So I invest in a setting and all of the books, maps, and extras. I have 6 players. 2 newbs and 4 veterans. They start off well then one of the veterans begins meta-gaming and second guessing (wrongly so) every single monster ability and rumor they hear. Now the entire group is scaredle$$ to go anywhere there might be danger. So now at 6th level the group is off the track of heroic world-saving, out hunting orc scalps. There are no orcs for 1,000 miles. I need a good orc fortress to throw in. Any ideas? Then I need to figure out how to get the campaign back on track. Maybe just that one player....
Talk with the meta-gamer and ask them not to do it any more. If he persists, start giving the group appropriate knowledge checks (nature, religion, history, etc) to know something about what they're facing and that it's not that bad. Sit the group down and explain that they are adventurers, not cowards that hide from everything that goes bump in the night.
Let them know that they are wasting their - and your - time chasing orcs, that they can't even make a living doing that. Or run with it. They're hunting orcs and they fall into the bigger adventure. Maybe they literally fall into a dungeon or get captured or hear screams for help. Heck, maybe a rival group has a corner on the hunting orcs department and they put a stop to the group. Have the orcs form a special task force to hunt them down.
There are a ton of options, but the best is probably just to be up front and talk about what you and they want out of the game because different people enjoy different aspects of the game. Good luck!
