[Poindexter]

Say you've got a decent PbP going and someone drops out? No problem, right? You replace em, do a lil bitta hand waving, and continue in stride.
But whaddaya do when 2, 3, or even 4 drop out round the same time?

[Glyph]

Either drop the game or, if the one or two players left are good posters and want to keep going, then do a lot of handwaving to get rid of the extra PCs - maybe you could work it into the plot.  A big betrayal where the remaining PCs get lucky and escape the slaughter while everyone else gets killed.  Usually, though, you are better off just dropping the game.  And don't let it get you down.  Pbp games tend to die fairly regularly.

[Imveros]

you could always try getting some of the people from the massive PbP you're helping to plot to jump into this game. I am sure some of them are itchen to go now, and not in a few weeks!

[Mmurphy]

I would find out 'why' they left. 

If they left because they were not having any fun, this may be something you, the GM, needs to work on.

If they left because they were a 'group' (i.e. were friends in real life) and because one dropped out the others had to do the same, I would look to prevent this type of interaction in the future.

If it was just a fluke, at least then you know that Chaos (or the spirit of Dunkelzahn) still visits on occasion.

Use this as a means to grow and learn (as a GM) especially if it turns out to be a combination of reasons. 

[Poindexter]

I would find out 'why' they left. 

If they left because they were not having any fun, this may be something you, the GM, needs to work on.

That was my first thought, so i messaged everyone who dropped and got no answer. I don't even see any of them posting anymore.

[Csjarrat]

Yeah, it's just the problem with pbp. I'd just look into what stage they dropped out at. Was it at the planning/meet stage? Maybe it grew too stale and didn't move quick enough. If it was in the thick of the action, more likely to be real life getting in the way.
Biggest thing I've found to be successful is to run a chapter first with each player solo, then form them into a team in chapter 2. You'll lose the non committed ones early and then keep your core posters on to the later chapters of the story.
It gives you good opportunity to delve into each players backstory and allow them to stress test their chargen choices ahead of the full game. Keep it to be a fairly short mission that is tailored to their skillet and it works nicely.

[reyjinn]

Biggest thing I've found to be successful is to run a chapter first with each player solo, then form them into a team in chapter 2. You'll lose the non committed ones early and then keep your core posters on to the later chapters of the story.

Wow, that is brilliant in its simplicity.

[Poindexter]

One bailed midway through the meeting with the johnson. The rest dropped directly AFTER said meeting.

Reyjinn, you were there for the whole thing. What's your take on it? Did i not keep it moving enough? All i can figure is that i stayed there too long.

[Csjarrat]

One bailed midway through the meeting with the johnson. The rest dropped directly AFTER said meeting.

Reyjinn, you were there for the whole thing. What's your take on it? Did i not keep it moving enough? All i can figure is that i stayed there too long.

sounds like it was either that the meet took forever then or possibly that the mission was not what they wanted to do? What did the J ask of them if you don't mind me asking?

[reyjinn]

One bailed midway through the meeting with the johnson. The rest dropped directly AFTER said meeting.

Reyjinn, you were there for the whole thing. What's your take on it? Did i not keep it moving enough? All i can figure is that i stayed there too long.

sounds like it was either that the meet took forever then or possibly that the mission was not what they wanted to do? What did the J ask of them if you don't mind me asking?

Don't think it took any longer than what can be expected in a PbP, sure as hell didn't have to wait for Poindexter to do his thing. It was more of waiting on players to post.
Now maybe the hammer should have been brought down sooner on those who disappeared without any word or were making us wait on them. But I'm not couching that statement with the 'maybe', I honestly don't know if it would have made a difference. Those people just decided to bail for whatever reason.
For sure, it wasn't the usual hard boiled professionals meet up for a job setting but I thought all of the characters were interesting and with potential for growth.

Eta: don't think the job was anything that shouldn't be shared (it's online for anyone to see after all) but just in case here it is in very general terms.
Retrieve ms Johnson's druggie son from a location unknown or if deceased, dispose of his body properly.

[Csjarrat]

Eta: don't think the job was anything that shouldn't be shared (it's online for anyone to see after all) but just in case here it is in very general terms.
Retrieve ms Johnson's druggie son from a location unknown or if deceased, dispose of his body properly.

Fair enough, don't think it was your fault then mate. Ive been in games where the GM has tried to railroad the chars into a shoot-em-all kind of mission and it fell apart, but this sounds decent.
Sounds like you just had a bunch of players that were more interested in chargen than playing.
For your next one, might be worth trying the solo for CH1 then team for CH2 technique. it weeds out the non-starters early on pretty nicely

[JackVII]

PbP is unfortunately a very hit or miss situation. You're looking at somewhere around a 10% completion rate for games (if that). Some games go along great and suddenly something happens. Csjarrat and I were in a game where one of the PCs challenged the GM and the GM straight up disappeared. I was in a ton of D&D games on the Wizards boards back in the 2000s and only one of them went to "completion" (and it took about 4 years).

Shadowrun tends to be pretty similar. I've been in 4 games so far. One I made a solitary post before the GM disappeared, one that got just past the meeting with Johnson before the GM stopped posting, one that got pretty far into the first mission before the GM disappeared, and the final one which is still on-going and is nearing the completion of the first run. In all of the games, we had players disappear. It happens, but what killed the games was the GM disappearing. If you want to keep up with it, you can probably find players to replace those that abandoned the game. In any case, check with the PCs that are still around, modify the run if necessary, and stick with it, they'll stick with you. Additionally, once there is some posting and gameplay, other interested players can see your style and may want to sign up.