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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7280620" data-attributes="member: 42582">Further to the point, social dynamics among partners in five hundred, among a team in football, etc, are very parallel to social dynamics in D&D.If one person in the football team doesn't try, or can't run, or whatever, does everyone else stop playing as hard; or just work around the weaker player; or encourage that player to try harder; or . . . ? There's no universal answer to that question - it depens on context.So likewise, if everyone gets together to RPG (as opposed to go to the pictures, or play boardgames, or do some gardening together, or . . .), and one person isn't trying, doesn't put forward a rich character, doesn't engage the fiction, etc, what do we do? I take it that [MENTION=16814]Ovinomancer[/MENTION] - and maybe [MENTION=2205]Hobo[/MENTION]?  - is saying it's the GM's job to make sure that that one person gets just as much spotlight/focus as everyone else. The only way I can see to do that is (i) to modulate (or even block) the engaged players' impact on the fiction, and (ii) to tell a story that involves that other player's PC (because inherent in the situation, that player isn't generating his/her own story).As far as "winning is concerned": [MENTION=2205]Hobo[/MENTION], [MENTION=16814]Ovinomancer[/MENTION] - when you play D&D, don't the players cooperate to try and WIN the combats; to try and WIN the treasure; etc? At least as the rulebooks present it, and as I see it discussed on these boards, D&D seems to be oriented towards a form of success.And if the group is not interested in PC success but wants to create an interesting or wacky story, is the meek player who doesn't contribute to that still going to get the same splotlight time? How.And also - more to Ovinomancer than Hobo - you seem to be assuming that "spotlight" and the drive of story is zero sum, so that if player X has more player Y has less. That's not my experience at all - a game in which the players play rich characters that engage the fiction and drive things forward increases the intensity and drama for everyone.In a similar vein - I prefer to play bridge or 500 with another player who knows how to bid, how to follow the play, etc. It makes the partnership better for both of us. Whereas playing with a timid partner makes for a tepid game. This is not zero sum either - it's certainly not about any sort of competition for spotlight time. It's about having RPG experience that are engaging rather than tepid or half-baked or primarily GM-driven.</blockquote>

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