Comprehension problems

[Andor]

I wouldn't bother worrying about IQ. Your post is well written and communicates clearly. So your communication skills are just fine. It might take you a moment longer to process everything, but unless you have a very immature group they shouldn't have a problem with granting you that moment.

It does so like you might have trouble translating from verbal cues to spatial layout. As other have said visual aids are your friend here. As if you can use maps, sketches, models, visual aids or whatever your GM likes. I was in a game once were the gm built everything out of legos, a bit labor intensive for most games, but it worked brilliantly.

 

[Oryan77]

I don't understand this thread.

 

[GSHamster]

DMs often think they are conveying more information to the PCs than they really are.

It's a common problem. The DM has a vision in her head, and is trying to convey that vision to the players across an imperfect (and lossy) channel. It's not surprising that not everything makes it across.

To mitigate the issue, simplify and use repetition. Give smaller amounts of information at a time, and maybe use a more interactive format. For example, a conversation with an NPC about a city is often better than a straight description of the city. The back-and-forth with the NPC helps ensure that all the right info is absorbed.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

Oh jeez, yes! And it's why I'm a big fan of battle maps for combat, and sketch pads for out-of-combat. And asking lots and lots of questions, when necessary.

Absolutely! Asking questions not only will help you to figure out what's going on, but also makes the DM feel like you're interested in his game.

DMs often think they are conveying more information to the PCs than they really are.

It's a common problem. The DM has a vision in her head, and is trying to convey that vision to the players across an imperfect (and lossy) channel. It's not surprising that not everything makes it across.

To mitigate the issue, simplify and use repetition. Give smaller amounts of information at a time, and maybe use a more interactive format. For example, a conversation with an NPC about a city is often better than a straight description of the city. The back-and-forth with the NPC helps ensure that all the right info is absorbed.

This is good, also, exposition through dialogue for the win!

 

[Kelvor Ravenstar]

By definition, 100 is average for an IQ test, it is the mean, the centre of the distribution. So anything clustered around that is average. So don't worry about it.

 

[S'mon]

As I understand it, 100 IQ may be designated as average, but that's still not a good score. 80 is mentally retarded, for instance.

Not really - 80 just means around 1.3 standard deviations below average. Whether there is organic retardation - something 'wrong' with a person - is a completely different issue. A medical issue, not something that can be determined by a line on an IQ chart.

If you norm at median IQ in England = 100, there are large swathes of the planet where the median IQ is below 80. That does not mean people in those countries are retarded. You also get large variations by population group within some countries, the lower-scoring populations are not retarded. Conversely, if parents have IQ 125 and their child has IQ 80, that may well indicate organic retardation.

 

[ExploderWizard]

A GM begins his/her speech, quickly explaining what is where and how it is and what it looks like, where does it go and how all this affects everything around you.

Then everyone reacts and does something. However, I'm quiet. What was it? What is the distance? Is it possible to go and search X or is it behind something impassable? What did you just say anyway?

Usually I feel that if someone is lost, it's always me. In our previous game we had investigative stuff which happened in docks. GM explained about ships A, B and C and perhaps D, E and F and what was going on. I felt that there was massive amount of stuff happening all around me and I didn't get it at all. I completely lost interest.

However when I'm the GM I feel that players usually get what I'm saying, but not always. But I know how it feels so I really pause and take a moment to make myself crystal clear.

Anyone else who feels in the same way? That some games seem more like IQ speed-tests than immersive stories?

(Just as a sidenote, I have fairly low IQ. According to tests it's somewhere around 101 and 111. What is more pathetic than a dumb nerd?)

This sounds like a problem visualizing based purely on auditory input more than anything else. Some people can "map" things in their minds very well, and others require visual references for the relationships of things to click, as it were.

When you DM, do like using lots of maps and visual aids? I do. I love making reference maps even though they might not be needed on a tactical level. The maps and some sketches help me keep relationships of places, characters, and events straight in a visual format so that I don't have to keep all that info in my head at every moment.

As a player, we do not have the luxury of prep. The input we have to work with comes streaming from the GM often rapidly. Some GMs like to hand out stuff, like player maps and other visual aids.

In the example you gave, if the DM had prepped a sketch of the harbor showing the ships and their relationship to each other and perhaps a scibbled one word factoid about each one it would have probably helped a great deal.

 

[Jon_Dahl]

Yes, it's true that always use visual aids when I run 3.5. Mostly this means using a sheet of paper where I mark where everything is (basically mapping). It helps me and my players great deal.

I certainly have problems absorbing lot of information at once. Visual aids help a lot because I look at them for a moment and take my time. It seems as if information is sort of liquid and my sponge is just too small. This is not only reflected on RPGs, but on my personal life and work too. I'm a bit "slow". I'm pretty sure that I have some sort of concentration problems, but I'm not sure really. I think concentration problems are used too much as an excuse nowadays...
An army shrink tested me once and she said that I have some problems with short-term memory and my official IQ was actually 101. I just like to put myself on 101 to 111 range because internet tests say that I have a higher IQ than 101

 

[S'mon]

I suspect you may have a particular concentration problem that affects both your information absorption and your IQ testing. Although I understand that these days the US military IQ test (AFQT) is pretty good at extracting the effects of attention deficit disorders when testing. They test millions of people with a median IQ around 104; systems that work for top-quartile IQs may not work well for bottom-quartile, and they deal with both - they don't normally accept bottom-quartile applicants except when there's a recruitment crisis, as during the height of the Iraq war ca 2004-2006.

You certainly seem highly literate, much better than that of many of my undergrad students whose IQs I'd expect to be mostly in the 105-115 range. Although I appreciate that UK secondary education is mostly really really bad, most Americans get a much better education. Actually, most of the Nigerians I meet seem to get a much better education, too.

 

[pemerton]

As a GM, I find my players generally know what is going on in terms of local geography (eg which building is near which other building) but until I show them a map, more large scale geography is a blur to them. And reproducing names accurately is right out - even if I spell a name out, I will get it back to me (whether spoken or written) in all sorts of weird variations. Keeping NPCs clearly distinguished in their minds (especially ones that their PCs haven't met, but only heard of) is also a problem.

I think that issues with comprehension just go with the territory - we're trying to convey information and details that might require rereading to get right if written down, and we're doing it orally, at conversational rather than dictation speed, in a low key social environment.

As a GM, the most important thing is not to punish players for their misunderstandings (eg hold them to actions for their PC that rest on a mistake in comprehension). As was discussed at length on a recent thread here.