The Commandments of Gaming: #9 Thou Shalt Make the Pilgrimage

 General Roleplaying  1 Response »
Jul 282011
 

The Commandments of Gaming is a series of blog posts where 8one6 gets up on a soapbox to proclaim from on high how he feels that games should be run or could be improved.
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Some of us are RPG geeks, some of us are Video Game Geeks, some are Sci-Fi Geeks, or Boardgame Geeks, or Romance Geeks, and some of us are just geeks, unbound by labels and willing to get our geek on about whatever happens to catch our fancy. It matters not what type of geek you are for there is a place where you can go to be surrounded by people like yourself. That place is called a convention.

Most of you reading this are here because you’re an RPG geek. For you I would recommend nothing less than partaking in at least one Gen Con. In my opinion it truly is the best four days in gaming (and with Wednesday pickup games it’s easily the best five days of gaming as well). It’s a place where you are surrounded by people who share your interests (something like 30,000 people attended last year), where you can meet the people who are responsible for the games you love (Like Mike Mearls of D&D fame or Jason Bulmahn of Pathfinder fame), where you can find the rare treasures you thought lost to the depths of time (last year WDR for an intact World of Greyhawk for $15), heck, you can even find love at Gen Con!

Perhaps you’re more into pop culture and sci-fi and fantasy, well Dragon*Con is the place for you. While Gen Con has media guests and costumes,  compared to Dragon*Con they don’t hold a candle!

Perhaps your geekdom runs more toward video games, then PAX (and PAX East) are where you’re going to want to journey. Run by the guys who do Penny Arcade, PAX (in my opinion anyway) has relpaced E3 as the go-to Video Game convention.

There are dozens of other local conventions held every year (such as KantCon in Overland Park) I bet that if you look you’ll find one within easy drive distance. You owe it to yourself to get yourself (and as many friends as you can cram in a car) to a convention at least once in your life.

The Commandments of Gaming: #8 Thou Shalt Grow the Hobby

 General Roleplaying  4 Responses »
Jul 212011
 

The Commandments of Gaming is a series of blog posts where 8one6 gets up on a soapbox to proclaim from on high how he feels that games should be run or could be improved.
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As far as I’m concerned every person who plays RPGs should bring at least one new person into the hobby.

The RPG hobby only exists if people are playing RPGs and RPGs can’t bring in new people without your help. Like it or not you are an ambassador of the hobby. What you and your group do or don’t do has a very real effect on the hobby. Being a bunch of mouth-breathing trolls in public does the rest of us (us being anyone who has ever been a gamer who was told “gamers are creepy/rude/whatever”) a disservice.

You want to grow the hobby, because if the hobby grows then the companies that you buy your gaming stuff from (From the Friendly Local Gaming Stores all the way up to the game publishers) will do better. It ensures that rolepalying will continue to exists.

What’s the best way to grow the hobby? Run a game in public. Somewhere like the FLGS is good, you could draw people from some of the other tabletop hobbies, (the Undergophers have converted 3 Magic: the Gathering players so far) but a better place would be somewhere that gamers don’t normally congregate, like a Barnes and Nobel. Running a game in public, having lots of fun, and being open to letting new people sit down and trying it out is one of the best ways to show people that the hobby can be a great use of free time.

The Commandments of Gaming: #7 Thou Shalt Appreciate thy Game Master

 General Roleplaying  3 Responses »
Jul 142011
 

The Commandments of Gaming is a series of blog posts where 8one6 gets up on a soapbox to proclaim from on high how he feels that games should be run or could be improved.
==

There is one simple fact that you can’t deny: the Game Master does more work for the game than any of the other players in the group. Any exception to this fact is just that, an exception. The Game Master puts together the setting, runs all of the NPCs and Monsters, has to know the rules better than the rest of the players because they’re going to be the one asked about them, and is in most groups the person coordinating the scheduling for the group.

When the GM asks for feedback they’re doing it to try and improve your gaming experience, so give them actual feedback. “It was alright” doesn’t tell them anything. Be constructive with your comments or criticisms. Any GM who reacts poorly to that kind of input isn’t worth your time, but a good GM will actually appreciate it.

Also, feel free to occasionally bring your GM something to let them know you appreciate their effort. Nothing major, just something like a soda or the occasional dinner thrown their way is always appreciated by a GM.

The Commandments of Gaming: #6 Thou Shalt Not Metagame

 General Roleplaying  1 Response »
Jul 072011
 

The Commandments of Gaming is a series of blog posts where 8one6 gets up on a soapbox to proclaim from on high how he feels that games should be run or could be improved.
==

You are not your character and your character is not you. There is a difference of in-game and out-of-game knowledge. Having a character act on knowledge it doesn’t have is cheesy at best and could be considered cheating at worst.

Metagaming is also acting out of character just for a benefit. Having a character act against its nature just because it would be beneficial is again metagaming. Remember, RPGs are not games you can “win,” so there’s no real point to act out of character just for some short term benefit.

The Commandments of Gaming: #5 Thou Shalt Actively Participate

 General Roleplaying  1 Response »
Jun 302011
 

The Commandments of Gaming is a series of blog posts where 8one6 gets up on a soapbox to proclaim from on high how he feels that games should be run or could be improved.
==

If you’re part of a game pay attention to the game! You sitting there, playing angry birds or watching baseball while occasionally saying “I’m listening” whenever the game isn’t actively spotlighting you is kinda’ rude. Rude to the other players who are actually paying attention and to the game master.

When it’s not your turn pay attention and be aware of what’s going on. It will save time because people won’t have to repeat themselves. Be thinking about what you’re going to do next.

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