D&D General A Rant: DMing is not hard.

[Cadence]

Ummm.... that's the literal definition of hard.

I hadn't thought of this before!

What is the word for "hard" in the require skill sense as opposed to "hard" in the requiring the ability to persevere doing something boring?

 

[CleverNickName]

Real conversation I had last weekend with one of my players:

Guy: "You know, you could use ChatGPT to make those maps and encounter keys and stuff for you. It'd take less than an hour."

Me: "But that's my favorite part of being a DM."

Guy: (confused noises)

Me: "Why would I want to automate the fun out of being a DM?"

 

[SableWyvern]

In my own case, the game is working for me and for the players at my table, and I don't persistently have more energy than it takes to run the two 5e/ToV campaigns I'm running. It's also not exactly "forever," but that's a different thing.

Yeah, I understand it intellectually. After about two years, I almost always find myself starting to look for something new and exciting to try, and what I don't understand is how people manage to avoid the lure of the new and shiny for so long, when I am so weak and subject to random whim.

I think three years is probably a hard maximum for the amount of time I'm capable of running a game before it loses it's lustre for me.

 

[SableWyvern]

Do bridge, rummy, multiple solitaire, mtg, cribbage, ascension, and the board game bonkers count as other games for this purpose, or only ttrpgs? (Should tttpgers branch out to other classes of games?)

No, they don't count, because I do understand why people don't want to play those games.

I'm perfectly OK with the inconsistency there because, ultimately, it doesn't matter. The important part of my post was the fact that it's OK for people to decide what they want to play. The part about me not understanding it is just a throw-away line, and whether or not I understand why they feel that why is ultimately irrelevant.

 

[SableWyvern]

Real conversation I had last weekend with one of my players:

Guy: "You know, you could use ChatGPT to make those maps and encounter keys and stuff for you. It'd take less than an hour."

Me: "But that's my favorite part of being a DM."

Guy: (confused noises)

Me: "Why would I want to automate the fun out of being a DM?"

I love when people pushing AI talk about how it means we won't need GMs anymore.

Even if I assume that might be true, in what mad world am I meant to consider it a good thing that I no longer get to enjoy RPGs?

Fortunately, I see no possible future where my players would choose to replace me with an AI, so there are no actual issues there.

 

[Reynard]

I love when people pushing AI talk about how it means we won't need GMs anymore.

Even if I assume that might be true, in what mad world am I meant to consider it a good thing that I no longer get to enjoy RPGs?

Fortunately, I see no possible future where my players would choose to replace me with an AI, so there are no actual issues there.

It is relevant at least from the perspective of talking about oo many people believing GMing is too difficult, and so if AI GMs become good enough, many folks will just opt for that. Which in turn means that no new GMs get experience, so ultimately the only option is the AI GM because no one had to do the hard thing and fail and learn the craft.

 

[Cadence]

It is relevant at least from the perspective of talking about oo many people believing GMing is too difficult, and so if AI GMs become good enough, many folks will just opt for that. Which in turn means that no new GMs get experience, so ultimately the only option is the AI GM because no one had to do the hard thing and fail and learn the craft.

If the AI is good enough to be a DM, should it be more than good enough to be a player? (Card games online have had...

Nah, I can't do it. No AI in RPG playing for me.

 

[SableWyvern]

It is relevant at least from the perspective of talking about oo many people believing GMing is too difficult, and so if AI GMs become good enough, many folks will just opt for that. Which in turn means that no new GMs get experience, so ultimately the only option is the AI GM because no one had to do the hard thing and fail and learn the craft.

Kind of. But as I implied earlier in thread, I think it also comes down to the fact that a lot of people simply don't want to GM and either don't enjoy it or are reasonably sure they won't. I suspect a lot of people jumping on the "too hard" bandwagon are really just using it as an excuse because it might be more palatable than a simple, "I don't want to," when they need to argue back against "everyone needs to try GMing." Combined, of course, with the fact that anything you don't enjoy is likely to feel harder.

I have zero actual evidence, but I firmly believe that, "I just don't want to," is a much bigger segment than, "I want to, but I feel too intimidated by the difficulty."

 

[Reynard]

If the AI is good enough to be a DM, should it be more than good enough to be a player? (Card games online have had...

Nah, I can't do it. No AI in RPG playing for me.

This may sound controversial, but I actually think it would be harder to design an AI player than an AI GM. Not an AI character. We have seen tons of those in video games already. But AI players would be different: capricious, mercurial, impatient and entitled. Not all players are that way, of course, but if you wanted to design an AI player, you would be forced to include those traits, without much consistency.

Now, I don't think it would be easy to build an AI GM for, say, a West marches campaign. But I don't think it would be terribly difficult -- based on what we have seen thus far -- to design an AI GM that could run a typical WotC or Paizo AP. And -- kind of sadly -- I think most players would be totally okay with that level of proficiency.

 

[Reynard]

Kind of. But as I implied earlier in thread, I think it also comes down to the fact that a lot of people simply don't want to GM and either don't enjoy it or are reasonably sure they won't. I suspect a lot of people jumping on the "too hard" bandwagon are really just using it as an excuse because it might be more palatable than a simple, "I don't want to," especially when there is strong vein of, "everyone needs to try GMing" they need to push back against. Combined, of course, with the fact that anything you don't enjoy is likely to feel harder.

I have zero actual evidence, but I firmly believe that, "I just don't want to," is a much bigger segment than, "I want to, but I feel too intimidated by the difficulty."

This I actually agree with. oftentimes "it is too hard" is an excuse that covers for "I just want to play." Which is fine. Everyone has preferences. But that isn't really what i am talking about here.