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View Full Version : Player Help Rant: I don't know why this is so boring to me



Spore
2016-01-17, 11:30 AM
Greetings playground,

I had my last sessions yesterday and I am still bored thinking about it. I cannot quite put my finger onto why. We rescued a noble girl and brought her back into our HQ, received gold and an agent network to further spy on said noble house. While we saved the girl from ritual sacrifice we still need to stop her house from taking over the world *lightning crackles in the distance*.

Sounds exciting, right? Well, we used 7 hours of playtime on that matter. Now we know that our oracle likes cake very much, that the paladin always wanted to be a ship captain and that my Alchemist might have been responsible for the death of a high ranking diplomat. I don't know why I cannot care anymore about that. I was excited to play before but now...I cannot stand the idea of playing another half an hour with those people. They put so much work into minor details but the sessions usually tend to go on about boring trivial stuff.

I don't play Pathfinder like a relationship simulator, I want a bit of action every now and then. I don't need a fight every session but I really couldn't care less about the feelings of imaginary people. Real people are more important and usually more complicated anyway so why bother talkiing about fictional love stories? I cannot grasp the fascination. And I cannot tell if I want to be part of that game anymore (and I DO have two other campaigns so....)

I can't tell how I could quit or take a break from playing with them without insulting anyone. Because I like the players I just heavily dislike how they act out their game. And if I should tell them in person, via text or via (group) forum.

nedz
2016-01-17, 01:09 PM
It's a play-style thing.

I have one group which contains one player who likes the talky stiff, and another who likes action. Keeping them both happy is hard, though keeping one happy is easy.

If the whole group, apart from yourself, likes the talky stuf,f when you don't, then you are probably in the wrong group — though this might just be a one session thing. I'd give them another chance before walking, and maybe talk to them about it — you might not be alone in your thoughts.

JAL_1138
2016-01-17, 01:26 PM
As other posters have said, it's a playstyle thing. Nothing wrong with either style but they're not really compatible. I'd suggest finding a different group with a more fast-paced style with less emphasis on the social-roleplay and more focus on the adventuring part.

It usually doesn't hurt anyone's feelings badly to politely explain that you're looking for a bit different gaming experience and style than they are, no offense meant, just not your thing, etc., and bow out.

TheIronGolem
2016-01-17, 03:43 PM
You're watching Downton Abbey when you're in the mood for Agents of SHIELD. Of course you aren't enjoying it.

Quertus
2016-01-17, 05:13 PM
Greetings playground,

I had my last sessions yesterday and I am still bored thinking about it. I cannot quite put my finger onto why. We rescued a noble girl and brought her back into our HQ, received gold and an agent network to further spy on said noble house. While we saved the girl from ritual sacrifice we still need to stop her house from taking over the world *lightning crackles in the distance*.

Sounds exciting, right? Well, we used 7 hours of playtime on that matter. Now we know that our oracle likes cake very much, that the paladin always wanted to be a ship captain and that my Alchemist might have been responsible for the death of a high ranking diplomat. I don't know why I cannot care anymore about that. I was excited to play before but now...I cannot stand the idea of playing another half an hour with those people. They put so much work into minor details but the sessions usually tend to go on about boring trivial stuff.

I don't play Pathfinder like a relationship simulator, I want a bit of action every now and then. I don't need a fight every session but I really couldn't care less about the feelings of imaginary people. Real people are more important and usually more complicated anyway so why bother talkiing about fictional love stories? I cannot grasp the fascination. And I cannot tell if I want to be part of that game anymore (and I DO have two other campaigns so....)

I can't tell how I could quit or take a break from playing with them without insulting anyone. Because I like the players I just heavily dislike how they act out their game. And if I should tell them in person, via text or via (group) forum.

I love details of characters' personalities. I love dealing with and watching other people deal with completely plot irrelevant issues. When only 3 people out of a 10+ person party showed up due to bad weather, we happily roleplayed sitting around the campfire on watch, swapping stories (the characters had come from different campaigns) and just bsing, getting to know each other.

I also love rules lawyering. 2 hours spent researching and arguing to get a rule right? My brother and I would call that a great season, one where we actually accomplished something meaningful.

But give me the excruciating minutia of having to detail how the characters gather twigs, limbs, straw, and whatever else to start their fire, or the exact construction of their makeshift tent, and I'll be bored to tears. Make me run through the 20th instance of "you're too dumb to know what's going on, so ask the village wise woman / nut, who will explain the concept of a werewolf, and tell you which McGuffin you need to kill it (hint, it's silver)", and I might finally rage quit a game.

To answer your question, I'd tell them in person. Explain how they seem to be having fun with that style of play, but it just doesn't do it for you.

veti
2016-01-17, 09:46 PM
Sounds to me like more than a "play style" kind of thing. If you don't care about the world or the characters in it, I don't know how any amount of mindless violence is going to re-create that sense of engagement for you.

It may be something about this campaign in particular. Maybe the DM, and players (including yourself), have done a lousy job of making this particular world engaging. Talk to some of the other players, see if they're feeling any of the same ennui. If so, talk to the DM about how to deepen the whole experience somewhat, because what you've said of the plot sounds pretty cookie-cutter stuff so far.

It may be your character. If you don't care about your own character, then it's going to be hard to get very invested in their world or quest. Is there anything you can do to improve your engagement there?

Or it may be you. Maybe your mind is on other things lately, and you just can't focus on the campaign. Maybe you're worried about the Middle East, or climate change, or how the Cubs are shaping up for the season. Maybe you're not getting enough sleep. Maybe you're in love. Maybe you've just outgrown this particular hobby entirely, and will never really get back into it. There's no shame in this, and in this case the answer is to take a break. Depending how sure you are - I would politely ask my group to keep my character alive as a DMPC for at least a few sessions, then retire/kill them off if I still feel the same way after that time.

Best of luck.

goto124
2016-01-17, 10:15 PM
You're watching Downton Abbey when you're in the mood for Agents of SHIELD. Of course you aren't enjoying it.

I like little details that add to the flavor of the setting. But there's a limit before I just scream "get on with the real action already!"

My only advice: talk to the players and DM. Tell them what you want - to move on with whatever they're supposed to be actually doing.

Best of luck.

Spore
2016-01-17, 11:40 PM
Maybe the DM, and players (including yourself), have done a lousy job of making this particular world engaging.

This - along with the gameplay thingie - is part of the reason. I don't care if my character falls down a hole. I even got excited when he was extremely close to death, fully knowing that another character won't improve the experience in the slightest. The only thing going for me is my side plot with the devilish agent I have grown to trust (a little too much) the main plot might as well be non existent.

I had more fun gathering information on the villains (knowledge checks, yay) than actually being close to my group and interacting with them. It is partly me (then again I am playing a bookish antisocial alchemist who enforces my own personal trait of antisocialism), partly the DM (he allows them to do stupid **** for 2 hours) and partly the others (they tend to not focus at all on ANYTHING).

I will probably show up the the next session and spend my time investigating the issue. My character is 22/7 (with a ring of sustenance) researching our enemies in a giant library on Mechanus anyway.

Quertus
2016-01-18, 10:25 PM
Greetings playground,

I had my last sessions yesterday and I am still bored thinking about it. I cannot quite put my finger onto why. We rescued a noble girl and brought her back into our HQ, received gold and an agent network to further spy on said noble house. While we saved the girl from ritual sacrifice we still need to stop her house from taking over the world *lightning crackles in the distance*.

Sounds exciting, right? Well, we used 7 hours of playtime on that matter. Now we know that our oracle likes cake very much, that the paladin always wanted to be a ship captain and that my Alchemist might have been responsible for the death of a high ranking diplomat. I don't know why I cannot care anymore about that. I was excited to play before but now...I cannot stand the idea of playing another half an hour with those people. They put so much work into minor details but the sessions usually tend to go on about boring trivial stuff.


Maybe the DM, and players (including yourself), have done a lousy job of making this particular world engaging.


This - along with the gameplay thingie - is part of the reason. I don't care if my character falls down a hole. I even got excited when he was extremely close to death, fully knowing that another character won't improve the experience in the slightest. The only thing going for me is my side plot with the devilish agent I have grown to trust (a little too much) the main plot might as well be non existent.

I had more fun gathering information on the villains (knowledge checks, yay) than actually being close to my group and interacting with them. It is partly me (then again I am playing a bookish antisocial alchemist who enforces my own personal trait of antisocialism), partly the DM (he allows them to do stupid **** for 2 hours) and partly the others (they tend to not focus at all on ANYTHING).

I will probably show up the the next session and spend my time investigating the issue. My character is 22/7 (with a ring of sustenance) researching our enemies in a giant library on Mechanus anyway.

Can you explain how the plot / world was not engaging, and what would have made it engaging? Was it just the pacing + trivial stuff? Do all the side quests factor in to your issues? Or is there something more?

If I'm hearing you correctly... based on my experiences... do you think playing a bossy character who would keep the party focused would help? And, if so, would it diminish from the other players' enjoyment of the game?

Slipperychicken
2016-01-18, 11:03 PM
I don't play Pathfinder like a relationship simulator, I want a bit of action every now and then. I don't need a fight every session but I really couldn't care less about the feelings of imaginary people. Real people are more important and usually more complicated anyway so why bother talkiing about fictional love stories? I cannot grasp the fascination. And I cannot tell if I want to be part of that game anymore (and I DO have two other campaigns so....)

I know the feeling. I think it's because a lot of us have been browbeaten into treating all RPGs that way. I know I'm met with cries of "murderhobo!" any time a character of mine kills something, picks up an item, or acts with anything resembling caution.

And if you don't want to play a game, then you don't have to. You have two other games after all.

Spore
2016-01-18, 11:52 PM
Can you explain how the plot / world was not engaging, and what would have made it engaging? Was it just the pacing + trivial stuff? Do all the side quests factor in to your issues? Or is there something more?

If I'm hearing you correctly... based on my experiences... do you think playing a bossy character who would keep the party focused would help? And, if so, would it diminish from the other players' enjoyment of the game?

The party was incredibly fine in the first few sessions. There we didn't have so much trivial information slowing us down. Now we even have three children NPCs who we have rescued from different circumstances (being an orphan, being kidnapped, being held hostage) which offer a legitimate reason to roleplay. The longer the group goes on the deeper the mire of slowing interaction becomes. They simply don't realize that such things can happen "off-camera".

As for the bossy character: It surely would help in my honest opinion. And I will never play an antisocial Cha 6 character anymore. Because I play that so convincingly that my opinion gets ignored (and I cannot break character every 5 minutes to discuss something on a meta basis). What I want to say: As uncomfortable I am at leading people, as desperate do we need a leading figure. We played a oneshot with almost the same player setup where my Barbarian was the leader. Suddenly it worked. We had direction, we had a decent pace (because the DM let's us take on the challenges in our own tempo, if there's no pressing time constraint). Again, with Cha 10 and a teeny bit of Diplomacy I wasn't Tsun Zhu but someone called the shots.


I know the feeling. I think it's because a lot of us have been browbeaten into treating all RPGs that way. I know I'm met with cries of "murderhobo!" any time a character of mine kills something, picks up an item, or acts with anything resembling caution.

And if you don't want to play a game, then you don't have to. You have two other games after all.

Now that you mention it: We tried to spare a few people's lives who where forced to fight against us. There was a cavalry squadron sent after us and our Oracle killed a few of them with a Fireball. Now she is treated like an atom bomb flailing Mecha-Hitler. And there's dissatisfaction in the group with their own characters as well. The Paladin shot a fleeing (but evil) druid in the back and finished her off. He gets teased by the DM for it.

Other than that I often get scoffed at for not showing caution at every doorstep. We have a group setup so poor that I am now the only melee guy, am responsible for traps, for pseudo arcane support and am the skill monkey/knowledge dude as well. Oh, and I have taken on item creation as well. Of course that can work but it feels very hamfisted more often than not. My character is middle of the road-ish in T3, while the Ranger and Paladin are solid T4, the Fighter already quit because he is essentially worthless out of combat and the two Oracle spontaneous casters try to get an award for their spell selection; and I think the Redundancy Department of Redundancy offers several for that.

Spore
2016-02-20, 07:14 PM
I did another game with them. I didn't have anything better to do and I didn't remember the last session anyhow. Due to sickness, one player was absent and we still only gathered info. No action, no new revelations, no nothing. Boring as all hell.

I figured in my side plot that my love interest is now working for my brother-in-law who escaped. He doesn't want my ass dead anymore but members of his mafia clan certainly do. So he might become my best ally because he doesn't want his niece to grow up fatherless (and he cannot foster her because she will be taken by the Triads). My love interest is his bodyguard now.

Desperate for action, and a resolution of this dilemma, I initiated a duel. One player dozed off because it didn't involve her character, the other one went to stop me from suiciding into a trained Samurai by showing me my daughter. The third one just witnessed. We stared at each other but after a minute, the brother-in-law gave up and I won the dispute and duel. It was his way of saying that he will not hunt me for my wrong-doing again (a spirit possessed my body and killed the mother, his sister and my old love).

I was deeply frustrated. I expected a bit of action (at least some dice) but the DM was too afraid to attack me because he has killed 4 PCs in duels (other campaigns) already. I feel insulted by that play, I feel misplaced in the group and I am bored for showing up on one of my two saturdays off in the month for practically no game at all.

denthor
2016-02-20, 08:37 PM
I I agree I don't care about the fictional stuff either to sum it up congratulations you 12th level 9 is now familiar princess I'm a horror.

It's a different style of game they want they want knowledge you want just enough details to plan and get on with the game walk out early

Mr Beer
2016-02-21, 01:27 AM
I don't see the problem here. I mean, I do, but in a broader sense I don't; if I don't enjoy a voluntary activity, I stop doing it.

Spore
2016-02-21, 07:23 AM
I don't see the problem here.

I am torn between not participating anymore and making another character will less conflicts, who is more sociable and more "normal". I really really like to play Pathfinder and this is the only game of it that is offered to me at the moment. The other's switched to D&D 5 and Degenesis respectively.

I am highly doubting I find the game enjoyable with another character but I could give it a shot. The only problem with me changing characters is that only two of the original cast remain and people are pushing the DM to change characters offgame anyhow.