What I've Learned As A Player (A Companion Guide)

[Halbarad]

As the topic title says, this is something of a companion topic to Brian's excellent topic on being a good GM. Many of the points in it are relevant to players as well as GMs, but there are a few things that are unique to our perspective as well.

The main point to remember in being a good player is to communicate. The first real place to do this is with your GM; as Brian said, a lot of problems in a game can come from improper expectations between players and their GM, so making sure that you can get a clear idea of what you NEED to know is essential. Going into a game, the main things to watch out for are the game's concept and tone; the concept should obviously be something that interests you, but make sure you get an idea of the tone as well - going into a game with the idea that it's going to be a dark, brooding game and finding out that the GM plans to take a comedic angle with it will wreck everyone's gaming experience. You aren't going to be happy with the way the game is run, and no one else is going to be happy with your perspective on events if they're all looking at the same thing the GM is. Another, more minor point to bear in mind with the GM is their flexibility on the rules they're using; some will be draconian about 'if it's not in the book, you can't have it' where others will more or less change rules on the fly to make things work better for their game - and it's probably a good idea to know which way your GM is likely to go before you start playing.

Communication doesn't stop with the GM, though - communicating with your fellow players is just as essential to making sure everyone can make the most of the game. In any extended-length game, you're generally going to be working with the same players for quite a good deal of time, so making sure you're not working at cross purposes with the other players. Yeah, it can be fun to work behind the scenes to screw up the other players' plans, but if you're not in a heavily political game or the other players are clueless about your actions in an OOC sense, you're not going to do a lot more than breed enemies once they find out who's been wrecking their plans. True, in some games it IS in-character for almost everyone to do that, but if you're not in that kind of system or setting, you're just going to piss people off unless they know it's not your intention to do so (OOC). This DOESN'T mean that you have to give away all of your secrets as a player (and we do get to have a few), but if it's a potential source of trouble it's probably best that you let people know before it becomes an OOC issue - those are the real game-killers.

Just as essential is YOUR end of the communication angle, though. Letting the GM and the other players know your general goals and plans is definitely a plus, but with that said you should be ready to hear feedback on those plans as well. If you're in a campaign where you're out to save the world and you plan on playing a character that will focus entirely on some other angle, or try to work against the other PCs from inside the group, you're probably going to hear from the other players (and possibly the GM) that you may not have the best concept for that particular game. Yes, almost any character concept is playable somewhere, but there are going to be settings and tones where the idea you have in mind is going to generate far more headaches than enjoyment. It doesn't mean you necessarily have to bow to pressure to CHANGE that idea, but in general if you're hearing the same feedback from multiple sources, odds are you're laying crosswise to the game and should consider making a change. Yes, sometimes it does mean you're going to have to break your original conception of the character, but hopefully it can be caught early enough that it won't become a huge hairy mess, either.

The final point is one I can't really stress enough, in almost every game. MAINTAIN THE DELINEATION BETWEEN OOC AND IC KNOWLEDGE AND ACTIONS. This will kill you nine times out of ten if you let it get out of hand. If your character has a huge argument with another character IC, let it stay IC - don't carry it over to something between players. Hopefully you're friends, or at least speaking acquaintances with the other players in a game; letting IC events turn into OOC issues is really rather silly. What happens in the game should never be important enough to breed resentment between friends; admittedly, this requires both sides to adhere to this rule to really be effective, but all you can do as a player is stick to it yourself the best you can.

And the reverse is also true. If you have issues with one of the other players OOC, it shouldn't bleed over into your character if at all possible. Just because your roommate keeps leaving the cap off the toothpaste doesn't mean your character all of a sudden refuses to work with him; if you maintain that separation between IC and OOC events, this shouldn't be that hard to accomplish. YOU may be ticked off at Alex, but does your character really have an IC reason to start disliking his at the same time? Just keep it in mind.

That said, almost all of us have bad days when it comes to RP, especially if you do it frequently; you'll feel like everything you're doing is coming out wrong, or that you're totally missing your characterization. Communication can be a big help here; if you feel like you're flubbing things badly, ask for a break from the game or try to check your actions with the other players - you might not be as far off as you think, or you might be able to get help in getting back on track.

And remember: in every game, the point is to have fun. If you're not having fun, you're in the wrong business; this is, in the end, still a game. If YOU'RE not having fun playing in it, or if you can see that you're ruining the fun for other people, you should really rethink your position. And that doesn't mean that you have to spend every moment worrying about how other people are going to take your actions, but if you see a trend beginning to develop, ask around to figure out if the problem is you or something else - again, communication is key.

And feel free to add your own comments or answer any points you disagree with here. These are just my inane ramblings, so take it with as much salt as you like.

- Halbarad
"I can only help one person per day. Today's not your day. Tomorrow's not looking good either."

[thepanda]

Well, let me see.

Of all the things I've learned as a player I'd have to say that there comes a time when you will have to put the game before your own preferences. Shit happens. IG and OOG things can affect you as a player with equally debilitating consequences. When these things happen you have a choice; try to continue as is or simply cut your loses. An example of OOG situations affecting the game is one I currently suffer under. As those I game with know, my laptop died a while back and without it I had no way of making the gaming times. What this translated into IG was that one of the vital characters in the campaign was suddenly thrust into limbo. The GM didn't really want to play her as I'd been gaming with her for three (I think) story arcs already. She was, in a word, MY PC. But, and here came the major problem, in our game each PC tends to serve a unique function. Mine was to be brainy. It's what she does. Plus she was a major contributor to the Moon Restoration Project.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that she was an essential part of the world as it had been shaped around these characters for the past few arc, and suddenly the player couldn't play. At this point I was given options; relegate the PC to an NPC position, have the GM move her to the fringes of the storyline until I could make an appearance again, or open the PC up for someone else to use. As a player, after you've invested so much time in a character you hate to let them go, be it by dying or dropping them, but I knew that the chances of me coming back reliably in a timely manor were slim to none. That pretty much killed the first option and the second wouldn't have been fair to the other PCs either. In the end, for the good of the game, I had to let the character go. Thankfully Dune wasn't pushing me toward this decision, or I might have begrudged the outcome later. But now that I look in and see how the game has expanded, I can honestly say I made the right choice.

I'd go into IG situations that could have benefited from letting go, but that would require more time than I currently have with info and stuff as not to offend.