In the perfect game...

[Shinizak]

DMs, we all have the golden game in the back of our minds, one where we've constructed elaborate traps, plot twists, & NPC interactions. The players a warm and considerate to one another and often work together to use their party complementing abilities to solve your encounters in an interesting & thought provoking way.

Of course this trash is utter fantasy (even more so then what we play with on a regular basis), so tell me about it. what would your perfect game have in it?

[Cespenar]

Continuity.

[Escheton]

Loud music, alcohol. "Party"-people and a quest for a perfectly good time.
Basicly, you start in a tavern, and roleplay/live the night/day/night/day/week...
No leaving the place for the slaying of dragons and all that nonsense.

[Ryu_Bonkosi]

Less team killing and more constructive and in-depth character background.

[Tvtyrant]

My perfect game would have my characters traveling across all the times, planes and places in my world, and having them slowly and accidentally construct the exact world that they were born in, with them returning to their time and place just in time to watch themselves leave. If I could have it perfect, I would tell them that they see a group stepping out of a portal as they enter the one to the past, and I would give them the exact description they have at the end of the campaign. :D

[Vizzerdrix]

Hmm...

-The DM wouldn't change the story every five minutes to suit his girlfriend.
-Putting metamagic on a spell (or indeed, casting a spell of a level higher than 3rd) wouldn't get me accused of cheating.
-I wouldn't have to sit around for three sessions while the DM ran a solo mission for a single player (god that was horrid)
-The other players would: A) Know how to build a character and B)understand how things like AoOs and casting worked. And flanking.
-The other players understood that it was a TEAM GAME and not a game about a group of individuals.
-I wouldn't have to keep track of buffs for everyone (that included the monsters as well.)
-We'd play adventurers and not "Big Damn Heros" for once (Kill the baddies, that the goodies. No more world saving epic fail games please)
-The DM wouldn't softball the encounters and run things with a shred of common sense.
-(Last, but most importantly) everyone would walk away at the end of the night having had fun for once.

I ask a lot, I know. It's why I haven't sat down and played in a few years now.

[TKB]

-Were everyone talked
-all the players understood the importance of relaying information to other players
-players wouldn't keep secrets from other players just for ****s and giggles
-that it wouldn't take a life threatening event to become obviously so before players did SOMETHING fix the situation (o the number of times when a player in my party just watched things progress from bad to worst and all i can think is "stab the bad guy stab the bad guy stab the bad guy")
-were "role playing" wasn't synonymous with "i cause problems"
-were the decisions people make to try and solve a situation from going from bad to worst DIDN'T make it even worst then it would have been

[HunterOfJello]

-Every single NPC will be a meaningful character on their own with their own hopes, dreams, personality and differing view of each of the PCs.
-NPC women think and act like real women. NPC men think and act like real men.
-The death of friends is a true loss and a great sadness. The death of enemies is a true moment of triumph and happiness.
-There is always at least a small, tiny but significant amount of good in all living beings. (Except for Demons and Devils.)

[Totally Guy]

The main conflict would be a big intraparty conflict. The players would play hard against the other players and argue and compromise. The compromises would spiral the game into another conflict and another. Violence breaks out and the characters are all invested in the result whether they are the ones fighting or as a manipulator that built towards the bloodshed.

There is a full short story at the table with a beginning, a middle and an end. The characters emerged as a heroes, a villains and a victor.

Then the players all say "Great game, same again next week!"

But I think I'm in a pretty small minority.

[Crossblade]

-Where everyone talked

....and no one stole the spot light excessively. But everyone did get a turn in the spot light

-The death of friends is a true loss and a great sadness.

Or sparks any sort of emotion; even when resurrections are available.

*Everyone has a background story and future goals, and sticks to roleplaying with it; even if goals change over the course of time.

*Nobody has uber builds. I'm more than happy with everyone playing at a Tier 2 - 3.

*Nobody plays the Stupid Alignment & everyone plays a Good Guy.

*Nobody plays a Mary Sue. (Yes, that one's susceptible to opinion for definition)

*Everyone works together as a team, with no backstabbing for self gain.

*Everyone arrives to the game on time. Nobody loses character sheets. The game even happens on a regular schedule.

[randomhero00]

More character building and intra-group building. I want stories with the people sitting next to me, not NPCs that die after a few levels. I am so sick of someone playing the evil character and screwing over the rest of the party, or making us paranoid. F**KING SICK OF IT! (just recently was screwed over sorry)

But expanding on this concept, for instance when I DM I'm sick of the players looking at me and going now what? And picking roleplay characters that are jerks and never get along with the party. Its like, why would they want you in the group?!

sigh

edit

*Everyone arrives to the game on time. Nobody loses character sheets. The game even happens on a regular schedule.

AMEN, I don't think we've ever started on time in years. We always start 30-75 minutes late! WHY do we even bother saying we'll meet then?! grrrr

edit2 Oh and I'm sick of playing the guy that always keeps the story going and the group together. One of these days I'm just going to let them go. I don't think anyone even notices all the subtle help I give them to keep the game going and the group happy. So ya, in a perfect game everyone would chip in when they notice a conflict (OOC) approaching.

edit3 lol. And to have a DM that understands balance. THE MONK IS NOT OVERPOWERED FOR THE LAST TIME. heh

[Yahzi]

what would your perfect game have in it?

I had the perfect game. There were mysteries to be solved in-game, and each player had a different set of clues. But I gave them so many mysteries and so many clues that they never just sad down and said, "Ok, here's what I know, what do you know, there we go, mystery solved." They were too busy roleplaying.

It was great.

And then 2 different couples in the group got divorced. So, you know, that kinda killed the campaign.

[Shadowleaf]

First season of Heroes, basicly.

Cool powers and clever use of said powers, lots of intrique/manipulation/politics, moral grey areas.

[true_shinken]

Loud music, alcohol. "Party"-people and a quest for a perfectly good time.
Basicly, you start in a tavern, and roleplay/live the night/day/night/day/week...
No leaving the place for the slaying of dragons and all that nonsense.

I find that's the kind of thing you should do yourself instead of roleplaying it, but to each his own.

[Shadowleaf]

I find that's the kind of thing you should do yourself instead of roleplaying it, but to each his own.

My birthday party last year was Tavern-themed. Everyone were adventurers, except a few key people (tavern barmaids, the fat barkeep, the old crazy storyteller). Everyone stayed 'in character' for the most part, telling stories of damsels in distresses, dragons, shining knights and so forth. We had wine, beer and mead, mainly.

Damn that was an awesome night.

[true_shinken]

My birthday party last year was Tavern-themed. Everyone were adventurers, except a few key people (tavern barmaids, the fat barkeep, the old crazy storyteller). Everyone stayed 'in character' for the most part, telling stories of damsels in distresses, dragons, shining knights and so forth. We had wine, beer and mead, mainly.

Damn that was an awesome night.

Make sure to invite me next time

[Escheton]

I find that's the kind of thing you should do yourself instead of roleplaying it, but to each his own.

I may have written that just having come home from doing just that...

And it's one of the few situations where dodge, mobility, perform:dance and diplomacy are actually usefull. And tumble/escape artist. But they are used in conventional games as well.

[Tengu_temp]

Unrealistic scenario: No game is perfect until it has an animated opening, complete with an awesome song. I have such a thing in my head pretty much for every game I've played/DMed for longer, but I lack the talent and dedication to actually create it.

Realistic scenario: Take the PbP game I've been playing in for over a year now, make the one player who's on hiatus return and up everyone's posting rate to at least 2-3 posts per day. There, didn't take much. Yes, that game really is so good for me.

[Callista]

People who like to RP, and like to have fun. Which I've had several times already. I don't think it takes that much to make a game "perfect".

[Ormur]

I've never had very bad roleplaying experiences and considering some of the stories here I'm lucky playing with decent people so roleplaying is already the most entertaining thing I do.

But since we're talking about perfect here I can think of a few things. A lot of them relate to myself, there are things I wish I did better and this isn't a critique on any of the games I'm in, on the contrary.

-The ideal campaign would be a long running high stakes game that had an involved and coherent but flexible plot. We'd have some idea eventually at least of a goal or an enemy but the plot existed in a larger context with tangential side plots. So, minimal rails but still epic.
-The campaign world would be complicated and diverse without being a kitchen sink where all myths are true. There would be scope for intrigue and urban plots but also wilderness and dungeon delving. It would have a rich history which would feature in the plot.
-The characters would be interesting, fully fleshed out and would eventually come naturally to the players. The party could work together despite conflicting personalities and goals, i.e. the intra-party conflict would be fun for the players, not divisive. Most dialogue would be in character.
-The DM would be reasonable and only ban things for plot or balance reasons while working to accommodate every preference. Encounters would be interesting, often challenging and occasionally lethal without TPKs or the feeling that the DM is out to get the party. I like fewer and more difficult encounters rather than a constant grind.

I have to say that many of those conditions are already present in the games I play although maybe not all at once or every session but nothing is ever perfect.

[dsmiles]

Perfect game = players happily stay on the rails.

Seriously, though. There would have to be lots of intra-party interaction, less intra-party knifing, and the players would take the basics of the plot I designed and roll with it.

[SamsDisciple]

Every PC has a backstory and the DM works every backstory into the main plot (PC has children that you run into, run from an angry rogues guild that you owe, take revenge on slavers that beat you until you manifested psionic powers) when there is a backstory and it is relevant it makes the whole campaign more enjoyable especially when PC background's are intertwined. Also +1 to PC's working together and not trying to outshine/backstab eachother ( unless its relevant to backstories ;) )

[Safety Sword]

Make sure to invite me next time

My 21st birthday was medieval themed. Pulling a sword on guests as they arrived was pretty fun...

[Physics_Rook]

In my perfect game ... there are no scheduling conflicts.

[onthetown]

In my perfect game, I'm... able to DM something other than online. Live. I would love to be able to DM in front of actual, tangible people.

As a player, I would love a campaign where the DM has an answer prepared for every possible outcome so that, when we totally throw him for a loop, he doesn't just sit there and stare at us and go, "Uh... okay..."

[Angry Bob]

It'd be nice to play a game where the DM actually banned anything. And that one player was courteous enough to show the DM their character sheet before singlehandedly pwning what was supposed to be a boss fight.

[Psyren]

My perfect game would have my characters traveling across all the times, planes and places in my world, and having them slowly and accidentally construct the exact world that they were born in, with them returning to their time and place just in time to watch themselves leave. If I could have it perfect, I would tell them that they see a group stepping out of a portal as they enter the one to the past, and I would give them the exact description they have at the end of the campaign. :D

I have to admit, this one appealed to me. I'd enjoy tweaking causality's nose like that.

[zyborg]

My perfect game is where everyone acts like backstabbing jerks and everyone dies. Multiple times.

Oh, wait, you mean D&D-type games? Approximately the opposite. No 'I stab my friend while he sleeps' or 'BARBARIAN SMASH ENEMIES, IGNORE ALLIES!' shenanigans, but epic teamwork and combination attacks. At least one survivor, who RPs their sadness of the loss of his/her friends, rather than act like nothing happened. I've never run a game, but this is the kind of game I would like to run, or even just be in.

[Boci]

A really large group (12+), out of which 2-6 meet up frequently but irregularly for a 6-8 hour gaming session. The in game reason for this is that they are all part of the same adventure guild and get assigned tasks, thus their team mates vary. As the game goes on and they advance in levels they start to build contact and alliances, eventually expanding along with their guild into multiple planes.

[Science Officer]

In my perfect game ... there are no scheduling conflicts.

A thousand times this.