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12:34, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Deleted Games:  What could this mean to a player.

Posted by Soulforge
Soulforge
member, 100 posts
To be or not to be
is that the only question
Tue 30 May 2017
at 04:03
  • msg #1

Deleted Games:  What could this mean to a player

I've looked at several games I was some what interested in joining, but then I look at the games they've deleted and I often see this as a GM that can't sustain a RPOL game through to the end.

Am I reading this wrong?

If a GM had been on RPOL for ten years, I could see them as having a few deleted games but when I see 5, 8, 10 ++ games deleted ... I smell failure to go the distance and don't even bother to apply.
gladiusdei
member, 547 posts
Tue 30 May 2017
at 04:05
  • msg #2

Deleted Games:  What could this mean to a player

It can be really hard to judge.  I think a large number of deleted games may mean they can't get a game off the ground, but that may not always be their fault.  Sometimes games fall apart due to real life issues and players dropping out.  So I don't think it should be an automatic dismissal of the gm as being capable.
Soulforge
member, 101 posts
To be or not to be
is that the only question
Tue 30 May 2017
at 04:06
  • msg #3

Deleted Games:  What could this mean to a player

Sorry gladiusdei.  I realized it had posted to the wrong thread, so deleted.  When I deleted your comment wasn't there yet.

Haha.  Just tried to copy and paste your comment, but got the error, someone had posted.
Soulforge
member, 102 posts
To be or not to be
is that the only question
Tue 30 May 2017
at 04:09
  • msg #4

Deleted Games:  What could this mean to a player

In reply to gladiusdei (msg # 2):

But if the deleted games are the same?

However, Good points.
willvr
member, 1051 posts
Tue 30 May 2017
at 04:17
  • msg #5

Deleted Games:  What could this mean to a player

What if they have a large number of deleted games, but a larger number of running games? What if they're deleted games all had long runs before being deleted?

And actually if it's the same game continually deleted, if anything that suggests that there's this one concept they're trying to get going, and having trouble. That's less concerning, for me, than all different games - unless of course the game you're interested in is that same game again.

Then there's people who used to be in a state that they shouldn't be running games; but were trying to; but now they're in a better situation.

I'm not really a fan of looking at amount of deleted games to tell whether a GM can run a game. There's just so much else you need to look at rather than just that.
bigbadron
moderator, 15367 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Tue 30 May 2017
at 05:08

Deleted Games:  What could this mean to a player

To me it just means that the GM has not realised he can recycle his old games.

He could have had twenty games in the last year, and shut them all down after two weeks... but if he cleared out all the threads, changed the game title, and started from scratch, you would never know.  His "record" would just show that he had one game.  In fact, if you looked at his one game, you would see that all the threads were started recently, as if it were a brand new game.

Then there are the GMs who set up a bunch of games, play about with the ideas, then decide that they aren't really interested in those concepts, and shut them down without ever recruiting any players.

Or the GMs that set up games which, through no fault of their own, simply fail to attract enough players to be viable.

Or the ones who got sick, or got a new job, or a new kid, or a dead computer, or something else that means they don't have so much free time.

So the answer to the question, "Deleted Games:  What could this mean to a player?" is "Whatever the player thinks it means."
Brianna
member, 2123 posts
Tue 30 May 2017
at 22:08
  • msg #7

Deleted Games:  What could this mean to a player

There are a number of warning signs about a GM, but deleted games are only one, and as others have pointed out, not necessarily a reliable indication.  Perhaps try looking at current games?  Have they been around for a while, do they seem to be active, if the posts are public read some?  In the end the only way to tell if a game and GM will work for you, is to try it.
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