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<blockquote data-quote="ThoughtBubble" data-source="post: 1034469" data-attributes="member: 9723">A lot of our table talk fell away when we switched from weekly games to bi-weekly games. When it isn't a weekly occurance, my players spend a lot more time waiting for the game, and so are much more ready to play. As far as table talk goes, we hit the local gas station to pick up snacks, talk, and then when we reach the table, we're usually ready to go. Talk still occurrs during the game, but as there's only two criteria that serve for getting called out on it. The first is if it's loud enough to be a distraction to myself, or the people who are active. Then I turn to the people talking and ask them to keep it down. The second is when someone active currently begins talking on a tangent. That I stomp down on. I don't mind joking out of character, but when it's in the middle of a dialog with an NPC or in an intense situation I put my foot down. The form that takes varies. If someone isn't paying attention during combat, or is talking about a movie, I give them a short time to finish. If finishing takes too long for me, I hold up a hand and say &quot;Five seconds.&quot; And begin counting down. If they don't have an action by 0 it's the next person's turn. If the person in the scene makes a comment, or mock declares an action, I'll sometimes take it as a real action. I'm fairly inconsistant about this, which serves to keep my players from trying to predict this sort of thing, or turn the game into a sort of farce of itself.With a group that large, you will have to make a few more consesions though. People who aren't in the spot may need something to do, and there may be large spans of time where someone isn't doing anything. In either of those cases, it may be advisible to simply set a few protocols for talking (lower voices, or drink breaks, or bathroom breaks every half hour) and see if that helps.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ThoughtBubble, post: 1034469, member: 9723"] A lot of our table talk fell away when we switched from weekly games to bi-weekly games. When it isn't a weekly occurance, my players spend a lot more time waiting for the game, and so are much more ready to play. As far as table talk goes, we hit the local gas station to pick up snacks, talk, and then when we reach the table, we're usually ready to go. Talk still occurrs during the game, but as there's only two criteria that serve for getting called out on it. The first is if it's loud enough to be a distraction to myself, or the people who are active. Then I turn to the people talking and ask them to keep it down. The second is when someone active currently begins talking on a tangent. That I stomp down on. I don't mind joking out of character, but when it's in the middle of a dialog with an NPC or in an intense situation I put my foot down. The form that takes varies. If someone isn't paying attention during combat, or is talking about a movie, I give them a short time to finish. If finishing takes too long for me, I hold up a hand and say "Five seconds." And begin counting down. If they don't have an action by 0 it's the next person's turn. If the person in the scene makes a comment, or mock declares an action, I'll sometimes take it as a real action. I'm fairly inconsistant about this, which serves to keep my players from trying to predict this sort of thing, or turn the game into a sort of farce of itself. With a group that large, you will have to make a few more consesions though. People who aren't in the spot may need something to do, and there may be large spans of time where someone isn't doing anything. In either of those cases, it may be advisible to simply set a few protocols for talking (lower voices, or drink breaks, or bathroom breaks every half hour) and see if that helps. [/QUOTE]

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