TOPIC: Volunteers don't play TD?

bpsymington wrote: As a player, I've never run into one of these killer DMs. Obviously some are better than others, but I haven't encountered any out to get players.

As a DM, I was not a killer DM.

As an AC, I haven't witnessed any of my DMs acting like this, and no one has reported concerns like this to me. I hope players will if it happens.

Luckily they are few and far between. I had no problems this year other than hearing them joke about it during training. Again even joking about it may give the wrong impression to new DMs. I think it's an easy fix regardless. I'm sure they aren't bad guys, and may not even realize they have ruined it for some. I'm glad some of you haven't run into any, but ask around others have.

Sadly the ones that are, most likely will be on their best behavior when the AC is around. The ones it effects the most (newer under equipped players) may not even know it's happening, so they don't complain... they figure it's just the way it is and don't come back.

Again it's an easy fix. It's players vs. the monsters or puzzle... not the DM. Stick to the modules. The difficulty has already been set for each level. I don't care if it's a new player on normal or a veteran playing nightmare... DMs are there to make sure they have fun.

Incognito wrote: Personally, I think it is past time to do some volunteer cleaning house. Much as I think volunteers should be commended for their contributions, a lot of volunteers really aren't very good at their roles and may in fact be liabilities from a PR standpoint (particularly abusive DM's who lack customer service skills and/or don't understand the game and/or tokens).

That is why I was hoping for a feedback system which was curiously absent again.

Ed

At least this year I did not encounter anything like a killer DM. The worst experiences I have had over the last few years are slow DMs. Last year in one fight we didn't even complete 2 rounds. Two years ago I encountered a guy who just frankly told us he was a last minute fill in, was very rusty and asked us to bear with him. I caught a math error while the horn was sounding that turned defeat (on time) into victory. Three years ago a DM mislaid his die and we lost a lot of time to that but pulled it out anyway.

But these were aberrations and not malicious ones.

Kirk was talking at the Wed. dinner about some damage calculation shortcuts and tips. Maybe he could share some details after getting settled from moving.

Lodestone (KH) wrote: Kirk was talking at the Wed. dinner about some damage calculation shortcuts and tips. Maybe he could share some details after getting settled from moving.

Im not even a dm but I wouldnt mi d hearing them.

wow i'm curious how many in here actually volunteer and rooms in td? next year will be my 5th year volunteering, and i have yet to play the game. many of the volunteers come to GenCon for more than just TD. and if not for those people who never played the game before, i highly doubt there would be enough Vol's to make TD happen. personally i have tried to make it into a run for the last 3 years, but i can never get tickets of my group when they go on sale, or something else comes up, it is gencon after all there were just short of 17,000 events this year alone.
as far as bad dm's there are a few, but the tone of the party also sets the tone of the dm in many instances. it's those groups who keep us going. we don't get to play for only 2 hours a night, we have to work for 8, and keeping track of every token, and what it does is next to impossible for the guys who have done it forever let alone the guys who are 1st or 2nd year dm's. i've had just as many awful parties as you guys are complaining about bad dm's.
it honestly would be great if there was an intensive training for all the dm's, and a test dungeon for us to play thru and get an idea of how everything works, but the reality of it is we are lucky to get everyone there on wed for the training we do have, and this year i was at "training" from about 5 to almost 10 wed night. for those who want to complain about dm's who don't play i say this, come put in a full shift running a room, especially a combat room, and then come back and see if there are as many complaints.

Philip if you are free during one of my runs next you will have a ticket to play if you want. Drop me a pm next after tickets go on sale.

Phillip Evans wrote: wow i'm curious how many in here actually volunteer and rooms in td? next year will be my 5th year volunteering, and i have yet to play the game. many of the volunteers come to GenCon for more than just TD. and if not for those people who never played the game before, i highly doubt there would be enough Vol's to make TD happen. personally i have tried to make it into a run for the last 3 years, but i can never get tickets of my group when they go on sale, or something else comes up, it is gencon after all there were just short of 17,000 events this year alone.
as far as bad dm's there are a few, but the tone of the party also sets the tone of the dm in many instances. it's those groups who keep us going. we don't get to play for only 2 hours a night, we have to work for 8, and keeping track of every token, and what it does is next to impossible for the guys who have done it forever let alone the guys who are 1st or 2nd year dm's. i've had just as many awful parties as you guys are complaining about bad dm's.
it honestly would be great if there was an intensive training for all the dm's, and a test dungeon for us to play thru and get an idea of how everything works, but the reality of it is we are lucky to get everyone there on wed for the training we do have, and this year i was at "training" from about 5 to almost 10 wed night. for those who want to complain about dm's who don't play i say this, come put in a full shift running a room, especially a combat room, and then come back and see if there are as many complaints.

I have no problems with Volunteers that don't play... actually some of the better DMs I've had don't (that actually surprised me). I wish something could be done to remedy this. I know how hard it is to find time while volunteering, especially full-time.

I don't think anybody truly expects a DM to know everything, but it is their job to make the runs as smooth as possible.

I do actually DM, so I know about bad groups. Sadly it is a customer service position and you can't let a bad group ruin it for everyone.

I invite you to join a Team Yeti run if you can find the time. I think everybody should have the opportunity to run through the dungeon if they want to.

Yeah - playing should't be a prerequisite - that anyone want to volunteer their time is fantastic.

Knowing combat rules and tokens (broadly) should be for being a combat room DM - whether they come about it through play or not who cares.

i had the Yeti group come thru my room i think sat morning maybe.... beholder puzzle rm 4, or fri beholder combat room 4. you guys were awesome if i remember right.

between tickets selling out within an hour, and actually trying to go to the con, working, and occasionally sleeping (16hr this year most in 4 years of GenCon) there isn't much free time left.

as far as tokens go, every dm is going to take things a little different, if we get it wrong for your room most of us find out what is correct, and fix it for the next group, but we can't go back and make it right for your group/ it is just a fact of shoving people thru every 12 min.

as a dm you know there are those groups, or usually that person in a group who is ruining things for the rest of the group, and as a dm there is only so much you can do if one person is ruining it for everyone else, or the dreaded puzzle group who won't do anything or even talk no matter how much the dm tries to get them to interact, they are just 10 people walking around silently for 10 min.......

Phillip Evans wrote: i had the Yeti group come thru my room i think sat morning maybe.... beholder puzzle rm 4, or fri beholder combat room 4. you guys were awesome if i remember right.

between tickets selling out within an hour, and actually trying to go to the con, working, and occasionally sleeping (16hr this year most in 4 years of GenCon) there isn't much free time left.

as far as tokens go, every dm is going to take things a little different, if we get it wrong for your room most of us find out what is correct, and fix it for the next group, but we can't go back and make it right for your group/ it is just a fact of shoving people thru every 12 min.

as a dm you know there are those groups, or usually that person in a group who is ruining things for the rest of the group, and as a dm there is only so much you can do if one person is ruining it for everyone else, or the dreaded puzzle group who won't do anything or even talk no matter how much the dm tries to get them to interact, they are just 10 people walking around silently for 10 min.......

You most likely did... and Yeah we are The offer stands if you find any time. We run throughout the con.

Which room was that you had?

As long as a DM is reasonable, that's all I ask for. I understand everything won't be 100% every time.

I agree there is not much you can do with certain groups other than grin and bare it... and move em along.

i was beholder all weekend room 4 thurs night, and sat day i was in puzzle side. fri night i was in room 4 combat side, and sun i was in room 5 puzzle side.

i'm the guy with the long hair, with all the bad jokes.... lol