I think I have my first experience of a player who has just stopped playing and posting in our Play-by-Post campaign on Discord.
What are some actions to take? Yes, I've tagged 'em directly in our chat-at-the-table channel. My next action will be to direct message 'em. After that, I will remove 'em from the campaign.
I know things happen IRL that affect the ability/willingness to participate. In the beginning of our campaign, my mother-in-law died. However, I felt I could continue to participate. D&D and our Play-by-Post campaign was an escape from the pain IRL. However, we're all different.
I'm asking for feedback or suggestions of what other DMs have done when a player just stops participating and communicating.
I haven't run into this issue, mostly because I have screened PBP players ahead of time and try to set realistic expectations for posting or notifying of absences. PBP games with internet randos is kind of a crap-shoot, so you have to accept a bit of narrative risk and either have a few work arounds in your back pocket, or be more open to the nature of games where people can drop out as they please with little consequence.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Thank you. This is my first PbP DM experience, so learning from others is valuable. Your reply is very valuable, so again thank you.
The person is a random individual, and I posted expectations prior to starting.
Also, I really like the idea of designing the campaign with possible drop outs. I did this specifically in mind as all the characters were provided by me, so I could narrate if someone dropped out.
Having been a player in a fair share of PbPs...this happens a lot, unfortunately.
My best advice is simply to try to give the player a little slack (because maybe something happened) and try to get in contact with them. If it ends up slowing down the game, or it is a habitual thing, then it's probably best to amicably part ways.
I would be cautious about having your expectations too stringent. PbP tends to be pretty slow, and the people who sign up for them often have either limited availability or very odd schedules. Hopefully you can find a group of people whose availability works with each other, but beware kicking people out too frequently for not posting enough. On the player side of things (unless you're running a Westmarch-type campaign), it feels like a confusing revolving door of people. Good luck!
I've set up the campaign to allow this...they have dorm rooms, and the campaign is set as a school. Might be easier to keep the story moving forward.
If this is the action you will take moving forward for MIA players, be sure this is clearly communicated to the entire group. At the very least, make an announcement and confirm that everyone saw it. But what I'd suggest you do instead is have a discussion with your players and get their input before nailing down a policy.
To some degree, yes, you're the DM and you set the tone and organize things. Yet this is also a collaborative game. This kind of thing (scheduling policy and handling absences) is a pretty basic session zero topic - and it's always a good time to have one of those. Open dialogue tends to go better than DM edict, particularly when OOC activity and general participation are involved.
Hello, fellow Play-by-Post DMs!
I think I have my first experience of a player who has just stopped playing and posting in our Play-by-Post campaign on Discord.
What are some actions to take? Yes, I've tagged 'em directly in our chat-at-the-table channel. My next action will be to direct message 'em. After that, I will remove 'em from the campaign.
I know things happen IRL that affect the ability/willingness to participate. In the beginning of our campaign, my mother-in-law died. However, I felt I could continue to participate. D&D and our Play-by-Post campaign was an escape from the pain IRL. However, we're all different.
I'm asking for feedback or suggestions of what other DMs have done when a player just stops participating and communicating.
Sincerely,
UNCL3MIK3MIK3
I haven't run into this issue, mostly because I have screened PBP players ahead of time and try to set realistic expectations for posting or notifying of absences. PBP games with internet randos is kind of a crap-shoot, so you have to accept a bit of narrative risk and either have a few work arounds in your back pocket, or be more open to the nature of games where people can drop out as they please with little consequence.
Thank you. This is my first PbP DM experience, so learning from others is valuable. Your reply is very valuable, so again thank you.
The person is a random individual, and I posted expectations prior to starting.
Also, I really like the idea of designing the campaign with possible drop outs. I did this specifically in mind as all the characters were provided by me, so I could narrate if someone dropped out.
Thanks again!
Having been a player in a fair share of PbPs...this happens a lot, unfortunately.
My best advice is simply to try to give the player a little slack (because maybe something happened) and try to get in contact with them. If it ends up slowing down the game, or it is a habitual thing, then it's probably best to amicably part ways.
I would be cautious about having your expectations too stringent. PbP tends to be pretty slow, and the people who sign up for them often have either limited availability or very odd schedules. Hopefully you can find a group of people whose availability works with each other, but beware kicking people out too frequently for not posting enough. On the player side of things (unless you're running a Westmarch-type campaign), it feels like a confusing revolving door of people. Good luck!
Yes. Thank you for the feedback.
I've set up the campaign to allow this...they have dorm rooms, and the campaign is set as a school. Might be easier to keep the story moving forward.
Thanks again.
If this is the action you will take moving forward for MIA players, be sure this is clearly communicated to the entire group. At the very least, make an announcement and confirm that everyone saw it. But what I'd suggest you do instead is have a discussion with your players and get their input before nailing down a policy.
To some degree, yes, you're the DM and you set the tone and organize things. Yet this is also a collaborative game. This kind of thing (scheduling policy and handling absences) is a pretty basic session zero topic - and it's always a good time to have one of those. Open dialogue tends to go better than DM edict, particularly when OOC activity and general participation are involved.
Yes, I've included everyone in the communication about rules, expectations, changes, etc. as we have fun and learn together.
I really like how you write, "collaborative," because I too feel the same way about D&D - collaboration!
This is what I have in my first sentence of my rules, expectations, etc. channel in Discord, "create a fun, collaborative story of the imagination."
So...yes, fun and collaborative.
Thank you for the feedback and reply!