What do you most look for in a Player?

Phillip · October 16, 2014, 03:44:41 PM

Pleasant company. I'm not interested in spending hours at a time with irritating people in order to play a board game, much less a role-playing game.

Relevant qualities include basic deportment, good sportsmanship, flexibility, and engagement with the other participants and the affair at hand.

Beyond that, diverse people bring diverse assets. Having a spectrum of talents and (in keeping with the above) temperaments and interests is a bonus. I like a mix of ages and genders and backgrounds when feasible.

Gronan of Simmerya · October 16, 2014, 03:49:27 PM

Quote from: Necrozius;792311Trust. I need to know for certain that my players don't distrust or feel antagonistic towards me.

Who the hell are you playing with that this is even an issue?

Necrozius · October 16, 2014, 04:03:13 PM

Quote from: Old Geezer;792428Who the hell are you playing with that this is even an issue?

Babies, apparently. People who get super frustrated and upset when they fail at skill checks or miss attacks in combat. They also assume the very worst will happen to them all the time, like I'm deliberately trying to defeat them.

I like to think that I'm self-aware enough to know that I'm not an asshole GM (I promote the whole Fail Forward ideal, as well as only ask for dice rolls if the outcome is interesting either way), but it still happens. Makes me wonder why some people even play (especially if they can't seem to get over a bad GM in their past).

Gronan of Simmerya · October 16, 2014, 06:06:11 PM

Don't play with random strangers, I guess. Because I can't imagine calling somebody who acts like that a 'friend.'

Necrozius · October 16, 2014, 06:14:50 PM

Quote from: Old Geezer;792451Don't play with random strangers, I guess. Because I can't imagine calling somebody who acts like that a 'friend.'

I've been truly surprised by friends and family once they play these games. RPGs can reveal things about people...

Bren · October 16, 2014, 08:01:27 PM

1) People who are fun to play RPGs with.

2) People who regularly show up at the right time so that they can be fun to play RPGs with.

Everything else is a nice to have.

Omega · October 16, 2014, 08:15:12 PM

Quote from: TristramEvans;792131boobs

Beat me to it!

Luckily had that aplenty when Jan was playing... :jaw-dropping:

Gronan of Simmerya · October 16, 2014, 11:42:34 PM

Quote from: Omega;792490Beat me to it!

Luckily had that aplenty when Jan was playing... :jaw-dropping:

"The ladies in this gaming group have the biggest boobs in the world.

Their husbands."

Omega · October 17, 2014, 04:09:00 AM

Quote from: Old Geezer;792518"The ladies in this gaming group have the biggest boobs in the world.

Their husbands."

I wish!

Jan was married at the time. To some guy who didnt like RPGs. (So you may have a point there...) She divorced him later. (Not over the RPG part.)

Her and her friend Kefra were quite a handfull to GM for and group with when not GMing. Jan in particular is a very reckless daredevil type player. Neither have ever DMed to my knowledge. Neither have my sisters. Susan on the other hand I've never seen not GMing at a session.

One thing I do find a very small annoyance in players is the occasional super over cautious type. Caution is fine in most RPGs. But last group before current had a player who had-to-check-every-single-ten-foot-space-for-traps. oooooooog! Good player otherwise.

AteTheHeckUp · October 17, 2014, 05:57:14 AM

1) Verve.
2) More verve.
3) Respect for others.

dungeon crawler · October 17, 2014, 09:54:45 AM

1. Must play the game at hand. No crying "it's not

2. Must respect the G.M by accepting his/her decisions and no rules lawyering.

3. Must respect other players by not sabotaging their plans

4. Must understand you are not "the special snowflake" you think you are. the game will go on with or without you.

5. Must not cry when you miss a game or games and everyone levels up but you.

6. Must understand this is a game and not the "all important end all and be all of life"

These are just a few of the things I look for in players.

Kiero · October 17, 2014, 10:06:40 AM

Quote from: Omega;792538One thing I do find a very small annoyance in players is the occasional super over cautious type. Caution is fine in most RPGs. But last group before current had a player who had-to-check-every-single-ten-foot-space-for-traps. oooooooog! Good player otherwise.

I find very large annoyance in an even more extreme form of that: players who love contingency planning more than they do actually playing.

Cyberpunk/Shadowrun-type games seem to be the worst culprits for this. It's not enough to have a plan, but you have to have a contingency for every possible problem that might come up. And each one of those must be unpacked in exquisite detail, possible repeated so everyone is clear what everyone should do if that eventuality arises. Ugh.

Tommy Brownell · October 20, 2014, 12:44:47 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;792095What are the qualities or attributes you most want a player in your campaign to have? What's most important to you from them?

Someone I trust enough to invite into my home, and that I like enough to not only do so every weekend, but to spend hours with.

RPGPundit · October 24, 2014, 07:52:13 PM

For me, I think the first and foremost quality I want is commitment to the campaign, just in the sense that I know they will regularly attend.

Almost anything else can be cultivated.

dragoner · October 24, 2014, 07:57:16 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;793891For me, I think the first and foremost quality I want is commitment to the campaign, just in the sense that I know they will regularly attend.

Exactly. Drive.