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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JWO" data-source="post: 6647889" data-attributes="member: 6777577">[MENTION=6794198]spinozajack[/MENTION] wrote a long post about players who don't really contribute to the social side of D&D in <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?458338-Dealing-with-a-trouble-player-and-a-major-blow-up/page25" target="_blank">this thread</a>. I started to write a reply and then I realised that this would start to derail the original thread so I thought I'd move it here. Hope you don't think I'm calling you out or singling you out as I do understand where you're coming from:I sort of agree with you and I totally understand your frustrations (as someone who's dealt with this on both sides of the DM screen). However, it's also worth considering that so many of us who are attracted to this hobby have serious social anxiety issues and there's only so much that can be done to mitigate the effects of these.I definitely have difficulties speaking up when I roleplay, especially if I'm a player, rather than a DM, but I'm also not so bad that I can't force myself to contribute to the social side of the game (even if it sets my heart racing sometimes). There are some people who just can't bring themselves to join in with that part of the game but I wouldn't want to exclude them based on that. There are also things that a DM (or even another player) can do to help people like that* if it's really bothering them.Passive D&D players still get so much more out of the game than they would from a CRPG or an MMORPG, even just from sitting there and soaking up the atmosphere and watching the story unfold. So for the most part I think they generally are having fun, even if they're not being very chatty. At least that's how I feel when I'm having a more introverted day.*Having NPCs engage my character in conversation directly, or the DM asking me what my character is doing, would help me as then I know that it's 'my turn' to say/do something, so I wouldn't have to worry about being spoken over. I don't mean 'my turn' in terms of initiative order or anything as gamey as that, it should be done organically or not at all.Another thing that works for me is making sure we're playing in a relatively quiet location. I'm shy enough when I'm using my normal voice; if I have to raise my voice to be heard, I'll be less likely to contribute to the game.</blockquote>

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