Nagoya Roleplayers

[ennui]

Ooooh, the staggered schedule thing is good. One thing strikes me, though I'm not sure if its really a bad thing. It's that the 10-2 games would really HAVE to be 4 hours for people that want to make the afternoon game. The 3-7 games could, and probably will, be longer than 4 hours and probably spill into 9 or 10, like it frequently does these days. I have no problem with this, just that some GMs might feel like they are unfairly getting less time for their game. I suppose it depends on the GM and might not even come up, but it was just a thought.

I say we go for the staggered schedule thing. Right now, 1 Sunday a month I GM for my Japanese group, and I try to make the morning part of the wargaming on the last Sunday of the month if I have the day free. So that's plenty of time for me to GM a couple times a month and still get in a few games as a player. This satisfies me.

On the times when a scheduled GM for that "session" can't make it, then we could either have someone else GM in their place or have a boardgame day.

[Primarch]

Well, 10-2 was just a suggestion. You could always start earlier if you wanted to, say 9-2:30. Or the afternoon game could start later.
To be honest, I dont like finishing late in the evening anyway, (plus the wife is none to happy about it) so I dont mind doing a morning game. Someone should probably talk to Tanya and Ian since they usually play host to the game and they both like RPGs a lot so will probably want to play in some of the games.

[Tom]

Staggered scheduling is, in my opinion, a fair way of doing things. For the morning crew, it'll free up afternoons to do stuff.

Doing the math, we have something like 6 - 8 'slots' of time for gaming on Sundays. It's more than enough for people to pick and choose what kind of game they want to play, and it also gives said GM the opportunity to keep their campaign fresh in the minds of the players.

Finding GMs willing to run in the morning would be tough, I think, as would making those locations work. But I think it can be done with a little planning.

Before anything is really decided, I think we need to know which GMs would be willing to run in the mornings.

(I would, and am willing to do this if my Heavy Gear campaign takes off, but I've got 5 players who are all employed by the same company and have similar schedules, which is why Saturday works. It remains an option, though.)

[Primarch]

I am more than happy to run a game in the AM. Of course the start time will depend on where we play. If its at Tanya and Ian's place then I'm good from 9 onwards, if its somewhere else it may be a bit later. Morning games would suit me fine. I'm worried that some of the people who want to play would be either sleeping or hungover in the morning though.

[ennui]

I'm worried that some of the people who want to play would be either sleeping or hungover in the morning though.

Yeah... that's sort of a concern. But I think if I'm hung over in the morning, it usually means I'd be hung over in the evening, too

Like I said, I can host games at my place, too. I'm pretty close to Kanayama, but on the opposite side from Tanya and Ian. To be honest, I'd rather run in the afternoon, but I could wait and see how everyone else feels about when they want to run.

[Miggy Smallz]

Staggered gaming sounds fun but I wouldn't be a part of it, and I doubt Ian would either, for the reason that we both have lives outside of gaming (roll your Sense Motive versus my Bluff...). I -DO- stuff in the mornings, and I find it hard pressed to get out there on time as it is on Sundays, and Ian takes trips outside of Nagoya many mornings too.

Also, having games split by types of play styles wouldn't be much of a compromise, since I'm down for nearly any kind of pen and paper gaming, and I get the feeling most, if not all, of us are too.

Also, if we're voting for which games we want to play in the most, here're mine.

1 - Thief game
2 - Dark Heresy / Rogue Trader
3 - Thief game
4 - Er... Evangelion?

I'm thinking that, perhaps when we have our next vacation or long weekend, I would like to do a marathon campaign night and play through the night. It's not like I sleep, as it is.

[Grim Fandango]

The staggered schedule isn't without its drawbacks, but we could at least try and line it up so we don't have two "must play" games for any one person on the same day.

We don't even have to have staggered games on every Sunday. Just sometimes, when scheduling gets tight. I think Tom was right, the situation we have right now kind of sucks. Giving everybody a fair turn at running their game means one particular campaign only gets one session a month. Or else we stick to the rule of "finish one person's campaign before starting another one".

[Miggy Smallz]

Or else we stick to the rule of "finish one person's campaign before starting another one".

But... but... but... the Baron CAN'T die! I gotta say, if ever there was a setting I want to never end, it'd be Dayport City's. So many plans...


I see that the benefit to this system would be that DMs can play, AND also run a game, at the same time. But my mornings are too precious, and I would rather have less campaigns, longer game sessions, rather than the other way around. This is my opinion, though, and of course I'll play nearly any game scheduled, and I would be the first among us to drop their game if it meant more DnD/DH/RT.

[Primarch]

Or else we stick to the rule of "finish one person's campaign before starting another one".

But... but... but... the Baron CAN'T die! I gotta say, if ever there was a setting I want to never end, it'd be Dayport City's. So many plans...


I see that the benefit to this system would be that DMs can play, AND also run a game, at the same time. But my mornings are too precious, and I would rather have less campaigns, longer game sessions, rather than the other way around. This is my opinion, though, and of course I'll play nearly any game scheduled, and I would be the first among us to drop their game if it meant more DnD/DH/RT.

Well, I wont be picking up the DH/RT GM hat for a while. I LOVE the setting, I LOVE the background, but running the games is strangely unappealing. In part, I get sick of having to flip back and forth through the book to find some chart or special rule whilst trying to book mark a dozen other pages.
With D and D I have free reign to build a game world and let you lot explore it on your own. With DH/RT (especially DH) that sand box option isnt there. Everything has to have a reason for existing, links to other things in the game world and several ways of reaching it. All of this makes the game more of a chore from my point of view.

[Tom]

I see that the benefit to this system would be that DMs can play, AND also run a game, at the same time. But my mornings are too precious, and I would rather have less campaigns, longer game sessions, rather than the other way around. This is my opinion, though, and of course I'll play nearly any game scheduled, and I would be the first among us to drop their game if it meant more DnD/DH/RT.

The problem here that gets overshadowed as well is the sheer numbers involved, player wise. The 'gaming group' we have has at least 5 or 6 players, right? If we have 1 campaign running at all times, you'll end up with:

1) 6+ people showing up to every game. Big and unwieldy groups to GM.
2) People who DON'T play in said 'main campaign' sitting out for months at a time. This kills incentive to stay in the 'Nagoya Roleplayers' group.
3) GMs having to wait for a month/few months. (This puts pressure on the 'running' GM to finish on a schedule, as well as risks creativity kill for the GM who waits because he may grow tired of it if he's... say 5th on the queue).

The advantages of the morning/afternoon session takes care of all three of these problems.

1) Smaller groups for some games, because some players only have so much time they want to RP. (I'm seeing 4-5 max per game except for the super popular ones)
2) Nobody sits out because there are a lot of games to choose from.
3) No waiting for GMs.

The only potential disadvantage I see is how, if a game collapses, the 'refugees' may want to flood another more popular game. But, even taking this into account, there's a lot to like about the staggered scheduling.