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Pippa the Pixie
2018-08-04, 11:34 PM
So, I'm more of a new GM. I like to play, but no one else in my circle will DM, so I do it. Anyway, I had my first time of the players giving up on the game. We were five games in, and everything seemed to be ok...to me anyway. No one said a word. When I asked about the game, everyone said it was ok. Then, today, the players did an intervention I guess on me. So before the game starts they were all like, ok lets drop the game. They just did not like it. Or something. No one was clear. It was just like they did not like it. So they wanted me to just drop the current adventure and go on another one with the same characters.

But I was a bit bumbbed out. Like no one would or could say what was wrong or really anything. They just wanted to do something different. But I wonder if it was me? Like it had to be something? Right? So, ok, we drop this game and start another one, and what, they for no reason drop that two after a couple weeks? If I did do something, how can I change it, if they don't tell me what it was?

And on top of that, what about all the work I put into the adventure? Doing a Goggle I found a lot of advice that just says if the players want to drop a game the GM should just be supper happy, but that makes no sense to me. Like even good things have dull spots, like you know the airplane fights in Top Gun, but you just get through them and get to the good parts.

So, anyone have any advice?

KillianHawkeye
2018-08-05, 12:34 AM
I think you should tell them that they need to help you understand what the problems with the game were. At the very least, you don't want to be making the same "mistakes" again. They need to be specific, because IMO people don't all decide to quit something without specific reasons. Also, you need to convince them to come forward with issues sooner in the future so that something possibly can be done before they take the nuclear option of just quitting another game.

Honestly, I don't see how anyone could continue to DM for any group that unanimously quits an adventure without at least doing the above things. The DM/Player relationship requires a certain amount of back-and-forth communication or it just doesn't work.

Thrudd
2018-08-05, 01:24 AM
Of course you aren't "super happy" about it, but you can't force people to play a game they don't want to. It's ok to be disappointed, and you can tell them that, but you just move on. If you feel like that was your best shot and you're not really willing to do anything different, then say that someone else will need to DM. If you know what they like/didn't like and if you're up for it, come up with an adventure they'll like better and try again.

icefractal
2018-08-05, 02:32 AM
Ideally, they should communicate fully the reasons why the weren't enjoying it. Sometimes that's awkward to do though. While you should definitely ask them what they didn't like, it wouldn't hurt to try some deduction as well.

The fact that they did want you to continue to run, and with the same characters, narrows down the options a bit. What kind of game style / adventure were you running?

Florian
2018-08-05, 05:40 AM
Doing a Goggle I found a lot of advice that just says if the players want to drop a game the GM should just be supper happy, but that makes no sense to me.

Your guys like to game with you, want to keep you as gm and they are attached to their characters. All three are very positive things, so you all are doing something right here. That's very different from folks just quitting a group and never coming back.

Anonymouswizard
2018-08-05, 11:07 AM
And on top of that, what about all the work I put into the adventure? Doing a Goggle I found a lot of advice that just says if the players want to drop a game the GM should just be supper happy, but that makes no sense to me. Like even good things have dull spots, like you know the airplane fights in Top Gun, but you just get through them and get to the good parts.

Okay, to start off it sounds more like they were unhappy with the adventure specifics, or think the game had lingered too long at a point they weren't finding interesting (all the best games I played had a new thing happen every session and a change in direction roughly every three or four sessions, but different people want different things). Do try to get the player to articulate what they didn't like, and potentially try a faster paced or at least more varied adventure next time (or if that's the actual problem a slower paced one).

On all the remaining adventure stuff, the only real thing to do is rip out the bits worth saving and reusing them. Lots of GMs will finish running an adventure and have stuff left over, everything from NPCs to encounters to maps to plot elements, and most of us will try to find some way to use them in the future. There will always be something you don't get to use, and that's great! Because that means you can have a cool new way to use it and do it even better than you did the first time!

halfeye
2018-08-05, 11:19 AM
Like even good things have dull spots, like you know the airplane fights in Top Gun, but you just get through them and get to the good parts.

The aeroplane fights were the good bits in Top Gun, there weren't enough of them and they were too short, the rom-com bits were to sit though.

Rhedyn
2018-08-05, 12:04 PM
So, I'm more of a new GM. I like to play, but no one else in my circle will DM, so I do it. Anyway, I had my first time of the players giving up on the game. We were five games in, and everything seemed to be ok...to me anyway. No one said a word. When I asked about the game, everyone said it was ok. Then, today, the players did an intervention I guess on me. So before the game starts they were all like, ok lets drop the game. They just did not like it. Or something. No one was clear. It was just like they did not like it. So they wanted me to just drop the current adventure and go on another one with the same characters.

But I was a bit bumbbed out. Like no one would or could say what was wrong or really anything. They just wanted to do something different. But I wonder if it was me? Like it had to be something? Right? So, ok, we drop this game and start another one, and what, they for no reason drop that two after a couple weeks? If I did do something, how can I change it, if they don't tell me what it was?

And on top of that, what about all the work I put into the adventure? Doing a Goggle I found a lot of advice that just says if the players want to drop a game the GM should just be supper happy, but that makes no sense to me. Like even good things have dull spots, like you know the airplane fights in Top Gun, but you just get through them and get to the good parts.

So, anyone have any advice?

Well first off, describe the adventure that they gave up on.

Also what rules system are you using?

Mordaedil
2018-08-06, 02:42 AM
It's difficult to know accurately without knowing in detail what has happened, but it could be things outside of the game itself that leads to disatisfaction, maybe something like the hours the game is run at.

If it is the game, it might be a disagreement of playstyle and it might be that they wanted either something more open form or more directed, again kinda depends on what exactly happened in your game.

It does help if you are positive about them expressing their dislike and ask for critique on what you can do better and try to be glad about it. DMs that can take critique in stride and improve themselves naturally feel better to play around and if they can't articulate it well enough, then it may be somewhere else and it might be worth taking up with us, as experienced DMs can more easily tell what the source of this might be.

caden_varn
2018-08-06, 04:31 AM
I'd say it is absolutely normal to feel a bit upset at your group not wanting to continue - in fact I'd say if you weren't, it would be a strong sign that you did not want to continue the game either.

I also think it is very normal not to want to put work into a new adventure without some idea of what they did not enjoy, as otherwise you may waste all your effort. If you are the only one that DMs, they are probably not aware of the work involved in writing & running an adventure. They are possibly also hesitant to come straight out & say what they didn't enjoy because they are worried it will upset you more.

Games to fail from time to time, but it is important to try to learn some lessons from them so you can avoid the same issues happening again.

Your group are the only ones who can tell you what the issue was. We can suggest possible issues here, but everyone is different, so you need to gewt at the things they disliked. I'd suggest talking to them again. You want to keep the tone respectful and positive as far as you can, but make the point that it is a lot of work writing & DMing adventures, and while you enjoy it, you don't want it to go to waste, so you need some feedback on the problem in order to avoid it in future.
If they are unwilling to say what they did not like on ther last adventure, try asking them what sort of thing they would like to see more of in future. This allows them to give feedback without feeling they are directly criticising you. You can also suggest different ways of them giving feedback - maybe in writing, or they can talk amongst themselves & delegate someone to give the feedback - this can take some of the personality out of it, and maybe encourage more reticent players to give more details.

If they won't give you any useful feedback - well, you don't have any obligation to run games for them. If you aren't happy running, suggest someone else takes the helm for a while. If they won't do that, you can play boardgames or suspend the group for a while, until you get your motivation back. If you aren't feeling motivated, you probably won't create the best game and it is more likely to fail again

Nifft
2018-08-06, 06:39 AM
So, anyone have any advice?

Email them each individually. Ask them to give you three positives and three negatives -- three things they liked, plus three things they didn't like.

The structure can help people overcome social inertia and start talking to you, and can help them overcome the feeling of unfairness by presenting a "balanced" set of opinions instead of just focusing on either being nice or being critical.

mephnick
2018-08-06, 07:03 AM
Definitely demand feedback. That's not fair to drop something and not give any reasons for it.

Just be prepared for vagueness, because people easily realize when they don't like something, but are really bad at figuring out why they don't like something.

Faily
2018-08-06, 08:30 AM
Ask for feedback, ask them what they liked and didn't like about the abandoned games.

And ask what kind of adventure they would be interested in playing.

I've become a fan of stating up front what sort of adventure it will be when I begin GMing a game. "This will be a heroic adventure, race-against-the-clock kind of deal" <- me describing Red Hand of Doom. "This will be a short adventure, a rescue operation on the Imperial-occupied world of Alderaan, and you're playing members of the Republic," <- me describing my intro-adventure for FFG Star Wars. Likewise, a GM can ask the players what they would like from a campaign.

Communication is always key!

Dawgmoah
2018-08-06, 11:51 AM
Stuff happens: it would be nice if your group of friends would tell you what happened though. They might be trying to not hurt your feelings? We don't know what happened or anything other than what you described.

I once had five out of six players quit a game after the first session. No reason why other than one person said I failed miserably as a GM. I brushed it off and advertised it again and ran the same exact adventure for the one remaining player and the replacement players and continued on for a year after that. (All online, not with a group of friends mind you.)

I'd say dust yourself off, find out what went wrong if possible, and try again with a different group if you want to continue GMing.

Mr Beer
2018-08-07, 01:09 AM
Without specific feedback as to what they want, there is zero chance I'd run another game. That's not to say I'd give up on finding out what the problem is but GM-ing takes time and effort, I'm not investing that for people who don't like the game but want me to carry on doing it but won't tell me what to change. It's like dealing with a passive aggressive girlfriend, I don't have the time or the energy for guessing games.