I am so angry

[Uzumaki]

Thanks, everyone, for all of your feedback. I originally posted in blinding fury and fatigue. I'm feeling much mellower now.

Yep, we've all been pretty good friends for a long time. Which means, 90% of the time, we're completely civil with each other and the other 10% we're getting in some gnarly fights. Thing is, D&D (and girlfriends) seems to be the only major source of contention between us at any given time. Even if we're arguing about the game, we can still find time to hang out and not be at each other's throats.

I'll try a few of these suggestions before giving it all up for naught. But don't y'all be surprised if I tromp in and start breaking things a few more times.

 

[S'mon]

To view this campaign from a players point-of-view (and I am a player), we try our best to stick to gaming talk, but in a group of 7 (?) players that are presently wandering around doing some quite induvidual things at the moment, sometimes you get a time when your PC is not directly involved.

So we chat amongst ourselves, quietly and without disturbing everyone else. That's what I try and do, anyway. D&D comes first, but if the game isn't about your character and you're not talking loudly about out-of-game stuff, it doesn't seem to be a major problem.

OK, I guess maybe they do talk OOC, I'm just too busy to notice!
Of course we have breaks every few hours as well.

 

[Sialia]

My current group was reluctant to try to Pig system.

After a bit, I asked them to "just try it once to see how it goes."

Also offered to spot them the first night's cash. Really.

I've got a big jar of pennies around. With the point system reduced to pennies and me supplying them, they agreed.

Basically, what you have left is a point system.

You do something that distracts the group from the RPGing, you lose a point.

It doesn't take but a few mintues of game time to realize that the out of game distractions can usually wait until the session is ended. Or, that if something is really worth interrupting for, it's really ok to spend a point to buy permission to say it. If it's good enough, we waive the fee.

The act of paying the point stops the game dead for a moment, everybody waits to hear what you have to say, responds to it briefly, and then they resume game. Because you've transitioned out of game time in a clearly marked way, it's easier to keep track of the fact that this is a digression, and then complete the digression and get back to the main event.

And since making use of Pig indulgences feels slightly guilty, people may do it a couple of times, but are unlikely to do it all night long.

We use the Pig now, but mostly it sits up on a shelf. Most of the time we forget to even take it down and put it in the middle of the table. Knowing that it is there is sufficient.

The group is a lot more focused.

Tell them there's a very simple trick to getting away without paying the Pig a thing all night. Stay in character, or at least avoid doing anything that pulls someone else out of character.

Finally, begin the sales pitch with the silent mantra "I love my players and want to play with them because they make me happy." If you are thinking about offering them something that will make all of you happy, they will come around. If you are thinking of bullying or dominating them or coercing them to your will or condescending to doing them favors, then they may respond to that rebelliously and resentfully.

Players are canny creatures and can smell your fear.

But they will return loyalty and obedience for love with discipline. (And a good story that involves them personally.)

 

[Mercule]

I've tried two different methods of reducing OOC talk, with varying degrees of success.

The general constant is that if anyone talks, acts, etc. before I finish a description, the description ends immediately. The classic example of this is:

Me: As you open the door you see a large room filled with weapons of various types. It appears to be an armory....
Player A: I start looking for interesting weapons.
Me: An orc sticks one into you.

That technique keeps players from interrupting me, but doesn't eliminate OOC talk by any means.

When I was in college, I ran a Vampire game that I tried to keep pretty serious. Being college, and a large game, people frequently showed up late or chatted amongst themselves OOC. My solution to this was to decide that the game would start an hour later, but not tell the players. Invariably, everyone would be there by the time I said "last time..." at 6:00 (I'd told them 5:00) and have chatted enough to stay in-character all night.

Worked like a charm for about 5 or 6 sessions, at which someone made the comment that the last several sessions had gone so well and the play was awesome. I shared what I'd done and everyone told me that it was a great idea and they liked how things had played out. No one ever showed up before 6:00 again. *sigh*

 

[KingOfChaos]

The campaign that I'm playing in is almost at an end. I offered to DM a game afterward in a homebrew campaign of mine. After several dropouts and a lot of reluctance, I've managed to scrounge up four people out of about 10 to be the players. I sent them an e-mail describing character creation guidelines and the rules for playing. At the end, I told them that we would set up an anti-table talk system akin to Piratecat's.

Well, they totally lost their with that one. Thought I was charging them to have fun. I said it wasn't like they were going to be paying me to DM for them, because if I slipped up, I would pay, too. They said to dock XP because XP isn't real. I told them that I would be putting in real time for them, and I expect some consideration. They said that would be fun for me if they had fun. It wouldn't be fun for me if I put hours into prepping for a session and they sit around and chat the whole time. [/B]

No offense to you, but I wouldn't play with a DM running that system either. If I can't talk OOC during a game, then that means I can't work with my fellow players, make jokes about in game events, etc. and that really wouldn't be any fun for me. Placing rules like this causes more tension at the gaming table, and for those of us already stressed out because of real world events in our lives, that is the last thing we want or need.

 

[Uzumaki]

Re: Re: I am so angry

No offense to you, but I wouldn't play with a DM running that system either. If I can't talk OOC during a game, then that means I can't work with my fellow players, make jokes about in game events, etc. and that really wouldn't be any fun for me. Placing rules like this causes more tension at the gaming table, and for those of us already stressed out because of real world events in our lives, that is the last thing we want or need.

I didn't mean that no OOC talk wasn't allowed, but that that has no bearing whatsoever on the game.

DM: "The orc, out of bolts, hurls his crossbow at you and makes a run for the door."
PC: "I remember when that happened in the first campaign I played in. Two bugbears threw their crossbows at me and the DM rolled a crit. Dropped me right there."

That's the sort of stuff I'm trying to avoid.

 

[Angcuru]

I think Blackshirt5, Rakeron, and I should adopt a Similar system. Our current system comprises of having to say 'Out of Game' when making a meta-comment.

It sucks SO bad. we only have about 5-6 hours per week to game, and half of it is spent on meta-speak. Much off-pissing is present for me.

 

[Sialia]

Re: Re: I am so angry

No offense to you, but I wouldn't play with a DM running that system either. If I can't talk OOC during a game, then that means I can't work with my fellow players, make jokes about in game events, etc. and that really wouldn't be any fun for me. Placing rules like this causes more tension at the gaming table, and for those of us already stressed out because of real world events in our lives, that is the last thing we want or need.

Meta talk is still ok. It's just running on at the mouth about things that are not pertinent to the game that becomes socially unacceptable.

Often a short quip goes completely unnoticed and un-fined. Its just when it starts to noticably interrupt the game flow that somebody quietly oinks under their breath, or smacks you across the head with "ok, pay for that one, bucko."

It is worth trying at least once.

It's not really all that once you've tried it. Seems a lot scarier before you face it once.

Astonishing how folks who can be brave enough to pretend to face down liches and dragons get all squeamish about whether they have the powers of mental concentration to play a game where they have to keep near a train of thought for a few hours.

Think of it as a modified drinking game.

 

[Joseph Elric Smith]

Yeah, well, we've had 8 hour sessions dwindled down to about 3 of actual game time there's so much talk. I really didn't want to kick anyone out before the game actually started, but I don't think this is turning out the way anyone intended it to.

Well you always have the option of finding some players who want to do nothing but play for 8 hours. In my case me and my friends get together to have fun, if that includes socializing, so be it. We start getting together around 3 pm spend maybe an hour or more talking of current events our other hobbies and just shooting the breeze, then we will start the season, and even while the session is going we still keep it free and easy. I mean this is a social hobby right? Not every one has the same style of gaming and it sounds like perhaps you need to find a group of player interested in such an intense game

ken

 

[Angcuru]

Get yourself a big wooden mallet, and scorch the words "Mallet of Meta-gaming" on the head. Everyone someone goes excessively out-of game, you give him a whack. Hard. With the malet.