I can guarantee you that when people leave for no reason, there is a reason. That reason can be mysterious, perhaps one that you will never find out. I've seen people leave because they are bored, I've seen people leave because they feel ignored, too many players, not enough players, too much drama, not enough drama, we refused to allow them to cause drama, characters level too slow, characters level too fast, not enough XP, too much XP, they don't care about XP. The game is too violent, the game is not violent enough. The GM did too much preparation and the world is too detailed, it feels like operation choo-choo. The GM did not do enough preparation and the world feels like the worst combination of chicken scratch married to whimsical. A girl leaves because one of the guys creeped her out, the guy leaves because he is in the closet and someone made a gay joke, a gay player attempts to forcibly rape a male NPC in game, and the other male players are not having it, or any other kind of rape. A group of players is assaulted by in-game prison rapeclowns… That happened to me and three other players- in a Numenera Game. I'm not kidding. The wife was complaining she does not have enough time with her husband, the husband decided he'd rather go see his mistress than play a song of ice and fire. Many these are not subject to communication mistakes, however I have found it is best to clearly communicate the type of game you're trying to run, when it will run, what you expect from the characters, what you expect from players, what you bring to the table as a GM. Dwcwnt to good prep, combined with flexibility. Even then with roll 20, there will always be churn of players. When I'm trying to find a game, I look for the kind of games that I like to run. Gritty, detailed, realistic, while long-term story is there, it focuses on the actions of the player characters. Halfway experienced or at least competent GM. Not a GM that comes off like, we need some random guy to fill in for a few hours, we won't really bother getting to know you. Sometimes, when I'm recruiting for a game, I put up huge posts and spam looking for game every six hours. Other times I just make the server to let people find me through the search process and hire anyone that answers. I've stopped playing with people, as soon as I find out they are a jerk I just fire them. I'm talking story hogs, spotlight hogs, people that step on other players people the salt of the players people that demanded other players quit, guys making inappropriate sexual innuendo or outright sexual insults or degrading speech against my female players. This is not white night behavior this is just common sense, decorum, and class. I want a safe, comfortable space where people can game online via roll 20, just as if they were my house. If they do this in my house and I would not want them there, I just kick them off of the server, end of story. You could spend a half-hour day, I could spend six hour days. I don't even bother with Pathfinder, or fifth edition games anymore. There are just too many players to compete with, for too few spaces, and in the end it just can be a disappointing experience anyway because the one-shot style that is very prevalent here these days is just unsatisfying to me. I run traveller, one ring, song of ice and fire, all flesh must be eaten, conspiracy X., Those games are more or less specific within their genres whereas Pathfinder and D&D could be anything. So the players are looking for those games, are looking for certain experience, which I can deliver as GM. What I want to run a game, I advertise one of the above, I get six players within two days. A week later I am running it. That's my experience. I'm nearing age 50, I've been run role-playing games since 1977. All it really takes is patience, and perseverance, to find a game here. Good luck.
