| Syberion |
I started playing pathfinder at a local game shop as society was coming out to test out the game as a favor. I ended up enjoying it but wanted to play more.
Eventually I even went to cons like gen-con. I really enjoyed it. Even just walking around to see the cosplay was a blast.
After a while I wanted to start playing in private games like campaigns. Every person I ever asked never wanted me in their games. Even one person didn't want me playing in other peoples games.
The guy I tested the first game out for society when I asked him to keep me in mind when others were starting a campaign or looking for players refused to mention my interest to anyone at my local game shop.
Another guy at my local game shop advertised online that they needed players for a campaign. I responded and was refused for a "lack of experience" but I wasn't asked what my experience was or told what amount of experience I needed.
A little while later I started running society games dispite not being interested in doing so. To me I disliked the experiences because I second guess myself and think the worst things about my performance as a DM.
After a while I noticed another player being treated poorly for their enthusiasm with the game. I had to stop playing. It felt as though these games being ran at my local game shop were merely being ran/facilitated to find players for the groups that were excluding myself and others.
The guy I noticed that was being treated poorly... I haven't seen him at that shop in a very long time. I also have stopped going because I don't feel welcome there.
Game shops, tabletop groups, etc. Need to stop acting like bullies. I'll never play another RPG because of these experiences and I may never come up to my local shop to play another game ever again. And in my case this one shop is practically my only option.