We go left!

[drothgery]

My group has had an 'always go left' habit as long as I've been playing with them. I've tried to convince the others to change this every once in a while, but I guess my characters and I just aren't persuasive enough...

 

[Jacob Marley]

When faced with a decision with little to no information about which choice is better, I always go left (or whichever is left-most). I also always call odds and low is good when rolling a die.

 

[anest1s]

when faced with a left or right decision, and little info as to which may be better, players might as well consistently pick the same choice or choose randomly.

If this behavior vexes the DM, he should consider providing them with better information.

That...

I hate it when I miss something just because I got the wrong direction, even if this means less encounters :S

 

[MerricB]

I agree: giving information is important. There are times when you want the players making a blind choice, but it really helps when the DM is feeding them information to allow them to make informed choices.

Cheers!

 

[hbarsquared]

Didn't Dante always go left?

 

[MerricB]

Didn't Dante always go left?

I don't know about Dante; I do know about Donna.

Cheers!

 

[Drakmor]

My rule of thumb was always "better to be right with right than left with left".

I read an article the other day that was talking about how grocery stores are designed with the idea that most people travel through it counter-clockwise. They almost always go to the right after entering the store. This was in the US though and they said that people in some other countries preferred going to the left instead. They proposed that the behavior may be linked to which side of the road you were used to driving on.

Cracked?

Didn't Dante always go left?

He went right twice, left every other time. (FWIR)

My group would probably have fewer problems if they just chose to always go one way or the other, or really just some sort of -good- plan. The "two of us toss a javelin down each side at the same time" plan was about the worst (tactically) and best (from my perspective) of them though.

 

[cmrscorpio]

The worst (non-magical) way for a DM to take advantage of a group who always choose the same direction in a dungeon/maze? Put the goal in the center.

The look on their faces when they realize they just took the most circuitous route back to their starting point is priceless.

 

[Doctor DM]

"Left is right, right is wrong. Hang a left and move along."

 

[Jhaelen]

My group has a tendency of always going right, if both choices seem equally promising. Myself, I prefer going left - I've always blamed it on the fact that I'm left-handed...

As a DM I don't use this information to metagame. Instead, since I know of this habit, I try to provide them with enough hints to make the choice a meaningful one, i.e. there are different smells, sounds, or other details in different directions.