Player Tryouts

[Stockdale]

I was one of those "interviewed" by JD. I think that meeting a potential player, with whm you've had little prior contact, for a meal is a great idea. Having been in group that formed simply through the internet, I would prefer to know that the people with whom I'll play are at a similar place in life to me - after all, half of gaming is socializing. It's not I have have any thing against teenagers, drug users, or other people - I just don't want to spend what little free time a 34 year old, business owner, father of three has with people I wouldn't normally socialize with. So, a little upfront meeting to ensure that neither party has three eyes or something else is a smart idea.

 

[kigmatzomat]

IMG we generally have the player come over to during a regular game so they can watch and make a character. It's a lot easier to make a character when you have a clue how the group dynamics work and can get a grasp of the GM's tactics. It also means that I, as GM, don't need to worry as much about people getting irate because I don't game "right"* and they're caught by surprise. I feel bad about people not having a good time during my games but I'm not going to change the tone of a game that's worked for several years and several existing players for the new guy.

*Don't ask me what gaming "right" is but I'll tell you that anyone who says you aren't doing it "right" is too mentally inflexible to be role playing!

 

[Piratecat]

My friend in college was talking to some guy at a bookstore that wanted to game with him. This was an older guy (of course, we were college-aged, but by older I think he was like 40), and he was talking about things like psionic, fire-breathing bunnies and things like that.

Dude, I was just trying to be polite! *sniff*

We don't invite folks into our regular group unless they're people we really like to spend time with in and out of the group. There are some people I like in person, but whose gaming styles don't mesh with mine; that's not usually a big problem, but I want to know before I invite them to join.

If there's any doubt, I invite them to a one-shot game or a game day ahead of time, so other players can meet and game with them without any pressure.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Trial By Fire.

just throw them into the stew and see how it tastes. if they don't like the action/game no biggie. if they do and the others don't like them. well, that is what communication is all about.

Without knowing a little about what the player is like, I'm strongly against this because then you have the potential of ruining everyone's fun, including your own.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I've got you beat. One of my friends from High-School, and I'm like 33 now, has just been getting progressively more and more aggressive with his characters to the point where only I and only player will tolerate him and no one will GM when he plays so we've switched the game day and don't invite him to play anymore but still hang out, play board games, movies, etc...

It sucks but if everyone is unhappy but the one guy causing the trouble, you've got problems.

I tell new players right up front that group chemistry is an important part of our gaming experience. They know I may tell them not to come back as politely as I can. Many take offense, but it is worth it to avoid having someone at your table who is not working out.

I once had to ask a player to leave my campaign who had been playing with us for TWO YEARS. That was really tough. He just had managed to annoy so many of the players they let me know he was ruining the game for them. I told him man-to-man and he actually cried a bit, definitely a low point for me since I really liked the fellow.

 

[yennico]

My former GM of Gurps found new players by mail. In the past he made after some mails with the new player a new PC. Making a new PC with somebody is very time consuming and you need more time if the new player is new to the rpg system you play.

To save time the GM now made a NPC each new player can play the session.
So the new player can test the group, the GM can test the new player and a constant NPC is around the group.
If the player likes the gaming group and the gaming group like the new player the GM and the new player make a new pc for this player.

 

[JesterPoet]

HAHA!

True story -

When I first moved to Richmond, I started gaming with drife (on here), and he had another player in his group whom he'd met off the WoTC boards. We'll call him Dale, because that's his name.

I got to Drife's early, and was making up a character for his game, and Dale shows up and says, "The funniest thing happened to me last week." And then drife asked, "what was that", and Dale said, "my girlfriend had a miscarriage."

Needless to say Dale doesn't play with us anymore.

Hey... Dale's in Virgina now, huh?

Better than here.

 

[der_kluge]

We don't invite folks into our regular group unless they're people we really like to spend time with in and out of the group. There are some people I like in person, but whose gaming styles don't mesh with mine; that's not usually a big problem, but I want to know before I invite them to join.

And I think that's the real key here - the people you game with should be people you enjoy just hanging out with. If you take away the game, and you've got nothing left at all, maybe you should find a new group.

 

[der_kluge]

Hey... Dale's in Virgina now, huh?

Better than here.

Well, I don't know if the guy moved from Minnesota or not, but I'm sure there are others like him.

 

[yennico]

Well, I don't know if the guy moved from Minnesota or not, but I'm sure there are others like him.

All your base belong to Dave... sorry us
Every group has his own "Dave".

Edited because of spelling