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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JWO" data-source="post: 6649568" data-attributes="member: 6777577">[MENTION=6794198]spinozajack[/MENTION]: You present quite a simplistic version of what it is to have social anxieties. It's really not as easy as just 'trying' to make a contribution for a lot of people (that's kind of an offensive way of putting it to be honest), it can be a very physical response where no matter what you tell yourself there's no way of getting any words out of your mouth. I have some issues with social anxiety myself, combined with introversion, but I'm lucky enough that it's generally not that bad and in certain circumstances it's not an issue at all. Once I've gotten to know a group of people I'll generally be comfortable enough to vocalise my contributions here and there and even take charge every now and then. However, that's just not the case for some people and no matter what they do, they're not going to be able to 'join in' in a way that suits you.Again, I can only speak for myself but there are certain times when there's something I'd love to say, some kind of contribution to make (I can think of instances in D&D, university, work meetings, etc.), it's on the tip of my tongue and then my heart starts racing, I start thinking about it over and over and my voice just shuts down. There's very little I could do to force myself to vocalise it. Other times, I'll have a similar reaction but I am able to speak but my voice comes out shaky and weak. Other times, I'm fine. Like I mentioned, I'm lucky because it's not as much of an issue for me as it is for other people.The only 'problem' I really have with quiet players is with quiet players who really want to be contributing but can't bring themselves to do it out of shyness/social anxiety. But it's only really a problem for them. I feel bad for them because I know what they're going through but it doesn't impact my enjoyment of the game at all. Why does it bother you? If the rest of the party are handling the social aspects of the game and chatting away with the NPCs, why does it matter if one or two of the players are taking a step back in these situations? Presumably the game is flowing anyway without their input. Presumably the quiet ones are getting something out of the game that they don't get out of CRPGs or MMOs because otherwise they'd just head off and play one of those. There's something very special about tabletop RPGs so maybe they're content to just sit back in social parts of the game and let the waves of RPG goodness and imagination wash over them.</blockquote>

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