Chokuto
2008-07-20, 08:33 PM
'ello everyone, I have a problem and would like some unbiased, outside objective opinions, which I'm sure I could acquire from such experienced gamers that frequent these boards.
Okay... I've been DM-ing for about 5 years, and am really well versed with the deeper mechanics and what-not of v3.5. The majority of my weekly group consist of the same players that I started with, albeit a few exceptions. A friend of my brother-in-law's expressed interest in DnD and I decided to kinda "take him under my wing" so to speak. I was nervous about letting him join in my group because I felt he might be a bit overwhelmed sitting at a table of 5 gamers with years of experince while he still might have to ask what the difference between an attack roll and damage roll was. (hey, no laughing, its the most common "new-player" question I get.) But after a week of idle take about dnd whatnot and some mechanics explanations, he seemed to grap on quickly and was still extremely exicted by the prospect of playing. So, somewhat nervously as he wasn't really personal friends with anyone other than me, decided to let him in on a campaign...
...and it was a huge success!!! He roleplayed like a champ, was funny, and generally liked by everyone. In fact he was probably one of the top three players at the table. Simply adding him to the group kinda revamped everyone into looking forward to the next game session. And there is no better reward as a DM...(except maybe cookies...)
Then, after about five sessions, he dropped outta of the group. I've had this happen to multiple people for multiple reasons, sometimes people just get tired of DnD, but I found out a week later he was looking for a new group to play with. I asked him what happened, thinking maybe he disliked another player or something, but he simply replied.. "It just wasn't fun anymore..."
No other words are so sure to shatter a DM's confidence.
I asked him if he could be a little more specific, stating that DM-ing is a contast learning process and that I need to know what players like and are expecting in order to make the game more enjoyable, but he said he couldn't really pin-point it, and that it was nothing against me, but that it just wasn't fun.
Maybe this part is paranoia, but now it seems as if ALL my players are at least slightly dissatisfied but don't want to tell me. this is a shock since i tend to focus more on the fun aspect of DnD than be a rules guru. Any helpful critiques?
Okay... I've been DM-ing for about 5 years, and am really well versed with the deeper mechanics and what-not of v3.5. The majority of my weekly group consist of the same players that I started with, albeit a few exceptions. A friend of my brother-in-law's expressed interest in DnD and I decided to kinda "take him under my wing" so to speak. I was nervous about letting him join in my group because I felt he might be a bit overwhelmed sitting at a table of 5 gamers with years of experince while he still might have to ask what the difference between an attack roll and damage roll was. (hey, no laughing, its the most common "new-player" question I get.) But after a week of idle take about dnd whatnot and some mechanics explanations, he seemed to grap on quickly and was still extremely exicted by the prospect of playing. So, somewhat nervously as he wasn't really personal friends with anyone other than me, decided to let him in on a campaign...
...and it was a huge success!!! He roleplayed like a champ, was funny, and generally liked by everyone. In fact he was probably one of the top three players at the table. Simply adding him to the group kinda revamped everyone into looking forward to the next game session. And there is no better reward as a DM...(except maybe cookies...)
Then, after about five sessions, he dropped outta of the group. I've had this happen to multiple people for multiple reasons, sometimes people just get tired of DnD, but I found out a week later he was looking for a new group to play with. I asked him what happened, thinking maybe he disliked another player or something, but he simply replied.. "It just wasn't fun anymore..."
No other words are so sure to shatter a DM's confidence.
I asked him if he could be a little more specific, stating that DM-ing is a contast learning process and that I need to know what players like and are expecting in order to make the game more enjoyable, but he said he couldn't really pin-point it, and that it was nothing against me, but that it just wasn't fun.
Maybe this part is paranoia, but now it seems as if ALL my players are at least slightly dissatisfied but don't want to tell me. this is a shock since i tend to focus more on the fun aspect of DnD than be a rules guru. Any helpful critiques?