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<blockquote data-quote="tonym" data-source="post: 3152410" data-attributes="member: 4127">Ack!&nbsp; You said it!&nbsp; &quot;BAD PLAYERS&quot;!That is exactly why I kept my mouth shut when the ambush became weirdly unrealistic.&nbsp; I knew it was either the DM's fault or that I was a bad player.&nbsp; But the DM was really, really good (a published novelist, even).&nbsp; So must I not be the bad player?Yet I'm not a bad player!&nbsp; So then what?The answer: The DM is not bad and I am not bad.&nbsp; Playing the sceanrio without minis was bad.I was listening to the DM describe the landscape, but I thought I understood the descriptions when I really didn't.&nbsp; How can that make me a bad player?Here's another scenario...A mini-less DM once erred (IMO) by over-describing a room.&nbsp; He described this room for about three or four minutes.&nbsp; I tried my best to remember details, but the more he added, the more I forgot.&nbsp; When he said there was a door in the west wall, I kept repeating to myself, &quot;Door on the west wall...door on the west wall.&quot;After the DM stopped describing the room, I quickly said, &quot;I walk over to the door on the west wall and examine it.&quot;&nbsp; I could tell the other players didn't even remember that door being mentioned.There is no way we players remembered even 50% of the complicated room, yet none of us asked the DM to repeat the description of the room.&nbsp; I'm guessing the reason is that no one wanted to look dumb, or appear like they were bad players who were not paying attention.Here's something else to chew on.&nbsp; When a DM does not use minis, his players may even occasionally pretend to understand a description when they actually don't, so they won't be seen as bad players.&nbsp; Then, when an ambush or battle gets screwed-up, the players will keep quiet and blame themselves for not having asked more information early-on.&nbsp; (I've done that.)Give me minis or give me death.Tony M</blockquote>

[QUOTE="tonym, post: 3152410, member: 4127"] Ack! You said it! "BAD PLAYERS"! That is exactly why I kept my mouth shut when the ambush became weirdly unrealistic. I [I]knew[/I] it was either the DM's fault [U]or[/U] that I was a bad player. But the DM was really, really [I]good[/I] (a published novelist, even). So must I not be the bad player? Yet I'm not a bad player! So then what? The answer: The DM is not bad and I am not bad. Playing the sceanrio without minis was [U]bad[/U]. I was listening to the DM describe the landscape, but I thought I understood the descriptions when I really didn't. How can that make me a bad player? Here's another scenario... A mini-less DM once erred (IMO) by [I]over[/I]-describing a room. He described this room for about three or four minutes. I tried my best to remember details, but the more he added, the more I forgot. When he said there was a door in the west wall, I kept repeating to myself, "Door on the west wall...door on the west wall." After the DM stopped describing the room, I quickly said, "I walk over to the door on the west wall and examine it." I could tell the other players didn't even remember that door being mentioned. There is no way we players remembered even 50% of the complicated room, yet none of us asked the DM to repeat the description of the room. I'm guessing the reason is that no one wanted to look dumb, or appear like they were bad players who were not paying attention. Here's something else to chew on. When a DM does not use minis, his players may even occasionally [I]pretend[/I] to understand a description when they actually don't, so they won't be seen as [I]bad players[/I]. Then, when an ambush or battle gets screwed-up, the players will keep quiet and blame themselves for not having asked more information early-on. (I've done that.) Give me minis or give me death. Tony M [/QUOTE]

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