It's game night! The table/console/other medium is set, the game has been chosen, and your friends come filtering in, ready for a night of fun. The night progresses and everybody is having a good time so far. Then somebody gets thirsty. Heading into the kitchen/cooler they find nothing to drink. Another person gets hungry, and there are no munchies to be had. Nobody brought anything to game night.
We had this problem in our gaming group a couple months back. The wife and I typically play host to our sessions, since we have a house, a good sized table, and several smaller tables that we can expand into. At first, our friends would rotate every week bringing a case of pop for everyone. Then they started forgetting and dipping into our stuff. Then they stopped bringing anything and just grabbed from the fridge and pantry. Not everyone, not every time, but this had become a problem.
So, after talking things over and speaking with one of our friends, we decided that we needed to make everyone aware that we felt we were maybe being taken advantage of, and that people weren't really giving us any respect or contributing to the group. After a particularly bad night, we sent out an email to everyone stating that we wouldn't be hosting gaming at our home for a few weeks to give people some perspective.
At first, it didn't seem to be a big deal. We would play somewhere else. There were some problems with that, though. Two of our friends still lived with their parents, so we couldn't go there. One of our friends doesn't have anywhere to play in their condo, so that was out. Another had a room mate that had church early the next morning, so anything late couldn't be done, and finally the last didn't have anywhere to sit, let alone play, for more than two or three people. It was looking pretty bleak.
A couple of people started to realize what was going on. We had been taken for granted that we would just always be there for everyone and nobody else needed to do anything. The next night we got together, there were only four of us. Our friend with the seating problem ended up buying a dining room table to play on, another brought a D&D adventure to DM for us, and the wife and I brought pretzels and drinks for the group. We all contributed to try to make it a great time, and it was honestly the best night of gaming we had in a long time.
The next time we got together, though, it was the full group again. We brought some snacks and the games to play, the host had a kitchen table, but there were no drinks to be had, and he didn't want us touching his stuff. We ended up ordering food and having to order some drinks to go with them, something that could have been avoided if the others had thought to contribute. The group as a whole hadn't learned yet.
We've had a couple more game nights since then, and people have brought brownies, and pop, and some assorted other things. Only time will tell if they all really get it or not, but I have some high hopes for them (and maybe this article might act as a little reminder ;)).
Maybe I'm being harsh or unrealistic, but I think that each person in a group like this has a responsibility to try to make the night as fun as they can. I don't necessarily mean bringing chips and dip every week, but bringing a good attitude, being ready to play, and thinking about everyone else can help game night be the best night, and for you to Be a Better Gamer.
