Seeking Advice

Alright guys so i started a online Fallout game a couple of months ago

I put a lot of preperation into the game, i mapped out the Virginia Area from Fredericksburg to Richmond, prepared a Main Quest and a lot of sidequests.

I innitially planned this campaign for 3 players and tried my best for them to be able to play their characters - a grumpy ghoul, a fighty robot and a human lady who likes to blow shit up

The robot played for 3 sessions then stopped because of his studies, and the human lady only comes in infrequently because of studies and because "i've got priorities"

I had to bring in another guy to fill the gap of the robot but now the human player has cancelled two weeks in a row on the day the game is played (although i've told them to cancel it before)

Now im both insulted because of him disrespecting the game and im also unsure if he's bored with the game (told me yesterday how good of a GM i am and im not sure if that was ironic because we communicated that online)

Do i stop GMing that game because of the infrequency and because of how much the human player upsets me or do i keep going and disappoint the two players who can come regularly and who im sure like the game?

All three players are real life friends i know, they're not randoms

I'd rather play with randoms than any of my IRL friends, despite them constantly begging me to DM, because they shit all the game and turn it into a murder-hobo power-fantasy (or bitch if I don't let them). Just because you know someone doesn't necessarily make them good roleplayers. Give randoms a shot, you might be surprised, some of them REALLY want friends to play with and don't have much in the way of priorities, so they'll show up consistently and be super into the game.

>I'd rather play with randoms than any of my IRL friends, despite them constantly begging me to DM, because they shit all the game and turn it into a murder-hobo power-fantasy (or bitch if I don't let them). Just because you know someone doesn't necessarily make them good roleplayers. Give randoms a shot, you might be surprised, some of them REALLY want friends to play with and don't have much in the way of priorities, so they'll show up consistently and be super into the game.

Yea i've got a community i could recruit from. And i actually might be doing that. Its a pain in the ass to organize people and to help them make characters + explain rules but it might be worth it

You know what actually hurts me though? In my heart i know that they put no effort into actually rescheduling for the game that brings all of us joy

I mean if you're in the second semester of university you can just not go to some seminars because they're not important. How can i and the game i put out be worth less than some garbage university course?

>Do i stop GMing that game because of the infrequency and because of how much the human player upsets me or do i keep going and disappoint the two players who can come regularly and who im sure like the game?

Just stop GMing if it's no longer fun for you.

That's what a lot of people constantly forget: GMing should never be something somebody "has" to do or else there will be no game. GMing should be something the GM likes to do. And when you don't like it anymore for whatever reason, stop. Otherwise it's going to affect the game in a bad way.

For this round or for my friends forever (or until they're able to show up on time)?

Also i'd really like to reuse this campaign but i think i'll just feel bad and be reminded of this failure

bump

>How can i and the game i put out be worth less than some garbage university course?

It's people like you who drag folks down, you know. Try replacing the words "the game" with "going gambling", "drinking" and "whoring" for a better view.

Sure, most courses are garbage, but you still want to make the most of them.

>online game
>real life friends
But why?

Kick the human player. If they can't show up then they should not have agreed to play in the first place.

If this means you can't continue to run, hold on to the people who did show, and build a new party. If you do this enough times you will have a functioning RPG group

When im doing a game and you tell me you got time on thursday i expect you to be there on thursday. Its ok to not have time but dont upset the people ur playing with by telling people ur not coming at they day the game is supposed to be

Also yea courses are important but if you dont show up for 2 weeks and then tell me you're coming only to tell me off at the last minute for some second semester university course you could easily skip then yea that upsets me

We live at different places now thats why

Start a game with actual physical players.

It sounds to me like rigid schedule is the problem. Since it is already an online game, I would encourage you to switch to a more play-by-post style, with more frequent, but shorter, interactions and roleplaying. If a combat encounter starts, then get everyone to agree on a time they can get online and use whatever virtual tabletop you want, and hold them to it.

This will accomplish a few things. The first is that it will take the pressure of schedule and the limitation of time off of the players; they can go minutes or days between turns, if they are so inclined, and they can freely focus on their studies, pop in whatever chat room you have for a break, post a turn, and go back to what they're doing.

I've also found that a benefit of using text for roleplaying lets the players write actual dialogue, and express themselves exactly as eloquently as they like. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time pulling dialogue out of my ass to speak, though I am improving at improvising roleplay. It also lets people re-read through interactions so they know exactly what is happening. (It also lets you take more time to write good dialogue and scenery, and lets you look something up without looking like an ass.)

A lot of the advice posted here is appropriate for randos, but Veeky Forums has a lot of autist GMs and players who get assblasted about any less-than-perfect etiquette. Players are humans, who make mistakes, and need frequent and open communication. Talk to your players user; they are, hypothetically, your friends.

Thats correct but text by text isn't fun for me. It's a lesser social experience. For me i want to have fun with the game and make it as fun as possible for my players too. If they cant make time for the game i'll find people who can and just play pc games with my friends instead

>prepared a Main Quest

found the problem

kill yourself

>I would encourage you to switch to a more play-by-post style

All i did was give them hints that theres main quest content in a certain direction. That would then spark off a version of the main quest depending on what faction they allied with.

Mainquest is probably less detailed than the side quests because i know how many variations there could be.
If my players werent faggots and had shown up on time

If it's a Fallout game, there must be a main quest, m8. One that you can put off for a while and do your own stuff.

Maybe they'd show up on time if you hadn't scheduled it during one of their classes?

>Hey guys what time is okay with you
>Thursday is ok, 6 pm fine?
>Right on
>Proceeds to not show up at 6 pm causing us to miss 3 sessions in a row
>Doesn't tell me before that he wont show up
>Doesn't help with rescheduling
>Non communicative, generally annoying attitude

Tried my best, now im upset looking for new players

>don't play without him
>don't ask why he didn't show up

>Now theres only 2 players and the other guy only wants to play with 3

It aint easy

Also i did ask him why he didn't show up and he gave me some vague ass answer and told me he'd show up next week 4 sho

Idk i feel like im getting played

Sounds like he's lost interest and doesn't want to talk to you about it.

Thats what i was thinking as well

So why aren't you out trying to find a new group?

Doing that right now actually. I kinda needed this thread because
a) i was pretty pissed
and b) indicisive about kicking the guy and looking for a new group