Here we go again: DM, player or both?

[Reynard]

This comes up every once in a while and so I thought we would get a fresh poll.

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

This comes up every once in a while and so I thought we would get a fresh poll.

Except that there's no poll.

Anyway, my answer is: both.

 

[IronWolf]

If you figure Play-by-Posts into the equation I play and GM near equally.

 

[jonesy]

We've played a lot of different games, and are variably comfortable at running them, so only two of use haven't run any games at all (and four have run more than I can count). This means that any single one of our group is invariably a player more than a DM, and only two of our group are not a DM at all.

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

Now that the poll is live I can answer more clearly:
I am mostly a player, but occasionally a DM. I'd like to DM more, so I hope that's going to change.

 

[El Mahdi]

I'm a special snowflake...and I like polls...

 

[Kaiyanwang]

GM. I always DM. I wish I play a Druid. Sigh.

Next druid NPC will wipe the party. I need some sort of revenge.

 

[Dykstrav]

Just a bit of semantic opinion on my part...

I usually DM more than play, but in my opinion, the DM is a "player" just as much as anyone else at the table. The DM is there to have fun, he just gets to portray the monsters and NPCs in the setting they choose and perhaps design.

Sometimes, I dislike the perceived divide between players and DMs. Some people have an idea that the DM is only there to enable the fun of their group and entertain the other players, but somehow, the DM isn't really entitled to or supposed to have fun. I've never really understood this attitude.

 

[Aeolius]

The last time I was a player was probably in 1989 or thereabouts. I've been exclusively DMing online games (PbP & chat-based) since 1995.

Mind you, I keep a Spellstitched Swarm-Shifter Dread Necromancer Emancipated Spawn Half-Scrag Sea Kin Lacedon with Aboleth Grafts rolled up, just in case.

 

[Fifth Element]

Just a bit of semantic opinion on my part...

I usually DM more than play, but in my opinion, the DM is a "player" just as much as anyone else at the table. The DM is there to have fun, he just gets to portray the monsters and NPCs in the setting they choose and perhaps design.

Yes, but the terms 'DM' and 'player' in this sense are well-understood at ENWorld. The DM's role is well-defined, and a player is anyone not the DM. So there's no issue.

Sometimes, I dislike the perceived divide between players and DMs. Some people have an idea that the DM is only there to enable the fun of their group and entertain the other players, but somehow, the DM isn't really entitled to or supposed to have fun. I've never really understood this attitude.

I don't understand that attitude either, but that attitude is not implied by the use of the terms 'DM' and 'player' here. They are merely descriptive, in a way that posters understand readily.