The Game Killer

[Niven81]

I partially want to rename myself "The Game Killer" as I go to a game ad I see it is really hopping and active and then I put in an app and it just stops. If it wasn't the Internet I'd think it was because people thought I smelled or something.

[cailano]

Recruitments are easy. Actually running a game is hard.

Sorry that keeps happening to your games, though.

[Yamazaki]

Cailano is dead right - it's hard to get a game past its initial startup. A lot of games fail before they start or fail shortly after they do. But if the stars align, even for a moment, you can go pretty far.

Don't take it personal - it just happens. Like, a lot. To all of us. It's actually why we often discuss what we can do to keep things rolling, although even those things are sometimes not enough.

[Powderhorn]

For me, I find that running games helps to mitigate that, because I can keep flogging that dead horse with replacements as long as I'm willing :D Playing in games is tough for everyone, because you're more at the whims of fate than anything else.

[Roughtrade]

21 hours ago, Niven81 said:

"The Game Killer"

I feel like that, but for a specific GM. Some sort of weird synergy.

[Vladim]

On 2/10/2024 at 12:25 AM, Powderhorn said:

For me, I find that running games helps to mitigate that, because I can keep flogging that dead horse with replacements as long as I'm willing :D Playing in games is tough for everyone, because you're more at the whims of fate than anything else.

Or solo games. Give a man a fish and all that...

[Havelock]

Primarily need a GM that can keep the engine running, but also need players to keep fueling it.

 

Most of the time, everyone involved thinks they can put in their contribution, most of the time RL interferes or motivation drops or something. Occasionally there is a beautiful long running game. We keep starting and applying for games hoping this one will be it.

[Eagleheart]

2 hours ago, Havelock said:

We keep starting and applying for games hoping this one will be it.

...which arguably leads to a vicious cycle of "start game -> distracted by shiny new game -> old game slows down/dies"

[cailano]

17 hours ago, Havelock said:

Primarily need a GM that can keep the engine running, but also need players to keep fueling it.

 

Most of the time, everyone involved thinks they can put in their contribution, most of the time RL interferes or motivation drops or something. Occasionally there is a beautiful long running game. We keep starting and applying for games hoping this one will be it.

The GM is the primary driver of pace in a campaign because the GM's posting rate determines the length of the feedback cycle. I've had multiple successful campaigns on this site and others, and I think posting frequency is the biggest reason why.

 

Cailano's Tips for Campaign Success

1. Keep the pace up. Post multiple times per week**
2. Put effort into your recruitment. Draw as many applications as you can and draft the best group available.
3. Try to make most of your group veteran players who have shown they can sustain games, but leave room for one or two new ones. New blood is important for the site and our hobby.
4. Overdraft! If you need four players, recruit six.
5. Know when to leave a scene. If there's nothing left for the party to achieve there, cut to the next scene. Be ruthless with this.
6. Don't be afraid of PC death. Keep your game legit.
7. Put some effort into your posts. Maybe not every single one, but when you get a chance, take a moment to really describe a scene. Good writing draws your players into the game world.
8. Leave room for the PC's to do awesome stuff. It's what makes a campaign memorable.
9. If a player doesn't post for a couple of days, move on with the scene, especially if you're in combat. If it's just a matter of an attack roll, make it for them.
10. Ask your players to interact with the game world via their characters. If they want to make a skill roll, ask them to describe what their character is doing. If they say, "I search for traps," you ask, "Where? How are you searching?" You'll be amazed at what that does for immersion.
     

** I know not everyone can post multiple days per week and you've got to work with what you have. High attentiveness has been a big factor in my own successful games, but that's me. If you can run a great game on two posts a week, more power to you.

[shawnhcorey]

I would change rule 8 to read: make the opportunity for the players to do awesome stuff. Give them 15 minutes of fame as much as possible. After all, the PCs are suppose to be the heroes of the story. So make sure there are opportunities for them to use their skills and talents to be awesome.

[cailano]

1 hour ago, shawnhcorey said:

I would change rule 8 to read: make the opportunity for the players to do awesome stuff. Give them 15 minutes of fame as much as possible. After all, the PCs are suppose to be the heroes of the story. So make sure there are opportunities for them to use their skills and talents to be awesome.

I think we're on the same page regarding the importance of the rule of cool, but I find players will make their own opportunities. The important thing is not to squash their creativity. There's often that temptation to seize control and say, "You can't do that," but I advise going with the flow.

But, now that you've got me thinking about it, I guess one thing the GM can do to provide opportunities for players is to add a lot of stuff to your scenes for them to interact with. Players love that kind of thing and will use those props to their advantage.

Good tip!

[Civit]

In my homebrew world no 8 definitely applies. Pretty much every past PC is part of the lore. Some have become NPCs even with players that haven't played in my world for over 10 years (I started my world over 30 years ago... actually now that I do the math this year is it's 30th year anniversary. Places named after them... books and songs (The Gnome Rapist... a character got drunk... woke up with a female gnome... another player made a song of it... now pretty much every bard knows that song... its like my worlds Brown Eyed Girl... every house band knows it)

[OzzyKP]

11 hours ago, cailano said:

1. Know when to leave a scene. If there's nothing left for the party to achieve there, cut to the next scene. Be ruthless with this.
2. Put some effort into your posts. Maybe not every single one, but when you get a chance, take a moment to really describe a scene. Good writing draws your players into the game world.
3. If a player doesn't post for a couple of days, move on with the scene, especially if you're in combat. If it's just a matter of an attack roll, make it for them.
4. Ask your players to interact with the game world via their characters. If they want to make a skill roll, ask them to describe what their character is doing. If they say, "I search for traps," you ask, "Where? How are you searching?" You'll be amazed at what that does for immersion.

 

All good rules, but I especially want to emphasize these. These are often a source of games dragging out. I am typically slow to post, but when the GM has a very cursory post that is light on detail it makes it hard for me to respond. Ok, I see the enemy, how far away? Is there anything between us? Am I on a ledge or level with them? What are they doing? What is around them? Etc.

Another rule to add, for players, it often annoys me and can make it hard to respond when the players don't fully read the other posts. The GM says you come ashore and are standing on the beach, and after that a player says "ok, I get in the row boat and row to shore". Then other players cue off of that player's post and say "while we're in the boat I take out my fishing rod and see if I get a bite". Then we have to figure out how to reconcile the conflicting posts. Of course while the radically asynchronous nature of play by post, maybe someone had a really good idea they wanted to do before the party got on the boats, but the GM already moved forward to the beach. If I'm in that situation I'll make it clear that my post is retroactive and make sure that whatever in my post was something that happened in the past and doesn't change or ignore the current situation.

[Basil_Bottletop]

I came in here to say that I have a running joke that I kill games by certain GMs whether I'm an original member or a late add-on. Like the RNG Gods just don't like us playing games together. But it looks like the conversation as transitioned to more helpful information, which is nice.

I'm going to carry Ozzy's thoughts further. I would really like if players -in PbP or live games- did a better job of not being omnipresent. I know it's common at the table for a player to handwave what they just learned in private; so instead of giving their own spin on it for the rest of the group they instead just say "what the GM said". It's a time-saver or something. Some times it's just a player that doesn't have the panache for not just repeating it verbatim, and so it's silly to repeat it or whatever.

In PbP, it really would be nice if players not in the scene would let those in the scene play out what they just learned. It's a roleplaying game, after all. It's not like it's going to earn the session any more time by skipping the learn-and-share moment. Far too often, something gets revealed to someone after a roll (or not a roll, if it's a dice-free game) and before they have a chance to respond, someone else WHO WASNT THERE has a reaction. It's sloppy. It's rude.

I notice that this happens a lot with dialogue-only posters. Not always, but there's a major overlap. After being on the site for an eternity, my assumption is that they aren't reading a majority of any of the posts and by not nailing down their location, they feel free to just be wherever the interesting stuff is at any given moment.

 

 

[Vladim]

I feel that too. Everything that happens in-game can be an opportunity for characterisation, so it can be a bit frustrating to be robbed of such opportunities for characterisation...