How to cut back on distractions? help

[Squnk]

Does anyone have any advise, stories, or suggestions on how to cut down on distractions during a gaming session?

Don't get me wrong I'm no saint, I have fallen victim a few time to something catching my eye or finding something interesting on my phone at the game table, something I believe were all guilty of from time to time. But there always seems to be those people that are always guilty of this. Almost every game I have played the same people seem to find something to distract them from the game. Always with the YouTube, texting or talking on the phone, or my favorite: playing video games while gaming.

I enjoy joking around as well as casual conversation while playing asking as it isn't too distracting and doesn't take away from the game, but the line seems drawn when the whole game get put on hold cause someone isn't paying attention or some makes you watch a video that YOU GOT TO SEE, even worse when the GM is the one doing it. In my group we have tried almost everything we can think of except not letting them play and banning cell phones. We have banned laptops(except the GM), have complained to high hell, and try to enforce many house rules about distractions. Does anyone seem to have anything that seem to work for them?

The final straw was the other night, we recently started a new game and invited a couple new players. Long story short, it honestly took us six hours just to make characters, only got about a half an hour of actually game play in.

 

[Katana_Geldar]

There's nothing wrong with:

* Banning laptops from being brought to the game, or if that's too steep being turned on at the table.
* Asking cell phones to be switched off or silent during the game (unless you are expecting a very important call or it is your birthday)
* Bringing your character sheet to the game already made and printed.

In my group, there's an understanding that when you come to game night you are there to game and nothing else. I'm the main GM in my group and occassionally I've had to step in and ask people not to bring laptops, or at least not have them on when we are playing. And tell the GM that managing the group is part of their job.

We do have breaks, which is when people can attend to digital urges as well as natural ones.

If worse comes to worse, set a regular time to have breaks. Say ten minutes every hour or two hours. Put your laptops, phones etc in a place AWAY from the game table and have there what you need to game (paper, dice, books). And GMs should be able to read the room (and look ahead in their notes), to say when to call a break.

Worst experience I've had was when a GM was talking to his girlfriend on the phone during the game, and we were in the middle of an encounter. I answered the phone a total of TWO times at the game table, first one was from my Dad and lasted less than a minute saying it was a bad time. Second one was from my sister on my birthday and before I talked to her I called a break.

Basically, you need to sit down as a group and set the house rules so it's fair for everyone. And stick to them, it's consideration for your fellow players and the GM. And tell the GM they need to be large and in charge about this, they're managing the group and it's their job to make sure the game happens.

 

[amerigoV]

From your post, you are a player in the group, not the DM? You might have a long road then. The DM has one key tool in his or her arsenal - PACE. If they are engaging to the group, they helps keep people's attention.

There are some DM's who's style is to sit back and "let it unfold" - I find these are the groups that tend to stray. One or two players might be engaged and the rest will drift. If this is the case, then it sounds like your group and the DM will long have a problem.

If your DM does try to engage the group, then he just needs to add a few more tricks. Just standing up will get the group's attending. Introducing a prop. Modulating voice (alternating low talking, rapid speech, normal pace, etc). In essence, use a few story-telling techniques to get peoples attention.

And for the worst offenders, there is nothing wrong with having a few tricks up your sleeve - start by asking "and what does your character do?" to the distracted person. The first time or two it is get there attention. Then you could have a negative result happen.

"Bob, what does your character do?"
"Huh? What's going on?"
"He is in a sewer."
"What!?? How did that happen?"
"Your character was not paying attention and fell into an open manhole cover."
"But you did not say anything!"
"The rest of the group said they went around it. You did not answer, so I assumed you maintained course. -4 to Chr the rest of the session."

 

[invokethehojo]

I've had the same problem, and while I don't have a magic fix I did find something that worked well. My group was playing 4e, and when the character builder came out it was laptop city at our table. It didn't take long before people were looking at youtube when it wasn't their turn. 4e has a lot of stuff to track: slow, dazed, ongoing damage. So I instituted a house rule that whenever a PC put any kind of effect that had to be tracked onto an NPC it was up to that PC's player to keep track of the effect. After using this for a few rounds the players were getting murdered because they weren't paying attention. Once they got into the habit of doing it it helped a lot. However not all games have lots of stuff to track like that, so not sure if that will help.

 

[Rel]

My group is composed of a bunch of friends who are right around 40 years old. And we've known each other for upwards of 20 years. When we get together to game each week we've got other stuff to discuss. Bitching about work, talking about our kids and wives and the latest funny thing we saw on the internet.

What we do is designate the first 30 minutes of the game session to just chatting and farting around. Gaming WILL NOT commence before 30 minutes into the session. That's the rule.

At some point after that the GM will kind of signal the group by saying something like, "Ok...when we last left our heroes..." After that we put away the cell phones, try not to get too far off topic with conversations, etc. Usually around half way through the session we end up having a break where everybody gets beverages and hits the bathroom and we may strike up more off topic conversations. But we again try to put that aside when it's time to get back to the game.

Once in a great while we discover that it just ain't happening that night. You can just tell by looking around the group that it's been a long week at work or something else fun has us distracted and our socializing at the start of the game bleeds into the regular game time and nobody seems bothered by it. Those nights we just smile and say, "We'll get back to the game next week."

I guess my point is that, if you build in time for the things that aren't gaming, then I don't think you should feel bad about saying, "Hey, you can dork around on your cell phone after you leave here tonight and for the rest of the week. But right now we're gaming, ok?"

 

[Troll Slayer]

The single best way to prevent distraction is pacing! Keep the players in the driver's seat, but remember that you were the one who built the road they are on. I learned this running All Flesh Must Be Eaten where my zombies were the tool to jump start the action rather than create it. Are the players getting too comfortable? In burst the zombies! Is party conflict reaching a potentially game ending climax? In burst the zombies! Group spending too much time arguing whether to go left or right? In burst the zombies to drive them left (1-5 on a d10) or right (6-10 on a d10.)

Essentially if the characters are blazing the trail, they'll be more engaged. Encounters come in when the time is right to introduce them. In a traditional dungeon, if the players are spending too much time choosing a door, perhaps the monster in a nearby room needs to fetch a snack or relieve himself.

Anymore when I prepare a scene or setting I concern myself with the five senses (six if magical divination may play in) and what sort of interesting things could happen therein. I set the scene for the players, let them play in it, and spice it up when and if the need arises. If the room is a kitchen, which sort of NPCs/Monsters/etc may wander in at any given time. This can give the situations the illusion of being fluid. The inhabitants of this particular town or dungeon are mobile and you never know what may happen.

Example:

Kitchen - Sight (cooking implements, boiling pot, small servants table), Smell (slowly roasting meat, vegetable stew of some sort, jars of spices everwhere), Taste (the food is very well prepared, if strongly spiced should a player try any), Touch (the food is hot), Sound (bubbling stew, crackling fire).

Possible Encounters - Halfling cook returns to continue his work. (social encounter) Ogre bodyguard wanders in to steal a snack. (combat encounter)

The key thing to notice here is that the room is currently in use. The cook could be back at any moment. Are the PCs guests here? If not they'd better get on with what they're here for, if they'd rather not get caught.

----------

The bottom line is that if the group is driving the plot they should be engaged and interested. If they are in control and are still getting distracted, then one wonders why they are even playing in the first place.

 

[Umbran]

In my group we have tried almost everything we can think of except not letting them play and banning cell phones.

So, ban the cell phones (and/or other electronic devices). Or, ban use other than to take incoming calls (if they're on-call for work, or there's an emergency, f'rinstance).

But then, I'm kind of fed up with people sending text messages and web-surfing during social events. Rude.

 

[turnip]

Holy hell, are you guys gaming with kittens?

I cannot fathom an inability to go for 4 hours without getting on YouTube or texting...especially if you are there to game.

In my last band, our drummer would do this; answer phone calls, texts in the middle of practice. We instituted a "no phone" policy, and damn-near kicked him out of the band. "Put the f-@&%!$# phone away, Dan!"

It's inconsiderate, juvenile, frustrating, and unacceptable.
We get in, set up, have bathroom breaks, food breaks, etc...but aside from the breaks, we are in game and in character. I don't understand the constant ADD distraction-prone jackdaw mentality.

 

[steeldragons]

I'm 100% with what Umbran says.

Ban the damn things. There is no reason whatsoever that anyone needs to be on their cell/i-phone/pad/whatever-comes-out-NEXT-month at the gaming table.

Incoming business or emergency call gets answered. Of course. That's what the bloody things are for. Incoming "text"? Uh, no that can wait to be read til end of the session, at least. Dice rolling ap or sound effect ap or what have you...NO! I just have to check my email to see...NO, you don't. You will not die if you wait til the end of the session. The email will still be there. Pick up some dice and use some imagination.

If you're there to play then play. And I am also 100% behind penalizing players in-game who engage in this kind of distracted activity, not only because it detracts from THEIR presence in the game, but detracts from the game in general.

If anyone refuses to abide by the "cell phone except for INCOMING emergencies ban" then, yeah, your last card, unfortunately, is "Sorry. But don't come to game night til you can do it without being on your phone."

If someone CAN'T do that, then what are they doing there in the first place?

--SD
PS. grrrr. Sorry. The utter cell phone dependency, allowances and downright rudeness we've made acceptable as a society gets me so riled.

 

[Stumblewyk]

I don't know that we've ever made an official "no X at the table" rule in any of my groups, but we should have in one case. In the last year, I've played in or DM'd 3 different groups.

One is a long-running monthly game of old friends who just "get it." We joke, we laugh about the last episode of Always Sunny, and then once the pizza arrives, we get down to business. Phones go on silent, TV is turned off, and the only things on the table are the gaming mat, character sheets, dice, and minis. It's game time until the session ends and we all part ways. The only problem we've had is that about half of us are sports fans and we tended to keep a TV on in another room with the hockey or baseball game (depending on the season). Some of us requested the game be turned off due to distractions. We sports fans acquiesced in the interest of maximizing the limited game time we had. No problems since then.

Another is a group of adults who come together (mostly) on a weekly basis. Phones are kept on silent, friends and loved ones know we're gaming from 5:30 until 10:00 on Sunday nights, and we're not to be bothered unless it's an emergency. Often, the TV will be left on (muted) in the case of a football game or playoff game for another sport. All 6 of us are football fans (3 Steelers fans, 2 Eagles fans, and a strange Giants fan), and if our team is on late that Sunday, we understand that we can glance back at the TV once our turn is over.

The third group...well, the third group didn't make it precisely BECAUSE of distractions. I stopped DM'ing it because 2 of the players were driving me nuts. They asked if they could use dice rollers on their iPhones. I foolishly said yes. Dice rollers turned into AWESOME VIDEOS YOU JUST HAD TO SEE. Or HILARIOUS SOUND EFFECTS BOARDS. And wives and band members calling every 20 minutes. I politely said no more dice rollers thinking this would curtail the other activities. I should have said no more phones. I didn't. I burnt out DM'ing them and my wife volunteered to take over. Win. I could play, try to shepherd their behavior at the table, and well, I got to PLAY.

It didn't work. The phones kept up. The dumb-ass sound effects kept coming. So did the texts and calls. My wife burnt out. The game died.

The way to solve problems like that is simple - have a social contract. Determine what distractions work (TV works for one of my groups, not for another...phones are a definite no-no for anyone) for people and stick to them only. If you decide no phones, no laptops, then stick to it. If someone violates it, you call them on it. I don't know that you can punish them with in-game ramifications, but social pressure should be enough.