All "Good" Players. Holy Grail?

[DMFTodd]

Is there such a thing as a gaming group of all "good" (however you define that term) players?

I've been running a weekly group going on 10 years now with assorted players coming and going. The players, at any one time, have never risen much above average in my mind.

I'll have a good player or 2. I'll have some average players. I'll have a bad player.

Is an average group the best a DM can hope for? Should I just shut up, be glad the group is average, and be glad I have a weekly game? Or should I scrap what I have, start over, and demand good players?

Or is it the DM's fault? An average DM produces an average gaming group? Is it all my fault?

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Or is it the DM's fault? An average DM produces an average gaming group? Is it all my fault?

I think there are different kinds of players and dm's- and it is hard to get entire group all wanting the same thing from the game.

It then becomes a matter of finding out what all people in the group want in a game, and trying to find a compromise that will please everyone. A lot of that falls on the dm's shoulders.

Yes, there are bad players, but I suspect more often the case is the player is just not the right type of player for that dm's expectations.

FD

 

[Ruined]

It probably depends on how many players you have access to in your area, and how much of a snob you want to be perceived as. I'm fortunate. I recently moved from a group of exceptional players (bar maybe one or two), and I'm in the area with a local Larp I attend. For my new campaign, I hand-picked certain players that I thought could enjoy and contribute to a detailed, vivid, mature game.

I've turned away friends who asked to play because I couldn't trust them with this campaign. Sure, these are people that would have a blast with a game all about 'fights and loot', as my roommate puts it. But for this game, I'm being very selective. And some would say snobbish. *shrug* I feel as GM, I'm allowed the consideration to entrust this game with people I respect and want to play with.

Of course I'm also in an environment rich with gamers. I've had to turn down playing games I know I would enjoy because I don't have the time to attend. And there are other cases where I've dropped from games because I felt there were too many players. You may not have this option, due to a scarcity of good players.

 

[hong]

What Furn said.

I think it's just a matter of making sure you have people who you can stand having around. If there's someone whom you find egregiously annoying, just tell them to leave, or start a new game without them. Other than that, different people have different gaming styles, and a good DM should try to cater for that.