One of the truly difficult things about D&D is the amount of logistical planning involved. I’m not talking about choosing the right kind of dice, or finding the right DM screen, or even what to eat and drink; I refer here to the great task of getting four to six people to meet for four to six hours two to four times a month.
D&D is a time-consuming activity, and is at its best when consumed in mass quantities. Battles can take a while, and there are often deep, intricate story details that must be carefully revealed through nuanced roleplaying and character interaction. This doesn’t take into account the vast amounts of recapping, reminders, joking, ordering of pizza, and other peripheral activities that devour time. It’s hardly worth sitting down at the gaming table if you can’t devote a good four hours or more to slaying dragons, seducing Duchesses, stealing the crown jewels, etc.
As hard as it is for one person to set aside that much time, it’s even harder for five people to do so, especially when they all have to set aside the same block of time on the same day on a regular basis. As such, games are easily and often canceled due to scheduling difficulties. I think one reason that gamers have the reputation of being isolated social outcasts is because socially active people rarely have TIME for a rousing game of D&D- it’s not that they wouldn’t enjoy it, they just can’t get the logistics to work. For that matter, the stereotype of the gamer as perpetually devoid of female companionship makes sense viewed in this light: girlfriends (and wives) require a lot of time and attention, and it’s hard to justify spending six hours rolling dice and making Monty Python jokes with your friends instead of taking her shopping for new shoes (well, it’s hard to justify it to her anyway).
I bring this up because my group, which has traditionally been very reliable in its meetings, now faces an indeterminate hiatus due to a new work schedule for one of our members. Tragic! My efforts to get a side-game going in the interim have been slow and thus far have met with little enthusiasm, but I hope that my persistence (and an increasingly frustrating gaming dry spell) will win my compatriots over.
Posted by srmencken 
