Hear my whine, know my sadness

[Bullgrit]

I'm usually the DM for our game group. I played a PC, in a Star Wars campaign (about a dozen sessions), back in the second half of 2006.

Then after I had run a few months of a Marvel Super Heroes campaign, one of the other players offered to run a MSH campaign. I made my character and was excited to be able to play. The campaign never started. I never played the character I created.

Then after I ran a D&D game for several months, one of the other players offered to run a D&D campaign. I made my character and was excited to be able to play. We played one game session, then the DM couldn't play for two weeks, then we played a second game session, and then the DM couldn't play again for another couple weeks. The campaign was given up on at that point.

I then came up with the idea that we could do a round-robin style campaign, where each player would take a turn at DMing. This would give us more flexibility in case a DM was going to be out of the group for a couple weeks, and it would let me play a PC some during the rotation. I offered to run the first couple of adventures -- one to test some house rules were were implementing to accomodate our round-robin style, and one as the actual first adventure of the campaign. We all made characters for the campaign. I made my character and was excited to be able to play.

I expected the first "test run" adventure to last one, maybe two game sessions, and then the "real" adventure to last two game sessions. Well, the "test run" two sessions was interrupted by one week we couldn't play (so there's 3 weeks), and the "real" game took three sessions plus a missed week (so there's 4 weeks).

Then, after 8 weeks since creating my new character, I finally got to actually play a PC. I made my character a battle priest -- the party needed a cleric, and/but I wanted to play a rock-em-sock-em battle guy.

Our first game session consisted of a couple hours trying to figure out how to get into the dungeon (which we still don't know how) and one combat. I was chomping at the bit to get into a fight. In fact, I could sense we were heading into an ambush, but I was happy for it to come. "Come on action, give me some action!"

On the ambusher's surprise action, half our party, including my PC, was caught in a web spell. So for the first 10 rounds of the fight, I was immobile. On the 11th round, I managed my way out of the web, but then the fight ended.

My PC is the strongest in the party (by 4 points! -- plus Strength domain) but the other two characters made it out of the web 2 and 3 rounds before my character. (The frickin' 10-Strength character got out on his very first tries -- one roll to break free, one roll to move out.)

So after dreaming about playing this character for 8 weeks, in my first battle, I was totally shut down and essentially did nothing the whole time. Dear God, but it's friggin' frustrating. This kind of thing breaks my heart.

Bullgrit
Total Bullgrit

 

[Henry]

I feel your pain. Before so many of my current group started DMing, I didn't get a lot of play time - however, ever since last year, I've been player probably more than I've DMed, since four of the seven other people wanted to take turns DMing. I've been real lucky, and I'm starting up a 4th edition game this weekend, and I'm actually looking forward to getting back into DMing some.

 

[Bullgrit]

Before this first game session, I had become so frustrated with the waiting to play my character that I had sat on for so many weeks, I actually re-installed World of Warcraft with an idea to play the character online. I had quit WoW four months ago, but I haven't been getting my adventure and excitement quota from D&D.

I created a human paladin that looked just like my D&D character (person and gear) and started playing on an RP server. I was intent to not get caught up in the game numbers (levels, gear, etc.), and I just concentrated on "role playing" (such as it is when alone on a computer game) and going through the quests (and actually *reading* them).

After playing the D&D game session, I'm surprised to say that my experience playing the character in WoW was far more satisfying. I *did* stuff in the WoW session.

I talked to the NPCs who directly gave me quests to do. I went and performed the quests. I returned and talked to the NPCs who congratulated me on accomplishing the quests. Then the NPCs told me what to do next, etc. etc. I role played in my head and through the limited interaction with other players.

But in the D&D game, we were given a quest and discovered that we couldn't actuallly perform it with the abilities/knowledge/tools we had. We ended up talking to various NPCs from whom we got no recognizable hints, guidance, or clues. By the end of the game session, we were no closer to be able to even start the quest proper than we were 3 hours before when we started the game.

It's surprising to me to think that a [essentially solo play] computer game has given me a better fantasy role playing game experience than [group play] D&D. The more I sit here and think about this, and compare the experiences, I become rather shocked.

Bullgrit

 

[Mallus]

It's surprising to me to think that a [essentially solo play] computer game has given me a better fantasy role playing game experience than [group play] D&D. The more I sit here and think about this, and compare the experiences, I become rather shocked.

Why is it surprising that the best MMORPG delivered more enjoyable experience that a poorly run D&D session?

 

[billd91]

It's surprising to me to think that a [essentially solo play] computer game has given me a better fantasy role playing game experience than [group play] D&D. The more I sit here and think about this, and compare the experiences, I become rather shocked.

Bullgrit

I think it's a fundamental fact of gaming life that, while a computer program can never be as good as the best DMs, some DMs are not as good as computer programs.
That, and coordinating the free time of multiple people is usually harder than coordinating the free time and online game access of one.

 

[Foundry of Decay]

Hmm. This is pure speculation but I'm seeing that as a definite problem with the DM more than anything.

Its one thing to be unlucky at some dice rolls, but taking 3 hours to just start the given quest? That's a rather extravagant amount of time to be wandering around trying to figure out what to do.

Here's hoping it was just a warm-up session and the next one goes well though.

 

[Zinovia]

But in the D&D game, we were given a quest and discovered that we couldn't actuallly perform it with the abilities/knowledge/tools we had. We ended up talking to various NPCs from whom we got no recognizable hints, guidance, or clues. By the end of the game session, we were no closer to be able to even start the quest proper than we were 3 hours before when we started the game.

It's surprising to me to think that a [essentially solo play] computer game has given me a better fantasy role playing game experience than [group play] D&D. The more I sit here and think about this, and compare the experiences, I become rather shocked.

It sounds like the flaw was in the D&D game you were playing. The DM needs to make sure the characters are able to accomplish things within the game. With no progress made, the entire session feels like a frustrating waste of time. Tension increases as the players keep trying one fruitless path after another. if the players are completely missing key clues to a problem, the DM needs to gently steer them back on course somehow. Have an NPC provide a hint, have one of them notice something important, or take one of the ideas they had to look for information, and make it yield results, even if that's not what the DM originally planned. Wing it!

WoW is a fun game, and yes, is largely solo at lower levels. I hang out with 24 other people as we kick butt and take names (or get our butts kicked by the mobs) in 25-man instances. I love to raid. It's what makes MMO's so fun for me. So I'd argue about the game being mostly solo, but the fact is while you are leveling you *can* play it as a solo game. I mostly play with others though. My main character I leveled up with my son's warlock, and my alt I'm playing with my husband. It's nice doing quests together.

In any case, the point I wanted to make about WoW is that the quests are well-written, but very linear. You talk to the NPC, you do the quest, you return, and choose a reward. There are very few quests that will have any kind of impact on your character, and none that will really change the course of the game world. I do like some of the quests that have effects, such as the one where you return to Stormwind after busting Marshal Windsor out of the prison in Blackrock Depths. All the guards line up and bow to you, and there's a great confrontation in the palace when you reveal that the king's advisor is a dragon in disguise. It's fun. The limitation of WoW is that it all resets. Lady Katrana appears again next to the king a little while after she was unmasked and flew off as a dragon. There's a story, but the game world can't change to reflect what happened, unlike in D&D.

Sorry to hear your experiences as a player have been so frustrating of late. Hopefully your DM will realize that if the PC's can't find the quest they need to do, and can't make progress towards accomplishing it with the skills that they have, then he needs to change things. Frustration just leads to players eventually quitting the game. Who wants to spend time on it if it's not fun? Good luck in future sessions. I hope things improve.

 

[Bullgrit]

I'm not one to immediately blame a DM for a bad game session experience. As a DM, I've seen Players do some absolutely boneheaded things:

* Spend an hour trying to figure out how to open a locked door, finally going the vandalism route and using stone shape -- the party mage had a wand of knock that would have opened the door easily.

* Spend an hour examining a completely mundane object in a completely mundane room even though they had no clues or hints that there was any reason to examine it.

* Spend a whole game session looking around for a temple in a lost city when they were sent to look for a mage's home in that lost city -- a home that was *obvious*, but it wasn't a temple.

* Spend a whole game session investigating turnips on a grocery list because it somehow seemed like a suspicious note.

I'm very willing to accept that we Players in this current scenario are being boneheaded about something, but I just don't know what. I'm not going to lay all responsibility for my fun/unfun on the DM. I'm just saying that it has been unfun -- whoever is responsible for it -- and that just makes things worse after waiting ansixously so long to get to play.

Bullgrit

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Never get too excited about something, you just risk being disappointed [/pessimistic].

I feel for you... I've had such sessions, too. Everyone has. Though probably never after such a long absence from gaming...

 

[wolff96]

* Spend a whole game session investigating turnips on a grocery list because it somehow seemed like a suspicious note.

Heh. The first time I ran that module, my group did the same thing -- they spent two hours of real time grilling every turnip vendor and farmer in the city, CONVINCED there was a vast conspiracy.

I would have been annoyed if I hadn't been enjoying playing all those clueless farmers and merchants so much.