What do you think are the worst practices in RP gaming?

Can we agree railroading is one of them? Or does it have it's place?

Let me nominate illusionism as worse than the simple, open railroading;).

Quote from: Itachi;989605Can we agree railroading is one of them? Or does it have it's place?

I can see a very deliberate and short-lived part of a very specific type of game (which I call a 'Cool Hand Luke' game) where you are trying to evoke a sense of lack of control and agency onto a situation for a deliberate effect. Inside that very specific boundary, perhaps railroading would be advisable. But that would seem like a deliberate subverting of something's general nature for deliberate effect, which often forgives otherwise bad things (e.g. punk rock's using the juxtaposition of tonal and atonal qualities for effect doesn't make atonal sounds routinely pleasant to listen to).

Otherwise, yeah, railroading sits somewhere between lazy and objectionable, with illusionism towards the harsher end of the spectrum.

Some people want to play a railroad. That's why WotC's published campaigns sell well, Paizo exists as a company, and Margaret Weis is mildly famous.

One of the worst practices is the "Rule of Cool" rubric to let players get away with doing "creative" things that break the game and are nearly impossible to walk back, like letting a player use Create or Destroy Water to dessicate an enemy after a cut. Congratulations, idiot, you have now given a 2nd-level character Power Word: Kill. Same thing goes with "You can try anything!" meaning "I will set a meaningful target DC and give a minimum 5% chance for any nonsense you come up with to happen!"

"You can try anything" should work like this:

Player: I pray to Heironeous to send a flight of Planars to help us through this level 3 dungeon!
DM: You fervently pray for ten minutes, but nothing happens.
Player: Hey, you said I can always try.
DM: I did. I didn't say there would always be a non-zero chance of success.

Computers or screens of any type at the table.  

Miss aligned expetations.

Quote from: Headless;989640Miss aligned expetations.

Misaligned expectations really is the only true answer, isn't it?

Being too dirty or weighing too much are terrible Roleplaying practices. Please shower before you attend a game, and if you weigh 400 lbs. maybe Bring Your Own (weight-appropriate) Chair.

I'm not a fan of railroading...

Or 'hounding'. Where the players have absolutely no decompression time. The whole game is just about relentlessly dashing from one fight to another.

General rudeness.

Quote from: fearsomepirate;989634Some people want to play a railroad. That's why WotC's published campaigns sell well, Paizo exists as a company, and Margaret Weis is mildly famous.

I don't think that's actually true. I think railroads eliminate a lot of variables making it easier for the GM to run. I think it allows the GM to know in advance what needs to be planned, prepped, or read. As a result, the play experience is a smooth one where it's clear what you're hoping to achieve and why. I think that's really what some people want. And for a portion of those, who dislike planning and just want to get straight to the action, being handed the "how" is also a benefit.

Why split hairs on this feature/benefit stuff? Because the better GMs can deliver a smooth game with clear motives and objectives and top quality content while allowing more deviation from the line. Of course I could be wrong about the exact reasons players enjoy a good railroading. It might be some other benefit associated with railroad play. But I am fairly certain the "feature" isn't the reason, the "benefit" is. And if I am wrong about what the exact benefit is, I'm fairly confident after a relatively short period of experimenting, I could run a non-railroad game that railroad enthusiasts would enjoy just as much. So from where I sit, it's understandable then why a pure railroad would be delegated to a lower echelon of play.

Quote from: fearsomepirate;989634Some people want to play a railroad.

See my players. They love a railroad, or as they call it "missions". They are completely lost in a sandbox. They want nothing more than to be handwaved from fight to fight.

I don't much care as long as you show up on  time. I hate tardy players who waste the time of the ref and the other players.

Quote from: Lunamancer;989722I don't think that's actually true. I think railroads eliminate a lot of variables making it easier for the GM to run. I think it allows the GM to know in advance what needs to be planned, prepped, or read. As a result, the play experience is a smooth one where it's clear what you're hoping to achieve and why. I think that's really what some people want. And for a portion of those, who dislike planning and just want to get straight to the action, being handed the "how" is also a benefit.

Why split hairs on this feature/benefit stuff? Because the better GMs can deliver a smooth game with clear motives and objectives and top quality content while allowing more deviation from the line. Of course I could be wrong about the exact reasons players enjoy a good railroading. It might be some other benefit associated with railroad play. But I am fairly certain the "feature" isn't the reason, the "benefit" is. And if I am wrong about what the exact benefit is, I'm fairly confident after a relatively short period of experimenting, I could run a non-railroad game that railroad enthusiasts would enjoy just as much. So from where I sit, it's understandable then why a pure railroad would be delegated to a lower echelon of play.

I always think your avatar is Squidward.

Quote from: The Exploited.;989721Or 'hounding'. Where the players have absolutely no decompression time. The whole game is just about relentlessly dashing from one fight to another.

I can see 'hounding' having its place... such as when trying to escape from a village of mad cultists... but yeah, not for an entire game, every game.

One that's a bit of a pet peeve is GMs who give away too much OOC. Like, they just can't keep from letting you in on their brilliant ideas, even though the PCs would have no ideas. Setting secrets, detailed/accurate maps, villain motives... stuff that should be unknown till the PCs discover it... or don't. Even after the fact I really don't want to hear about the great stuff we missed or almost got.

Railroading is bad, but is almost universally considered bad (unless the PCs are okay with it, I guess).

I'd say the worst practices are covert; trying to tell a "story" with a RPG (despite the PCs choices), illusionism/"quantum ogres", etc.

Quote from: Eric Diaz;989773I'd say the worst practices are covert; trying to tell a "story" with a RPG (despite the PCs choices), illusionism/"quantum ogres", etc.

What are those?  My guess illusionism is the practice of presenting four directions to go, and whichever is picked just happens to be the correct route to the Place of Mystery?