Hi all - I have a bit of a problem & am looking for advice.
I've been running a Pathfinder game for 8 sessions now, using a homebrew campaign setting I'm hoping to eventually distribute (as a free OGL product; unemployment makes for well-developed hobbies). The gaming group is made up of myself and six players who have all been avid gamers since the 80s, and who all retain an encyclopedic knowledge of every game supplement, optional rule, Dragon article, etc. going back many years.
I love my players - they come up with awesome ideas and we have had very good sessions so far - but it seems that lately, a lot of gamers I know have succumbed to what I call "MMO Syndrome". MMO Syndrome means players going beyond power gaming and min/maxing (which I can handle), and trying to exploit rules-hacks to give characters absurdly unbalanced powers. I'm a versatile GM and devote at least 15 hours/wk to the game, but there is no way I can compete with the combined efforts of six very clever players in terms of stopping up loopholes in the rules and the problem becomes much more sticky when having to deal with 3.5/Pathfinder conversions...
I know I can always say "no", but I don't want them to fell totally unrewarded for their cleverness, I'd just prefer they expend their energy in more substantial character development (or at least good ol' fashioned power gaming) instead.
Anyone else have issues with players and rule exploits? I'd like to hear what you have to say.