I should start with a few disclaimers: The people who organized this con worked very hard, and mostly did a great job. I know lots of people that went and had a good time. I’m not trying to throw anyone under the bus, and for that reason, I’m not going to list any names in this public post (though I will name the con).
But I, and several other folks I know, had an absolutely awful time -- primarily due to the DMs running the sessions I was in. They are good people, and tried their best, but most of them should never have been allowed to run an AL session at a con.
Why I’m sharing this
I’m sharing my experience here for a few reasons: A little bit to vent, a little bit to (maybe) spark some good conversation, and a little bit to (hopefully) help others to avoid having similar experiences in the future.
What went wrong
Ok, so I attended Gamex/Strategicon this past weekend. Over the course of the con, I played 8 four-hour AL sessions, under 9 DMs (one event, the D&D Open had three DMs due to the way it was run, with side quests). 7 of those 8 sessions were either totally ruined, or ruined to the point that I wish I hadn’t done them, by terrible DMing.
-Three of my DMs, I just flat-out couldn’t understand most of the time, due to a combination of mumbling, speed-talking, and clipping their words in a crowded, noisy con environment. Then there was also a fourth that did this enough of the time to be annoying, though I did manage to catch enough to follow the story.
-Three of the DMs clearly hadn’t prepared the mods at all before the session, which made for awkward, slow sessions that were either cut short or ran way over. One was so unprepared that he spent about 80-90% of the 4-hour session – no exaggeration – reading the mod, looking things up in the sourcebooks/online, etc. We had maybe 8 rounds of actions total in that whole 4 hours, and that’s with almost no roleplay. Probably my most painful AL experience to date.
-One DM --the primary DM for my table at the Open—had prepared, but was so slow and distracted that, in one phase, we were still determining initiative while other teams were finishing the phase. This was especially frustrating in a competitive event, and one that spanned a total of 8 hours of playtime. Even forgetting the competitive part, my table only got to experience maybe half of the mod –which was a really cool one IMO-- compared to what would have with a DM that was on the ball. We missed out on a lot of fun, and a lot of the rewards as a result.
-One DM was so ignorant of the rules that my character was basically useless, as he just flat-out vetoed half of what it could do –while basically calling me a powergamer and a cheater. This was with a completely RAW, AL-legal character that happened to be multiclassed (and because it was multiclassed and this was Tier 3, was not anywhere near as powerful as a straight-classed character of the same level). This was despite most of the players pointing out that it was not only legal and not overpowered, but far from a unique build. His nerfs made for a super boring play session for me, as it meant I wasn’t really able to contribute to the team. And since I was the only real tank/damage dealer (the rest were controller/support classes), with his nerfs we --of course-- wiped on the tough final encounter.
-Another DM just straight-up acted like an inappropriate jerk. At one point, when I rolled low on an attack, he laughed at me, said I didn’t know how to play my character, and told the rest of the table not to heal me if I went down. This was said not in-character as him playing the enemy, but said as a DM. When I responded with something to the effect of “what are you saying I did wrong” he shrugged, with a big obnoxious grin on his face. He was obviously just doing it to try to get a rise out of me. This same DM I later overheard bragging to another DM how great he was at TPK’ing tables. Maybe it was a joke, but it would have been right in line with his prior attitude. I have no idea how a person with this kind of antagonism toward players and absolute lack of consideration is allowed to DM at a con.
That said, there were two awesome DMs (one full session, and one that ran a small part of the Open) that I had a blast playing with. And most of the players were great too. But taken in total, the sessions made me feel like I’d pretty much wasted my four days of my life. Each crappy session (7 out of the 8) felt more like something I had to endure than something I was actually having fun doing.
As I said at the beginning, I know people worked really hard to put this con together. And I believe most of the DMs (except maybe one) were well-meaning, and trying their best. And it’s especially surprising it went like this, since I had a really good time at the last Strategicon, with only 1 or 2 sessions that I feel weren't DM'd well. But this time, with 7 out of 8, it makes me think it wasn’t just luck of the draw.
And I know it doesn’t need to be this way. I played with just as many different DMs over a weekend at the SKT Weekend mini con in GA, for example, and they were all good. Many of them were great. I’m really at a loss for how this happened at Strategicon.
I may go back to Strategicon's AL events as a DM (since I think they really need some decent ones), but I’m really hesitant to ever return as a player there.
But I, and several other folks I know, had an absolutely awful time -- primarily due to the DMs running the sessions I was in. They are good people, and tried their best, but most of them should never have been allowed to run an AL session at a con.
Why I’m sharing this
I’m sharing my experience here for a few reasons: A little bit to vent, a little bit to (maybe) spark some good conversation, and a little bit to (hopefully) help others to avoid having similar experiences in the future.
What went wrong
Ok, so I attended Gamex/Strategicon this past weekend. Over the course of the con, I played 8 four-hour AL sessions, under 9 DMs (one event, the D&D Open had three DMs due to the way it was run, with side quests). 7 of those 8 sessions were either totally ruined, or ruined to the point that I wish I hadn’t done them, by terrible DMing.
-Three of my DMs, I just flat-out couldn’t understand most of the time, due to a combination of mumbling, speed-talking, and clipping their words in a crowded, noisy con environment. Then there was also a fourth that did this enough of the time to be annoying, though I did manage to catch enough to follow the story.
-Three of the DMs clearly hadn’t prepared the mods at all before the session, which made for awkward, slow sessions that were either cut short or ran way over. One was so unprepared that he spent about 80-90% of the 4-hour session – no exaggeration – reading the mod, looking things up in the sourcebooks/online, etc. We had maybe 8 rounds of actions total in that whole 4 hours, and that’s with almost no roleplay. Probably my most painful AL experience to date.
-One DM --the primary DM for my table at the Open—had prepared, but was so slow and distracted that, in one phase, we were still determining initiative while other teams were finishing the phase. This was especially frustrating in a competitive event, and one that spanned a total of 8 hours of playtime. Even forgetting the competitive part, my table only got to experience maybe half of the mod –which was a really cool one IMO-- compared to what would have with a DM that was on the ball. We missed out on a lot of fun, and a lot of the rewards as a result.
-One DM was so ignorant of the rules that my character was basically useless, as he just flat-out vetoed half of what it could do –while basically calling me a powergamer and a cheater. This was with a completely RAW, AL-legal character that happened to be multiclassed (and because it was multiclassed and this was Tier 3, was not anywhere near as powerful as a straight-classed character of the same level). This was despite most of the players pointing out that it was not only legal and not overpowered, but far from a unique build. His nerfs made for a super boring play session for me, as it meant I wasn’t really able to contribute to the team. And since I was the only real tank/damage dealer (the rest were controller/support classes), with his nerfs we --of course-- wiped on the tough final encounter.
-Another DM just straight-up acted like an inappropriate jerk. At one point, when I rolled low on an attack, he laughed at me, said I didn’t know how to play my character, and told the rest of the table not to heal me if I went down. This was said not in-character as him playing the enemy, but said as a DM. When I responded with something to the effect of “what are you saying I did wrong” he shrugged, with a big obnoxious grin on his face. He was obviously just doing it to try to get a rise out of me. This same DM I later overheard bragging to another DM how great he was at TPK’ing tables. Maybe it was a joke, but it would have been right in line with his prior attitude. I have no idea how a person with this kind of antagonism toward players and absolute lack of consideration is allowed to DM at a con.
That said, there were two awesome DMs (one full session, and one that ran a small part of the Open) that I had a blast playing with. And most of the players were great too. But taken in total, the sessions made me feel like I’d pretty much wasted my four days of my life. Each crappy session (7 out of the 8) felt more like something I had to endure than something I was actually having fun doing.
As I said at the beginning, I know people worked really hard to put this con together. And I believe most of the DMs (except maybe one) were well-meaning, and trying their best. And it’s especially surprising it went like this, since I had a really good time at the last Strategicon, with only 1 or 2 sessions that I feel weren't DM'd well. But this time, with 7 out of 8, it makes me think it wasn’t just luck of the draw.
And I know it doesn’t need to be this way. I played with just as many different DMs over a weekend at the SKT Weekend mini con in GA, for example, and they were all good. Many of them were great. I’m really at a loss for how this happened at Strategicon.
I may go back to Strategicon's AL events as a DM (since I think they really need some decent ones), but I’m really hesitant to ever return as a player there.
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