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<blockquote data-quote="Chimera" data-source="post: 1776967" data-attributes="member: 2002">Cautionary Tale(Posted previously on several occasions)Three years ago, I had been playing with a group of friends for more than 10 years.&nbsp; We'd played three previous games and this was the fourth.&nbsp; Second I had run, other two run by another guy.&nbsp; The games had been more of a social event and less about the actual game.&nbsp; Beer and Pretzels game, in other words.&nbsp; We hung out, we talked, we drank, we had fun.&nbsp; The game was more or less just there.We started the game under 2e, switching to 3.0 as it came out.&nbsp; Gave the players some killer stats!&nbsp; But unlike previous games where, despite the social nature of the game people still had vague goals for their characters; this game was nothing but D&amp;Diablo.&nbsp; Kill something, take it's stuff.&nbsp; No goals but kill more things and take their stuff.&nbsp; Plots be damned, the players would deliberately turn their backs on anything even remotely smelling of a plot.Well, having tasted better games and tiring of this, I told the group that I didn't want to run that kind of game anymore, that it was too much work and not at all fun for me as GM.&nbsp; I gave them two options;A&gt;&nbsp; I host a once-a-month social gathering for the group.&nbsp; We can play assorted games, drink, smoke and have fun.&nbsp; But no D&amp;D.B&gt;&nbsp; We keep playing D&amp;D, but we cut down on the socializing (especially the interjections about random crap right in the middle of descriptions and combats).One player chose option A.&nbsp; The other five chose option B.&nbsp; The player who chose option A decided to leave the group - and I respected him for that.One player, the least experienced, made a good stab at getting her character involved in things and made me very happy.The other four?&nbsp; Well, they said they wanted to actually play the game, but not a one of them made any effort to actually do so.&nbsp; They continued to drink and socialize, to blatantly ignore plots, to refuse to do anything beyond kill things and take their things.&nbsp; And as I got pissed at them for refusing to keep their promise, they became angry with me for wrecking their fun.The entire group broke up amidst serious mutual recriminations and I haven't spoken to any of them since.But...The only regret I have is that I allowed the situation to fester for nearly six months until it came to a head and destroyed relationships, rather than simply refusing to GM anymore once they demonstrated that they were NOT really interested in playing the game.The game has to be fun for the GM too.&nbsp; If the players don't want to play the same game that the GM wants to run, there is no point in continuing.&nbsp; Not anyone's fault, just a matter of preferences and enjoyment.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Chimera, post: 1776967, member: 2002"] Cautionary Tale (Posted previously on several occasions) Three years ago, I had been playing with a group of friends for more than 10 years. We'd played three previous games and this was the fourth. Second I had run, other two run by another guy. The games had been more of a social event and less about the actual game. Beer and Pretzels game, in other words. We hung out, we talked, we drank, we had fun. The game was more or less just there. We started the game under 2e, switching to 3.0 as it came out. Gave the players some killer stats! But unlike previous games where, despite the social nature of the game people still had vague goals for their characters; this game was nothing but [i]D&Diablo[/i]. Kill something, take it's stuff. No goals but kill more things and take their stuff. Plots be damned, the players would deliberately turn their backs on anything even remotely smelling of a plot. Well, having tasted better games and tiring of this, I told the group that I didn't want to run that kind of game anymore, that it was too much work and not at all fun for me as GM. I gave them two options; A> I host a once-a-month social gathering for the group. We can play assorted games, drink, smoke and have fun. But no D&D. B> We keep playing D&D, but we cut down on the socializing (especially the interjections about random crap right in the middle of descriptions and combats). One player chose option A. The other five chose option B. The player who chose option A decided to leave the group - and I respected him for that. One player, the least experienced, made a good stab at getting her character involved in things and made me very happy. The other four? Well, they [i]said[/i] they wanted to actually play the game, but not a one of them made any effort to actually do so. They continued to drink and socialize, to blatantly ignore plots, to refuse to do anything beyond kill things and take their things. And as I got pissed at them for refusing to keep their promise, they became angry with me for wrecking their fun. The entire group broke up amidst serious mutual recriminations and I haven't spoken to any of them since. But... The only regret I have is that I allowed the situation to fester for nearly six months until it came to a head and destroyed relationships, rather than simply refusing to GM anymore once they demonstrated that they were NOT really interested in playing the game. The game has to be fun for the GM too. If the players don't want to play the same game that the GM wants to run, there is no point in continuing. Not anyone's fault, just a matter of preferences and enjoyment. [/QUOTE]

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