Rounding up Players

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I've been trying to get a D&D game started for a while now (at least 6 months). I thought it would be a easy as posting a quick message and then watching the offers just pour in. I suspect that this comes from the same delusional place in a man's mind that tells him online dating is easy.

Well it's not, in fact online dating is a snap compared to getting a game started. With online dating all you're trying to do is get one person to meet you for a cup of coffee... one-time, 30 minutes. Trying to get a game started is like trying to juggle a baseball, golf ball, bowling ball, and a puppy!

Here's some of the highlights (or lowlights) of trying to get started:
  • I'd have 1 or 2 people interested, but I'd lose them before getting a 3rd or 4th.
  • I had a couple of people interested, but when I tried to find out what days worked for them, no one would commit to even one day a week.
  • One time I had 3 ready for a game, which ended up being two. We meet once to make characters, and once for the first session. After that, one person kept saying he was available, but blew off the game sessions and wouldn't even apologize for it. The first time he had some lame excuse about locking himself out of his apartment without his cell phone. The second (and last) time, he didn't even bother to offer an excuse. What a 'bag? Can I get a "hell yeah!"?
  • Recently I had five people ready for a game... One dropped out before we even set the first meeting date. One said he was busy with work till X. When I contacted him after X, he just ignored my emails. One guy made it to the first session where he made a character, but then said he was too busy to show up anymore. And one guy made it through the first session and then he too was now too busy. The last guy... thank goodness is still around.
So now I have two players with two more coming on board (I hope) and we've played three sessions so far...

It used to be a lot easier getting players when I started playing in college, or when I was playing with my friends back home... I miss them more than they know, and the easy comfort of our weekly game.

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