What are the most annoying player habits!

[Killer Shrike]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Hey' date=' if certain scheduling issues didn't exist, I'd be bugging you about a spot in a game already. I mean, really, if you already have that many bad players, what's one more? [/quote'] Believe me, you'd be a welcome addition.

 

To be fair, the groups pretty decent by most standards I suppose, but I tend to have high expectations.

[Brandi]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

[Nexus' story omitted for the sake of my stomach]

 

Perhaps this should become an addition to gamer equipment.

[Eyendasky80]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Hey Shrike, I don't wanna get on your bad side (because it obviously looks like a bad side to be on) but I've been dying to know: Do you consider any of these people friends? Cuz it sounds like you act like your the boss and they're your employees. You must run a pretty good game to have the luxury to toss people so quickly. And I don't think your wrong, it's an interesting way to run a game and you're obviously pleased with it. I can think of more than one occasion when I've put in a lot of work and got zero respect and no quality involvement in return from the players. And I was happy when they didn't come back. But I did lose some friends over that and I didn't even ask them to leave, I just asked them to stop being assholes. So I'm wondering, how do people respond to your style?

[Killer Shrike]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Hey Shrike' date=' I don't wanna get on your bad side (because it obviously looks like a bad side to be on) but I've been dying to know: Do you consider any of these people friends? Cuz it sounds like you act like your the boss and they're your employees. You must run a pretty good game to have the luxury to toss people so quickly. And I don't think your wrong, it's an interesting way to run a game and you're obviously pleased with it. I can think of more than one occasion when I've put in a lot of work and got zero respect and no quality involvement in return from the players. And I [b']was[/b] happy when they didn't come back. But I did lose some friends over that and I didn't even ask them to leave, I just asked them to stop being assholes. So I'm wondering, how do people respond to your style?

They are friends at a certain level I suppose, but not particularly close friends for the most part. Acquaintances moreso, with one exception (one of my players is an old friend from the military).

 

I dont run a game with my circle of closest friends or anything. Gaming is my hobby, and I do it with other hobbyists. Most of my friends are not gamers, and most of the gamers Ive played with I met thru gaming and hung out with them only while gaming.

 

My gaming group is not a social channel for me, its a by-product of the hobby I enjoy. In the past my groups at times included actual out-side-the-game friends, but I dont give them any special treatment.

 

I put my closest friend out, a buddy from the Corps that I did several missions with, after many years of friendship in and out of the game and serious roleplaying for no-showing and then not seeming particularly concerned about it. After 6 months I let him back in and after a few weeks he no-showed again and again was very unconcerned about my aggravation over the matter. So I asked him for his character sheet for NPC purposes and we never spoke again. A shame really, he was one of the three best roleplayers Ive ever seen, but really unstable and was getting increasingly unstable as the years went on. Also had a family history of insanity, and was an Expert Marksman (was on the 1st Mar Div shooting team one year), with an ever growing gun collection and a strange obsession with the millenia scare. He wasnt approachable about seeking help, so I thought it best to sever all ties and his total flakiness and lack of giving a damn for the inconvenience to me and the other players was the final straw. I regret the situation, but not the decision.

 

I take running the game very seriously; I dont want warm bodies, social gamers, no-shows, flakes, socially inept basement dwellers, or deviant whack jobs at the table. I want committed hard-core, here-for-the-game-can-the-chit-chat roleplayers that show up ready to play and dread the tolling of the clock bringing the session to an inevitable close.

 

A "Serious gamers only need apply" scenario.

 

 

As far as how players react to my style, the trick is I really just dont care. If they want to put in the hours and develop their own games then when they are sitting behing the screen they can run it how they want. When Im putting in the time if they dont like the way I run the game they all know where the door is.

 

Ive had a couple of players walk over the years who didnt like my style, one this year in fact, and I was never sorry to see them go. Id rather see them go join a group more their speed, but there have been far more that wanted into the game that I have put out or turned away.

 

When I screen new players, Ill often stop at some point and just let them know that it isnt going to work out and I dont want them in the group. End it right there. Ive had people show up at the door wanting to play when they were not invited or told that I didnt want them in the game and turned them away. Ive turned away several players that showed up a couple of hours late; and dont come back. Players that dont respect other players -- good bye. Players with bad hygeine -- show up reeking at the next game and you dont make it past the door.

 

For one campaign I screened close to 50 players and kept the best 4, later dropped 2 of them because they were flaky or didnt pan out (one of the players from my current group came from this batch...late 95 or early 96 IIRC). Ran thru new fills as the game ran until good fits were found. Id rather game with 2 other good players than 4 mediocre players anyway, so what difference does it make to me?

 

Im providing a service, not running a romper room. I run a clean game for interested players, and those players come to the table know that we might bs for 20 or 30 minutes or so across a session, but Im going to squeeze in every second of high-quality no bs roleplaying I can manage to, with a shoehorn and a funnel if need be. Their characterizations are the highest priority in the game. I will match or exceed every players degree of involvement, drawing them into the story and incorporating their actions into the storyline. The PCs are able to do things and make an impact on the setting. There is an enforced versimilitude to my settings, a natural cause and effect, a persistence of events, a logical progression of storyline.

 

Some players thrive in such a campaign and get excited by it and want to participate, and those who dont really would be happier in another game anyway, and Im certainly happier not putting up with their apathy so its a win-win all around when I give them the boot.

[Maelstrom]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

I have to admit that my brother and I thought it was cool when we came up with a way to "save" an adventure and then go back to the "save" point. I'd say we were young and stupid, but it just happened a month ago, so only stupid counts. We got the idea from CRPGs, of course. Therefore . . . um . . . yeah, computer games are to blame! Yes!

[Hyper-Man]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

I agree that it can be annoying if players ignore a game except to roll dice and such but I have never gamed with a group that did not have at least some out of character comedy interruptions during 'game-time'. They usually were about the game at least. Those moments are what flavored the games. The tone of fun from these early Champions games is what I fondly remember the most.

 

My actual time gaming over the last 22 years is actually pretty thin compared to many on the board but I have always enjoyed reading the rule books (primarily 1st ed. D&D and just about everything HERO/Champions related since the game began.) I have never GM'd a game up to this point for a variety of reasons but part of me has always longed to play among a more serious group of dedicated gamers like Killer Shrike but I have a feeling that I would probably be considered one of the distracting players.

 

Someone else on this board summed up what I think is the ideal gaming experience.

The following is just the last paragragh of their much longer personal gaming history....

I do have to stop and wonder, is it all worth it? All the frustration, the sore thumbs, broken leads, dog-eared faded notes and endless hours of the night...have I wasted my life on a mere game of juvenile fantasy? Not wasted, I must respond, pushing the doubts aside. Invested. Not in a mere game, however. All that time, money, work and frustration have been invested in the name of friendship. Twice a month, people come and sit at my table to roll dice, beat up a bad guy or two and solve the mystery. These people are my dearest friends, who remind me always that role-playing, though compelling and passionate, is just a game. The point is to enjoy yourself with a group of friends, and nothing more. In the end I can always look back and say, "I had fun".

That alone, is worth all the frustration in the world.

Dust Raven

to see the full article by Dust Raven go to: http://groups.msn.com/landoftenthousandthoughts/roleplayinggames.msnw

[Dust Raven]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Someone else on this board summed up what I think is the ideal gaming experience.

To be honest, I'll call it my ideal gaming experience.

 

In my gaming experience, I've only turned away, or told not to come back, two people. One because he was being deliberately disruptive to the group (and attempted to actually bribe me for experience points, with toys!). The other is my ex-wife, who wasn't so much as kicked out, but was told there are other games, even role-playing games, more her speed (which we are playing on the side with only a few players).

 

Now, I've had quite a few people quit my games before. Many actually. Some were friends, some not quite so friends. Some actually left because they didn't like the way I ran the game or how other people played in it. More than a few left due to out of game problems with other players (which I won't go into here). But this happens when we play among close friends, where life's one live action soap opera.

 

As far as the actual annoying player habits of my players, there's not many that really interfere with the game. We are all busy people, and there's a different one of us late each week. We don't care. We start when everybodies here, and end when someone is ready to leave. Occasionally we've only played for an hour, and that was annoying, but no one's made a habit of causing it.

 

Honestly, I think the most annoying habit of my players is deciding upon what to do for dinner on game nights. We'll often pitch in for something, like pizza or chinese, but most often we'll just either order/bring individual meals. This of course takes just as much time as deciding on something together, as we fight over the kitchen for an hour. Oh well. The rest of us who aren't cooking yet, or have already made their food can sit and BS until the game start again.

 

I love my group and the way we game and wouldn't trade it for the world.

[sharxboy]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

I hate it when a player doesn't show up, but even more if he doesn't even call, then when you do get ahold of him - he's sick, you couldn't call for that? I've had guys show up from over an hour away only to have a guy flake out. I don't have enough players to comfortably run an adventure when you are missing a fourth of your group because they are all just learning the rules. I have come to the realization that I just need to call on the day of the game.

 

EJ

[Blue]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Yeh, there are flake players on my group and while I don't mind running a small group I do mind people showing up halfway through and needing to be brought up to speed o everything.

 

I'm the only player in the 4 years I've played with these guys who has NEVER missed a game.

 

There are 3 others who are there virtually every time.

 

There's one guy who has to travel 100 miles to play. He has better attendance than some of the locals.

 

One guy talks a good game about looking forward to the game and then often shows up late and leaves early... for no reason at all. Not even like he had a commitment.

 

One guy shows up for half a game. The only girl has kids and is very hit-and-miss. But at lest when she misses she tells us. And when she's not sure she'll be there she'll just tell us she won't, so it's a bonus when she shows up.

 

I've got one guy who is pretty whipped and will do anything his wife says. Nice guy. Nice woman. But he seems afraid to commit, because he's the "house husband" and feels responsible for the kids.

 

One guy shows up only once in a blue moon. Then he does something crazy, setting off a chain of events, then dosn't show up for the next game to reap the whirlwind.

 

One guy keeps saying he'd like to join in again, but only on D&D. But I'm betting he backs out.

 

Having said that, I couldn't picture playing with anybody else.

[Darth Continent]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

I hate it when a player doesn't show up

 

Agreed. I also hate it when players don't "show up" for PBEM - meaning there is a GM and two or three players who respond promptly (or if you're me, maybe a little bit too promptly), and then a whole slew of people whose response rate quickly goes from unreliable to nonexistent (naturally, without ever notifying anyone). Leading to situations where you have virtual characters and monster/villain NPCs just kinda staring expectantly and waiting for a non-responding player's character to do something...

 

Naturally, these folks could (and have usually) become NPCs, but it's pretty irritating to have your character bluster something like:

 

Deep Freeze: "Sure, you may handle my freeze rays well Dr. Grimlock, but how are you prepared for the blazing... Inferno!?"

 

At which point Deep Freeze turns confidently to his comrade and Dr. Grimlock gasps in alarm -- only to find that the Inferno has been reduced to an inanimate drooling vegetable because his player can't be bothered to send a one line email. Deep Freeze just sighs, as Dr. Grimlock looks at his watch...

 

But then, maybe it's just me...

[BarryB]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

I don't remember if I mentioned it here but one guy I used to game with apparently came up with a character for a game I was mercifully not a part of. A female superhero whose only power was basically something along the lines of 12d6 Mind Control with one effect only' date=' "You want to fuck me."[/quote']

 

Had one of those.

 

Only it was a woman.

[Magmarock]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

My fellow Oregonians, if you ever have occasion to have George Carter at your game table, do not underestimate him as a role-player or a gamer. He's not strong on raw intellect (and he knows it), but he understands and grasps a lot more than the average gamer.

 

Might this be the same George who owns Ancient Wonders?

 

Mags

[Magmarock]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Argh! That drives me INSANE. Aarrrrgh!

 

Wow! Great response for a C'Thulu game!

 

Mags

[Magmarock]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

I have had some players who brought in characters inspired or ripped-off from Anime, but so far none who somehow thought this would allow them to do things outside the rules or change the tone of the campaign.

 

I just had a flashback to a Toon game I played in many years ago at a sci-fi convention. One guy ran a female PC who was a combo of what he called The Dirty Pair from some anime that no one in the game was familiar with. What a nightmare! I can't believe we put up with this guy. Creepy doesn't begin to describe it...

 

 

Mags

[Magmarock]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

 

The players have to do so little to enjoy the game that I dont think its unreasonable to expect them to at least bring their own fricken character sheet to the game. Failure to do so demonstrates a huge lack of respect for me as the GM and the other players as a whole. If they are so unconcerned about playing that they actually forget the one thing they absolutely need to play, then they might as well not play then.

 

 

I forgot my PC sheet once. Actually, I thought it was in my book bag and it wasn't (I had taken it out the week before to work on it). So I just jumped in my car and went home to get it. No biggie. I was 45 minutes late in joining the game. It never happened again.

 

It wasn't about disrespecting anyone.... but I can see how it would seem that way if a Player did this over and over again.

 

 

 

Mags

[Magmarock]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Ok, now that I've read the entire thread (and commented on a thing or two), here is the annoying habit by Players which bugs me the most:

 

Getting information vital to solving the scenario and then not sharing it with the other Players.

 

How the info is gained doesn't matter... whether it's been researched, gathered through canvassing people, mystically gleaned from the cosmos, left on the PC's front doorstep in a fortune cookie, or what have you. It doesn't matter. That's not the point. What you do with the info, now that is important! I've ran games when each PC has been given a piece of the puzzle, only to have things fall flat because the PCs didn't share their information.

 

One Player was so notorious for hoarding info that I teased him, calling him Mr. No-information-for-you-today! a name that had stuck with him for many years. I actually avoided giving him vital information because I knew he wouldn't share it or act on it. Recently, I started giving him info again, so he's much better about using info gained within the game.

 

 

Oh, I just thought of a few more.

 

Attention whores. I try to spend an equal amount of time with each Player, but I get annoyed when one person constantly tries to get my attention for things that can wait.

 

Players who insist on Playing only during combat. The rest of the time they are doing anything but playing the out of combat parts of the game. I mean, they only come alive when the fight begins. Thankfully, I haven't dealt with this type of Player in a long while.

 

Players who don't take notes. I have a hard enough time trying to remember what I know, I can't tell the Players what they know too. It's just too much for me to deal with. Take notes! It's the polite thing to do.

 

 

Mags

[Guest Bretbo]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

The player who won't play a game were the opponents/villians are more powerful than the players. The concept of a challenge must be new to them.

 

When a player really didn't want to play in a superhero game, but everyone else wants to, creates a character that is totally inapporpriate for the game. (In one game, we were playing a "standard" hero team and one player created a Space Marine from Warhammer 40K; granted, HERO would be great for 40K, but really!)

 

The granddaddy of most annoying to me: the player who after the first games says, "I've got to re-work my character, he'd be some much more effective with a multi-power (or some other such thing)." It only gets worse from there!

 

(venting is fun!)

[Chuckg]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Granted, in the campaign I'm currently in, at least two people reworked their characters even up to 20 sessions after game start (one of them three times)... but in every case, they had to obey the restrictions:

 

* it can't contradict any prior continuity in the game (i.e. -- if you're dropping an ability, it had better be one you've never actually used yet. And if you're adding in a new one, it had better be one you can explain why your character never used it in any prior fight, even if he supposedly 'had it all along'.)

 

* it has to make sense, both thematically and from a special effects point of view. (taking your armor back to the shop and overhauling it massively -- fine. selling your Foci and buying new ones -- fine. Developing a secondary mutation -- fine, if the DM agrees. Suddenly going from being a cosmically-powered Green Lantern clone to the human host for a Spectre-like entity...

 

... only if you're /really really/ good with your retcon-fu. )

 

* it has to be relatively game balanced (although we are playing with a liberal definition of the word 'game balance', as it's *supposed* to be a high-powered, JLA-style campaign.)

 

So far, it's worked... then again, we have a very experienced DM, and (mostly) experienced players.

[Susano]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

I just had a flashback to a Toon game I played in many years ago at a sci-fi convention. One guy ran a female PC who was a combo of what he called The Dirty Pair from some anime that no one in the game was familiar with. What a nightmare! I can't believe we put up with this guy. Creepy doesn't begin to describe it...

 

The Dirty Pair come from the anime, The Dirty Pair, which came from a series of SF novels. The first of these was The Great Adventure(s?) of the Dirty Pair. The team is made up of hot-headed Kei and more sedate Yuri. They work or the WWWA (World's Welfare Work Association -- IIRC] and have the code name of "The Lovely Angels." They also have 3-6d6 of Luck and Unluck and the battle cry of "It's not our fault!".

[Zeropoint]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

In the first episode of Dirty Pair Flash, Kei and Yuri destroy several city blocks just by running away from the bad guys. I find that impressive.

 

Zeropoint

[freakboy6117]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

It could be better it could be Vash the stampede from trigun manages to cause the destruction of whole towns whilst running away.

plus you get to enjoy a gun totting hero who will never take a life.

 

does anyone know if anyones done a Vash translation to hero?

[Susano]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

It could be better it could be Vash the stampede from trigun manages to cause the destruction of whole towns whilst running away.

plus you get to enjoy a gun totting hero who will never take a life.

 

does anyone know if anyones done a Vash translation to hero?

 

Not yet.

[Guzalot]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Indecisive, leaderless groups. I once joined a gaming session run by the friend of a friend. I only knew the one guy, everyone else (3 other players and the GM) were strangers. The scene was that terrorists were in control of an airplane and it was parked on the runway. They were demanding to be refeuled or they were going to start killing hostages.

 

GM: Ok guys, what are you going to do.

Group: We don't know.

Me (Wraith, a ghostlike martial artist): Who is your team leader?

Captain Cold: I am.

Me: Do you have a plan?

Cpt Cold: No

Me: Ok, how about I turn invis and scout the plane?

Cpt Cold: I guess...

 

Extrapolate this for the entire game session. I never played with that group again.

[ghost-angel]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Indecisive, leaderless groups. I once joined a gaming session run by the friend of a friend. I only knew the one guy, everyone else (3 other players and the GM) were strangers. The scene was that terrorists were in control of an airplane and it was parked on the runway. They were demanding to be refeuled or they were going to start killing hostages.

 

GM: Ok guys, what are you going to do.

Group: We don't know.

Me (Wraith, a ghostlike martial artist): Who is your team leader?

Captain Cold: I am.

Me: Do you have a plan?

Cpt Cold: No

Me: Ok, how about I turn invis and scout the plane?

Cpt Cold: I guess...

 

Extrapolate this for the entire game session. I never played with that group again.

 

Or even worse, the group that, even without a "leader" decides on an action, and then never DOES anything.

 

"Ok we're going to investigate the abandoned base of operations..."

45 minutes of distracted half-arsed role playing later,

"Ok we're going to investigate the abandoned base of operations..."

Another 30 minutes of doing nothing but talking half out of character.

 

Gets to the point where my character is on their own half the time simply because I actually walk out the door to adventure!

[Blue]

Re: What are the most annoying player habits!

 

Indecisive' date=' leaderless groups.[/quote']That was our group the ONE time I made a leader type. I was trying to be open to suggestion but instead it just seemed like I could never decide on a course of action.

 

But typically we have MORE leaders than we need. We'll have one person who is in charge by general concensus (or by game mechanic) and we'll have at lest two other people who think they know better but don't have the leverage.

 

 

But above all, my favorite: The leader that no one listens to. Cracks me up every time the one guy says, "Here's what we do next time we go in to combat", then when the combat comes up, if the leader didn't get higher initiative than the most impetuous character at that moment then the plan is out the window.