What reasons do people in your groups give for not wanting to GM?

[Lwaxy]

Yeah we have a pulp writer as well, which falls under "creative job and just wanting to have fun." I totally get that.

I forgot one reason recently coming up. The older players (50 and up) have issues with virtual tables. While they usually manage to log on and play, uploading and managing stuff is not something they wish to figure out.

 

[jedavis]

Cause they're too damn lazy to. It's as simple as that for the people I play with. Out of the group of people I usually play with, being the gamemaster always falls to me or one other member of the group. I usually get burned out on gamemastering after a few months, so at that point I switch places with the other gamemaster so I can be a player.

Burnout, straight-up. We've got about seven players in a loose cloud, and 4-5 of us GM something every year, but usually it's either a semester or half a semester campaign, at which point that particular GM gets tired and burnt, and someone else launches something else (usually in a different setting with a different system). Sometimes we pick up old campaigns after hiatus, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

The other one I hear a lot is "I'm already playing in two games and working on a homebrew system; if I also GM'd a game, I wouldn't have time for coursework."

 

[Lord Mhoram]

we have 5 and 4 of us GM.

For me it was burnout - I GMed for 12 years (with two difference campaigns one super-hero, one Fanasty) rotating between them. I needed a break.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Everyone I play with has been a successful GM at some time or another, but now, most of them refuse to take up the mantle because of free time issues (very young kids and/or demanding job).

As for me, I want to GM, I think I'm an OK GM, but I can't get passed the 2nd or 3rd session before burning out...

AR

 

[pogre]

I have always been the default GM/DM. I enjoy it. I would not mind playing, but none of players have any inclination to run a game. One of my players is an accomplished CoC ref, but I'm not a huge fan of that game. Great game, just not my cup of tea.

Main excuse at my table - "Why would I want to run something when you're here?"

And really, that's OK with me.

 

[Dark Mistress]

Don't like it
Don't have the time
Don't want the responsibility.

Those are the three main reasons I have heard.

 

[Desdichado]

Time and motivation, basically. And lack of motivation is almost always tied to being busy, i.e., lacking time. Almost everyone in our group GM's at least from time to time, or is theoretically willing to. Actually doing it is almost always just a question of time.

 

[Stumblewyk]

No time, lack of confidence in own ability, lack of confidence in perceived rules mastery, fear of having the game revolve and depend entirely on them.

That being said, pretty much everyone in our group has run a game at least once, except for one guy, and he was entirely new to RPGs before he joined our group. And he keeps talking about wanting to run a game "some day"". Whether that's just wishful thinking or not, who knows. But at least most people have tried it enough to say that it's not for them.

For me, I wish I could play with my group occasionally. I honestly haven't played with one of them since high school, and I'm pretty sure that me and another of them have NEVER played together. But, I like storytelling, I enjoy crafting scenarios for them, and I do honestly enjoy GM'ing, so it's not truly an issue.

In fact, it looks like one of my players is going to run a Dresden Files RPG horror one-off for Halloween, so that'll give me a slight reprieve.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

Two big ones for my group...

1. Game books read like text books. They know the rules well enough to play and read up on their race and class and such but other than that, reading the game book is too much of a chore (and, truthfully, some RPG books are pretty darn intimidating just based on their size and number of pages).

2. Flakiness. They'll run something for a few sessions then completely lose track of what was going on in the campaign and give it up, usually after we miss a couple of session due to real life issues. I used to suffer from this as well and just start a new campaign, but I have made a commitment this year and last to finish what I start, so, I've gotten better about it.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I very, very, very rarely want to GM and it's primarily because I don't have a passion for it. You could give me a setting and tell me to make 10 character concepts (not builds) with backstories and plot hooks and I would go hog wild. I love getting invested in a character, even if I never get to play them. And I revel in a character that I created reacting to the hurdles that are put in front of them.

If instead you tell me to take that same setting and run a campaign, what enthusiasm I start out with peters out after a session or two and prepping for the game begins to feel like homework. I think a GM that lacks drive and passion is easily mirrored in the quality of their game and if I can't give my players a quality game, I shouldn't waste their time.

(That said, I do enjoy running the occasional one-shot because I will go into it with enthusiasm and don't have an opportunity for that passion to wane.)