Players Turn-over is Extreme - causing GM frustration

I would like to get feedback from other GMs.  In multiple games both as a player and as a GM I notice a large amount of player turn-over.  In fact, I have seen an entire party of players switch 3 times over a campaign.  Is this standard behavior and expectation of on-line role-players?  What have other GMs done to help resolve the amount of player turn-over? I am thinking of having pre-generated characters instead of having people roll up new characters, add extensive backgrounds, and as a GM have to integrate them into the story and then figure out what happened to the players that left? Would love to hear from other GMs on this.  

<a href="http://tribality.com/2015/04/24/how-to-handle-play" rel="nofollow">http://tribality.com/2015/04/24/how-to-handle-play</a>...

That is helpful. &nbsp;Thanks but still would like to hear from actual GMs on Roll20. &nbsp;I would like to see if this is common issue and what they have done...

I think players will have more of a vested interest in their own character creation. It does make it difficult to accommodate the different backgrounds though. When adding new players, try to guide them a little toward what's going on in your current campaign so they can make adjustments to their background. Also, involve your other players in new player selection. I've lost a few players, but mostly to time zone conflicts (East Coast/West Coast). Some that just never gelled with the group even though it seems a good match when interviewing them. I also ask them what the long term goals are for their characters. Fame, fortune, crafting, property, love, etc. If it's just smash and bash, they have less to hold them in the game.

I've had a bit of that, too. Some people say they want to play and never show up, for instance. Just keep going with your campaign. If you want, use the old characters as NPCs the players meet. Maybe they pass the torch somehow or something.

Interviewing doesn't work. &nbsp;Here is an idea that someone sent me: <a href="http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/78/grand-experiments-west-marches/" rel="nofollow">http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/78/grand-experiments-west-marches/</a> <a href="http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/94/west-marches-running-your-own/" rel="nofollow">http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/94/west-marches-running-your-own/</a> I think I am going to implement this in my campaign. &nbsp;I started doing this with a Pathfinder game for the same reason but now I am thinking of doing this for all my campaigns or a variation of it. I love the concept of an open sandbox gaming with some level of structure to it. &nbsp;The players control when they play...

Only thing I can think of is &nbsp;look at the person's profile before you invite them to your campaign. &nbsp;Check the amount of their participation. &nbsp;If they recently joined roll 20 and they have like five hours then you know that they've never really put much effort into it .

Black Falcon said: Interviewing doesn't work. &nbsp;Here is an idea that someone sent me: <a href="http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/78/grand-experiments-west-marches/" rel="nofollow">http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/78/grand-experiments-west-marches/</a> <a href="http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/94/west-marches-running-your-own/" rel="nofollow">http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/94/west-marches-running-your-own/</a> I think I am going to implement this in my campaign.&nbsp; I love the concept of an open sandbox gaming with some level of structure to it. &nbsp;The players control when they play... FWIW, I run a "West Marches" style campaign here on Roll20 using BFRPG or AD&D 2e. &nbsp;West Marches, pool of players, is a valid technique and is an awesome game style, that can be different and has its own benefits. To be honest though, it comes with its own problems, which is frankly not dissimilar from what you described in the original post. There is still lots of player turnover, churn, and absenteeism. I guess this is probably true for West Marches in-person in your town, but in my experience it's a known factor of online roleplaying groups. My West Marches style campaign has more than 60 participants (in the Roll20 game) and I still have to work as a calendar-organizer, marketer/recruiter just to field a party of 5 for any given session time. The original idea was the group of players would talk to each other, "Hey let's ask the GM to run our group of Dwarf, Cleric, Fighter, Fighter, Wizard, on next Friday or Saturday!" and I would receive excited messages from Players asking to book session times. It happens occasionally. But in reality, as GM it still normally comes down to me to announce a game time and ask (beg?) for RSVP's, and even then, the familiar issue crops up sometimes (Player X said they would be there and wanted to play, but drops out for various reasons, leaving us suddenly with a smaller party size). My solution here, to ease the fluctuation, is using&nbsp; the Wizardawn online generator to re-scale the monsters and traps to fit the Number of PC's present. &nbsp;On Wizardawn you can input the number of Player-Characters and their level. So I regenerate and re-scale the encounters when a Player leaves or enters. If anyone reading this message is gung-ho to try playing West Marches style (as described in the links above) using Basic Fantasy RPG free game, or Black Falcon if you just want to log in and see how I set it up, send me a Private Message in Roll20 with your subject line mentioning invite to BFRPG "Explore Dungeons Inside A Strange World" game.

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