My group is currently having a problem with maintaining a useful amount of people.

We game via Roll20 and use Google Hangouts for the video/voice portion.

Our problem is this;

We invite people via the Roll20 built in Looking For Group feature. They seem interested. Then the first issue occurs. 50% of the time after they are invited they don't accept into the group.

So we do end up getting people to accept the invite into the group, that is when the second issue occurs, 75% don't seem to bother to setup the character sheet. Eventually we do get a few that do accept the invite and fill out the character sheet, then a new issue occurs.

At this point most people don't even show up to the first game session. So the group is waiting about chatting about the fun that will happen and how to integrate the new Player... just to have game time roll around and the new person doesn't show up.

We have invited 6 Pilots. 2 showed up to play and they showed up for 1 session only then nothing.

At this point I have had to scramble for fill in people or play the pilot role myself as a GM-PC which I don't like to do. I finally just GAVE my Players that do show up an Astrogation Droid Brain for their ship so they have something that can at least fly them to places consistently.

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My question is, is this typical to all "gaming online" with this system, is this a problem with the Players available on Roll20, or is there something else going on?

Why would people respond to an invite to join.

Accept an Invite to join. (or not accept that invite)

Make a Character for a game. (or not bother to fill in the character sheet)

Only to not bother to show up at all?

Is it too much to ask to have people willing to play for a few hours a week so a story can progress consistently?

Is your whole group online or are you plugging holes with hangout/r20?

I have 2 group members that I know offline. I had a full offline group but work schedules changed so that is no longer available with those people.

So technically I am "plugging holes with hangout/r20".

I know kaosoe has had luck with meetup. Obsidian Portal has a geo feature when you display publicly. Tried those? They might get you warm bodies for chairs. Being a hybrid group I can maybe see why an online person might feel like a 5th wheel.

I think I eliminate the "5th wheel" issue by everyone Playing via roll20. So regardless everyone has video / voice chat even if one of the Players is all of 2 feet from me.

For the meetup/obsidian portal thing, I would think it would be fun to have more people locally to play with, but I get a bit nervous around new people I meet offline. I mean it doesn't take too long to warm up, but it is just why I was hoping the roll20 method would work.

Basically you are suggesting it is likely I will continue to run into these problems due to being an online group?

I would say it will require patience. Have you posted here? You see some people post from time to time desperate to get into an online group.

I posted here - after a week got zero response. I tried this multiple times, with the same response every time.

I post on Roll20 practically every week

I post on Reddit in the /r/swrpg (which rather than gaining Players, posts I write looking for Players only seem to gain down-votes)

I post on Reddit in the /r/lfg (which occasionally gets someone up-voting but never results in Players.)

I post on my blog a recruitment ad. This never results in anything but it is another avenue that "might" end up in Players eventually.

I have also tried asking here for local people (I think) but I am not sure if I got a response on that or not.

All you can do is try. Nobody at work or anything? Sometimes if you go to tourneys for other games locally that can be a good source. See if there is anything up with any other systems locally, especially Xwing, Armada, ImpAssault, and you might get lucky.

Just from my experience:

-Recruit broadly and expect at least a few people to drop. Don't just use the Roll20 LFG system, you'll probably get better results Advertising here and at D20 Radio. LFG is nice, but FFG and Roll20 is more likely to get you more interested players. Even then at least one or two players will decide they aren't' interested or realize their schedule wasn't as open as expected.

-Hit em hard up front. Like the films you need to reach out and grab the players in that first adventure and get them hungry for more. This is just my opinion, but doing the old D&D "you're in Star Wars.. Go!" method of adventure design isn't very compelling. You need to speak to the players, both literally and figuratively. Figure out a real plot for a real campaign and run it in a way that gets the players invested.

-Don't run too long. Keep your first campaign short. 5 Adventures. See who sticks around.I confess this is a challenge for me as I like to spend plenty of time hitting each player characters strengths and running a continuous b-plot in the background and unfoldinto the big A finale.

-Pay up. Roll20's character sheets and tools need to work together to encourage use, and that means a subscription. The freebee level is a good intro, but if you want to run a campaign, you need the full monty. It's worth every penny, I promise. The reason the players aren't filling out their sheets is because without the active API and such there's no reason to look at it often. With the API much of the game can be run in Roll20 Directly. Weapon checks will display in their entirety so you won't have to calculate them over voice, initiative will be a one-click affair and tracked for all to see, wound tracking will be a visible thing, crits and so forth also track better. And I haven't even gotten on special effects and such. If you want, I'll be happy to bring you into my demo sandbox sometime and show you what a paid account can do for you.

-Make a name for yourself. If you show up here with a single post saying you want to run a game people will be hesitant and afraid you're just some n00b. Follow threads, help resolve rules issues and help other GMs. When people see you know what you're talking about, they'll be more likely to want to play with you.

We have a eclectic blend of some from work, coupled with one of us who ran tourneys locally for years as well as participated in mini groups, card game groups, board game groups, big gamer guy. We have had to start game nite 2.0 to keep up with the people. A solid 3 to 5 players a session, with 7 at times. You gotta work the crowd to gather that flock essentially.

Off to Comicon shortly. Good luck and good gaming to all, see you all in San Diego....

2P;

My nearest coworker is 1300 miles away. While I know there are 3 or 4 gaming shops near me that run tourneys, they are far enough away that the slog through traffic would cause too much stress for it to be worth it. Apparently I picked a stupid place to live.

Ghost;

I do have a Roll20 Mentor subscription. Additionally I have talked/suggested updates to the character sheet designer that ended up being part of the current design of it. I have scripts loaded for the dice rolling and a NPC creator and a weapon importer.

I maintain a blog that I do session write-ups after the games so people can follow along or for new people they can figure out where they can fit it. I participate in discussions here and on reddit. This I think fits "making a name for myself".

I try to have targeted tasks as well as allow the Players some open world-ness. I guess I could try to re-introduce short focused missions to see if that helps, but "retention" isn't the issue so much as getting people to start in the first place. Only 1 Player stayed only for one session, then didn't bother to show up to the next one. They seemed to have a ton of fun and be excited about the story that was unfolding.

I've considered an online game since I can't seem to find a local group for FFG SW. I've never played online though so I've been a bit hesitant. I enjoy the social aspect as much as the game so I just don't know if I'd enjoy the online portion. I guess I won't know until I try. It doesn't help that my schedule is ever changing so being able to lock down a time can be hard for me either.

I've seen your posts looking for players, but l've hesitated contacted you due to the reasons above.

Ahrimon, I was hesitant starting an online group for that same sort of reason, but with video/voice tech if everyone has a stable connection (which it seems to work out 95% of the time) it almost feels like they are right there.

I still get to see reactions when a roll goes particularly amazing and the Players freak out. I still get to see when I do something amazing and the look of shock/horror in the Players eyes/face is frozen in time. I still hear the laughing, or grumbling and I can still notice if someone is getting bored and use that as a reminder to spice things up.

The benefit of online is you have your character sheet right there, it has a section for notes, and all you have to bring to play is your computer, if that computer is a laptop, desktop, or a tablet, it doesn't matter (I don't think roll20 works on phones, but it does work on tablets).

As to the scheduling, that is what I like about online as well, you can pick the time you are available and say "I want to game at this time" and people either show up or don't but they already "bought into" the idea of what time it is to be played.

I try to have targeted tasks as well as allow the Players some open world-ness. I guess I could try to re-introduce short focused missions to see if that helps, but "retention" isn't the issue so much as getting people to start in the first place. Only 1 Player stayed only for one session, then didn't bother to show up to the next one. They seemed to have a ton of fun and be excited about the story that was unfolding.

Yeah, focused missions tend to help, in my experience open world isn't what players want as much as the sensation of open worldness. Usually true open worldness has less to do with it being a good play style and more with GMs not wanting to have to spend 3 lunch hours a week madly scribbling in the corner in order to have one play session worth of material. Though I will say this system has a smooth enough mechanic that you're spending more of that time sorting out story and encounter then statting up threats.

How do you communicate with your play groups? I require my players to Friend me on Facebook, that allows me to easily check in with them every week and stay in regular contact. It never fails that after one or two sessions of a new campaign something comes up and not enough people can make the game. FB not only allows that to be clarified earlier in the week, but also keeps the conversation going and makes a next week more viable.

Of course if you do that it's best you keep your FB account under control. Don't want to lose the group over the fact you think some politician is the nations only hope and can't stop spamming everyone about it.

I like Google+ for communication and planning.

How do you communicate with your play groups? I require my players to Friend me on Facebook, that allows me to easily check in with them every week and stay in regular contact. It never fails that after one or two sessions of a new campaign something comes up and not enough people can make the game. FB not only allows that to be clarified earlier in the week, but also keeps the conversation going and makes a next week more viable.

Of course if you do that it's best you keep your FB account under control. Don't want to lose the group over the fact you think some politician is the nations only hope and can't stop spamming everyone about it.

I try to make sure to make a post on the Roll20 forums every week about the last week's session.

I do have a Twitter/Facebook/email account just dedicated to this game, and a separate of both for non-gaming related stuff. The 2 offlinePlayers have added that account as a friend and they use it to know when I post a new session report.

I learned long ago that every group needs a cheerleader. Usually it's the GM.

I posted another ad here, we will see if the response is better than the last few times.

Speaking only for myself, scheduling is a huge issue. I have only one or two nights per week when I might be able to do something, and right now Thursday night is spoken for with a local FFG SWRPG here in Austin.

If my local game breaks up, then I’d be looking for something new to do on Tuesday or Thursday nights, and I would definitely prefer FFG SWRPG over most anything else. So, at that point, playing online might well be an option that I would consider.

But the process of getting like-minded people together for events is a hard one, which is why there are so many different solutions out there.

IMO, advertising in FFG SWRPG oriented places like this forum (and maybe on the related Google+ area) may be your best places to start.

People who are already interested in the game in general are more likely to be interested in playing in your version of the game, than trying to draw in random people who have never played the game before but who happen to conveniently be using the tools you’re familiar with.

I actually took everyone here's advice and put another ad here and got some interest. We will see how well they mesh with the group but I am hopeful.

-Hit em hard up front. Like the films you need to reach out and grab the players in that first adventure and get them hungry for more. This is just my opinion, but doing the old D&D "you're in Star Wars.. Go!" method of adventure design isn't very compelling. You need to speak to the players, both literally and figuratively. Figure out a real plot for a real campaign and run it in a way that gets the players invested.

I can't echo this enough. As someone who has been on Roll20 for 2+ years (D&D 4E, almost exclusively as a player), the above is the best advice IMO. Bring the cool early. The #1 reason players don't come back is because they aren't interested enough, didn't have fun, or aren't looking forward to it. This isn't a knock on you by any means (my belief is that everyone around a table is responsible for the group having fun, not just the GM), but that has been my experience. I have left way too many campaigns as a player - however, I do my best to state what I am looking for before joining, and if I leave because I'm not having fun, I say so. I try not to insult anyone, but I think everyone deserves to know why I am leaving. However, most players on Roll20 (imo), don't do this - they don't say why they are leaving, and they should. They don't state what they are looking for before joining, and they should. Communication is the easiest way to see if preferences/playstyles align.

Usually it is a matter of preference, but I can't stand campaigns where I don't have choices. Choices in what to play, what to do, and how to solve the problems presented to us. I find this to be very common in Roll20, both in EotE/AoR/FaD & 4E. Since there are so many new players on Roll20, I think they expect X and get Y, then leave. That's why communicating before the campaign is crucial.

Anyway, yes, bring the cool early, like right away. Like the start of session 1

If I could give Ghostofman's post a thousand likes, I would. In fact, I ramble too much, "Hit em hard up front."

is what I should have quotes and did a huge ASCII thumbs up.

My issue isn't really people not coming back, my bigger issue is getting people I invite to show up for the first day.

They don't get a chance to be excited or disappointed.

Also they don't "leave" they just don't show up. So I end up kicking out the person that didn't show.

Worse still, many accept the invite and don't bother to fill in the character sheet.

I have a bunch of people that responded to my most recent invite ad here, I am hoping they work with the Players that were/are consistent.

Also I am continuing on the "make a name for myself" with hosting a beginner game on roll20 (just finished setting it up, now I just need to rehearse so I deliver the dialogue without stumbles).

It is something we all face on Roll20. Convenience is treacherous! haha

Have you considered going through a short interview process with your potential players before inviting them? It might be a way to weed out someone who is actually interested in giving it an honest try, and someone who isn't.

I wouldn't worry about rehearsing. You seem to be invested in this, and that is enough. New players will probably be a little nervous/intimidated, so I doubt they'll be thinking about your delivery

dfn,

Yeah I wrote an application that tested how they react to certain situations that came up in previous games to find out if they fit what my previous group did or did better/worse/more fun.

It was a disaster. 1 person went through all of it... then 3 sessions in disputed a rule that was exactly per RAW and could not get over it. (If you are wondering it was about spending advantages/triumphs on a Strain recovery roll, my ruling was you cannot, Sam Stewart has since stated this is correct as well).

The rest of the people (on reddit) lambasted me for being draconian or tyrannical for the application (it was like 10 questions asking how they would spend symbols based on certain results).

I am pretty sure at least 50% of that problem was Reddit is more toxic than a nuclear disposal site, but that is another story altogether. Either way it didn't result in better Players.

For the beginner game thing I was also thinking about maybe editing the character sheet so it fit more of what the beginner game does, as the skills (piloting, and knowledge) are combined for the beginner game, but separate for the real game. I think that would add too much to make it work though... all to make the character sheet "wrong".

I tend to overthink things sometimes (always).