Gaming angst
Mar. 15th, 2005 01:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melcharOkay, this is in the realm of midnight complaints. When I referee a game for others, my intent is that I really want to present a story in the game-world that is fun, inspires some emotional responses, makes the players think and exposes them to a sense of danger and adventure. [remember that Bilbo Baggins called adventures nasty untidy things that makes one late for breakfast.]
All in all I think I do a good job of preparing the game, keeping things going without turning it into an IRS audit session because of the rules - while not ignoring the structure that rules do provide.
Unfortunately for a while now I have had the sense that I have some players who would rather be somewhere else. Like playing on the PS2 or GBA or playing cards or reading or sleeping, rather than paying attention to what is happening at the table.
Some of this is my fault, just because:
[a] = during a combat, even the quickest combat turn passes slowly when there are more than 4 players in a game and each has their turn, describing their action/rolling dice;
[b] = that my corrected vision causes me to now have to = look at set-up with glasses to see table/take glasses off to refer to facts on sheet/make rolls/take notes = for each of the baddies they are fighting, which also takes forever when there is more than one monster on the table being fought -- so combat turns just take a lot of time
[c] = so combat turns take time and interaction takes time because it's not just one-on-one talking to a single character and when it's shopping everyone wants to have full concentration for their shopping all at the same time.
But just WHEN did everyone decide that if I was NOT looking at them then they were going to go away from the table?!? Even if it isn't all about THEM at the time, why aren't they interested in what else is happening?
And then there are players who are AT the table who seem like they would rather ruin the game for EVERYBODY else just so they can cause trouble by questioning rules, bringing up rules, wanting to amend the rules and quoting rules from memory [at rare times, actually quoting the rules correctly] - just to make a point.
And I find myself wondering = why am I putting up with this?
Currently my Saturday game has 9 players in it. The Sunday game has 7 players. Some of the problem players are in both games and piss me off for different reasons. Inattention pizzes me off almost as much as the rule-bitching because it implies indifference to the game.
I'm getting really annoyed in both games. I've been doing really choice games with involved plots and getting complaints about how tough the stories are for both games [while the characters still are 'winning' in that they are, for the most part, surviving to accomplish specific missions]. And the Saturday host is driving me out of the house by blaring at high HIGH volume his TIVO'd shows during the dinner break. More of the Saturday players really don't put any effort into putting any kind of personality into their character - and there are some who make really ANNOYING comments that make problems for others and then claim it wasn't being said by their characters. Sadly, the worst rule's-bitcher is in both games and making MORE people than just me want to strangle him. Meanwhile a couple of the better players are also pissing me off by doing the card playing thing way too often. But then there are the players who ARE trying to put life into their characters and who DO pay attention. And some of them are driving a considerable distance just to be in my games.
I am like SO conflicted. What do I do? It's not like there's a convenient DELETE button to get rid of the problem parts of my problem players. When good, they do contribute to a better game and I personally like ALL of the players, when away from the table. It's just mounting problems that is making my sanity points dribble out of my ears!
All in all I think I do a good job of preparing the game, keeping things going without turning it into an IRS audit session because of the rules - while not ignoring the structure that rules do provide.
Unfortunately for a while now I have had the sense that I have some players who would rather be somewhere else. Like playing on the PS2 or GBA or playing cards or reading or sleeping, rather than paying attention to what is happening at the table.
Some of this is my fault, just because:
[a] = during a combat, even the quickest combat turn passes slowly when there are more than 4 players in a game and each has their turn, describing their action/rolling dice;
[b] = that my corrected vision causes me to now have to = look at set-up with glasses to see table/take glasses off to refer to facts on sheet/make rolls/take notes = for each of the baddies they are fighting, which also takes forever when there is more than one monster on the table being fought -- so combat turns just take a lot of time
[c] = so combat turns take time and interaction takes time because it's not just one-on-one talking to a single character and when it's shopping everyone wants to have full concentration for their shopping all at the same time.
But just WHEN did everyone decide that if I was NOT looking at them then they were going to go away from the table?!? Even if it isn't all about THEM at the time, why aren't they interested in what else is happening?
And then there are players who are AT the table who seem like they would rather ruin the game for EVERYBODY else just so they can cause trouble by questioning rules, bringing up rules, wanting to amend the rules and quoting rules from memory [at rare times, actually quoting the rules correctly] - just to make a point.
And I find myself wondering = why am I putting up with this?
Currently my Saturday game has 9 players in it. The Sunday game has 7 players. Some of the problem players are in both games and piss me off for different reasons. Inattention pizzes me off almost as much as the rule-bitching because it implies indifference to the game.
I'm getting really annoyed in both games. I've been doing really choice games with involved plots and getting complaints about how tough the stories are for both games [while the characters still are 'winning' in that they are, for the most part, surviving to accomplish specific missions]. And the Saturday host is driving me out of the house by blaring at high HIGH volume his TIVO'd shows during the dinner break. More of the Saturday players really don't put any effort into putting any kind of personality into their character - and there are some who make really ANNOYING comments that make problems for others and then claim it wasn't being said by their characters. Sadly, the worst rule's-bitcher is in both games and making MORE people than just me want to strangle him. Meanwhile a couple of the better players are also pissing me off by doing the card playing thing way too often. But then there are the players who ARE trying to put life into their characters and who DO pay attention. And some of them are driving a considerable distance just to be in my games.
I am like SO conflicted. What do I do? It's not like there's a convenient DELETE button to get rid of the problem parts of my problem players. When good, they do contribute to a better game and I personally like ALL of the players, when away from the table. It's just mounting problems that is making my sanity points dribble out of my ears!
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A Reply in Parts
Date: 2005-03-15 07:14 pm (UTC)Indeed. I won't even attempt to emulate Matt's dispassionate response portion, I'll just attempt to address things from my personal perspective. But before I dive into it, let me say that I believe the game should be fun for everyone, including the GM. If you're not having fun, that's serious biz and I want to help you fix it. (Even though I am part of the problem.) However, if 'fixing it' involves changing other people, the first step is finding out if they want (or are at least willing for) things to change. Otherwise you will end up trying to change things on the face of opposition, conscious or un-, and that's going to be harder. The status quo is nearly always to someone's advantage, and any specific change is nearly always to someone's advantage. Finding out who is in each camp will give you an idea of how the factions are likely to line up.
I'm probably one of the worst offenders as far as the 'inattention' goes. And I admit the problem has been growing for a while. I can offer some explanations and my perspective on the issue, but of course these will come out sounding like excuses. I am not making excuses -- my actions are my responsibility -- but sometimes it helps if you want to change things if you know how they got where they are today.
1) The referring to notes thing is minor -- when the notes are to hand. It may be time to reorganize your personal GM's manual, and recopy it in a larger typeface. ^_^ It may even be time to find someone to perform data entry on it, so you can the print it out and update the accumulated log of 'not-quite-rules-change-rulings' that have grown over recent years.
2) Combat is inherently slow. Spend time praising people who role-play 'at the speed of sound'. Award EPs for not stalling the turn. Deny the 'good role playing EPs' to players who habitually wait until their initiative comes up before they even start considering what their move will be. Be consistent about saying 'You delay until next initiative while you make up your mind'. 'Good role playing' is an award for being a good player, not just for having a character who makes amusing remarks and talks in a funny accent. However, on the flip-side, some things in the initiative system need work. And, although the GM does get a 'pass' because she has lots more things to think about than the players, use that pass judiciously. Make it clear that you are holding yourself to at least the same standards to which you are holding your players. (This relates to a lot of things: punctuality, preparedness, rules knowledge, etc.)