What is the most important quality of a player?

#1

what sould you be looking for in persons you might want as players?
I find it very hard to determine who is good at roleplaying before playing with them.
Are there any ideas to what a good player looks like?

What is the most important quality of a player?

#2

That right there is a very difficult question. It depends on a lot of factors. What type of game will be run? How much contact will you plan on having with these people? Do you want to flesh your players out or have them start off out of the gate knowing what needs to be done?

What I look for in gamers is a few things.

First is the amount of gaming they have done. Usually, not all the time, but usually people who have been gaming for years or across several gaming platforms have a good grasp of what role-playing is about. I personally like a role-player. The person who comes to throw dice at the table and give out random numbers is not a person for my group. I have a lot of thought and effort into my games and someone who is there only to see what random number they can pull up or how much swag they can get is not for me.

I want someone who role-plays. Who thinks about the game and the characters in it. They can solve problems and riddles will little to no help from me or my NPC's. They are not here for the hack and slash. Of course if that is the kind of game your wanting to run, then a different type of person is needed.

I also want someone who is intelligent, which is hard to determine over a chat room board or a posted sign at a gaming store. I tire of 'Do whats?' and 'Huhs!' I personally want someone in my group to be an intellect. I want to be able to have a conversation with them beyond, 'Did you see what my D20 did to that Terrascque?'

What I tell my gamers if they want to bring someone into my house. Is this the type of person you or I would want around my children.

Yes I am a very particular GM, I want certain people. But that is me. I don't mind getting fresh players in who have never played before. It helps with keeping them on track instead of saying, 'Well that game I played before ten years ago never did that.'

But this is just all personal. Like Moon said in one of his threads somewhere. I think it was Moonhunter. If you would not spend six hours with them doing something else other than gaming, then you probably shouldn't be gaming with them.

What is the most important quality of a player?

#3

Good players are clean cut, shaved, and without cheeto cheese under their finger nails. They normally wear matching socks, although that is sometimes hard to find out. With matching socks they almost always where a tuxedo and top hat, they believe it is distinguished and I would have to say they are correct.

I don't know if you can pick players and know that they are going to be good or not until you play with them. Their interest in the game is key and the only thing you can really go on. I have played with some whacked out people whom I would never, under normal circumstances, think about knowing let alone playing with. Once you get them in a game room though, they can role play!

So you can't really judge anybody until you actually play with them. The good thing is that you can get quite an odd assortment of friends that you may never have thought possible. That is the best part of it really. It takes all kinds!

What is the most important quality of a player?

#4

Mourngrym is right on this. It is not as black and white as you make it. The first question you need to ask yourself is what kind of roleplayer do I want in my group. What kind of game do I want to run.

Then start figuring out why players like different kinds of games, and watch for those attributes.

In general however, here is what I recomend you look for in a overall good player.

1: Watch for people who love the game. They will do more work, and make more effort.

2: Watch for players who are intelligent.

3: Watch for people who are understanding and fair minded. These people tend to understand when tough DM decisions must be made. A lot of fighting with a person can really bring down an evening.

4: Watch for people who DM. These people can be the most useful players out there. They tend to be less critical of DMs because they know that it can be a hard job, and they can also help you in a sticky situation. Additionally, they are used to controlling NPC's, which means that they are less likely to play PC's badly

Thats pretty much the only general rules I can give you. Good luck

-Nobody

What is the most important quality of a player?

#5

1) Never game with anyone you would not spend 4 to 8 hours doing something else with.

For online people, try to recruit people who have been on the same forum that you have for a while. That way you have an idea of what they are like

2) Dedication: The player has to be committed to playing. Your game and the group's gaming experience tanks when a player bails. You need to make sure that the person is willing to put the effort into the game.

Ideally, you should get a small group, get that group working well, then add or delete new members as you go. A cold group, that nobody knows anyone and how they play, tend to fall apart. Groups with cores, with people being added in and spun off will survive over time.

Everything else is nice to have, but not required. If your person can meet those two requirements and is not that obnoxious everything else is just adjustment.

What is the most important quality of a player?

#6

I see the point, but Moon's Rule #1 would have made me lose some of the best gaming I have ever had. That might not be the norm but my first group was a wide mix and I had little or nothing in common with them outside the game. We had tried to 'hang out' invited each other to normal parties and stuff but our sphere's didn't overlap and it never worked out. It was awkward and not worth the effort. Put us in a room with miniatures and dice thought ane we spent weekends together.

As a general rule you are probably right, that was true with all my other game groups, but to make it a requirement? Be prepared to try something new or uncomfortable, it might be worth it.

Nobody, I would say, has high expectations, nothing wrong with them, but I wouldn't enforce any of those if I was looking to join a group.

All this goes from the thought that you have never played with them before, you don't know how they game, you just know that they do game and enjoy it.

Moon's small group thing is Ideal though. Pick two and try them out. Be noncommittal. If you like them, invite them back with some more. Build to taste. Stir in seasonings. There are probably a thousand different ways to pick a group.... don't be close minded about it.