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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 8067361" data-attributes="member: 27780">Polyhedron Issue 27: Nov/Dec 1985part 3/6Fletcher's Corner: This column tackles another topic that's shown up over and over again. Problem players. No matter the system, no matter the era, this is always going to be relevant. The specific types of problem players he picks are slightly unusual though. People who know all the rules and monster stats, and always have the optimal response to every challenge?! By the time we get to the 3e era that's just normal, at least for people who read forums regularly. I suppose that illustrates how gaming culture has changed a fair bit over the decades, and technological advancement has made it much easier to have all the information casually at your fingertips. What's normal and what's a problem is entirely subjective on the group, and how they want to play the game. The other group he singles out is also a bit unusual. People who try to micromanage the entire group. While I accept that too much of that is a problem, the opposite, where everyone in the group creates their characters in a vacuum and does whatever they want in battle without consideration for the group, is worse. That way lies blundering into traps, getting into unneeded fights because one impulsive jackass leapt to the attack instead of talking, and catching other PC's in your AoE blasts. You do need to discuss character builds and tactics with the other players, but you also need to accept that you'll have to listen to other's opinions and compromise, because one person can't order around all the rest even if their mastery of the rules is superior. So what I thought was going to be timeless advice actually turns out to be pretty dated, which shows how much the average player has increased in system mastery over the decades, and that the bar where you'll be stigmatised for being too nerdy even for a hobby packed with nerds has been raised by a fair amount. The kind of change you don't notice unless you have something to contrast it against.</blockquote>

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