It's Not the GM's Job to Make Sure People Have Fun

[FireLance]

It all depends on what your definition of "make sure" is.

The most basic step - which even the article agrees with - is to ensure that an environment in which everyone could have fun is created.

Beyond that - whether you choose to tailor the adventure or even your DM style to the players' tastes, or whether you decide to pre-determine or override die rolls in order to create situations and outcomes which you believe will be more enjoyable for the players - is a matter of personal taste.

I do agree that the DM shouldn't necessarily feel that he is at fault when one or more players aren't enjoying his games. However, that shouldn't stop him from trying his best (within reasonable limits which again would vary from DM to DM) from helping the player(s) to have as much fun as possible, nor should it stop him from reflecting on how he could have handled his session better in order to improve his DMing skills and approach.

 

[Pseudopsyche]

Even if it is the GM's job to ensure fun for all concerned, this would not imply that lack of fun is necessarily the GM's fault.

This point is key. The GM's primary goal is fun, but he or she should not bear sole responsibility for the players' enjoyment. In this respect also, D&D is a collaborative effort. That said, the DM is typically the group leader, in this meta-game sense.

 

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

From Alexander Macris on the Escapist, in Check for Traps: Judging the Game:

When I listed the four functions of the GM in my last article, two out of the first six responses said that "the real job of the GM is to make sure people have fun."

I've never heard anyone say this who didn't mean the DM should be considering the needs and desires of the players when crafting a session, but the players also must adhere to a social contract to not be jerks.

To literally mean "I leave it up to the GM to ensure I have a good time" is such an abdication of personal responsibility and such a display of immaturity that I am glad I have never had such a person in my regular sessions.

 

[Fifth Element]

I disagree that the DM's job does not include making sure the players have fun. However, you shouldn't read "making sure" too literally. Obviously the only thing a DM can do is maximize the chance that the players will have fun, he cannot literally ensure it. So in that sense I agree with the article.

It's semantics here; no DM can ever "make sure" the players have fun. But in the ordinary use of language, the reasonable interpretation of this is that the DM should do everything reasonably in his ability to help the players have fun, keeping in mind that he counts as a player for this purpose.

And that's what the DM should do. It is one of the responsibilities of DMing.

 

[Obryn]

When I listed the four functions of the GM in my last article, two out of the first six responses said that "the real job of the GM is to make sure people have fun." Others have said this to me in conversation. Well, I disagree!

What you should feel responsible for doing is creating an environment in which everyone could have fun.

It strikes me as cheap rhetorics.

Does he actually believe that people who say, "It's the GM's job to make sure the table has fun" to mean anything other than the italicized portion? It's a false distinction, based mostly in the verbiage used to describe someone's DMing style.

-O

 

[ExploderWizard]

It is the job of everone participating to contribute to and enhance the fun for the entire group. The DM is included in this but no more so than the other players. Everyone playing should be both be entertained and help provide entertainment for the group. The DM has to prepare and provide the adventure material which is the basis for the evening's fun. Asking the DM to provide the bulk of the fun in addition isn't reasonable or fair.

 

[Umbran]

The DM has to prepare and provide the adventure material which is the basis for the evening's fun. Asking the DM to provide the bulk of the fun in addition isn't reasonable or fair.

You speak as if providing the adventure material and providing the fun are separate acts.

I'd instead say that providing the adventure material, and managing the run through the material are the primary ways the GM provides fun for the players - several birds with one stone.

 

[CleverNickName]

You must spread some Experience Points around before giving it to Umbran again.

The seatbelt reference is brilliant.

 

[Wiseblood]

I play to have fun. I DM to have fun. I try to have a game where players can get involved. Some times I fail, sometimes it's even my fault. I intend to be a good player. I work to be a good DM and seek to become better at it.

Whether it's my job or not it is my goal. Players that aren't having fun suck the fun right out of it for me. It's in my own intrests to see to the players' fun. Selfish ain't I?

 

[ExploderWizard]

You speak as if providing the adventure material and providing the fun are separate acts.

They are. The initial presentation of the adventure is just a springboard. It is up to the players to latch on to that and start the perpetual feedback loop of fun. A group of players just sitting back expecting to be entertained is in fact asking the DM to provide all the fun for them. Without effort on the player's part the fun of the whole group is lessened dramatically.