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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 7571137" data-attributes="member: 22779">There's another bit of an issue here too.&nbsp; There's a significant difference between jerk DM and bad DM.&nbsp; Although, true, they overlap, they are not the same thing.&nbsp; I'm pretty confident in saying that everyone reading this right now has, at some point in their DMing career, been a bad DM.&nbsp; I know I sure was.&nbsp; I sincerely hope I'm not anymore, although, to be fair, I'm never really sure and there's always room for improvement.A jerk DM though is going beyond the stupid crap that a bad DM pulls.&nbsp; DMPC?&nbsp; Well, that's just bad DMing.&nbsp; Deus ex machina stealing the party's thunder?&nbsp; Yup, bad DMing.&nbsp; Bad judgement calls on situations?&nbsp; Yup, that's bad DMing.&nbsp; To be truly honest, while I'm very critical of DM's (myself very much included), I can honestly say that I'd only really met one DM I'd characterize as a jerk DM.&nbsp; But, this guy was a jerk out of game as well.&nbsp; It really shouldn't have been a big shock that his DMing turned into personal power trips and behavior that was really beyond the pale.So, to roll this back around to the OP, I think what people are actually saying is that they have run into bad DM's.&nbsp; Which is entirely possible for any number of reasons ranging from an honestly bad DM to a simply mismatch in playstyles to a bad player.&nbsp; There's a million and one reasons why a DM/GM might be &quot;bad&quot; and what makes that DM bad for me might not be true for you.&nbsp; It's not so much a &quot;jerk DM&quot; problem as a &quot;I had a bad time in this game and I'm going to blame the DM&quot; problem.&nbsp; It might be true, it might not be.&nbsp; But, it is pretty widespread.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 7571137, member: 22779"] There's another bit of an issue here too. There's a significant difference between jerk DM and bad DM. Although, true, they overlap, they are not the same thing. I'm pretty confident in saying that everyone reading this right now has, at some point in their DMing career, been a bad DM. I know I sure was. I sincerely hope I'm not anymore, although, to be fair, I'm never really sure and there's always room for improvement. A jerk DM though is going beyond the stupid crap that a bad DM pulls. DMPC? Well, that's just bad DMing. Deus ex machina stealing the party's thunder? Yup, bad DMing. Bad judgement calls on situations? Yup, that's bad DMing. To be truly honest, while I'm very critical of DM's (myself very much included), I can honestly say that I'd only really met one DM I'd characterize as a jerk DM. But, this guy was a jerk out of game as well. It really shouldn't have been a big shock that his DMing turned into personal power trips and behavior that was really beyond the pale. So, to roll this back around to the OP, I think what people are actually saying is that they have run into bad DM's. Which is entirely possible for any number of reasons ranging from an honestly bad DM to a simply mismatch in playstyles to a bad player. There's a million and one reasons why a DM/GM might be "bad" and what makes that DM bad for me might not be true for you. It's not so much a "jerk DM" problem as a "I had a bad time in this game and I'm going to blame the DM" problem. It might be true, it might not be. But, it is pretty widespread. [/QUOTE]

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