Your game sucks...

[Rechan]

I've only poofed on three games.

One because it was a high school game and the DM - my friend - was doing a terrible job. Two because it was serious personal conflicts all across the table. The third, I showed up for a session, everyone smoked a bunch of illegal substances, and nothing really got accomplished, and that was pretty "Normal" for the group.

My typical experience is the DM shuts the game down. I've had DMs get fed up, get bored, work conflicts, move, or a player with serious drama poisons the well. As a DM I've had to shut it down for multiple reasons: enough players leave that I can't keep running it, player interest is clearly winding down, hardcore scheduling/workload conflicts, or my interest in the game is going. I had one group I tried to start, but after the first session it was clear we did not agree on much. I've had players turn the game into backstabbing.

IME, gaming is one of those things that people are least committed to - when push comes to shove, gaming is the first thing that goes on the chopping block.

 

[Jon_Dahl]

After a long consideration I have decided to poof the group I've been playing with for 2½ years.

We have a roleplaying club here in my city which is alive and well. It's always growing. However I got really sad when they pissed my superhero game, which was specifically requested from me... I did a lot of work for that game. And now a couple of GMs are running their insanely boring games, so I bow out.

Of course it would be better to communicate and say how I feel and what has made me upset. But I'm human and I feel that I don't feel comfortable in the club anymore. I feel that I don't receive any respect and I'm not heard. So how can I possible say how I feel? There's no way... So I've decided to go to night school and study English couple of times of week. So far it has been much more enjoyable than playing with an empty bottle for hours during the RPG-sessions that don't seem to end.

 

[S'mon]

We have a roleplaying club here in my city which is alive and well. It's always growing. However I got really sad when they pissed my superhero game, which was specifically requested from me...

?Can you explain what you mean here?

 

[Jon_Dahl]

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?Can you explain what you mean here?

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[FONT=&quot]Prepare yourself for a surreal story from real life.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I was considering to GM a super's game and one of the gamers at the club got excited about this. Since my game seemed to receive support, I wrote out an adventure path and started the game last January.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Boyfriend of the gamer who requested the game joined my campaign with her and from there on my game got totally shot to hell and I was helpless to stop it.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]This guy basically did everything he could to avoid adventuring or anything remotely heroic. His character was refusing or cancelling almost every mission. It was quite hysterical I can tell you. Can you imagine that you write an adventure, have an NPC to offer it to players and they say "no"? Or to be precise: One of the players says "no" and others follow. And this repeats session to session. No, I’m not kidding.

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[FONT=&quot]Let me give you an example: PCs are OFFICIALLY superheroes. They are a registered superhero-company, much like Avengers. So the Director General of Philippine police forces offers them a mission to save 200 kidnapped women that are being held by unknown criminals. He explains that he can't rely on his own men due to corruption and is willing to fully cooperate with players to help them to save the women. The gamer who originally wanted super's game said/yelled "YES" but her boyfriend managed to convince her and other players to finally GIVE UP the mission and return to home base. In the end they had avoided almost every fight, but finally they fought a few supervillains because I lured the players to a trap, so that they couldn't say "no" or escape. At this point the enthusiastic gamer-girl asked me that "why do we meet the bad guys only now? Why hasn't this happened before?" I was about to die from brain-hemorrhage...[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Like I said, I was helpless to stop this.
- Gamer who kept pissing the game was a founding member of the club. No one would have ever supported my view, no matter what. Facing him would’ve just made me enemies
- His girlfriend would have been there to plow me down if had I questioned his gaming style
- The atmosphere was destroyed so quickly, that it was hopeless to revive it after a few sessions[/FONT]



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[Dykstrav]

I end up playing with new people a few times per year. I don't consider myself "fickle," since I'm not changing my mind or anything like that, but I definitely have a low threshold for BS.

Typically, I'll give a new group about three levels or so of play before I decide whether or not I'm going to stick with them. After I've made the decision to stay or go, I'll stick around for another session or two, until there's a logical point for my character to leave, and have a talk with the GM. I'll thank them for their time and share my reasons for bowing out. Admittedly, the reasons are usually that I'm either just not having fun or that the schedule isn't working for me... But I stay on good terms and consider the group and its players for future games.

All of that goes out the door if it's something more serious than my personal preferences or scheduling. For example, I was running a 3.5 game circa 2007 or so and one of the players literally asked my girlfriend out on a date, in front of me, after I introduced her as my girlfriend. That was the last session that he played of that campaign. Hygiene and general snottiness also rank high on the stuff that I just won't put up with. So it's mostly personal issues that make me drop games or players.

The only directly game-related thing that I really consider a "cardinal sin" (on both sides of the screen) is time management issues and accountability.

Punctuality is one of my hot-button issues. I don't mind someone being between five and ten minutes late, which is the normally accepted guideline in Western cultures. With people that are consistently twenty minutes or so late, I ask them if there is something that prevents them from being on time (the answer is always no, they just lost track of time or whatever). I'll then offer to start the game later if they need it, which is usually enough to shame them into showing up on time from then on. But I won't wait for people to show up to start playing--we usually shoot the breeze for ten minutes or so while I'm setting up, do a brief recap, and jump right in. We're playing within fifteen minutes of the scheduled time. People that show up more than twenty minutes or so late get no special consideration. They get to wait until there's a logical point to insert their character into the session. If this sort of lateness is habitual, I ask them to bow out. I'm generally more lenient for "drop-in games," but I don't do many of those and they usually don't last very long.

Accountability is my other hot-button issue. There are players out there that want the GM to manage their character sheet for them. They don't write down the items they find, track their own hit points, or look up the effects of their spells--they simply announce their intentions and actions to the GM and expect the GM to track all of that for them. There are players that don't answer emails or phone calls. There are players that make characters or select options such as feats or spells without consulting the GM for what they allow or the players for what the group needs. There are players that rebuild their characters whenever a new sourcebook comes out and don't even say anything about it until they show up to the table to play. Perhaps worst of all... There are players that take actions, then want a mulligan when they don't succeed--they directly ask for rerolls or retries when they roll natural 1's, or decide that they didn't really want to cast a spell when they don't beat the target's SR or the target succeeds on their save. Those sorts of players get a conference once or perhaps twice, then they are asked to leave.

 

[Bedrockgames]

How 'fickle' are you?

This question is directed at a certain sub-set of the gaming population. Those who engage in joining random groups of players both online and offline. For those lucky individuals who have been gaming with the same people for the last twenty years, this obviously doesn't apply to you.

So, do you join groups and leave them on a the drop of a dime?

I sure as Hell do. Given that it's random groups of people I've never met before, if I sense or experience conflict, my first reaction is generally to get the heck out of Dodge. Now, depending on the group, I'll also tolerate a fair bit of crap, but only if I think it's worth it. But if your game sucks? *POOF* I'm gone.


How about you? Just how much are you willing to tolerate in order to game? Do you give people second chances? Third, fourth, fifth? Do you game even if you don't really like the setting, system, campaign? What is your breaking point?

I have a pretty high tolerance for games. I've played with many of the same people for years, but like playing with new people when I can as well (and most of my gaming groups are combinations of people from mutliple groups in the area).

For me half the fun is being at the table with people whose company I enjoy. I don't really fret over whether the GM or players have styles that line up with my own---in fact I kind of like when I am suddenly in the midst of a powergaming group or some other style that just isn't what I normally go for.

The one thing I tend to get bored by quickly is combat. Combats that go on for too frustrate me. But I wouldn't leave a group on that account.

 

[Umbran]

That's what I consider *POOFING*

It doesn't count as *POOFING* until you've attended at least five or six sessions.

But he specifically said he was talking about leaving very early - after one session, not after five of six.

I think there is a difference in dynamic between leaving after one session, and leaving after 5 or 6. After 5 or 6 sessions, the groups is likely to have established patterns.

 

[Oryan77]

Punctuality is one of my hot-button issues. I don't mind someone being between five and ten minutes late, which is the normally accepted guideline in Western cultures.

This has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. It surprises me that tardiness for a D&D game can be so important. D&D is a time of relaxation and fun; it's not a job. We already have to worry about tardiness with our jobs, I don't really care to worry about being late to hang out with "friends" also.

I honestly don't care when someone is late to a game. I'm perfectly fine waiting on them and talking with whoever is there. I'm there to socialize with friends as much as game with them. 30 minutes is not a big deal to me. I suppose it would be different for a game being held at a store or event. But to be 30 minutes late to a friends house is not an issue with me and if it was a big deal it would make the event much too formal for my tastes.

There are players out there that want the GM to manage their character sheet for them. They don't write down the items they find, track their own hit points, or look up the effects of their spells--they simply announce their intentions and actions to the GM and expect the GM to track all of that for them. There are players that don't answer emails or phone calls. There are players that make characters or select options such as feats or spells without consulting the GM for what they allow or the players for what the group needs. There are players that rebuild their characters whenever a new sourcebook comes out and don't even say anything about it until they show up to the table to play. Perhaps worst of all... There are players that take actions, then want a mulligan when they don't succeed--they directly ask for rerolls or retries when they roll natural 1's, or decide that they didn't really want to cast a spell when they don't beat the target's SR or the target succeeds on their save.

Are these actual issues you have dealt with? Are they common with you? I have played with 30+ players in my time and I have never once dealt with any of these issues you mentioned. Some of them are mind boggling.

 

[Agamon]

I have a dedicated FTF group, but I've gamed with strangers a lot. Convensions, when I joined Living Greyhawk, and online pbps and maptools games.

Of course you have to bow out of games that aren't for you. You're doing everyone a favor when you do. Especially yourself. If you're not having fun, what's the point?

 

[ExploderWizard]

[FONT=&quot]Like I said, I was helpless to stop this.[/FONT]

No you were not. As the GM if you pull the plug and stop running it, guess what? It stops.