Worst miniature paint job evAr! Get it off the table!

[Jesus_marley]

Emeikol: the picture yu just psted leads me to think that your motives for posting this thread were not entirely upfront. Your OP indicates that you encountered a problem and having dealt with it in one way you were soliciting thoughts and opinions on whether you did the right thing.
The picture that you just posted, decrying the lack of "DM support" indicates to me that you were uninterested in honest opinion and were instead seeking confirmation of your decision.
If you wanted people to hold your hand and say you did the right thing then why didn't you just ask for that? Instead, when presented with a myriad of opinions, several of which do not support your actions, you post a picture like that complaining about it.

the fact that you received so many replies indicates that there is no shortage of "DM support" around here. If your original post had been ignored, then I could understand your posting of that picture, but just because you apparantly do not like the opinions that were put forward it does not mean that you are lacking in support.

 

[Emirikol]

Contribution to a bunch of posts, doesn't mean there's DM support. If you've ever posted from a DM's standpoint, you'll quickly realize this..and is part of the reason for my original post..it would be nice to hear some suggestions instead of "YOU'RE A FACIST DM!" Try it sometime..try posting your DM style. I DARE YOU. You'll see how much DM's get support around here. Some people here really do exactly what my last bit of art shows.

The other part was to honestly find out if a pink and yellow monkey travesty where a guy spits in the face of the group is acceptable. Should the 6 of us just sat there and coddled to this crybaby?

A few people think that only a tyrannical George Bush-style facist group (as you can see by some here) would require that players actually bring a book, dice, character sheet and a painted mini (resembling the character) to the table. Most of us consider it the "minimum" except in games where there's a large number of underage players. Our group has a simple rule. You don't have to have some kind of Michaelangelo painted mini. How about a dude with a sword for your fighter. Slop some paint on him or grab one from our box.

A yellow and pink monkey is a slap in the face to the other players who actually have some respect for the game, the DM, and the host. Should the group and DM have handled it differently?

I have to ask.. does the DM have do all the work for games? Should he wipe for the players too (not just their tears when he doesn't give them boxes of magical items and provide all the food for the game..and beg for players to sit at his table)? Is it really too much to ask for a player to bring a painted mini or pull one out of our box of group painted mini's?

I'd like to see some of these responses forwarded to a WARHAMMER forum... and this is only for ONE mini....

jh



jh

 

[jmucchiello]

Contribution to a bunch of posts, doesn't mean there's DM support. If you've ever posted from a DM's standpoint, you'll quickly realize this..and is part of the reason for my original post..it would be nice to hear some suggestions instead of "YOU'RE A FACIST DM!"

You were also told to lighten up.

Try it sometime..try posting your DM style. I DARE YOU. You'll see how much DM's get support around here.

Wouldn't we have to have a problem first in order to make a post where folks would condemn our DMing style?

The other part was to honestly find out if a pink and yellow monkey travesty where a guy spits in the face of the group is acceptable. Should the 6 of us just sat there and coddled to this crybaby?

No, laugh at him, laugh with him, and/or boot him. But I don't see the need to post here about it. Are you seeking validation? You don't like the advice to coddle the guy so what advice did you expect to receive?

A few people think that only a tyrannical George Bush-style facist group (as you can see by some here) would require that players actually bring a book, dice, character sheet and a painted mini (resembling the character) to the table. Most of us consider it the "minimum"

Most? I never bring a mini to game. Ever. We play heavy tactics on a battlemat and have done so for 15+ years. If someone didn't bring books, I wouldn't care. I'm far more interested in folks that pay attention during game than that they bring a specific list of stuff to game. All of the players in my game are older than me and I am 39.

or grab one from our box.

Would it kill one of you to just grab one from your box? There. There's some advice.

I have to ask.. does the DM have do all the work for games?

Grabbing a mini from an existing box of minis is a burden?

Is it really too much to ask for a player to bring a painted mini or pull one out of our box of group painted mini's?

Frankly you would probably have gotten more sympathy if you had mentioned this box in the OP.

I'd like to see some of these responses forwarded to a WARHAMMER forum... and this is only for ONE mini....

There is a reason I don't play Warhammer even though I like highly tactical close combat in my RPGs.

Oh, my DMing style is very loose. I rarely do a lot of prep ahead of time and when stuff goes off track that can show through: "What's the guys name?" "Uh, Fred." "Another Fred?" "Yeah, another Fred."

I do tend to favor highly tactical combat encounters over pure fluff encounters. You'll never hear me rattling off a list of available meals at the tavern. And after 5th level if you want to haggle the price of a room in a cheap inn, don't change your monetary total and stay for free for all I care. 1 or 2 gps won't matter to me.

This doesn't mean I don't encourage character development outside of the adventure structure, but I'm also not upset if you don't work to develop your character's extra-curricular activities. I will endeavor to match your level of effort with developing your character. You make a big background, I pull it into the world and use it as well as I can. You create a cipher, you don't exist except on your initiative count. Neither extreme offends me nor is expected by me.

There you go. Rip me up. It won't bother me. I know my flaws and weaknesses. People still show up to play in my games so I'm doing something right.

 

[Emirikol]

You were also told to lighten up.
Wouldn't we have to have a problem first in order to There you go. Rip me up. It won't bother me. I know my flaws and weaknesses. People still show up to play in my games so I'm doing something right.

I'm not interested in ripping anyone up. I don't harbor any ill will towards you. I just chose to check on some things

Good luck with your game.

jh

 

[Agent Oracle]

mmm....

Okay, on one hand. Story = funny.

On other hand, Emirikol = testing us.

on the third arm (baby's, holding an apple) I should probably respond in a legitimate fashion...

Emirikol, don't cry about a lack of DM support here. Most of us ARE DM's. it's part of our natural tendencies to criticize each other. Furthermore, this is the internet. if you're not familiar with the Mike / Jerry hypothesis on internet anonymity you need to learn about it. now.

It seems as if you tried to take an situation that was (at worst) a minor slight, and make it a resource reguarding a lack of DM support. A better example would have been a case wherein both you AND he could post reguarding the slight. with only one side of the story, we only recieve half the information we need to know.

 

[+5 Keyboard!]

It's a good thing I wear flame-retardant clothing when I visit these messageboards . OK. First off, I am a DM and by default I usually support other DMs. I didn't know that that was what you wanted. I'm looking back over your original post that set the tone of your thread.

So we've got a dork in the group who feels it's his lot in life to try to make practical jokes of everything in the game. Well, he's gone too far. I made him take his mini off the table and told him to get a new one and paint it up seriously. He used a pink and yellow, smear-painted ape. It looked like the crap that runs out of the bottom of a moldy snow cone and it was GLOSSY! Big yellow beady eyes and he painted the groin to look like the "monkey" had wet himself and glued two BB's to the you-know-what..but it was smeared to look like some kind of pus-like discharge. Of course, the ape mini wouldn't even stand up because of the uncut seam on the bottom!

Sorry, but this just sounded to me like artistic venting. The guy's a dork (like most of us aren't by virtue of our "dorky" game we play), he can't paint, he painted a crappy mini that won't even stand up, and you're pissed about it. That's fine. You post a picture of it, we all sound off, "Yeah, that's crap! What a dope!" end of story. There's your support.

We have a table rule (made by the group) that everyone have a real miniature that stands up and is painted. Well, he was all pissed because he says he can't paint miniatures, but I think he went too far in trying to make a mockery of the game. It was the equivalent of not bringing your character sheet or using a die or penny for a character when everyone else goes out of their way to contribute to the game in a positive way. He's got a box full of mini's and we keep paint at the table for people that want to touch up or even paint during the game. Heck, other people have even offered to paint one up for him.

See, this is where you and your group come off sounding like the reindeer that wouldn't let poor old Rudolph join in any reindeer games. Personally, I definitely don't equate a bad mini or just not wanting to paint your mini to not bringing a character sheet. And using a die or penny for a character mini? I've played with tons of groups that do exactly that and it's not a problem. Because unless you're playing warhammer or DDM, the game is not about the thing on the table. It's about what it represents. Personally, I love using minis. I've painted hundreds over the years and am regularly complimented on mine. So, I can see where you're coming from in a way, but to take it to the extreme that it's a house rule that you must have a mini and not just that it "has to be painted" and "has to stand up" comes off really, really strict and unfun.

That's pretty much where you lost some of us. Well, at least me.

Was I wrong to ask him to take it off the table?

How can we honestly know whether you were right or wrong? In light of everything else you've said, I found myself siding with the troublemaker the first time I got to this question. The way you describe him sounds like he just wanted to play a game of D&D with you guys, but was constantly being badgered about your strict house rule about miniatures. The making a joke of everything sounds like he was just being passive-aggresive with his feelings of inadequacy he felt at your game.

At what point does a DM need to do this?

In most games, a guy gets booted because he's just rude, obnoxious, offensive to the other players, inconsistent in attending the game, vulgar, abrasive, argumentative, and a few others I'm forgetting (I'm going off of personal experiences with players I've booted over the years). But I had never heard of a guy getting booted because he wouldn't paint a decent miniature. To answer the question: never because it should never have to be an issue.

Do you guys have rules like that?

Negative. When a guy comes to my house to play in one of my campaigns, he meets the other players, we talk about his character, we discuss how we're going to bring him into the fold, and I show him the shelves of minis and invite him to pick one out to represent his character. If he pops out a box of his own minis and pulls something out that looks like one of the original Ral Parthas that still has the crappy original Tester's paint on it that's rubbing off at the edges, well, that's his choice. If he's comfortable with it, so am I. Because only about half the time (and that's being generous) during the game is he even going to need to touch it (combat being when we even use it vs. role-playing and problem solving when we aren't even looking at the minis).

Is the guy just being an idiot to push the groups' buttons?

"Idiot" is very subjective. Who knows? Until we hear his side of things, you've definitely been very descriptive in making him sound that way. See the fifth paragraph above.

Now, having said all of that, you may have an extremely fun game that every one of your players totally has a blast being a part of and this guy just wasn't of the same mindset. Perhaps he really was just a campaign assassin. I've heard of a few of these guys that get their fun out of the game by actually ruining games. You probably knew long before the infamous pink and yellow brass-balled monkey mini incident that this guy wasn't working out. You should have probably just let him go when you first realized he wasn't a good fit with your group. Always go with your instincts. And if you have someone close to you that's a good judge of character, go with their instincts. My wife is very good at reinforcing my own tingly sense when it comes to a bad apple. She'll tell me right away at the end of a session with a new player what vibes she got from him/her. She's never been wrong yet.

Anyway, that's my extra long take on what you posted for public opinion. Agree with me or light me up. Not important to me. Good luck with your game.

 

[Dire Bare]

Contribution to a bunch of posts, doesn't mean there's DM support. If you've ever posted from a DM's standpoint, you'll quickly realize this..and is part of the reason for my original post..it would be nice to hear some suggestions instead of "YOU'RE A FACIST DM!" Try it sometime..try posting your DM style. I DARE YOU. You'll see how much DM's get support around here. Some people here really do exactly what my last bit of art shows.

Oh please. While I certainly don't have a crystal ball to tell me, I feel pretty safe in the assumption that most posters on these boards are DMs at least part time.

Just because some of us don't agree with your points and don't care for your game style doesn't mean there's some sort of lack of DM support. That's just absolutely ridiculous considering the forums we are all posting on.

And, reading back on the thread, there are more than a few who totally agree with your points and support your play style. You seem to only be seeing those who disagree with you and this has got your undies all in a bunch.

If your play rules work for your group . . . well, except for the brass-balled monkey guy . . . then that's fantastic and I'm all for it . . . despite the fact I wouldn't be caught dead playing in that kind of game.

I support DMs, I even support your play style even though it honestly makes me wonder why people would play a game like that. But I don't support your martyred attitude, it's just whiny.

 

[IcyCool]

Wouldn't we have to have a problem first in order to make a post where folks would condemn our DMing style?

Come now, you've been here long enough to know the answer to that question. It is a clear and resounding "NO". The smallest mention of game events or anything that might hint at your DMing style, and the DM critics are all over it like white on rice.

But hey, this is the internet.

 

[Ryngard]

I didn't read the entire thread (I know, bad me) but at least give him the option of using a D&D Mini. He can go to eBay and buy anyone he wants pretty cheaply (to represent his character. If Archfiend Drizzt is his character then he's out of luck, hehe)

 

[Emirikol]

I didn't read the entire thread (I know, bad me) but at least give him the option of using a D&D Mini. He can go to eBay and buy anyone he wants pretty cheaply (to represent his character. If Archfiend Drizzt is his character then he's out of luck, hehe)

Yea, we do that. We just don't like pennies or dice (or monkeys)..sure, that's fine in a pinch..but about every player at the table has boxes of minis (and D&D mini's too and he knows it. I could understand if he was underage or broke, but a grown man who's gamed for probably 20 years? I dunno, maybe the group is crazy and he's not ha ha! I think we'll go diceless, miniless and sheetless.

Quitting DMing shortly anyways..why bother...
jh