Just a bit of venting
And then, out of nowhere, I want to vent a bit.
I'm always the GM. And I like being a GM! Don't get me wrong. But I do have two things bugging me.
First, I also like being a player. Doesn't have to be weekly, just... you know. Every now and then? Wolf had a game, but that stopped. Eelco has a small game once a year (which was pretty good this year!), but that's not enough. Ot has a game, in theory, but that's about to end as well.
Second, besides my regular (bi-)weekly games I have some ad hoc games; Dark Sun, Birthright, and Star Trek. Dark Sun is doing well. The other two, not as much. People rarely ever ask when we can play again. I do ask them occasionally, but nothing seems to come of it. More than a week ago I asked in the Star Trek whatsapp when people would be available. Only about half the players put in a real response.
And look, it's not about any specific incident or whatever. And I know you're all busy people, most of you with children as well. If you can't play, you can't play. And if you can't play, you certainly can't run anything either. I get that.
And yet, "getting it" doesn't really help my situation. Because I'm spending time and energy on games that will never happen - or at least, so uncommonly that it might as well be never.
So for now I have some ideas. Note that these are not final, they are just posted here so they're open for discussion, because this affects some of you as well. Feedback is very much welcome.
Monday game:
Stays as it is.
Tuesday games:
Stay as they are. I've managed to get every Tuesday free from work so I always have some prep hours on the day itself. That said, if someone could take over the Anima Tuesday for me, even if just for a one-shot in between, I would like that.
Bi-weekly Sunday game:
Once Ot is done, I will not be replacing him as a GM for at least the rest of 2019. Perhaps in early 2020, we'll see.
Ad hoc Dark Sun:
Stays as it is, hoping we can retain that momentum. (Pun not intended.)
Ad hoc Birthright:
Stops. Interest and/or opportunity seem to be too low.
Ad hoc Star Trek (USS Manhattan):
Incredibly, even with a cast of seven players it's proving real challenging to get a workable group of three or four players together on the same day. Fortunately for me, I've got my Star Trek fix elsewhere on one of the Tuesdays. So I'm fine with this stopping as well.
Again, these are ideas which are not set in stone. Maybe someone else runs Birthright for a bit, for example. (Yeah I know, I know...) Or maybe we drop some of those ad hoc games and we replace them with some other ones (not as if I lack games which I still want to try), with smaller and more available groups to ensure things actually keep on ticking for a while.
Finally, I want it to be clear that I'm not planning to stop certain games to punish people or something. It's just an observation that some of these games don't work out in a way I'm satisfied with them. And if they don't work, well, they don't work.
Other people running stuff would be very appreciated.
Alternatively, some of you may need to miss out on certain future games as I move to leaner, more available groups.
Either way, that's my vent.
What you need to understand about the apocalypse is that you aren't Mad Max. You're part of the skull pyramid in the background.
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