What bugs me:
* When the GM just sits there and says "So what do you do?", as though the entire game world has absolutely nothing interesting happening in it that should be called to our attention. Encouraging PCs to pursue their own goals and be proactive is fine, I'm just irritated when a GM doesn't bother to prepare anything or come up with any non-PC-directed plot, preferring to give the players the "Fine, your characters can just sit there until they decide what to do" routine instead. For god's sake, if you're going to run a game,
run a game.
* The opposite of the above, where a GM's plot is sacrosanct, flawless, and untouchable; any initiative taken by the PCs is doomed to be inconsequential in the long run, because the predetermined plot can never be shifted one millimeter from its original course. PCs may react to the plot as it arrives, and that's all. Good games find the right balance between reactive and proactive plots.
* The "Deflect Arrows" syndrome; you know how it goes, you've got a monk and he's just learned how to deflect arrows. And from that point forward, no one ever shoots an arrow at the monk again.
Ever. You see the same effect in varying degrees with sneak attack (suddenly, everything is immune to criticals!), Sanctuary (only enemies with good Will saves will try to attack!), resistances (no more Fireballs at the guy with a ring of fire resistance!), ethereal travel and teleport, and just about any other ability that's useful. In order to "keep things challenging," any cool ability a PC gets that can make some things much easier suddenly never gets to be used. Where's the fun in that?
ForceUser said:
Rather than list what annoys you about how other people game, why don't you think about what you do that might annoy your fellow gamers?
That's a good idea!
I'm overly "helpful" with other players, piping up with suggestions without being asked to. It's particularly bad when someone is playing a social character but seems to be fumbling an in-character conversation, and I'm trying really hard to stop doing it.
I'm mercilessly sarcastic (both in- and out-of-character) towards NPCs, making up offensive little nicknames for them and trying to bully them around with words. Sometimes this is just good fun for everyone involved, but I've turned a few really serious bad guys into objects of general ridicule by doing it, which usually is at odds with the tone that the GM is trying to set.
I can get stuck on a single plan that I think
should work, and pay no attention (or worse) to a GM who tries to tell me otherwise. Obviously something I need to stop doing.
I will occasionally roll dice compulsively or shake them around in my hand.
If I'm not involved in a particular scene, I'll often do a MST3K-esque Greek chorus with other players who aren't involved in that scene, making little quips and asides about what the GM and the other players are saying. This is
incredibly annoying, I know.
--
i hope i have some good qualities, too
ryan