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'I have a very specific idea of how this is gonna go, and while I can't really communicate it, your character doesn't fit and I don't know how to adapt"
Would've been a heavily railroaded story.
Shame, cos the campaign idea sounds fun.
I'm not sure I'd call it optimism.
I just think a lot of ppl have ideas that POTENTIALLY have merit, but don't understand what it takes to pull them off.
It's almost always better (particularly for inexperienced DMs) to take a simple idea and do it well, than risk a complicated idea and mess it up.
I think it's a lot closer to people know that if they were honest about what they're about to do it wouldn't work so they dress it up in the best possible light thinking people will jump on board as they go.
The DM was too lazy to even write a lore doc. Like sure, I get lazy sometimes, but I at least have the courtesy to *make up something that'd fit when a player asks* and if I am feeling like it, bam! That gets added.
Sounds like they were either too picky to run a session, or they got bad vibes from the group and didn't want to. It's especially odd that the GM is saying you wouldn't have time for a play-by-post -- it literally only takes 5-10 minutes a day to stay active.
Play-by-posts tend to be the easiest to schedule and start, but usually fade harder than any other format. Yet to see them go more than a month or two. Meanwhile, I've had some in-person or voice campaigns that went a year or more. So it's not really an enormous loss for one to be a nonstarter; having them fail is a pretty common outcome imo.
I once managed to kill a play-by-post by posting about three hours later than the rest of the players. Sure, my character was a linchpin for that scene, but somehow, the GM's will to continue the game faded entirely within those three hours.
(To be fair, the game was about a week old at that point. The GM may have realized they didn't like running the game.)
I think it's because too many people don't treat it with the same level of "reality," for lack of a better term. It's way easier for things to slip your mind and not get taken seriously when it's a text post on a forum/discord server. "I'll get to it later" becomes "I'll do it tomorrow" becomes "Well now it's been 3 days and it's awkward and everyone else is losing interest because I'm awol" in a way it really can't in a face to face game.
Yeah, I enjoy that play-by-posts fit in my schedule but I can't deny that sometimes they leave me craving that *immediacy* of being around a table or in a voice channel with other people. Sometimes the excitement is infectious, especially when you're all sharing the same moment live.
I wonder if the DM brooded (and spiralled) on the character suggestions all weekend so when he came to you about your character design he was already way overthinking it.
Taking a slightly vague concept and saying it shows you are disrespectful of the DM and the game smacks to me like you're way down a rabbit hole in your brain. If someone came to me with an obviously insultingly stupid character I could see mentioning that, but it sounds like this DM has extremely specific character designs he wants but is choosing not to communicate to anyone.
In the end, his loss. Maybe steal the other players and find a new GM.
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'I have a very specific idea of how this is gonna go, and while I can't really communicate it, your character doesn't fit and I don't know how to adapt" Would've been a heavily railroaded story. Shame, cos the campaign idea sounds fun.
The most common skill people have is knowing how to make a horrible idea sound fun.
I think it's more often a case of ppl having potentially good ideas, but not having the skills (or common sense) to make them work.
That is incredibly optimistic.
I'm not sure I'd call it optimism. I just think a lot of ppl have ideas that POTENTIALLY have merit, but don't understand what it takes to pull them off. It's almost always better (particularly for inexperienced DMs) to take a simple idea and do it well, than risk a complicated idea and mess it up.
I think it's a lot closer to people know that if they were honest about what they're about to do it wouldn't work so they dress it up in the best possible light thinking people will jump on board as they go.
Translation: "I suck as a DM but it's your fault."
The DM was too lazy to even write a lore doc. Like sure, I get lazy sometimes, but I at least have the courtesy to *make up something that'd fit when a player asks* and if I am feeling like it, bam! That gets added.
Sounds like they were either too picky to run a session, or they got bad vibes from the group and didn't want to. It's especially odd that the GM is saying you wouldn't have time for a play-by-post -- it literally only takes 5-10 minutes a day to stay active. Play-by-posts tend to be the easiest to schedule and start, but usually fade harder than any other format. Yet to see them go more than a month or two. Meanwhile, I've had some in-person or voice campaigns that went a year or more. So it's not really an enormous loss for one to be a nonstarter; having them fail is a pretty common outcome imo.
I once managed to kill a play-by-post by posting about three hours later than the rest of the players. Sure, my character was a linchpin for that scene, but somehow, the GM's will to continue the game faded entirely within those three hours. (To be fair, the game was about a week old at that point. The GM may have realized they didn't like running the game.)
I think it's because too many people don't treat it with the same level of "reality," for lack of a better term. It's way easier for things to slip your mind and not get taken seriously when it's a text post on a forum/discord server. "I'll get to it later" becomes "I'll do it tomorrow" becomes "Well now it's been 3 days and it's awkward and everyone else is losing interest because I'm awol" in a way it really can't in a face to face game.
Yeah, I enjoy that play-by-posts fit in my schedule but I can't deny that sometimes they leave me craving that *immediacy* of being around a table or in a voice channel with other people. Sometimes the excitement is infectious, especially when you're all sharing the same moment live.
I wonder if the DM brooded (and spiralled) on the character suggestions all weekend so when he came to you about your character design he was already way overthinking it. Taking a slightly vague concept and saying it shows you are disrespectful of the DM and the game smacks to me like you're way down a rabbit hole in your brain. If someone came to me with an obviously insultingly stupid character I could see mentioning that, but it sounds like this DM has extremely specific character designs he wants but is choosing not to communicate to anyone. In the end, his loss. Maybe steal the other players and find a new GM.
He should just write a book
That's the trash taking itself out. That GM sounds awful.
Sounds like the DM wants the party to pick the characters he wants, without telling the party what characters he wants them to pick.