Bummer For My Rifts Group

[Preacher]

My friend Kurt who sometimes post on the Boards as Acolyte just got a new job whith a weird work schedule of Tuesday Through Saturday second shift.

Great for him on the new job but he will start missing our games now as Saturday is the ONLY day we can ever get together what with us all being working family people and or the children of working stiffs like my daughter and my brother's son who joined the Rifts group just over a year ago. Saturdays about once a month are all we can manage anymore as is.

Kurt and I have been friends since like 1993 when he joined the Rifts game I was running. Since then the one constant besides me GMing has been Kurt. He says once he accrues some comp time he will be back to Gaming which is great but that might be six months to a year!
As I was sitting here today reading over MercTown and planning out the next Game which is slated for 12-16-06 it dawned on me just how much I will miss him at the old dining table even if it is only for 6 months to a year.

He has only missed a hand full of games in the nearly 14 years that we have been gaming together and it was always with the knowledge that he would be there the next game.

As I mentioned above it is hard to get everyone together as it is and him not being there for a while just bums me out.

We will still game and I am sure we will have a good time but till The Acolyte returns it will just not be the same.

Sorry for the Bummer Rant.

[Toc Rat]

You have my sincerest sympathies. I too am without a regular gaming group at this moment due to scheduling conflicts.

[R Ditto]

I have a vague idea of how you feel.

I do some gaming involving another game system, and one of the players is married and has a job and he is often on second shift, so there have been quite a few times where other players have had to take over the character of the MIA person, since we mainly play friday or saturday in the afternoon... except one time the GM said the MIA player's character would be "predisposed" with something (the player had been called and was due to arrive, but never showed up), and the group then got angry when one of the things encountered just happened to have been something the MIA character would have been a major help with... MIA player got chewed out a bit the next game they made it to .

Although, sometimes everbody misses the game because the GM has some college classes they go to (they usually have friday or saturday off, depending on their class chedule), really reeks havoc with trying to setup games at times and having everybody show up...

[Josh Sinsapaugh]

I feel your pain, Preacher.

Well, sort of.

My group hasn't gamed in awhile because of me. I'm the main GM and I have been too busy.

Ironically, I haven't had the time to GM a Palladium Books Game in the last few months because I've been too busy writing stuff for Palladium Books during my spare (and not-so-spare) time.

~ Josh

[NMI]

If I could move closer Preacher, I would join your game, but alas, I am stuck here in Illinois

[taalismn]

Hey, it hurts when you got a good thing going, and inevitably Change enters the equation...

[Ridley]

Havent gamed since august, becuase everyone has somthing that comes up, even if i set the day weeks in advance

So i know how you feel

[Preacher]

Thanks for the kind words y'all.

It does seem tougher than ever to get together anymore.

Besides Kurt we have Ben who has returned to school and actually uses weekends to do homework. He can honestly only afford one Saturday a month what with working full time and going to school so getting him has to be planned a couple of weeks in advance.

Jason is my youngest brother who is also in the group. He works 6 days a week every week where 55 hours is a short week for him. On top of that he has three children the two youngest being real young. His two boys are both into tons of after school activities which take a lot of time. Kevin his son is in the group and a new gamer but being as he is one of Jason's then he is one with lots of activities.

It is just tough. We all love gaming but time is a precious commodity.

[Preacher]

Do not feel back it been forever in a day since I had a game in the lower 48 (stateside) I tend to do 98% of my gaming in other countries. Find player is hard, finding steady player is harder. In addition, there is the language barrier sometime. So feel blessed it kind of like sex the first time is not that good but it only gets better.

I have been thinking about this post since I last read this topic yesterday. The part about it being forever and a day is what has been sticking with me.

I notice that some others find it difficult to even find a group or the time to game at all!

Heck at least I still have a group to Game with even if my good friend Kurt may be absent for several months and we are down to once every month to six weeks. I should quit being bummed about Kurt being absent and start being Thankful that I can still find some time and people to game with even if it is not as often as I like.

Thanks again for the kind words and helping me get the proper perspective on the situation everyone.

[Vinny]

You could move to Vermont Preacher. I'm available on Saturdays

[NMI]

Or he could move to an even better state like Illinois. Move near/in Bloomingdale (there are units and houses available a plenty around here) and then he could have me as a gaming buddy.

[Preacher]

It would be an honor to game with either one of yuse guys.

Maybe we will have the oppertunity one day, hopefully.