755115
I don't think so.

But then again, Amalia has the sultriest of smiles.

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> players ask for a game
> ok
> players can't be bothered to read the rules
> players can't be bothered to make characters
> chase them around for two weeks
> "too busy"
> "tired"
> "video games lol later man"
> give up
> players ask why the game hasn't started yet

>>43747089
Roll20 players have somehow become worse the past six months.

>First session of a game
>Everyone flakes, but two guys
>Guy 1 tries to play wacky, but comes off as retarded
>Guy 2 loses one encounter out of six and ragequits the game
>All flakes have also left the campaign page
>Trying to restart the game
>New players seem okay, everything's fine
>Session 2 has half the table missing
>Some don't even attempt to contact me

I'm honestly so close to stop GMing anything in roll20. All of the people there end up fucking awful. I have met only a single group of good players in 3 years.

>>43750889
>If you can't decide what your character will do within 15 seconds of your turn starting, you lose your turn
>15 seconds

You're too generous.

>>43755333
My players are like that. I'm not even the DM, but I'm basically the only one holding us together. Each time I ask them they say that they're really interested in doing it, but I feel like it's anything but that until we sit down at the table.

The first time we had a session, it was at my house due to ease of transport. One person didn't turn up until we started nagging them. One came an hour late. It was really just the DM and one other player who went together who managed to turn up on time.

We managed to have a shortish session and then everyone went home. It was 3 months until we got together again.

I want to get into something like Roll20 and just start a session at regular intervals, and easily find another group in case that one doesn't work out, but my schedule's so fucking chaotic I can never find reasonable time.

>join group 2 days ago because they need another player
>alright
>I'm told to introduce myself on their board
>do so, received well
>cool, active group
>look at post history
>everything looks nice, scheduling, communication, great
>today comes, I still don't have the roll20 link
>i have not gotten a single email from the DM
>the game time says 1PM
>It is now 1:59
>I have been waiting for an hour, no email

Honestly sometimes I just don't understand. In the age of portable internet, it takes all of 40 seconds to send someone an email anywhere, anytime, just to let them know that they can have their allotted time back.

>>43753615
>People know this stuff, they're just being shitters.
>>43753415
>Some people are just terminal flakes.
I suspect that many of those that act inappropriately do so because they feel a certain way:
>Nah, it's okay because _____.

This book would detail the how and why of being or not being a shitter.
Having rules of etiquette to cite might aid in discussion of conduct with problem players.

Also, some people just don't understand basic social concepts like: "Repeating the punchline to a joke does not increase or prolong it's humor."

>>43754516
Glad another anon likes the idea.

>>43750889
These are mostly good rules for irl gaming.
I imagine online gaming creates delays making 10-15 seconds unreasonable.
Failing or losing a turn to bad bandwidth is crappy.

>If you count out loud I punish you
Why?
This rule seems out of place. Some people think better out loud.
I have to agree with >>43751082 and >>43754514
You may have a valid reason, I just can't work it out.

Your rule about delaying the game with anecdotes is poorly phrased but well conceived.

>>43755956
>You're too generous.
The edge of Speed Force is strong with this one.

>>43755365
There there.

>>43755365

Gotta screen your players before you let them join, brah.

>>43755365
Here's how to stop that shit right now:

>Set up a campaign with time and days set in stone

This immediately weeds out 80% of the flakes. A typical flake question is "Is the time set in stone?". Give them an inch they'll take a mile.

>In the campaign description, mention several times to read the stickied thread (post a stickied thread explaining the campaign rules and chargen rules and player acceptance conditions; also, make the stickied thread the place people leave character concepts. That way you can dismiss any applications that aren't in the stickied thread.)

You would be surprised how many people don't read a campaign description. You wouldn't want those people in your campaign anyway.

>In the stickied thread, tell people to write a paragraph explaining their character concept and tell them you'll pick out the ones you like best

This turns it into a bit of a competition; who can impress you more? Flakes won't have good concepts generally, it's too much of an investment. No longer do they just throw a statblock at you and say "I HAVE MUH CHARACTER READY HURR", no, they have to WRITE something.

>In the stickied thread say all character stat generation happens in the lobby with you present at Session 0.

This immediately weeds out the people that fudge numbers for an advantage. Yes, they exist.

>Pick 1 more person instead of the number you originally intended, tell all of them you need their emails.

At least 1 flake makes it through this process, so you want a buffer. Getting their emails also anchors them to you; you now have a way to contact them. Later, you can escalate this to phone numbers.

TL;DR- be a hardass motherfucker with a christmas tree up your ass and flakes will stay away from you. I've ran 4 campaigns going from levels 1-8 and have had 2 flakes using this method.

OP, you fucked up not befriending and staying in touch with your group.

>>43750236
>>43748157
>>43748086
>>43747488
>>43750257
>Not wrangling everyone together for 30 minutes of shitposting before the actual game.

Seriously, goyim. It ensures everyone makes it on time as well as have gotten their off topic shit out of the system by the time things are going at full speed.

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>Running an online game
>Player is posting in other games
POST YOU PIECE OF SHIT
At this point I'm just gonna end up running another game with different people.

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>>43760738
Flawless approach my good anon.
I salute you.

>>43760738
>character concepts before the game
>not 100% of character creation, concept included, in-game once you've selected players for better party cohesion

0/10 try again

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>Make game of Only War for my 40k inclined friends, everyone's really excited
>First session after 2 weeks of trying to get everyone together goes smoothly, players say they enjoy it
>Week passes no word from players on whether next session will happen or not
>Game night "We didn't enjoy being ordered around even though we asked for a grunt campaign want to play something else."
>Spend three weeks writing up sandbox Deadlands game, players are excited as hell
>First two sessions are great, one player gets a girlfriend and can "no longer afford time to play on Fridays"
>Hang out next week at 8pm Tuesday
> "Hey we should play Deadlands, you prepared stuff right?"
>Explain I don't want to run an hour and a half session and have nothing ready.
>Suddenly it's my fault that the game died

Holy shit, I love these guys to death but they're completely intolerable as players.

>>43747089
Welcome to every day for the rest of your life.

>>43762971
Not him, but if chargen is done after player selection, that aspect of screening players is lost.
How does your method account for this?

>>43763395
If they refuse to make characters that fit with the rest of the party, apply the boot.

>>43763395
I don't generally bother and just do what >>43763425 said. It's not like that's the one and only screening option.

If you want, you could have them describe some past characters, or offer a sample concept with the assertion that it may not be the one they use in the campaign.

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Is there something wrong with RPGs?

I don't mean societal norm, I mean, just, a deep, inhuman wrongness.

Even with the miracle of Roll20, and being able to touch all the civilized countries of the world, there are still so many people who want to try, but can't make it on time to any session, even the first. These people can't be bothered to understand their character, or the mechanics, or to give a shit about anything, yet still they crave the social game and are EVERYWHERE.

Where did the world go wrong, what do I have to kill to make it better?

>>43762971
>>43763425
>>43763496

So you'll just have 40 people in your lobby all at once making characters so you can pick them out? The point of them writing character concepts out of the lobby is so that they know what they want to play before the game and so I can cherry pick the ones I like, and screen them further afterwards. It's not elegant, but it saves me time and frustration. You can do whatever you want, man, but this works for me just fine.

>>43747089

I remember this one time I missed a session with the group because I couldn't physically get to a computer. I was able to let them know. The following session, I was able to access a computer, but I couldn't get Roll20 to work. I sat there for a good while trying to get it going but it just crapped out every time for some reason. DM wouldn't answer my emails. I'm pretty sure he dropped me from the group. That shit sucks...

>>43765164
Its not just 'not elegant', its almost impossible to make a functional party that way. And you cannot have a concept before you even know if you will get stats to support it or if it will fit with the rest of the group.

>>43763395

Not that guy, but I interview them.

Well, it's a "casual chat," with some questions thrown around, but really what it boils down to is an interview. If you can't demonstrate basic socialization skills, fail some particular questions I use to weed out That Guys, and overall just can't be an interesting enough guy to talk to, then I don't really want you in my game.

>>43760738

I'm a player and this sounds awesome. Flakes ruin games for me too since it can make a game fall apart.

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>>43768770
>Not that guy, but I interview them.
Interviewing is the best method, but it is also the most time intensive.
Anon's weeding process prevents wasting time interviewing players who can't, or won't, make a decent character

>>43765164
>>43763496
>>43763425
>>43762971
I just thought I'd point out that "party cohesion" is even less of an issue if you are putting together the group by picking out the character concepts.
Having the players make characters that fit together or designing them all together is better if the group is already established, but if you are forming the group, anon's technique seems like it would work just fine.
Also,
>>43768658
>its almost impossible to make a functional party that way,
Unless you assemble a team out of vaguely compatible characters

>And you cannot have a concept before you even know if you will get stats to support it or if it will fit with the rest of the group.
You really, really can.
There are methods of rolling up characters that do just that.
However, it does have the dreaded stigma of being sub-optimal!