I have been GM'ing a group of friends for a few years now, and we have one player that moved out of town. He has been telecommuting for ¾ of a year or so, but there are times it is just a bit rough. So wondering if you guys have any ideas to make it easier.

In my area players are sparse. I have tried to get more in our group between word of mouth, cragslist and flyers in the gaming store. So despite the fact it is a pain, I want to stick with it.

Also, I am still building my star wars cred chips.. But when I some day get free time and finish them, I Will post.

-edit- I think the biggest issue is trying to keep him engaged, like he is part of the group. There will be times we are looking at his webcam(right by the monitor with his face) and we will talk to him. Then we realize he is looking at something and not paying attention.