> I understand (not from personal experience, but from many
> 'net and convention discussions) that "lack of focus" is a
> "game-killer" in many GMs' eyes. Perhaps I simply take my
> gaming less "seriously" in that I don't feel that my few
> gaming hours are sacrosanct to "gaming, and gaming only,
> no side-conversation, no off-topic discussions," like many
> with whom I have conversed.
If that's what works for you, more power to you. Personally, I feel that
if socialization is what is wanted, then I'll play board games. I roleplay
for story and char interaction, so when I"m roleplaying that's what I want.
I lean towards the no off-topic, no side conversations end of
things. While they happen, kept to a minimum they don't detract from what
I'm trying to do. With too much of it, I feel like I'm trying to read a
book with constant interruptions, enough so that I can't figure out what's
going on, and I have to keep reading the same paragraphs over and over.
> Now, I will fully admit that there is probably an
> "acceptable silliness" range. [Heck, some of my PCs have
> legends they've acquired in non-game canon sequences...]
> So, I will acknowledge that there is a difference...
I guess I feel cheated if the best remembered bits are the out-of-game
comments. The side jokes that are not in character at all, and have little
to do with the game -- if that's all anyone gets out of it, I want to play
Settlers of Catan or Lord of the Fries instead. I love board games. I
love roleplaying. But I do them for different reasons.
This does not include games which have a higher level of silliness from teh
start, or that wax and wane in seriousness for other reasons. Castle
Falkenstien run over-the-top, frex, can be both....although the silliness
is very much in game. "He'll die without the antidote and we only have a
week to get it for him? Well, we need to detour to Vienna for three days
because if the man is going to die, he needs to see the opera One Last Time!"
> I see the question then to be more about disruption than
> silliness. Honestly, I have had experiences where the
> disruption was a "heavy mood" in a light-hearted game.
I can certainly see that. It would be like contemplating the angst of a
Paranoia clone.
> In that case, I maintain my suggestion, amending it mostly
> to finding out what the underlying cause is... and if it's
> dissatisfaction, what is reasonable to do about it.
> That goes into the area of group consensus of where the
> responsibility falls... and since that's idiosyncratic from
> group to group I won't say anything except that the above is not
> how it would work in my gaming group(s).
What's reasonable depends on the group. Our overall group tends to view it
as the GM in charge. The GMs choose what they want to run, and then the
players can figure out what they want to play in. We rarely have shortages
of GMs or players, so it works out. If the players decide, either solely
or as a group, that a game isn't for them, then they work it with the GM to
either leave the game, change the game, or drop the game.
WHile the GM gave me a hard time about it, after another session or two (to
finish up the plotline), I will be leaving one of the games I'm in, mainly
due to another player. This actually isn't a silliness issue (it's Star
Trek. We know some silliness is inherent as we try to wrap our heads
around one of the classic Trek Tropes), but rather one of the player who
micro-manages the other players to a point that I can't stand (if I wanted
to be told how to play and what to do all the time, I'd play a video game
and let my nine-year-old watch. He loves to "help."). In this case, the
GM is reluctant to do anything truly proactive about helping my situation
(talking to the other player, both by him and myself, has not helped) and
I've lost the ability to just ignore it. I got some flak about the fact
that there's so much plot stuff around my char, but I don't get much time
to game and I'm not spending it being irritated.
Jennifer
--
The White Crow
Author: The Deryni Roleplaying Game (Coming Nov. 2001, Grey Ghost Press)
My RPG pages: http://www.io.com/~whytcrow/
Living Writing: A Column at http://www.free-epress.com/columns/index.htm
Peditress since 7/5/00
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