News & Opinion

Improve your Game's Background

A lot of GMs enjoy running a very detailed campaign with lots of historical elements.  You've probably played in these games yourself right? Have you ever considered how much of the game is historically accurate?  How much is just Hollywood historical fluff thats made its way into the game?  How much do your players really know about the era you're trying to create for them?  Point in fact, I'll never forget the young gamer who wanted to play in our Capone style gangster campaign but confused it with gangstas.  He'd heard of gangsters from the early 20th century but to him, they were all gangstas and he believed there was no difference.  We know for a fact they are different.  Sure they weren't all Johnny Dangerously but the clothes, speech patterns and their style was radically different from the street hoodlum of today.

Gangsters are organized mobsters who specialize in both blue and white collar crime.  They've been linked to unions and famous businessmen, something you won't find to be true with 'gangstas.'  Altough this might seem a petty thing to be concerned about, you'll find it creeps into historical fantasy and hard science fiction all the time.  Keep in mind that a little research is a cheap way to add new levels of story to your game. Read more

Plan for starting a new game group

One of the easiest ways for a gamer to find a group is by offering to start it.  That means you'd need to be willing to run a game for your group.   If you think about it, somebody has to offer to run.  It'll increase the odds of creating a succesful group if you plan ahead to be the person offering to run.  It also creates good karma for you from the other players.

If you enjoy pre-generated modules the it might be good for you to go that route.  I'd try to pick up an extra copy of the books if you can afford it, print character sheets and maybe even make some pre-gens for the party.  That way you are always ready to go at a moments notice.  If you enjoy generating an adventure from scratch, I'd not make it overly complicated at first.  Remember that other players might not understand the logic of your adventure.  This can be especially true if you are rail-roading the party along the adventure.  

In either case remember to relax, you won't have a great game if you're uptight about people not following your clues.  Just remember to give kudos to the players, it'll make them feel good about playing.  Relaxed players will add to your game's vibe and help you be a better GM. Read more

Stupid Bugs!

I just discovered that some of you couldn't send me messages through Comments because of a bug in the captcha Human Test.  Its fixed now... honest!  Also special thanks to user Smadz who helped find several other bugs that would affect users at weird times.

And a special note to the android users out there.  You can now send messages, comments and feedback again. Yes, yes I did test with an android tablet but it had a keyboard.  Apparently CLEditor doesn't work at all unless your android device has a keyboard attached.  Nobody else was affected by this oddity except you... It's a plot I tell you, an evil plot! 
Read more

Convention Gaming Schedules and More!

Game Masters and other Convention Volunteers rejoice!  I've created a new feature just for you.  Tired of no one signing up for your games or events?  Ever feel like you want to advertise your special event to get word out before the convention starts?  Sure a lot of conventions will list a time and maybe a title of your event but do you ever get to sell the event ahead of time? 

Well I have a solution for you. :-) Find Gamers has a feature that allows YOU to list your own game and advertise it here for free. Just find your convention under Event Calendar, select Games and Events and post all your events here. When people ask about your game, just give them the url to either the convention or your game and they can read about it here.

If you work with a convention that doesn't have a robust web site, feel free to post your Event Schedules here on FindGamers. Read more

Moving to a New Town

One of the worst things for anyone is moving to a new town.  It doesn't matter the reason you're going but the results are upsetting to everything in your life.  On top of finding a new job and place to live, you've suddenly got to find a new group to game with.  This opens up a whole range of issues but the most important thing to remember is patience.  The world won't fall off it's axis if you take your time, in fact you're more likely to end up in a group that doesn't fit you if you rush it.

I've had dry periods for months or even more than a year before finding a group after a move.  Once you do find a group, then you need to take the time to decide if its the group you really wanted to game with.  In order to do this you're going to have to ask the group members questions.  If the new group doesn't like your questions and expectations for instance about game style, game systems, how does family affect the regular game... then you are usually in the wrong spot.  Keep in mind the questions should go both ways.  If they ask personal questions of you, within limits, then you should honestly answer them.  Really, it's the only way to get the right hook-up at the gaming table. 

The second thing to remember is that you need to give it time to see if the fit is good, one session may not tell you.  I've played with a group for months thinking that just maybe I came in at a bad time.  Unfortunately you might not have, on occasion you just aren't going to fit in.  There might be a personality conflict that creeps up over time.  Somebody you thought was cool might eventually decide they don't like you.  Thats just life, move on and find a new group.  You'll be happier in the long run rather than putting up with long running disdain from another player.

So there you go, two things to remember:  Patience and questions.  Sitting in the corner like a lump isn't a proactive way to find a good group, be proactive and you'll find the right place to be.
Read more

Soft Launch

Hey gamers!  Welcome to the soft launch of FindGamers.us.  This site specializes in helping USA based gamers find other people to roll dice and roleplay.  Looking for other people to play RPG (Role-Playing Games) with?  Or maybe your thing is Miniatures Based Wargames?  We want to be the one place you'd go to find a new bunch of gamers to roll a few dice with.

Find Gamers sorts all gamers by their Zip Code.  That way only gamers who live near you show up on local searches.  But we do have a way to list Online Gamers only just in case.   Want to get started?  Sign up and then create your own gamer biography.  Select the games you are interested in and the genres you enjoy playing.  If you don't see a game system you'd like to list, send some feedback and we'll look into it.  Once that's done then you can search for gamers in your area or wait for requests to come to you.  Just remember to make yourself Searchable.

Do you have a local gaming event you'd like to advertise?  Maybe your local game store has a class on creating terrain?  Just add it to the Events Calendar.  Our goal is to support the local gamers in your home town.
Read more