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Message: <blockquote data-quote="siege72" data-source="post: 2047423" data-attributes="member: 26641">Gaming problem... and solution?I've been having issues with one of the campaigns that I run; originally I was going to ask for advice here, but just bit the bullet and did my own thing. (I was almost at the point of putting the game on haitus as well)I'm currently running three games with pretty much the same players, although in slightly different combinations. The problem I've run into is that my Saturday-night game has been off track. Two of the players are decent guys, but look at gaming as being "socializing time" instead of "D&D time". A lot of gaming sessions have accomplished nothing because of constant jokes, interruptions, etc. The game only runs every-other week for 5-6 hours; losing any time really hurts the campaign's progress. And I have to drive an hour each way just to get there. Worse, players complain about the lack of progress, and then don't take kindly to focusing.  Worst of all, one of the players (a good friend of mine) has a very large ego and any "suggestions" piss him off... Two weeks ago, he was starting to tell a joke OOC in the middle of combat, and when I asked him to act or delay (so I could keep things moving) he left the table in a huff.  Major issues, I'd say.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f631.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":eek:" title="Eek!    :eek:"  data-smilie="9"data-shortname=":eek:" /> The morning before the last game, I sent all of the players an email with the changes I was going to be making:* The XP I award for being on time, prepared, etc would be halved (down to 100 XP)* "Story awards" wouldn't be awarded any longer, unless the plot was actually advanced. And any roleplaying bonuses would be awarded individually.* The individual XP awards would be based on my subjective opinion about how well the player RP'd, and how many OOC issues (metagaming, lack of focus, etc) there were to deal with.* Anyone who was unhappy with their character could change within the next session or two, with only the loss of a single level, instead of two (as is the norm). (I knew one player was very unhappy with his character, and wasn't sure about some of the others.)Although there was a bit of shock and irritation that came through at first, everyone was open to the idea. (Especially since I'd intimated to one player that if things didn't improve the campaign could be put on hiatus...  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  )Much to my pleasant surprise, the game actually ran well! There were some issues and interruptions, but nothing like the games before. So far there haven't been any complaints received, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.</blockquote>

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