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How to engage a "poke the bear" player?
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<blockquote data-quote="Harzel" data-source="post: 7151999" data-attributes="member: 6857506"><p>Mostly, I just second what others have said - player engagement depends on the player. Just knowing that he likes to poke bears is not enough info to know what will engage him. All we can do is guess that whatever is going on currently is not what he wants and that he lacks the self-knowledge or social skills to communicate that in a more constructive way.</p><p></p><p>If forced to come up with an in-game answer, I guess I would try introducing some story elements that give his PC some (limited) authority or responsibility in game. Have him deal with NPCs that are lower status than his PC. Of course, this is based on the guess that he is having trouble with authority figures, which, lacking info about him is just a guess. If OTOH, he also enjoys abusing helpless peasants, then he may have a much more serious RL problem.</p><p></p><p>Others have suggested imposing dire in-game consequences, presumably as a way of punishing his undesirable behavior. I don't think that qualifies as "engaging" him in the sense that you meant, and I sort of doubt that it would modify his behavior smoothly - that is, without other unintended consequences. At best, it seems like it might force him to initiate the conversation that you, for reasons, do not want to initiate. But if you want a different suggestion along those lines, I might suggest the time-honored, "Nothing happens". NPCs ignore his verbal behaviors and if he tries to get physical he inexplicably misses and no one seems to notice what he is doing.</p><p></p><p>But to return to the larger context, you seem to be asking for suggestions about sculpting wood using only straight pins, facial tissue, a carabiner, and a blow torch. Seriously just not the right tools for the job. Just talk to the guy to find out what he wants. Really.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Harzel, post: 7151999, member: 6857506"] Mostly, I just second what others have said - player engagement depends on the player. Just knowing that he likes to poke bears is not enough info to know what will engage him. All we can do is guess that whatever is going on currently is not what he wants and that he lacks the self-knowledge or social skills to communicate that in a more constructive way. If forced to come up with an in-game answer, I guess I would try introducing some story elements that give his PC some (limited) authority or responsibility in game. Have him deal with NPCs that are lower status than his PC. Of course, this is based on the guess that he is having trouble with authority figures, which, lacking info about him is just a guess. If OTOH, he also enjoys abusing helpless peasants, then he may have a much more serious RL problem. Others have suggested imposing dire in-game consequences, presumably as a way of punishing his undesirable behavior. I don't think that qualifies as "engaging" him in the sense that you meant, and I sort of doubt that it would modify his behavior smoothly - that is, without other unintended consequences. At best, it seems like it might force him to initiate the conversation that you, for reasons, do not want to initiate. But if you want a different suggestion along those lines, I might suggest the time-honored, "Nothing happens". NPCs ignore his verbal behaviors and if he tries to get physical he inexplicably misses and no one seems to notice what he is doing. But to return to the larger context, you seem to be asking for suggestions about sculpting wood using only straight pins, facial tissue, a carabiner, and a blow torch. Seriously just not the right tools for the job. Just talk to the guy to find out what he wants. Really. [/QUOTE]
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How to engage a "poke the bear" player?
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