The glory of OD&D

[Sammael]

Or they could stop whining and DM themselves.

Perhaps they have no time, aptitude, or talent for DMing. But the concept that "ordinary" people may enjoy (and want to enjoy) playing RPGs is something the uber-elitist ENWorld clique can apparently never grasp.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Perhaps they have no time, aptitude, or talent for DMing. But the concept that "ordinary" people may enjoy (and want to enjoy) playing RPGs is something the uber-elitist ENWorld clique can apparently never grasp.

Truly? I thought my comment suggested that an "ordinary" person ought to be fully capable of DMing and doing at least a reasonable job of it. A moderate game could be devised using only free materials found on the Internet and sites like EN World, vastly cutting down on prep time.

OTOH, if the question is one of time, aptitude, and talent, then either (A) the DM is giving freely of his or her time, aptitude, and talent (which, IMHO, is cause for thanks), (B) the DM is charging (which, IMHO, would require a truly superior game to pull off), of (C) the DM has no aptitude and/or talent, and your time is wasted.

In cases (A) or (B) the players shouldn't have much of a problem. In case (C), how much worse off would the group be if someone else ran a game for a while? In fact, this might give the DM in question a chance to remember what it's like on the other side of the screen, and thereby improve his or her DMing.

That sounds win-win to me.....

....and infinitely superior to whine-whine......

 

[Jack Morgan]

Because many people do not have a choice, due to a lack of other players/groups in their environment. Or, rather, they do have a choice - play with a not-so-good DM, or do not play at all.

I'd be lying if I said I've never encountered any of the problems you listed out, but I pretty much always select the second option- even if it means a long hiatus. I have found that if I can't trust the GM to guide the ride, I can't really have much fun either. As A GM I've had two games killed by players who became fixated with the rules. When this sort of thing occurs I just shut it down, wait a while, and start back up usually with a different system and always without the rule nut. My main goal as a GM is to make certain that everybody at the table has fun- and that includes me. I can't have any fun when I know somebody sitting at the table is just waiting for the opportunity to pounce on me about the rules.

 

[Henry]

Perhaps they have no time, aptitude, or talent for DMing. But the concept that "ordinary" people may enjoy (and want to enjoy) playing RPGs is something the uber-elitist ENWorld clique can apparently never grasp.

I fight long and hard for DM'ing to NEVER be an elitist clique. Every single player, I personally believe, should have at least one turn in the DM's chair, because in my experience it makes better players overall, regardless of the rules set. To suggest that DMing is somehow "not ordinary" or only for people who feel it shoudl be an exclusive activity is an attitude I dislike. Lastly, it has NOTHING to do with a rules set.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

True.

And another issue raised is that people play in bad games rather than not play at all. I find that mindset boggling. Why play in a bad game?

 

[Crothian]

So when do we get to see actual play postings?

I doubt I will. I never really did it for any other campaign or game I'd run so I see oD&D being no different.

 

[amethal]

And another issue raised is that people play in bad games rather than not play at all. I find that mindset boggling. Why play in a bad game?

Better a bad evening at the game table than a good evening in front of the TV?

When I was younger I was obsessed with role-playing game design, but there's a limit to how much you can design something if you never ever play it. I'd game with anybody, and generally learn something from even the most gruesome game.

Nowadays, I'm a lot more choosy, but somewhere deep inside me there is still a young lad who desperately wants to game.

 

[diaglo]

I doubt I will. I never really did it for any other campaign or game I'd run so I see oD&D being no different.

JoeBlank et. al. have a story hour in the Story Hour Forum about our campaign. "According to Hoyle..."

 

[T. Foster]

And another issue raised is that people play in bad games rather than not play at all. I find that mindset boggling. Why play in a bad game?

QFT. However, on another site I've been declared literally insane for expressing a similar viewpoint, so apparently at least some people's MMV.

 

[Henry]

Hey, I'm a "bad day role-playing is better than a good day fishing" advocate, myself. About the only other things that beat it is time with my wife, and playing a really good computer game.