Hey all Now, before the answer is "Check your FLGS", I am wanting to know if anyone knows of a good way to meet/find gamers in a local area. I have done some web searching and have found a couple, but nothing that seems worth while. I am currently on Meetup, but that seems more geared towards groups of people that gather at said FLGS and that doesn't really work for me. Please don't get into the "Why not?" or "Dude, just go to the gaming store". Yes, I know this is an option.... I am just looking for other options as well.

So, if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Thanks all!

Hey all Now, before the answer is "Check your FLGS", I am wanting to know if anyone knows of a good way to meet/find gamers in a local area. I have done some web searching and have found a couple, but nothing that seems worth while. I am currently on Meetup, but that seems more geared towards groups of people that gather at said FLGS and that doesn't really work for me. Please don't get into the "Why not?" or "Dude, just go to the gaming store". Yes, I know this is an option.... I am just looking for other options as well.

So, if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Thanks all!

FLGS doesn't always work either.

I went to one and he said "Uhh, people play D&D here on Fridays"

penandpapergames got me one gamer, but I pretty much had to import players from board gaming meetups. I convinced them to try it and they love it.

So look, you gotta have high Presence, and either Negotiation or Charm, or for your S.O., Coercion.

I had a terrible experience at my (not so)LGS. Ymmv.

Personal friends? Even if they're not gamers, they can be seduced by the Dark Side. Wasn't long ago I was a non-gamer but now I am a convert!!

I recently learned that my local library has a gaming club that meets regularly and I went to a meeting. They weren't playing rpg type games (sorry, no clue exactly what they were playing) but some of the people there did play rpg type games. I discovered three different local gaming groups in all!

I think I surprised a few of them by mentioning I play EotE. They were interested but no one wanted to be the GM!! I'm guessing it is a lot easier to meet gamers AND play with them if you're willing to be the GM.

I play with friends, not gamers. And I infinitely prefer that. I get people I know and get on with to try a game, not go out looking for people who are into it. That's far, far better, imo.

Currently going through the same, myself. My group is comprised entirely of friends but sadly that only amounts to three players. Not all of my other friends are willing to dedicate one day of their weekend, or are just flat out uninterested and I don't really want to invite strangers into the fold without at least meeting them outside of the game to get to know them. Cuz as Knasserll says, friends are just better to play with.

My FLGS is pretty out of the way and is normally completely vacant when I go most times. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of alternative avenues that sort of thing around where I live.

Do you have any local conventions? I like to run games at the local Con of the North, which gives me a chance not only to meet people, but also to see their playing styles and thus recruit accordingly.

-Nate

I actually had good luck with meetup.com. It's definitely something you'll need to be proactive about. The internet is full of socially anxious people, and some of these people so someone will have to be the gaming group's cheerleader to make sure the games happen.

Have you tried online games through skype or roll20? It's not as convenient as the in-person thing, but it can satisfy that gaming itch.

I vastly prefer playing with my friends and family before playing with gamers who I don't know. But that is totally personal preference. I am more of a casual gamer and I like having excuses to hang out with people that I already like spending time with. Most of my close friends have really enjoyed getting into Star Wars roleplaying, and none of them had roleplayed before when I started them into it.

You might try the hobby section of a local book store as well, if you want to meet new gamers.

Volunteer to run an online game on these forums. Trust me, my inbox is FULL right now. Well not full, but I've gotten more responses that I expected

Hey all Now, before the answer is "Check your FLGS", I am wanting to know if anyone knows of a good way to meet/find gamers in a local area. I have done some web searching and have found a couple, but nothing that seems worth while. I am currently on Meetup, but that seems more geared towards groups of people that gather at said FLGS and that doesn't really work for me. Please don't get into the "Why not?" or "Dude, just go to the gaming store". Yes, I know this is an option.... I am just looking for other options as well.

So, if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Thanks all!

Your FLGS!

OK, I'll stop. I've been feeling a bit feisty today.

On to the question. I moved around a lot over the years while in the Navy and always had to hunt down new players.

Major sources of local intel on the local gaming community.

1) Game Shop (I know I know) but just as all Game Shops are not FLGS, there is more than one type of game shop. Board Games and other non-card non-RPG games are actually popular and while those stores may not actually carry RPG's, a decent one will have some idea of the local gaming climate.

2) Genre Conventions. If you are in an area that hosts conventions, you can get a fast check on local area gaming. I found a fantastic FRIENDLY Local Game Shop when I was in California in the mid 90's via a small local 2 day Comic Book convention being run out of a local library annex.

3) Comic Shops.

4) Book stores. Not so much Big Box, but the small local ones will have someone that 'knows' someone.

5) Sports trading card shops.

6) Eclectic/New Age'y shops. Regardless of their niche, they tend to have a good idea of other niche interests in their area. And RPG/Gaming is a niche interest.

7) Harder to find, but Anime Shops. If one exists near you, they will most likely have an idea of the local groups. Of course they will most likely be playing BESM or some such. But once you meet a group, even if you don't game with them they will usually have usable info for the local area.

In the end however you will wind up doing a lot of canvasing to actually find comparable players.

My current FLGS, actually is friendly and helpful, has been my local gaming hangout for a couple years now and I have just recently managed to find enough players where we all 'fit' and can enjoy the game.

Regardless of the quality of the shop or location, it still takes a while to actually locate your version of 'good' players as opposed you what you consider 'crappy'. We all have our own ideas on that score.

It is essentially the same as "I just moved, how do I make new friends?"

Step 1) go out and do stuff to make friends

Step 2) have friends over for board game night

Step 3) backdoor EotE Beginner Box into a subsequent board game night and see what happens

Step 4) repeat Steps 1-3 until desired results achieved

I kinda cheated with this: I work in the library, and I meet a lot of the local gaming population (or at least those with a high enough Presence score to go outside) just by going to work.

I haven't even moved into my new apartment in the area (my commute is about 70 miles each way) and I already have three players for my table with the offer of more if I let them bring friends o_O

That said, here's the obligatory list:

1) Your FLGS (mileage varies here). My "FLGS" (a comic shops that has some games) at home has D&D and Warhammer sessions, and offered to let me run Edge of the Empire but couldn't fit me into the schedule.

Note: if you live in a big enough area, there may be MANY local gaming shops. My town has two within a twenty minute drive.

2) Comic shops (a lot of the fandom carries over, after all) are a good place to start.

3) Oddly enough, libraries. You'd be surprised; some libraries actually own a gaming collection. My current one doesn't, but my old job did.

Added note on Libraries: some act as community centers, have meeting places, bulletin boards, and a Sci-Fi collection. The library I currently work for has a Graphic Novel Society and a video game club that uses our meeting room to chat and/or play video games once a month. Geekery abound, even before I started working here!

4) Local colleges (if you're young enough to not be a creeper, of course) tend to have gaming clubs and/or public spaces that even non-students can visit. If you get the okay to post on a board, you might be able to find your own group!

5) If you are lucky, see if your town as a community center or an area where a lot of people meet. Join in there.

6) If you are in a big enough area, you may have a local comic book, anime, or gaming convention. Look into attending it for a day or two and see what happens.

If I had the chance to move to where one of my usual conventions takes place, I'd have a gaming table three times over as my convention friends there would join anything I'd run (and vice versa).

Added note: if you're short on cash but still want to attend, look into it early enough and see if they take volunteers. Depending on the convention, they'll need people to man the front desk/registration, information kiosks, security, setup, sound crew, waffle makers, sith slayers, or other inane things. If you apply and they accept your application, they tend to let you attend the convention for free, give you a free shirt (a staff shirt), and sometimes other freebies (one of my usuals gives me a couple of meals and help with my housing costs for the duration of the con in exchange for working 6-8 hours a day).

Most of my work is actually running RPGs. How can you beat that?

7) Video game shops. Seriously. Find people talking about video game RPGs (or anyone wearing something relating to a fandom you are part of) and strike up a conversation. Exchange contact info, speak after everything's said and done, introduce them to gaming.

This is also true for retro gaming shops.

There may be a couple other options I overlooked, but that's a pretty good way of starting up. Good luck!

Do you have any local conventions? I like to run games at the local Con of the North, which gives me a chance not only to meet people, but also to see their playing styles and thus recruit accordingly.

-Nate

This is exactly how I got two new people for my game. I actually met them at a con a couple of years ago and ran a game of 4e with them, but they vanished before I could get their contact info (they were nice guys and both my wife and I enjoyed playing with them). Then, at the last con, I ran into them again at an EotE game (what are the odds?). The next day, we all ran the CRB adventure plus LAotH in the open gaming room until the wee hours of the morning, and they loved it. So, now they're part of our semi-monthly game.

Personally, I don't want to invite just anyone to my house Playing a few games with someone at a con (or a game store) is a good way to "audition" them for your game.

Ok, lots of good advice here, thanks everyone! To sum up a couple of things-

Yes, I do play online as well, but it just doesn't have the same feeling as doing it in person

The FLGS issue- I have a good one near by, but any time I have gone there, it's been a mad house of Magic Players. I'm not knocking it, I'm just saying that RP'ers seem to never show their face there. I've even made it a point to "hang out" for a bit looking at the RP books and never had any luck

Cons- I have just recently looked into this and any I have found are ALL on weekends that I already have plans out of town..... My timing sucks, lol

So again, thanks all for the input and I hope to make some good use of this and look forward to getting away from (PUKE) D20!!!

The FLGS issue- I have a good one near by, but any time I have gone there, it's been a mad house of Magic Players. I'm not knocking it, I'm just saying that RP'ers seem to never show their face there. I've even made it a point to "hang out" for a bit looking at the RP books and never had any luck

I know what you mean about the card side. My FLGS has a strong CCG side and to be fair $ wise CCG's are the lions share of most B&M shops. My local shop takes the time and effort to schedule RPG and Board Game days in the week and to make sure they have table space. Most shops want RPG's in the store, but their issue is mainly getting someone to step up and run. If you run in a shop you generally will run into munchkin boy, like cockroaches we can't seem to kill them off. But it is surprising how quickly the number of store RPG games explodes once the first game starts up.

The FLGS issue- I have a good one near by, but any time I have gone there, it's been a mad house of Magic Players. I'm not knocking it, I'm just saying that RP'ers seem to never show their face there. I've even made it a point to "hang out" for a bit looking at the RP books and never had any luck

I know what you mean about the card side. My FLGS has a strong CCG side and to be fair $ wise CCG's are the lions share of most B&M shops. My local shop takes the time and effort to schedule RPG and Board Game days in the week and to make sure they have table space. Most shops want RPG's in the store, but their issue is mainly getting someone to step up and run. If you run in a shop you generally will run into munchkin boy, like cockroaches we can't seem to kill them off. But it is surprising how quickly the number of store RPG games explodes once the first game starts up.

One of the reasons I don't go regularly to the Thursday LFR night at my FLGS is because it's also their weekly MTG night. We have to shout just to hear ourselves over the din of card-wielding crazies

Of course, if they ran a weekly EotE game, I'd be more apt to put up with the noise And to be honest, I grew bored with the cookie-cutter LFR adventures quite awhile ago, not to mention the no-concept min/max characters everyone would bring to the table. Heck, even I made a charging thief (which makes no sense) because I could do 40 damage at 1st level.

But I digress...

Unfortunately I don't have too much experience with getting players to my sessions.

I was DESPERATE to give EotE a try. Within 4 days of finding out about it one cold January morning, I had the core rulebook in my hands along with a dice pack and everything I needed to start GMing.

I tried it with friends, but they already had a pokemon RPG going on and due to other obligations they couldn't find a timeslot to fit EotE in (however now that one is off uni, its likely that will change quickly).

I tried with a smaller group of 3 friends. It was going well...but sadly they weren't a very teamwork based team, attempting to backstab and steal one another. Plus the session was about 90% talking about things other than the RPG. They also wanted to change games, plus the actual day we could meet up has become difficult to me. So that game was packed up.

Finally, was simply a little bit of luck. I started to buy my books from my FLGS. I went in one day and the owner started chatting with me, they mentioned that they did a Dungeons and Dragons session on Wednesday.

Went in on the Wednesday and was surprised when about an hour before their usual finishing time the GM introduced me and said why I was here and for the next hour I talked over the idea and the system and by the end of that hour we had decided on a Tuesday session at 7:30 each week.

The rest is history, we're up to session 5 and really enjoying it. I'd say that our last session was perhaps the most successful.

Although my inexperience with being a GM is showing with my lack of adventure ideas. Thankfully I have LOADS of prewritten stuff to last until I come up with something.

Although my inexperience with being a GM is showing with my lack of adventure ideas. Thankfully I have LOADS of prewritten stuff to last until I come up with something.

Not to derail the thread, but there's a lot of adventure hooks posted here on the forum, especially in the GM section. Even those of us who've been GMing for a while need to get and share ideas.

One of the reasons I don't go regularly to the Thursday LFR night at my FLGS is because it's also their weekly MTG night. We have to shout just to hear ourselves over the din of card-wielding crazies

The first 10 minutes of Gamers 3: Hands of Fate comes to mind.

One thing that helps is that all three owners of my LFGS are players in my session. So every Tuesday the table next to the till is reserved for our use. This is usually not a problem since Tuesday is pretty much quiet anyway. Card games are usually on Thursday and Friday.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays have been getting a little busier though since X-Wing players who were drawn to the store when the store championship happened have started to come in on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

I play with friends and friends of friends. My group got started when I mentioned Dark Heresy to a friend of mine who had mentioned WH40k, he had a friend who was some kind of 40k meganerd, and we got a game going. Then his roommate joined after spectating a session ("It's like watching a movie!"), then another friend. Now we're at 6 people.

I've played with randoms at the FLGS which was fine (some cool guys, one irredeemable), but they're stuck in a rut playing a game I don't like and wouldn't try anything else, so I bailed.

Two very important things to keep in mind when looking for RPG groups:

- No gaming is better than bad gaming

- Do not fall into the trap of geek social fallacies

Also, check out Obsidian Portal, Pen and Paper Games, and NearByGamers. Those all have maps where people can advertise their games or themselves.