A message to my players that some of them found very off-putting

Agemegos · 07-20-2011, 12:58 AM

Here is a big slab of legacy text that I originally wrote as an e-mail to the members of a role-playing circle that I am a peripheral member of, following discussions about why we had all found my latest adventure unsatisfying. There is rather a lot of it, and in it I explain a number of points about my approach to GMing that some forumites might find interesting. I don't want it to vanish into utter obscurity. So I'm re-posting it here.

I have subjected the text to a medium edit, removing all personalities, but "you" still refers to the original addressees, not to you.

Over the last few months* I have been holding forth over Skype and AIM about what I demand of the lucky people who get to play in RPGs I run. Some of my interlocutors in these pontifications have asked that I commit my opinions in these matters to text, so that they can ignore me at reading speed rather than having to wait through my glacial drawl. So here goes.

* Actually, this was over a year ago.

Note well that I have taken part in numerous bitter arguments about the nature of RPGS over the InterNet, including disputes on the UseNet group <rec.game.frp.advocacy> and with towering luminaries of RPG. I am therefore aware that other people prefer to do things somewhat differently, and that those people are complete idiots. In the screed to come I shall occasionally make statements of how things are or ought to be in the form of unqualified declarative sentences. In no case is any such statement simply my opinion. I only ever make statements of unarguable fact, except occasionally when I express someone else's opinion. In no case should you take it that I am expressing my own opinion, that I recognise that other people might prefer to do things differently, or they anyone has a right to do things differently if they prefer. Is that clear?

There might be traces of irony in text coloured indigo.

I see RPGs as collaborative, participative, extemporary, story-telling games. This statement raises five points, which I will address in reverse order just to be annoying.

07-20-2011, 12:58 AM	#1
Agemegos Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oz	A message to my players that some of them found very off-putting Here is a big slab of legacy text that I originally wrote as an e-mail to the members of a role-playing circle that I am a peripheral member of, following discussions about why we had all found my latest adventure unsatisfying. There is rather a lot of it, and in it I explain a number of points about my approach to GMing that some forumites might find interesting. I don't want it to vanish into utter obscurity. So I'm re-posting it here. I have subjected the text to a medium edit, removing all personalities, but "you" still refers to the original addressees, not to you. Over the last few months* I have been holding forth over Skype and AIM about what I demand of the lucky people who get to play in RPGs I run. Some of my interlocutors in these pontifications have asked that I commit my opinions in these matters to text, so that they can ignore me at reading speed rather than having to wait through my glacial drawl. So here goes. * Actually, this was over a year ago. Note well that I have taken part in numerous bitter arguments about the nature of RPGS over the InterNet, including disputes on the UseNet group <rec.game.frp.advocacy> and with towering luminaries of RPG. I am therefore aware that other people prefer to do things somewhat differently, and that those people are complete idiots. In the screed to come I shall occasionally make statements of how things are or ought to be in the form of unqualified declarative sentences. In no case is any such statement simply my opinion. I only ever make statements of unarguable fact, except occasionally when I express someone else's opinion. In no case should you take it that I am expressing my own opinion, that I recognise that other people might prefer to do things differently, or they anyone has a right to do things differently if they prefer. Is that clear? There might be traces of irony in text coloured indigo. I see RPGs as collaborative, participative, extemporary, story-telling games. This statement raises five points, which I will address in reverse order just to be annoying. __________________ Decay is inherent in all composite things. Nod head. Get treat. Last edited by Agemegos; 07-20-2011 at 03:57 AM.