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"Shut the fuck up and roll the dice"

Started by Kyle Aaron, November 19, 2007, 08:36:23 PM

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Levi Kornelsen

Quote from: droogSome friends of mine knock on the table.

I used to do this.

Don't need to anymore...  But I remember it being quite handy.

architect.zero

Quote from: Kyle AaronIt's not a threadjack. I'm talking about players obstructing the flow of the game, slowing things down and making them boring. That could be attempts at florid prose, it could be rules arguments or whinging about their character not being good enough, anything.

I constantly get on my players to get their assess in gear.  I get bored and I'm not one of those GM's that believes he's solely a vessel for bringing enjoyment to the players - I'm there to have fun too.  When it gets in the way of my fun, I start to get cranky.

"Shut the fuck up and roll the dice."  I couldn't say it better myself.

Then again, if we're playing FengShui or Exalted (or "stunting" game X), then you'd better be narrating your attacks.  But with D&D?  STFUARTD!

JohnnyWannabe

Quote from: Cold Blooded GamesYou sound like a cheetoist;) me approves.

Thanks. Great job on Dog Town, by the way. Now, if I could only get my playing group to sit down and give it a whirl.
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Kyle Aaron

Quote from: droogI just use tact and charm. I don't think I've ever had to say "Shut the fuck up".
I have some tact, but zero charm, alas. So I have to use my Viking Hat instead. Also, remember that for me with my rotating players and closed-ended short campaigns, in each game group of 4 players, usually at least 2 of them are new to me and each-other. In a more well-established group people will be more in tune with each-other, and you can be more subtle about things. When you don't know each-other you often have to be more direct.
Quote from: Tyberious FunkSometimes, when a toddler is throwing a tantrum, the only way to handle the situation is to let them scream.
Players throwing tantrums is in my experience pretty rare. More common is that they get some idea or rules issue and grab at it and worry at it like a dog with a bone. You can't let them scream because they're not screaming - they're just burbling on in a monotone about this trivial stupid thing, and they won't shut up. Usually it's not even that they want their way - even if you say, "okay, we'll do it your way, then", they keep going on because they don't just want their way, they want you to say their way is right, and even when you say they're right, they still want to talk about it a bit longer to savour their triumph, make sure everyone knows they were right.


"Definitely, definitely an excellent roleplayer."
Quote from: Tyberious FunkBy cutting them off, you avoid time wasting, but you also stop them from completely venting.
I've always tried to encourage venting between sessions in emails. So they get to spurt out what they need to, but it doesn't disrupt the game. Granted, if it doesn't come out exactly when they want it to, it'll brew a bit more and be more of an issue than if came out straight away. But that seems to me the best compromise: let them vent, but out of session time.
Quote from: architect.zeroI constantly get on my players to get their assess in gear. I get bored and I'm not one of those GM's that believes he's solely a vessel for bringing enjoyment to the players - I'm there to have fun too. When it gets in the way of my fun, I start to get cranky.
Well, I'm the same. But I do try to look at the group as a whole. It's okay for one or two of us - including me - to be bored by a particular scene or discussion if the majority are right into it.

For example, my current campaign, the first thing any of the characters did was to decorate the tea room. Which was stupid and pointless and not very interesting to me, but three of the players were laughing themselves silly over it, and getting right into it. I'm not going to stop people when they're having fun - especially since the other player, all they were doing was, "I set up a back door hack into my employer company's system." Yawn. What was I gonna do with that one? Have the character caught compromising the system on their first day on the job? Lame. Decorating the tea room seemed much more thrilling.

Of course I cut it short in the end, but three out of five of the people there were laughing and right into it, and using it to kind of feel their way with their new characters, express their personalities a bit. So even though it bored me it seemed good for the group as a whole.

But some drongo arguing about the rules or some trivial crap, no-one in the group's interested in that.
The Viking Hat GM
Conflict, the adventure game of modern warfare
Wastrel Wednesdays, livestream with Dungeondelver

Gunslinger

Quote from: Kyle Aaron"I set up a back door hack into my employer company's system." Yawn. What was I gonna do with that one? Have the character caught compromising the system on their first day on the job? Lame. Decorating the tea room seemed much more thrilling.
:haw: I'm at a loss for words.
 

Blackleaf

Quote from: Kyle AaronFor example, my current campaign, the first thing any of the characters did was to decorate the tea room. Which was stupid and pointless and not very interesting to me, but three of the players were laughing themselves silly over it, and getting right into it.

That's brutal.  

Next time something like that happens, excuse yourself from the table.  ("I have to go to the bathroom...") By the time you come back they'll be ready to actually play the game. :)

Tyberious Funk

Quote from: Kyle AaronFor example, my current campaign, the first thing any of the characters did was to decorate the tea room. Which was stupid and pointless and not very interesting to me, but three of the players were laughing themselves silly over it, and getting right into it. I'm not going to stop people when they're having fun - especially since the other player, all they were doing was, "I set up a back door hack into my employer company's system." Yawn. What was I gonna do with that one? Have the character caught compromising the system on their first day on the job? Lame. Decorating the tea room seemed much more thrilling.

Hrrmmm... sounds like the guy is "damaged goods", so to speak.  IMHO, I don't really have a problem with a guy wanting to set up a back door hack into his employer's computer system (particularly if he is playing a hacker).  But as you point out, it would have been lame if you followed that line of discussion, made him roll against a difficulty and have him fail.  Campaign over before it even starts.  As a GM, I would have told the player that if the issue ever arose, then we would role to see if he had the foresight to set up the backdoor... or any other precautionary measures for that matter.  I'm pretty sure that you would make a similar ruling.  

But... not all GMs are like that.  Many will rule that if you do not say it, then it never happened.  It's mindset of a particular type of GM... often running D&D, and very Gygaxian in nature.  If the guy has come from that sort of game, then by nature he will be competitive.  He will see the GM as an adversary.  No wonder if wants to argue the point over rules... he probably sees the game as a competition between the players and the GM.

So either (a) over time, he will learn to adjust his game to accomodate a different style of GM, or (b) he will never get it.  


QuoteOf course I cut it short in the end, but three out of five of the people there were laughing and right into it, and using it to kind of feel their way with their new characters, express their personalities a bit. So even though it bored me it seemed good for the group as a whole.

And this doesn't bode well for the game...  sounds like none of the players are on the same page as you.  The guy arguing over the rules is just acting out... but the guys piss-farting around playing at home decorating?  Sounds like it's just a different manifestation of a similar problem.  They aren't entirely engaged in the game.

But without specifics... it's hard to tell for sure.
 

Kyle Aaron

Naw, the others were just buggerising about in the first session, a "settling in" period. They're sweet as now. Not so much the one focused on the rules. Dog at a bone, mate. But anyway I meant this as a general question, wanting to know if I was the only one to give the GM Smackdown. Apparently not - some are harsher, though, just booting the guy.

I'll usually only boot people who do things like show up without any dice, zap out every fifteen minutes for a smoke, drink a sixpack of Guiness and won't share, and whose roleplaying doesn't extend beyond boggle-eyed bellowing "I SHOOT HIM!"
The Viking Hat GM
Conflict, the adventure game of modern warfare
Wastrel Wednesdays, livestream with Dungeondelver

Gunslinger

Never STFUARTD but there have been numerous amounts of threatening done with the blue GM lightning.  Storm clouds of bluish haze could form anywhere in any setting, genre, or system!
 

RPGPundit

Quote from: StuartThat's brutal.  

Next time something like that happens, excuse yourself from the table.  ("I have to go to the bathroom...") By the time you come back they'll be ready to actually play the game. :)

Hah! And here I thought I was the only one who used that trick... and I do use it, all the time. Whenever the players get caught up with some meaningless task or go deep into some inter-PC conversation that is just repeating stuff that has already been covered, I go to the bathroom. By the time I come back, they're usually ready to move on.

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Ian Absentia

I now have this terrible image of you, sitting on the toilet with your pants down at your ankles, head in your hands, shaking your head in dismay.

Yeah, I'm trying to scrub it out of my brain, too.

!i!

Tyberious Funk

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaI now have this terrible image of you, sitting on the toilet with your pants down at your ankles, head in your hands, shaking your head in dismay.

Sounds like a typical day at work for me.
 

Dirk Remmecke

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaI now have this terrible image of you, sitting on the toilet with your pants down at your ankles, head in your hands, shaking your head in dismay.

Huh?
Would that be this terrible image of Bill "The Butcher", sitting on the toilet with his pants down at his ankles, head in his hands, shaking his head in dismay?

(Must have been in the director's cut...)
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