Laptops at the table..and recent research showing how bad it is in education..does it carry over to gaming?

[amerigoV]

At my table, there is a strong correlation between "distracted player" and technology. All players zone out from time to time or get a bit bored if that part of the session is not to their taste. But tech makes it worse.

Its not that tech itself is bad, its that it has access to other things at a touch. For example, if people just had a stripped down tablet with only rules and some session stuff, perhaps local IM - I think that would enhance the experience. But the guy with the laptop is going to check FB, email, scores, etc and then wonder off the trail further (IMO) than a person that is a bit distracted without the tech. When I am a player, I am bad at this as well and try to limit my access to tech.

During my D&D 3.x days it was particularly bad. As a player, 3.x would get sloooower and slooower as the level got higher. Bad for me as a player (easily distracted). That is what drove me to DM more. But 3.x without a computer was painful if you actually ran the RAW. I hated having a computer in front of me to run that game. I'm sooo glad I do not need tech to run a game or play in one - that it is an option to help but not a necessity by any means.

 

[Holy Bovine]

I find it interesting that this thread's "Similar Threads" listing has 5 threads dating back to 2002!

This isn't a new problem and even before cellphones and tablets 'distracted gamer syndrome' was hardly rare. Often players would get caught up in reading some game book or something and 'zone out' of the action - the earliest I remember was gaming at a friend of mine place in high school - I was fascinated by his huge miniature collection and was examining them rather than paying full attention to the game. As such I accidentally gave away our hidden position when I loudly asked who the guy talking was (we were in ambush position). Ooops!

 

[Stormonu]

I wouldn't want to even try and run a game without my ipad and/or laptop handy these days. I understand that some people can get distracted, but if found myself at a game where electronics were banned, I'd probably find myself another group - I'm too old and grumpy anymore to pay for other people's faults.

 

[Umbran]

I'm too old and grumpy anymore to pay for other people's faults.

So am I, which is why I often don't welcome them at my table

 

[Elf Witch]

It depends on how people behave with electronic devices. Our last session I got testy with another player whose girl friend kept texting him through the entire game causing him to miss things it really bogged things down to the point that I started packing up saying I guess we were finished for the evening. The DM was was getting frustrated but hates conflict finally asked him to stop after that.

I don't have an issue with people using PDFs and electronic character sheets but I do have an issue with checking emails, Facebook or playing games it is rude to the other players and it slows the game down when we have to stop and catch the person up.

 

[dvvega]

As mentioned previously it is not the machine but the user at fault.

If you use the machine to enhance your game - reduce rule book usage, quick access to character information, keeping notes that can be transmitted to others, then there should be no problem.

Nowadays budgets dictate how many books you may be able to afford. Many RPGs have cheap PDFs vs Physical books and you can essentially get more for your money all things being equal.

So I am not averse to tablets or laptops - preference for tablets, as long as the user has good etiquette.

D

 

[Umbran]

As mentioned previously it is not the machine but the user at fault.

Yes, but the habits of the user are established and strongly reinforced *outside* your game. A GM is generally not in a position to substantially change the user in this regard. Much like smoking - I can't make the player not be a nicotine addict, but I can tell them they cannot smoke in my home.

Lacking ability to change the user, removing the temptation, by removing the machine, may be a reasonable alternative.

 

[gamerprinter]

I wouldn't want to even try and run a game without my ipad and/or laptop handy these days. I understand that some people can get distracted, but if found myself at a game where electronics were banned, I'd probably find myself another group - I'm too old and grumpy anymore to pay for other people's faults.

I am old and grumpy too. The electronics ban at our table was reached by majority consensis, it wasn't an arbitrary decision by the GM. One player would often play online games with her phone while active in our game at the same time. Another player would text his friends while we gamed. Both were distractions for them from the game, and distractions for the rest of the group trying to keep their attention on focus - which is why we invoked the ban.

 

[Blackbrrd]

I find laptops and smartphones to be the biggest distraction. The laptop because it's so intuitive to multitask and it's something you are used to doing. The smartphone just has too many distractions.

I find tablets to be less distracting because they are often used for media consumption, not communication or creation. This makes it easier for players to just have them sitting in the character sheet app. On the other hand, I find players using an app for their character often taking 2x the time to receive damage/conditions/take their turn.

I stopped using computer aids to handle my monsters and instead just have a list of them with hp, and shorthand-write any conditions they get. I track initiative by using some cardboard triangles with the names on both sides, sorted in initiative order.

As a rule, we don't check rules during the game, that's something we do during breaks (or for players, out of turn). Instead we go by on-the-spot rulings that everybody knows might be slightly wrong, but it's faster than stopping the game to check the rules.

 

[Mark CMG]

I don't use one as a player but don't care if others use them. I'm fine with folks using them when I GM and sometimes use one as a GM too.