Death of a Gaming Group?

Those of you who have been paying attention will know I have two blogs. This one serves as my writing and life blog, containing information on my family and writing. In my other blog it really serves as my ranting and raving page about well my rants and things that annoy me. But mainly it acts as devil's advocate to RPGpundits rants. I dont agree with everything he says but he still is worth reading.

So when I have to talk about my next subject, Im a little unsure where it should be, a gaming rant or life issue.

I gave up gaming while my wife is giving birth in June to daughter no.2. Before I said bye to the group, I tried really hard to recruit as many new players as possible to keep the group alive during my absense. On the day I said cheerio there was 9 of us, including me. I got an email from one of the players saying they are down to 3 regulars, but they have a problem staying on target for gaming every week.

There could be a multitude of reasons why the group has died, and I am aware of several minor ones. But I will blow my own trumpet and say the reason the group stays and games together is because of me.

My games, my adventures, my stories, my games running ability, my skills at controlling a group and ensuring they are having as much fun as possible while rolling as few dice as possible. Im proud of my group, but this recent development has made me realise Im surperbly proud of my skills as hosting a game. Creating a sandbox for the players to explore, but in the full knowledge that the world in which they play in is consistent, universal, fair and responsive to their input.

I feel sorry for the others in our group who have run games and failed. But you are not me. You cant read the group, you cant read when players are being bored. Im sorry, but I promise I will return.