An LFG for the time-strapped and schedule-cursed
Edit: I've set up a Discord and have sent invites out to any folks who have commented below. If you're interested and didn't comment below, feel free to ping me directly and I'll share an invite link!
Disclaimer: aside from a somewhat recent Helldivers 2 thread, there hasn't been a full-on "LFG" topic on Tildes in several years, so if this isn't well-received, I'd be happy to delete this and repost it as a parent-level comment in the "What are you playing" topic instead.
I initially thought about posting this in the appropriate subreddit(s) over on The Other SiteTM, but after giving it some thought, I figured I'd much rather garner interest from my fellow Tildes users before opening myself up to all the extra noise there.
Purpose
This is an LFG post for those of us who may only have a couple of very specific hours to play any given day, who also may have unforeseen hard stops mid-session, and who might go for long stretches of time without playing. The kind of LFG for folks who might enjoy multiplayer games, but rarely choose to engage in them because (a) you can't find the time, or (b), when you do find the time, the last thing you'd want to do is let folks down because you might have to step away mid-game. In my case, we have an infant at home and I'm really only ever available to play for a couple hours after he goes to bed... but if he wakes up, I'm going to leave mid-match to take care of him, no exceptions. This LFG is for folks who wouldn't mind that happening to them mid-game, because I certainly wouldn't mind extending the same grace to them in return! I originally was going to call this "An LFG for parents," but I'm sure there are other folks who find themselves in similar situations but don't have children, and didn't want to exclude them :)
I'll start with my own time windows and gaming preferences, and I invite others to post their own parent LFGs in the comments if they are so inclined.
Availability
North America (CDT, UTC-5), I tend to play from 8:30-10:30pm. Could be any day of the week. Weeknights are usually more consistent but it really just depends how the little guy is sleeping.
Choice of system
PC (not opposed to PS5 or Switch in the future, just don't have any games slated on them at the moment)
Games
- Elden Ring Nightreign - I just picked this up and am most interested in this
- Helldivers 2 - I haven't touched it in months but would love to check out all the new content
- Deep Rock Galactic - same situation as Helldivers 2, only difference being that I consider myself actually halfway decent at DRG :)
If it would sweeten the pot, I'd also be happy to team up with folks in Elden Ring, including DLC, in exchange for somewhat competent teammates in Nightreign. Well, more competent than randos, which, bar is pretty low.
Looking forward to the discussion and hope we can bring some folks together!
EDIT (posting down here for added visibility) - Please PM me if you're interested but don't want to comment, and I'll send you an invite link to the Discord! Thanks!
I skimmed this having no idea what LFG meant, other than "Let's Fucking Go!" ...which clearly isn't what you meant.
"Looking for Group" in case anyone else stumbles on this.
Appreciate you pointing that out! I think the LFG delineation is a really good test of whether folks played WoW* back in the day. :P
*World of Warcraft (when will the acronyms end)
Also I hope that didn't make me sound angry or anything. I honestly found it quite funny! :)
/noise
I’ve never met anyone like me! You literally described my life for the last year with a 4 and 1 y/o. I love this idea and I’ve never played hd2 but would love to get into it!
I’m available from 21:30-23:30 PT every night but I can’t do voice because I’m holding a sleeping baby lol.
I have Steam deck though so I’m down for hd2 or any other multiplayer (bg3? Factorio? Etc).
Count me in!
Awesome! I'll see if I can get a shared space up via Discord & I would imagine we can find games for any/many of the games you've mentioned. Thanks!
I love this Idea.
I'm always down for some people to play some Nightreign, Helldivers 2 or similar with, so count me in.
I probably have a bit more time than most others here, but I still don't really have time under the week (mon - fri). On weekends I'm usually free though.
Also I hope I'm not too late.
Not at all! Sending you an invite now.
Shit, this is a great idea! My wife and I feel like it's easy to start getting left behind when we can't make events due to kids, and I've found myself not wanting to play multiplayer games when they can get disrupted so easily. Can't say I'll join all the time, which I'm sure is like 90% of the problem here, but I'd love to join a list or discord for this. I'm usually free sporadically like 8:00 PM - 1:00 AM Eastern between the kids going down and making dinner.
Board games are a good drop-in drop-out kind of experience if people are interested, especially stuff with web clients or short rounds like Codenames, Dominion, Gartic Phone, etc. If something goes awry it's easy to just go next or pause for a few minutes.
You are not alone with your scheduling concerns :) Board games are a great callout too - good thinking. I'm getting a Discord set up and will reach out soon!
Please do post the Discord link once you've set it up. I'm happy to lurk, and hopefully even join a group at some point. If the price is right, I'm willing to buy a game I don't have, just to be able to play with other like-minded players. Humble request: please don't require phone-number-verified Discord accounts (because some people don't want to give their number to Discord).
No phone number required, I'm trying to keep things as hands-off as possible :) That said, I am gonna keep it to invite only, and I'll send you a link directly now. Tildes doesn't seem like the place where a mob of people would abuse a publicly-posted invite link, but I'm unwilling to take that chance when this topic is still technically on the public Internet for all to see. But I'll take this opportunity to again extend an open offer to any and all Tildes lurkers - please PM me and I'll shoot you an invite link!
I love this idea! Definitely count me in for Nightreign.
I don't have kids, but I still feel like I don't have the consistent time to invest that most gaming groups would expect. Or that a lot of live-service multiplayer games require. But there's a number of non-live-service co-op games I'd like to play with a good group.
Availability
Games
Totally forgot about FBC Fire Break, I'm very interested in that too. Deep Rock + SCP? I'm sold. Will definitely be picking that up when it drops as well. I'll send you & @Zorind both invites to the Discord when I get it stood up here shortly.
Ooh, I might be down for FBC Firebreak. Any idea of what price it might be at release?
I much prefer FPS over third person shooters, which is why I avoided Helldivers 2 even though it looked cool.
My availability is US ET, mostly weeknights.
Awesome! I haven't seen anything about price yet. But if I had to guess, it's probably in the ~$40 spin-off game category.
I'm in the CET/CEST timezone which means there's unlikely to be a lot of overlap, but just in case I'll sign up! Or, be available, or maybe not. I guess.
Currently on the Nightreign train too, but open to many games.
Availability changes day to day. If I'm available it's in the evening, usually between 8pm-1am. So not until my daughter is asleep. Maybe all hours, maybe not.
Noted! I'll be sure to send along the Discord info & perhaps we'll find some overlap timing on weekends, etc. Thanks!
This is a great idea! I don't really have the parent problem of having to step away from a game, but all my freinds do, so I'm used to playing with them.
I'd like to join the Discord too and see if I could catch some games with other Europeans (CET) who might want to play something.
Wouldn't mind an invite.
I mostly play a variety of stuff. Not as many FPSes as days gone by, but HD2 was fun last year and DRG a year or two back. Also Satisfactory, Factorio, Raft, Valheim, and a few others.
You got it! Will send one over.
Glad to see some demand for this!
Awhile back I had an idea to host public game servers that only operate in that kind of 7:30 EST to 11PM EST window. It would be great for games like Rust and 7days, where the game can get ruined by the jobless and childfree getting way ahead of everyone.
Toss me a Discord link please!
Coming right up!
Could I get an invite to the Discord? And could I extend it to my husband (who is not on Tildes)?
Another new parent, but we're starting to be able to do (heavily interrupted thus far) online TTRPG sessions, so there's potential. UK-based, so may be able to hook up with some of the CET folk. Though I don't have many recent games. I'm going to get FBC Firebreak, but probably won't overlap much otherwise.
Yes, and please extend it to your husband if you'd like! Sending it over now.