Ideas to improve gameplay speed and make things easier on Ben, chip in guys.

Besides the obvious point of limiting the number of players you take along in a session Ben, I think we need to see if we, as your players, can come up with some ways to make things faster for you. This will hopefully help with your sanity, and prevent burnout. So one suggestion that I have seen implemented in other games with a lot of players, is while you're in an initiative situation, have a hard time limit for players to take their turn. Call it 15-30 seconds. If a player lets you know they have to step away for a moment, take their turn for them, otherwise they miss their turn. May not be the most realistic way to handle things, nor the most desired, but it would definitely speed things up. And yes, I say this having been guilty of nodding off several times in the past. I have a couple of other ideas, but I want to see what others might come up with.

Seems reasonable to me.

I would also suggest remaining vigilant with your mute button. I'm 100% guilty of this too

Your 30 seconds rule souds reasonable, you'll learn to pay attention when its your time, I think this goes along with the "on deck" rule that if you're next have your turn and a plan b ready if things doesn't go as expected. I think with the macros we made and Ben improved and adjusted things sped up alot, and since you get all the info you need you should be in full control over your character status as in health resources and so on. If there are more ideas on how to make the combat mote effective then write them down mates, every idea helps even if just in perspective; as for roleplay jokes and laughs, there really isn't anything you can do to speed it up I believe otherwise it will feel forced.