TOPIC: my experience... not good

Kirk Bauer wrote:

bpsymington wrote: I don't think we need a mystery shopper program, between ACs checking in and observing DMs and experienced players and volunteers doing runs and reporting on issues they witnessed.

Not trying to get anybody in trouble or anything, but I was a first-time DM and my AC did not observe me during combat, but did occasionally stop by at other times. This could simply be because many groups killed my monster too quickly, but still I wasn't observed doing actual combat work.

Dude, I observed you. (Not that I'm anybody special.) You did fine.

MasterED wrote:

TJRat wrote: I recognize that DMs should have full control over the reactions of the monster, within the bounds of the description. But shouldn't they consider rolling a die to determine who gets attacked if no character makes an 'impression' upon them?

DM's are giving monster's favorite targets. Naturally the monster has to be intelligent and the target should probably have taken an action (cast a spell, attacked, etc. to differentiate their class). Regardless, what it sounds like here is another case of a volunteer getting carried away.

Ed

Favorite targets, yes - evil monsters often attack the cleric or paladin, non-intelligent monsters might attack whomever is closest to the DM, etc. Unless the module says so, though, the DM should split up attacks so no one person feels unfairly picked upon.

no one wrote: OK, to reply to some of the things that all you nice people have said:

The DM in the lava room expressed that he thought it was excessive to have only one shot and lose the treasure. Also, that taking away the boots was something that he disagreed with, when we asked. He also said that he was instructed to be hard on people as to stepping on the right tiles. There was no "leeway."

Whether TD has an interest in avoiding treasure stamps or not is not the point, the point is that it appeared they didn't want anyone who didn't have certain tokens to lose out. 2 of the treasure rooms in that dungeon looked to have less than a 10% completion rate, and to new players it looks like TD wants to force them to spend a lot of money to "guarantee" the reward that they felt they earned. The puzzle was solved in time, not forced, and a token that looked like it was designed to circumvent was explicitly excluded. And when you factor in that I know there is a lot of fire resistance floating around, the lava boots were useless. half damage didn't make any difference to me or a lot of red equipped players.

I understand that management can't control ticket sales to people, and there are times you can't get slots filled. But I don't check the forum while at Gencon, I don't have access to wifi. I know a lot of people don't want to waitlist, cause in previous years you might wait a couple hours for a ticket, and you had to have generics in hand. Also, you don't know if you will be able to get 2 or 3 together, and from what I have seen rarely do. And at least one person I know didn't get their badge until after tickets were sold out. So between volunteer shifts, and the other things they want to do they have to add 1/2 wait (if they are lucky) to a 2 hour event.

I don't think that a mystery shopper would help with the biggest complaints that my group had, they were deliberate designs that hurt new players, while hardly phasing veterans.

I am pretty sure that nothing was deliberately designed ti hurt new, veteran, or any players.

Ro-gan wrote:

Kirk Bauer wrote:

bpsymington wrote: I don't think we need a mystery shopper program, between ACs checking in and observing DMs and experienced players and volunteers doing runs and reporting on issues they witnessed.

Not trying to get anybody in trouble or anything, but I was a first-time DM and my AC did not observe me during combat, but did occasionally stop by at other times. This could simply be because many groups killed my monster too quickly, but still I wasn't observed doing actual combat work.

Don't be so sure, Kirk. They do peek in instead of actually coming into your room. This is because they don't want to interrupt the parties and ruin the feel of the room for them. Over the years I've volunteered the Ninja in me has observed not only my AC's looking in to see how things are going, but also Jeff. If they don't come in after peeking in that means you are doing well.

Kirk Bauer wrote:

bpsymington wrote: I don't think we need a mystery shopper program, between ACs checking in and observing DMs and experienced players and volunteers doing runs and reporting on issues they witnessed.

Not trying to get anybody in trouble or anything, but I was a first-time DM and my AC did not observe me during combat, but did occasionally stop by at other times. This could simply be because many groups killed my monster too quickly, but still I wasn't observed doing actual combat work.

Correction: my completely not-creepy AC did check in on me, I was just too busy to notice, so I'm retracting my comment

Now, about all of the people watching me shower...

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Kirk Bauer wrote:

bpsymington wrote: I don't think we need a mystery shopper program, between ACs checking in and observing DMs and experienced players and volunteers doing runs and reporting on issues they witnessed.

Not trying to get anybody in trouble or anything, but I was a first-time DM and my AC did not observe me during combat, but did occasionally stop by at other times. This could simply be because many groups killed my monster too quickly, but still I wasn't observed doing actual combat work.

Correction: my completely not-creepy AC did check in on me, I was just too busy to notice, so I'm retracting my comment

Now, about all of the people watching me shower...

I only have an issue with what appears to be a change in the number of failures allowed when it comes to earning a treasure stamp. The Boots of Lava Walking, while letting you walk on lava, don't stop the damage you take.

Text on Token:
May walk on lava as solid ground. Confers no Fire resistance

While you could walk to the other side, you aren't solving the puzzle at all, you are just bypassing the challenge. Should you get a stamp for not solving the puzzle?

I feel that the players that had issues with jumping or taking large steps should be allowed to tell the DM exactly what they are doing, and then they can be allowed to cross the room. We had two people in one of my parties that did just this, as there was no way to leap from one tile to the next that was needed without risking injury.

balthasar wrote:
I feel that the players that had issues with jumping or taking large steps should be allowed to tell the DM exactly what they are doing, and then they can be allowed to cross the room. We had two people in one of my parties that did just this, as there was no way to leap from one tile to the next that was needed without risking injury.

Situation which needed to be DM's discretion this year, what do/did you do in that room when you had a pregnant player in the party? Lady in question was telling me about it when she went through the sable side about her telling the DM she physically wasn't able to do the long steps for that puzzle.

Matt wrote: Situation which needed to be DM's discretion this year, what do/did you do in that room when you had a pregnant player in the party? Lady in question was telling me about it when she went through the sable side about her telling the DM she physically wasn't able to do the long steps for that puzzle.

That's an absolute no-brainer to me, and should be for any DM. If the player is not physically able to hop onto the correct space, they can simply tell the DM "I'm going to step on the letter 'E'" and then move however they can. This is called role-playing after all, and she wasn't a pregnant woman, she was a spry and nimble elf wizard (or whatever).

Kirk Bauer wrote:

Matt wrote: Situation which needed to be DM's discretion this year, what do/did you do in that room when you had a pregnant player in the party? Lady in question was telling me about it when she went through the sable side about her telling the DM she physically wasn't able to do the long steps for that puzzle.

That's an absolute no-brainer to me, and should be for any DM. If the player is not physically able to hop onto the correct space, they can simply tell the DM "I'm going to step on the letter 'E'" and then move however they can. This is called role-playing after all, and she wasn't a pregnant woman, she was a spry and nimble elf wizard (or whatever).

When we ran it, that's what our DM did. Shelly (not pregnant, that's how rumors start) did the best she could, but when her foot couldn't quite make it he said, "that's OK, but the rest of you guys..." So, well done, whoever you are.

The mystery shopper ideal is cool, but it's a cost, and eats spot in a run. Basically we already informally do this for free.

Take away xp/survey url cards are cool, but there's a feedback lag, where people enter their feedback after the con vs right after their run.

I think the comment cards/survey card you drop in a box after your run is best. Give them out in the XP room. And have a drop box in the XP rooms and by the TD entrance.

During the day, AC's can go to the boxes an get the cards associated with their runs for feedback. After gencon Jeff could use all the cards to tally which rooms were hits and which weren't.

Example:


I think this is simple and quick, thus meaning more people will fill it out. The front lists the dungeon, and give a spot to rate each room, and the back is for comments and the start time of your run.

Graven wrote: The mystery shopper ideal is cool, but it's a cost, and eats spot in a run. Basically we already informally do this for free.

Take away xp/survey url cards are cool, but there's a feedback lag, where people enter their feedback after the con vs right after their run.

I think the comment cards/survey card you drop in a box after your run is best. Give them out in the XP room. And have a drop box in the XP rooms and by the TD entrance.

During the day, AC's can go to the boxes an get the cards associated with their runs for feedback. After gencon Jeff could use all the cards to tally which rooms were hits and which weren't.

Example:

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I think this is simple and quick, thus meaning more people will fill it out. The front lists the dungeon, and give a spot to rate each room, and the back is for comments and the start time of your run.

The simpler it is the more likely people will fill it out.

This may be too simple. You can't tell if people did or didn't like it because of the room, the decor, the DM, etc. unless feedback is actionable, it's not very useful.