Exchange of Realities

This is the counterpoint to yesterday’s riff about getting feedback; after all, what’s the good of a game if the GM sees it as a chore or an obligation? If the GM’s not enthused, the enthusiasm won’t show through, and the players will pick up on it and slow down themselves. End result: nobody’s happy.

As a result, it’s up to us to know what we want. If we know what we want, we can ask for it. If we ask for it, we might not get it per se, but we’ll probably get at least something like it. And that makes our work worth it. It’s a gamers’ social contract.

So what do I want from my players?

I want interest in the world and in what’s going on with them. I want them to ask questions, to poke what’s around them and see how it responds, to compare notes on what’s going on. Maybe even to remember things that happened before, particularly since they’ve got the option of looking at their logs, same as I do. Writers get people looking closely over what happens in their plots and trying to find the little detaily bits; why can’t I?

I want reactions, one way or another. I’ve run scenes in which they’ve fought opponents that should be intimidating, and it’s come across like they’re on a picnic; there was one fight in which the opposition were skin-changers, and they parried attacks under the the skins of their hosts, and it didn’t seem to get much of a reaction. Not what I’m looking for, let’s put it that way. But at the same time, I’ve seen them respond in every possible way to conversations, to fights—seen them move before thinking and think before moving. Emote, in short. That’s fun.

I want them to use their minds as much as their mechanics. Crazy plans, convincing conversation, wild battles that incorporate the environment and the circumstances and anything that holds still long enough or comes to hand. It makes it more interesting, particularly on the reread. (And since it’s all internet-chats, and I get bored easily, an interesting reread is very important to me.) In addition, I hope they’ll conspire with each other outside of session; I’ve been in a bunch of groups where we spent almost as much time in a given week plotting against the GM as actually in game, and I take it as a compliment. For me, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as watching my campaign wiki catch fire as the group speculation-mobs a new plot point or starts back-and-forthing on someone’s crazy plan.

I want to know they’re enjoying themselves, most of all. That’s why I ask for feedback.

So that’s what I’m looking for from my players. What do you want from yours?