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The title says it all. What do you expect.
We all have our own ideas and interpretations that we bring into this wonder world we involve ourselves in. And we all bring those ideas and interpretations to the table when we sit out at the table; no matter which side we're on, and the capacity from which we are participating that particular day.
So my question to you, my fellow society members, is what do you expect? From your GM, coordinator, fellow players, message board posters, you? I'm interested in seeing what different perspectives we bring with us when we sit down.
I'm aiming this towards society players as that is the realm that I've involved myself in and I'm interested to see if anyone's opinion or attitude changes.
I'll start.
From myself; as a Gm I expect and drive myself to provide the funniest game possible. I'm constantly striving to grow as a GM and trying to learn as much as possible. As a player I need to learn how to play again; I'm constantly finding myself watching the GM to pick up hints and tricks that I can use myself and also (sorry) ways that I see don't work to avoid those ideas.
From my coordinators (both convention and gameday); I expect them to be organized, not running chaotically the day of the event with last minute items that could have been foreseen and dealt with the day of the event. I expect them to tell me if they need me to bring my own chronicles or reporting sheets. If they don't tell me to bring those items, then I expect them to have them (DougDoug has totally spoiled me with convention coordinators .. just saying).
From players; I expect them to be knowledgeable about their character and realize that I don't know all the idiosyncrasy's of their hybrid built and to have either the information available for me or be able to explain it if I have questions (I saw one player with an FAQ for his character.. that was awesome). I expect players to understand that my fun with the game is just as important to me as theirs and that I am doing everything possible to ensure that they have a fun, enjoyable game. I expect those players that like to rules lawyer to understand that that is not everyone's cup of tea and when I tell them that we can discuss the minutia of details after the game to let it go and continue to enjoy the game.
From Paizo; I expect them to continue to support players and GMs alike and strive to provide us with a fun and engaging game, but not to change major rules/ideas/concepts based on a few dissenting comments. I expect Paizo to continue to grow and I'm super uber excited to be a part of it.
From messageboard posters; I expect that we are all adults and can treat each other with respect and not drag each other down in arguments. I expect that we would be able to listen to each other (read) and respond with well thought out responses to help further support and build-up our community. I would expect that we understand that there are always going to be differing viewpoints and there are going to be people that just don't see things the same way as us and recognize when it's time to agree to disagree and not continue the arguments.
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I expect that I'll keep thinking you're awesome, Thea.
+1
I have some slightly different and more grandiose expectations, but I love your post.
-Pain
Please post them ... I meant for this thread to be one that can be open and honest.. without derision from others. So post your ideas (always interesting to read)
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Please post them ... I meant for this thread to be one that can be open and honest.. without derision from others. So post your ideas (always interesting to read)
Really? Have you never read the posters who post here?!?!
You expect 'without derision from others'?!?!
Geez...you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than those that post here. (Which is, of course, why I keep coming back.)
;)
-Pain
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Please post them ... I meant for this thread to be one that can be open and honest.. without derision from others. So post your ideas (always interesting to read)Really? Have you never read the posters who post here?!?!
You expect 'without derision from others'?!?!
Geez...you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
;)
-Pain
Honestly, I'm hoping that some good comes from this thread and we all start treating each other with a bit more respect
But more importantly, I'm so sorry for the loss of your fur-friend :(
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I expect players to show up on-time and prepared. I expect them to bring a legal effective character of the correct tier that they are familiar with the workings of. I expect them to be polite and respectful.
I expect my GM to show up on-time and prepared. I expect them to get most of the rules right most of the time. I expect them to make the adventure they are running as awesome as possible.
I expect my coordinators to plan what adventures will be played, keep warhorn updated, and make sure sessions get reported in a timely manner. I also expect them to have gms available and encourage repeat players while welcoming the new players as well.
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From myself: I expect of myself to continue to grow as a GM, learn how to better bring a table back to the task at hand, and try not to be the one who sends it off on tangents nearly as often. I expect myself to continue to be the helpful GM that I'd like to think I've always been. I expect myself to start having more confidence in my understanding of the rules as written and the rules as intended. I expect myself to arrive at least 15 minutes in advance to a session, fully prepared and ready to run. And I expect myself to stop being just a schlock GM and start really doing Pathfinder Society some justice at the table.
Most importantly, I must expect myself to find a decent pair of black- or green-furred feline ears to wear to GenCon.
From my players: I never expect all the players who came last week to come this week—I was let down by this expectation early on, and I've learned that it's just not realistic. I shall start to express my expectation that players will be ready to play at the designated start time, as soon as we have four players, or as soon as we have three if we have to wait a half hour. I don't expect all players to be able to make it on time... we run from 6 on, and that barely gives some players time to make it to the store.
I expect courteous discussion where rules are discussed, I expect players should only wander away from the table for no more than five minutes at a time and only once or twice a night... though I expect that there will be exceptions, since players have lives outside of Pathfinder Society, too.
I expect my players to understand and accept that they will not always be able to obtain the maximum rewards for scenarios, in PA or gold.
I expect... that I have a lot of expectations of my players.
From my coordinators: I expect that someday my region will have a local coordinator that's more than just a self-appointed schlock GM. It will also have more than one table a week. And enough players to keep those tables nearly full. And the coordinator will find a better day than Friday, where it competes with FNM every week.
From Paizo: I expect nothing less than the same stellar quality of products they've been releasing since Pathfinder RPG first was released, the same quality of customer interaction in testing of new products, and the same good judgement in writers, content developers and artists. I expect things from Mike and Mark that I've always seen from them: being responsive to player and GM feedback, and "weeding the garden" every once in a while. (I tend to see Pathfinder Society as a sort of garden, or better yet a bonsai that must be cared for and trimmed and sculpted every once in a while to keep it both attractive and productive)
From Messageboard Posters: I expect nothing less than to see respect from my fellow messageboard thread-starters and commenters. This means that there should be care put into words and that where criticism is called for, it isn't twisted into insults and slander—we've all seen some pretty vicious criticism on the boards, including toward GMs and players; nobody likes to read it when it's from someone else so just don't write it for others.
I expect to see awesome ideas tossed out, and GMs to helpfully answer player questions and vice versa.
And most of all... I expect people to buy me gift certificates so that I can own more than the CRB and Bestiary 1... Wait... where are you going?!
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First and foremost regardless of which side of the table or how involved I am in organizing, I expect the following:
Fun and Common Decency. Seriously, respect your fellow humans as though you would want them to respect you. I'm not referring to "respect my authorahtay" type of respect. But treating people decently and not acting like a complete boob.
From myself: Perfection. I know its impossible to attain, but if I don't strive, then I won't get better. I love learning new things and pick up tricks of the trade at every table I play (and sometimes pick up tricks of the trade when GM'ing, as player can come up with the most unique and creative ways out of a problem.
From my GMs: be prepared. if you spend 6 hours drawing beautiful maps, but you can't run the scenario without taking half our time to read every encounter over again, then you aren't prepared. If you need to spend 6 hours reading and re-reading, then do so. Some can read through a scenario once and be prepared. Some need to take 8 hours or more to prepare. Know yourself, and don't commit to GM if you can't commit to preparedness. I was in the army. Failure to repair was a huge pet peeve.
From my Coordinators: Similar to GM's, but make sure the players and GM's know with decent time to prep or determine if they can or want to show up what scenario is running. Do your best to seat people on time and do so with a minimum of chaos. I understand circumstances beyond coordinators control sneak up last second. But good coordinators can make it seem as though these things aren't happening.
From my Players: Know your character. Don't bring a friend who's never played an RPG before and give them a Vivisectionist Alchemist to play (this happened, seriously). Have all your numbers calculated on your character, so you don't have to add all your bonuses for every die roll. Don't be a rules lawyer if you don't know the rules. Help others to have fun. Have fun. Let me help you have fun if I'm GM'ing or playing.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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From everyone - myself and others, players and GMs - I expect a realistic assessment of oneself.
I don't expect you to know everything about how your character works - but I expect you to be realistic about what parts you're not sure on and I expect you to try to learn.
I don't expect you to have all the game's static DCs memorized, but (particularly as a GM) I expect you to admit which ones you don't know and be ready to either ask or look them up.
I don't expect you to be 100% sure every time you answer a rules question (whether you're the GM or a player), but I expect you to communicate your level of certainty ("I thought I heard..." versus "I'm pretty sure..." versus "I've written tutorials on this, guys") and do so honestly.
I don't expect you to always be on time, but I do expect you to try and also to be as unobtrusive as possible when you do join late (i.e., settle for a brief, whispered summary from your neighbor during someone else's turn in combat, rather than a reiteration of the entire mission briefing).
I don't expect you to always know the best tactical situation or be prepared for everything, but I expect you to acknowledge when you've made a poor choice or could have been more prepared and learn something for next time.
I don't expect you to perform flawless bookkeeping, but I expect you to take responsibility for mistakes and take charge of correcting them.
I don't expect you to be perfect; I just expect you to be honest.
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Ok, since everyone's being serious and stuff.
For myself: I expect that I'll be fair and balanced when running a game, but fun for everyone involved is paramount. That doesn't mean I won't kill your character (What's the fun in a perfectly safe game?). I also expect that I'll be organized and prepared at my gamedays.
For my GMs:
- I expect you to have read through the scenario at least once.
- I expect you to have a solid understanding of the basic mechanics of the game, but not necessarily have every DC for every situation memorized.
- I expect you to ask questions when you're not sure about a rule or ability, but I also expect you to make the final decision for your table.
- I expect you to have the books in the core assumption.
- I expect you to have miniatures, dice, battlemat, and chronicles for your scenario. If you don't have them, I expect you to let me know in advance so I can make arrangements to loan you what you need.
For my players:
- I expect you to know how your character works. If you're a spellcaster, that means I expect you to know how your spells work and have your DCs calculated. If you're a melee character, I expect you to know flanking and charging and how movement provokes AoOs. If you're a ranged character, I expect you to know how to figure cover. If you're a summoner I expect you to have the statistics for your summoned creatures at hand. If you're a wildshaper I expect you to have the stats for your alternate forms ready.
- I expect your character sheet and chronicles to be legible and up-to-date.
- I expect you will be thinking about your next action before your turn comes up.
- I expect you will not need to re-calculate your bonuses (bonii?) every time you roll a die. After all, what's that updated and legible character sheet for?
- I expect you will be respectful of the material presented and treat the shared world of PFS as if your characters and the NPCs were real people in that world, not caricatures.
- I expect that new players will disappoint me on some, if not all, of these expectations.
For everyone:
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