Are your players into your campaign?

[ConnorSB]

My last group of players consisted of one really solid guy, one cleptomaniac crazy girl, one guy who just could NOT pay attention, and one guy who just really wanted to play a spider riding kobold. In short... it lasted a session and a half.

 

[BSF]

In the game I play in, we started out very involved. We have a web site where we post stuff. We have logs, we have stories, we have non-session RP, we have a lot of fun stuff. Problem is, are sessions aren't too long. The game is starting to drag out and apparently, we are still in the process of setting the grand stage. I am beginning to have trouble trying to remember all the little details from the past two years. I am having trouble determining what the red herrings are from the real clues. I know if I am having trouble, some of the other players will be as well. I have spreadsheets of NPC's and I use MyInfo to track all sorts of character important stuff. Not to mention the hundreds of emails I have archived. We also had some dynamics change within the group this last year and we took a 6 month adventure that none of us was interested in. Let me be clear, that is 6 months real time. It has kind of killed out momentum, which sucks. We are nearly back to where we wanted to be and we are trying to get back into the groove, so to speak, but it is not easy. Hopefully, we will be able to pull something out of this excursion that has real relevance to the main storyline.

As a DM, I have faced many of these issues. Most of my players are nowhere near as involved as I would like. I just keep reminding myself that everyone plays for different reasons and if we are all having fun, then everything is good. For the players that are more involved, I find that they help make it all worthwhile. I find myself asking more questions about the game to see if I am not providing what they are looking for. All of them seemed to really enjoy the last campaign. They thought it was great. The cynical side of me grumbles about how much more involved they could have been and how much better it would have turned out. But, I hold out hope that they will continue to evolve as gamers and our future campaigns will improve in quality and immersiveness. (Is there such a word?) But to answer your question, yes, I do have frustration ... sometimes.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Do your players take notes? Do they remember campaign events that happened two, six, twelve months ago?
*Snip*
Are you, as a DM, frustrated by your players' detachment from the setting and story you are trying to put forth?

This is the best sales pitch I've heard in a long time! *LOL* I'm ready to buy, but I don't know what your selling...

Unfortunately my schedule is inconstant at best, so I only get to play pbp and the players of those games, for better or for worse, are a real mixed batch... *sigh*

 

[WanderingMonster]

What is frustrating me the most is one of my DMs who encourages journals by giving out XP but does not read them. A lot of work and things go into this and even with the XP reward I have stopped writing them because I feel why bother.

I encouraged journals as a way to keep the players involved and on top of things, so I gave XP as an incentive to do it. Did I read it? Every once in a while. Not terribly often though.

I do sympathize with the last bit though. A lot of work goes into DMing a game, and much of it goes unappreciated. I used to prepare an index card for each player before every game. There was information on each card from the trivial to real campaign secrets. I had about seven categories (hearth wisdom, common knowledge, bardic lore (gossip), sage knowledge, dirty secrets, history, and religion). They'd read the cards and at the end of the session, I'd file them for perusal at their convenience. No one ever asked to look at the cards, much less actually remember what was on them.

DMing is just one of those underappreciated jobs people do because they love the hobby. I think some amount of frustration is part of the job. Unless, of course, you're Piratecat...he's some sort of crazy person.

 

[fusangite]

The great challenge of D&D is writing to satisfy both types of player; neither type of play is fundamentally better when it comes to D&D. If you want to work in a millieu wherein people who follow your plot and remember NPCs are fundamentally better than people who are power-gaming, pick a different game system. D&D is about striking a balance between those who are playing a strategy game and those playing an RPG. If you want straight RPG action, find a new system.

In the D&D groups I run, some people are engaged with the NPCs and storyline and some are engaged in character building; the RPGers are generally inefficient at rules manipulation and power gaming and the power gamers are hopeless at recalling key essential pieces of data for the plot. But this doesn't lead to conflict; instead it leads to both types of player finding eachother indispensable.

 

[Mercule]

I get frustrated with this as both a player and a DM. I've had a couple of players over the years that remember a few of the major names, but most don't seem to care much.

In the last game I was in, we played in Greyhawk/Oerth. I made up a Baklunish character and developed a history of why a Baklunish person would be where we were and doing what we did. I tried to get the other players to talk about their homelands or even their human "type", to no avail.

Heck, I'm not even sure the DM cared about some of these things. I guess I just care about these things more than most people. It's just that the details are what make the setting come alive. Otherwise, you might just as well play Diablo.

 

[Ahrimon]

I moved to Meridian, Idaho

Hey genshou,
I grew up in Nampa, about 10 minutes in the other direction. Have you tried Dark Horse Comics? I hope it's still around. It was a really good game store. It's in Boise, but it isn't very far. And if I remember right, they moved closer to the Meridian side. (It used to by within walking distance of the capitol building.) The owner was a great guy and the staff was always helpful. I hope it's still around. I liked that place.

Keep looking. I know there are places that sell DnD books. Of course, I moved away six years ago. But my brother is still there. He plays DnD, and I know he gets his books local.

Ahrimon

 

[ForceUser]

BTW, go update your story hour. I was really enjoying it.

I would, but I don't have a community supporter account, and it's fallen off the 3rd page where I am unable to retrieve it.

 

[Wraithdrit]

My group consists of:

A Power Gamer who has ADD and thus the attention span of a gnat at times. Despite that, he is into the game, likes playing, but is not very versed on the background (he is also a relatively new addition so I don't expect him to know everything about the group's past).

A reformed power gamer who loves to read the story hour (likes to see his name in lights I think) and is very into the story, npcs, etc. Only real flaw is that he concentrates heavily on the things that involve him to the point that he does not have good recall for any event that doesn't involve him in anyway.

A rock solid player who makes really bad choices at the worst times. This guy knows constantly what is going on, and other than a few side NPC names, generally has perfect recall on what has happened before. Now if I could just get him to not make silly mistakes in game his characters would live longer.

A 3rd edition newb. This guy not only comes in with a rules deficiency, but he also does not put much effort into learning what he needs to learn to play his character better. For a game that is in the 11-12th level range right now that is a serious hinderance.

A first edition player. Literally this guys other group still plays 1st edition. Thats fine. He is a very intentive player, but a little slow on picking up on some plots though. When before one session he told me he went back and read the entire story hour from the beginning so he could read up on ONE NPC's involvement I knew I had found a good player.

And the cornerstone of the group. This guy is everything a DM wants in a player. He thinks things through, he remembers details, he is attentive, he is just about the perfect player.

So I think the group has a wide mix of players, and frankly I love it that way. While I may sound a bit frustrated at some of the above players, I think the group has a good mix, and they tend to work well together at this point.

- Wraith

 

[genshou]

BTW, go update your story hour. I was really enjoying it.

Are you talking to me? 'Cause if you are, I can't update it yet! We're still at the beginning of the very first scene! One particular player is having trouble getting online, so it's starting out kind of slow. I'll update it once we actually have something to update!