D&D General Why do you prefer DMing over Playing?

[Snarf Zagyg]

People also pay for receipts of ugly monkey pictures and easily replicated carbon crystals. Economics tends to ignore that it's actually a psychological science, not a physical one.

Uh ... wow. Okay, so you think that economics ignores that there is psychology involved in supply and demand? That economics has never explored ideas like the substitution effect or the income effect? And this is before getting into behavioral economics?

And this is why we don't have nice conversations- economics is the dismal science not because it ignores what people do, but because, far too often, it tells us things about people we don't want to hear.

I assume this is some brilliant analysis of the different between price and "value," right? Oh boy.

 

[AnotherGuy]

We're really not that important.

You say that and yet 2 out of the 3 core books are solely for DM use while the remaining book is shared by many.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Not being the Life's Blood does not mean unimportant.

But seriously, a lot of DMs need to stow the ego.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

You say that and yet 2 out of the 3 core books are solely for DM use while the remaining book is shared by many.

Everyone has a shtick.

Some people hate rapiers.
Some people claim to like that above-ground marinara swimming pool colloquially known as "Chicago-style pizza."
Some people turn every random thread into a debate about the matterings of particular systems.
Some people hate DMs.

Except me. My antipathy of bards is as pure and unsullied as a stream fed by melting snow.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Not being the Life's Blood does not mean unimportant.
But seriously, a lot of DMs need to stow the ego.

Anybody who can step out of the house with a pair of heels and some lipstick on their lips is my hero. But those who sit in the DM's chair are Tru-Queens of the gaming world. ~ RuPaul, probably

 

[Vaalingrade]

Respect is earned. It shouldn't come from what hobby you choose to pursue.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Respect is earned. It shouldn't come from what hobby you choose to pursue.

-Chrissy Quaid, world champion in Extreme Ironing, definitely.

"No, I said we should become great at extreme IRONY. IRONY."
-Chrissy Quaid's best friend, probably.

 

[prabe]

An observation my gaming group had back in my college days was that many DMs run the kind of game they wish they could play in.

I am well aware that I GM for how I prefer to play, and I play for how I prefer to GM.

 

[Umbran]

Except me. My antipathy of bards is as pure and unsullied as a stream fed by melting snow.

A stream fed by melting snow can still be loaded with Giardia.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Respect is earned. It shouldn't come from what hobby you choose to pursue.

I agree 100% here.

I love being a DM, but I really get the weird willies when I read about people thinking it makes them more important than the other people at the table.

I'm also an elementary school teacher. The moment I start thinking that being a teacher makes me more important than my students is when I fail as a teacher. The classroom isn't about me, it's about the students!

In a similar way, I try to make my D&D games the best possible games for the players. I find no matter my own preferences, if the players are having fun, then I am having fun. I might be running the game I wish I could play in, but if it doesn't work for the players then it drags us all down.