Recruitment: Players looking for games

[HeyGabe]

I picked up a copy of The Beginner's Box about a month ago, and I am having a great time introducing my 9-year old and my wife to Tabletop Roleplaying Games.

So, the thing is, because I'm GMing for them, I am not getting to to play, so I was hoping that Playing by Post would be something I could get into.

Having lurked for a few weeks, and enjoyed reading through more than a fair amount of Online Gameplay threads, I continued to be baffled by the recruitment method used to connect players and games.

I've dug into the how-to threads, and I've made an effort to dot a few games that I thought were interesting... but I wonder why nobody seems to post Character in Search of Game threads.

Is that just not a thing that works? Or is it a thing that is frowned on?

[Chakka]

It generally doesn't work.
mostly I think because there are sooo many players and relatively few GM's.
Unless its a really out there idea, most Gm's get flooded with players trying to join, circumventing the need to go looking for more...
just my 2 cents..
XD

[Broadhand]

HeyGabe,

I'm having a similar problem to yours - I'm very intimidated to dot most stuff because it looks either too intensive for me, or I don't think my character(s) would actually fit in with the group that's already expressed interest. Plus, I don't have a clue as to which GMs would fit my play-style the best. Very intimidating.

As I'm new to this all, I don't have any advice for you. I just wanted you to know you're not alone.

[DM Papa.DRB]

As Chakka responded, there are significantly more players than GMs.

Rather than just "dot" a thread, do the following:

1) Read the GM opening post on what s/he is looking for as far as characters and how to generate them. For instance, here is my opening post for my Wrath of the Righteous Campaign (LINK). Read the first two posts by me.

2) Look at the GM campaign tab and the campaigns s/he is running. For instance here is the LINK to mine. You can read thru any of the gameplay threads to get an idea of that GMs style. You can do this by right clicking on the GM id and going to the campaign tab.

3) If you are interested in applying do the following:

If the GM just wants concepts, backstory, etc. provide that. Provide an alias of requested. If the GM wants a complete character sheet provide that.

4) Look HERE for several guides to Play by Post, both from a GM and a Player aspect.

The only way to get into a PbP is to apply. Sometimes it takes a while, but it is worth it.

Good luck and good gaming.

-- david

[HeyGabe]

I am trying to be less hesitant about just dotting first and asking questions later. I am also trying to build up a pool of character aliases to make it more likely I can slot in a needed party member.

I will keep at it, the fact is, the kludgey nature of the recruitment method here seems to be a kind of inelegant way of getting only those who are really, really interested into games.

Thanks for the advice.

@Broadhand I appreciate the solidarity. Have you come across The Flaxseed Pathfinder Lodge?

[Broadhand]

No, I hadn't. Thanks for the tip, HeyGabe!

[KenderKin]

Absolutely do the following.

1) create a few characters/aliases that you really want to play.
Remember that once you set the name, you are stuck with that alias.

Flesh out the character so that when it comes to tweaking the character for specific game submissions it is much easier.

2) lurk
Hang around and at least see what GM's there are on the boards.
(Several times players are invited to games via private message or having built a relationship in another game).

3) Learn the functionality of the web-site

4) offer to map/track loot and generally help the DM in making the game better.

[Terquem]

You are only stuck with a name, I believe, once you have posted 10 times as that alias on any board.

[The Dread Pirate Hurley]

I believe what was meant was that, once you've given it a name, that alias is permanently listed on your account. Aliases can't be deleted, and there are a lot of people with cluttered lists of aliases with similar characters.

[DM Papa.DRB]

^^ Not quite true. If you have not done any posts from that alias, you can still delete it.

For instance, my "David R. Bender" alias has no posts. I only made it to "reserve" my full named alias, and under my main ID, it has the button option to delete that alias.

-- david

edit: However, once you post from that alias even once the delete button goes away, and once you post 10 (I think) times you can not change the name.

edit2: By the way, HERE is a post to an alias and PbP organizer / viewer.

[The Dread Pirate Hurley]

Thanks for the clarification Papa.DRB. That tool looks very handy!

On the other side of the fence, I disagree with the OP about the inelegant system for selecting players. Aside from the fact that there are as many play styles as there are players, there are numerous ways of recruiting. Nonetheless, supply and demand make it a GM's market.

One of the problems with having a bunch of character LFG threads is that a prospective GM has to go through a lot of different threads to find characters that they think will work with the game. That puts even more work on the GM at the beginning. There are plenty of posters who create in-depth characters tailored to the specific game they're applying for; that's what GMs who care want to see. Players who care enough to create awesome characters who intentionally fit in the setting and tone are probably going to be more fun to play with.

There are also plenty of posters who want to play one specific character and apply all over the place with that one character or without really trying to tailor their character to the game. That's not typically an effective strategy, and players who do so are likely to end up very frustrated. I'm sorry, but Skull & Shackles is probably not the game for your favorite four-armed pony Doctor Who-Lelouch Lamperouge lovechild character. As tragic as it is, there probably isn't any game for that character this side of Gaia Online.

The conversation about recruitment is definitely worth having though. I'm really glad we have this new General Discussion section for the Online Campaigns subforum. For now, the overwhelming supply of players and the very high rate of game failure are huge obstacles that we should all be working to overcome.

[Avatar-1]

HeyGabe, are you interested in real-time online play?

Or only play by post?

Check out Pathfinder Society if you haven't already.

[HeyGabe]

Here's a tip. I've figured out that life gets a lot easier if you hide stuff you've decided you're not interested in. The Hide Button is your friend.