Thread 96471203

Why are some people so afraid to run games?
I bought a beginners box for Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, on a whim when I was visiting a comic shop around 2012 or 2013 and had my first ttrpg Experience the following weekend as a GM.
Since then, my players and I had a great time and most of them started running games on their own.
So why the fuck do I see so many idiots online, mystifying the job of a GM? It should be easier than ever to run games today (yes even online three out of four games are totally fine, if you filter out the obvious morons).

Being a GM is easy, being good GM is not.
So you're left with people that have the confidence or people who lack any self-reflection.
I'll let you be the judge which group you fall into.

Socially retarded young men who are afraid of making themselves emotionally vulnerable in front of their friends by roleplaying NPCs or directing a narrative.

>>96471203 (OP)
>Why do some people consider GMing hard?
>Why are some people so afraid to run games?
Cite 3 examples of each.
Also, why do some people consider this hard to understand?

>>96471227
>Being a GM is easy, being good GM is not.
Just avoid being a sperg, and playing with obvious spergs and you're almost guaranteed to have an alright session. The rest is having a feel for game structure and pacing. Those can only be acquired by playing. Nonetheless the majority of your games are going to be fine even if you haven't mastered those.
If anything, just be aware of dead ends.

>why the fuck do I see so many idiots online, mystifying the job of a GM?
The 2024 D&D DM Guide mystifies it, reminder this is the first and only book people read on the subject, if any

>>96471344
Haven't read that shit. What does it say?

>>96471349
That the point of the game is to simulate an actual play show like Critical Role (conversely the PHB tells players to learn to play from those), that your job as a DM is to make your players happy by casting Detect Thoughts and coming up with character arcs for their characters, that you have to be a fair referee and simultaneously to ignore rolls and game mechanics when they don't make for a good story
tl;dr: loads of nonsense, often contradicting itself
Captcha: DM04K

>>96471203 (OP)
that picture infuriates me. Howie needs to be executed

>>96471292
It's easy to be a babysitter that keeps 3-5 people entertained for 2-4~ hours but it's harder to do something that won't make you wonder if we could be getting epic loot in Popular QuasiMMO Shooter instead.

>Just avoid being a sperg,
Never

>>96471203 (OP)
Two reasons
One is that they're afraid of the responsibility of basically making sure the game runs fine.
Second is that they're afraid of the responsibility to tell total strangers and/or your friends to stop being spazwits and focus on the game.
Once you get over both of those, it's easy enough.

>"Oh I can easily run a campaign"
>"I want to run one at some point
>"I'd be really good at it"
>"Why don't I? Oh I'm just too busy man. I don't have enough time.
This is what always happens. And it's always from single men not in education and working low end jobs.

My impression is that it partly has to do with the actual skills required to GM, partly the fact that people would rather play (which is connected to their overwhelming laziness), but primarily it is about their unwillingness to be The Planner & Facilitator.

GM'ing takes real effort in terms of scheduling and planning sessions. Many nerds are lazy as fuck, and even though planning a game takes minimal organizational skills, it nevertheless takes *some* skills and most people just don't have it in them. I've run games for years, and in one of my private groups two of the other players have run a few sessions themselves (which is awesome), but even these fucking sessions wouldn't happen if I didn't handle the goddamn scheduling. Things just don't happen unless I move things along. How are people so helpless?

Good GMs also have strong social skills, they are eloquent, and they are quick-witted. You can run a session without these traits, but it will remain a session (singular) because the players will not want to continue. One small example from years ago: I joined a one-shot where the GM suffered from constant vocalized speech pauses ("Uhhh, "Ermm", "Eehhh, "Huhh") and it drove me nuts.

Finally, people also overestimate the prep you need to do because they have no idea what the fuck goes on behind the GM screen. You need like four NPC names and a four-room dungeon to run a 4-hour session, yet they think they have to prepare eight trillion times more.

>>96475472
>This is what always happens. And it's always from single men not in education and working low end jobs.
Lmao, nail on the fucking head. The only person in my friend group who doesn't run games is the unemployed fat guy who has mountains of time on his hands.

You should ask your friends that haven’t tried running a game in 12 years of playing

>>96471203 (OP)
>>96471503
>that picture infuriates me. Howie needs to be executed
As someone who is neither autistic nor normie and can speak to both, Howie is ignorant as shit and terrible at learning (which is itself a skill) but that woman is absolute dogshit at teaching: "How? Just do it!"

Anything can be broken down into smaller steps. Shouting at someone to do something they're not sure of how to do is a failure on your part, not theirs.

"Extend your hand straight. Move your extended hand gently towards the dog's back. When you feel the dog's fur, gently and slowly move your hand from the head towards the tail. Lift your hand and repeat. Feel the dog's fur and be gentle to make sure you are not pushing down too hard or pulling the fur."
versus
"....just pet it!"

>>96471203 (OP)
>Why are some people so afraid to run games?
Because it requires a modicum of thought and effort and the risk of failing in front of others.

>>96475559
I have to note the panel where she’s physically moving his arm towards the rather confused dog and his fingers continue to lie limp imply he’s not merely too stupid to try it but actively resisting her attempts to guide him to do it, hence her frustration in that he is knowingly impeding her attempts to aid him and complaining rather than just being ignorant. But that’s just what I took from it.

>>96475704
If he literally doesn't know how to pet, and she's moving his arm, how is he supposed to know he is supposed to keep his hand out? She's moving his arm but not his hand.

When you're working with people who literally no understanding, you have to start at the most basic level and move up.
People have have trouble with this because everyone has expectations and too many expect what they consider to be "common sense", which is actually neither.

I studied logic and fiction understand that I am a vague assemblage of sensory perceptions and everything else is logical guesses based on those sensory perceptions and memories that I believe are genuine and accurate despite them often being faulty or incomplete.
I interact with everything with that humble understanding (unless I am being an emotional twat at the time)

>>96475745
While I do agree that the majority of people are terrible teachers in that knowing how to reinterpret your own knowledge in a way other people can copy it, the comic seems to be more about self-sabatogers who complain about never getting the chance to do things but then squandering them from lack of effort, because excusing it as “nobody will give m the chance” is easier. Like someone who says they wish they could be a master pianist but won’t ever buy one or learn because “they don’t know how”. Teaching needs the right mentality, but so does learning.

>>96475783
>>96475745
Im a howie irl. How do i stop and just learn all the cool shit i wanna know how to do?

>>96475829
I’d say “just do it”, but I get that’s not very helpful. I’d say the main thing is identify what you want to do most and work out what the steps to getting there are.

>”but how”

From square one. If you want to be an artist, get some art supplies and a how-to book. If you want to be an athlete, get a ball and watch someone else playing. If you want to write, get a pencil and paper and check a dummies guide on how to organize your thoughts and put together something. If you want to play a certain ttrpg, get a game manual and read it thoroughly.

Basically, take a weekend off, approach what you want to do with the mindset of someone starting from square one or even zero, and work at it.

>>96475829
>How do i stop and just learn all the cool shit i wanna know how to do?
Focus on one thing at a time.
Get a list of steps. Google that shit.
Then learn how to do the first step. Break down the first step into a series of steps.
Like if step one is "fill a quart sized pot halfway with water"
That's actually four steps.
Get quart sized pot
Determine where halfway up the pot is
Get water
Put water into pot up to halfway.

Now if you don't own a pot, step one breaks down into getting money to buy a pot, going to where you can buy a pot, buying a pot, bringing home the pot, removing packaging from the pot, washing the pot, drying the pot, putting the pot in a place you will keep it from now on, and then getting the pot when you're ready to complete step one.
Or you could borrow a pot. Or steal one I suppose.

The point is to break down every step into smaller steps until each smaller steps is something you easily know how to do like walk across the room or rinse a pot with hot running water.

Then practice all the steps until you become confident.

>>96475783
>the comic seems to be more about self-sabatogers who complain about never getting the chance to do things but then squandering them from lack of effort, because excusing it as “nobody will give m the chance” is easier.
He doesn't say that nobody ever gave him the chance. He says he doesn't know how.
It seems to lampoon both on my opinion because that woman gets irate pretty quickly.

I'll think about why she bothers me more than him. I think it's because Howie is completely aware of his own ignorance whereas she is certain of her ability to help him, fails, and yet directs all of her frustration on him despite the entire situation being created by her and her desire to make him feel better.

I'm actually reminded of (I think) an Upright Citizens Brigade but where a child could only say the words "shut up" and said with youthful vigor and enthusiasm. And even his mother and doctors who understood the situation would eventually lose their cool at a kid getting in their face and telling them to shut up after everything they said. It wears on you. I recently experienced something nearly identical where someone close to me with encephalopathy could only repeat "....what?" as they actively resisted my every attempt to help them and had brought attack on themselves through their own actions. I lost my cool just like the woman.

>>96477040
Actually, if I remember correctly, that "Howie" comic might have been inspired by some anon that's always hanging around the /ic/ and /adv/ boards, forever asking people "how to draw" and lamenting that he'll never become a world famous artist or "be allowed to express his creativity" while also admitting he can't make time/is too busy to dedicate time to practice drawing. And almost all the advice he's given is usually rebutted with the question "but how do I do that?", whether it's learning a specific style, finding the motivation/time to practice, or even just how to learn how other people draw.

It reminds me a lot of a constant debate point between pro-ai artists and anti-ai people, where the former argues "I need AI because I don't know how to draw" and the most common rejoinder is "Pick up a pencil". And neither side comes to any clearer an understanding because while just literally picking up a pencil and plugging away at drawing IS technically one of the most important steps to being an artist, the former usually seems to be conveying "I don't know how to draw like a professional" which is a far more involved process that may not even guarantee them the results they want. So both sides remain near eternally dead-locked over it.

>>96471203 (OP)
>>96475476
>Good GMs also have strong social skills, they are eloquent, and they are quick-witted. You can run a session without these traits, but it will remain a session (singular) because the players will not want to continue. One small example from years ago: I joined a one-shot where the GM suffered from constant vocalized speech pauses ("Uhhh, "Ermm", "Eehhh, "Huhh") and it drove me nuts.
This, more than anything, is why I can't GM. I have negative ability to enthrall people and I have the adaptability of a brick on a slope.

>>96477482
I can totally imagine that. I've seen anons like that. Especially on /adv/.
It's just that the comic itself is more mixed and measured than one entirely directed against Howie would be. So, it's generous if that's true.

>>96471203 (OP)
In my experience it's a combination of laziness, not taking responsibility for their own anxiety, and lacking the skills to properly break things down into sections to learn and build on. A lot of them are straight up liars who don't really want to play a TTRPG, they want people to suck their dick about how awesome their OCs are and how unique their world building is, but see TTRPGs as an easy way to get their super amazing novel written cause otherwise they'd have to struggle and focus and take critique to develop skills as a writer.

>>96475745
But by wanting to pet a dog, Howie indicates that he knows what it means to pet a dog. And with a simple action like that there are no intermediate steps: the instructions on how to do it are merely a description of what it means. Her only expectation is that he knows what the word he's using means, which is more or less necessary to carry out any sort of conversation.

>>96475476
>>96477533
>Good GMs also have strong social skills, they are eloquent, and they are quick-witted. You can run a session without these traits, but it will remain a session (singular) because the players will not want to continue. One small example from years ago: I joined a one-shot where the GM suffered from constant vocalized speech pauses ("Uhhh, "Ermm", "Eehhh, "Huhh") and it drove me nuts.
Totally disagree. Sure you have to have some oratory skills but those can be acquired in an hour of yt tutorials, at most.
But after that you only have to be able to say what happens. No social skill involved. Heck you don't even have to voice NPCs just summarize their reaction and you're good. In my over ten years of GMing I haven't encountered a situation where it wasn't immediately obvious how the world might react, outside from some premade settings where I didn't have the complete lore in my head.

>>96471203 (OP)
GMing is easy but my group makes it hard (and unrewarding).

>>96475510
We already have a "GM oversaturation" in our group. Something that other people, which complain online about not finding games and a lack of GMs clearly don't have.

>>96475829
Find a beginners tutorial
Actively follow the steps
Parse everything you do in your head
If something seems off rack your brain why it seems off.
If you did something good do so as well.
Try new approaches, get out of your comfort zone, and practice things that seem hard to you, as often as possible.
Move on to intermediate tutorials etc.
Feel free to ask others for input along the way, but make sure you make a genuine mental effort first
Also avoid Indian tutorials, and go for official documentation, books from reputable authors, or well regarded courses first. Don't fall for grifters.
These last two pieces of advice are probably the hardest.

As for GMing specifically, I don't think you need a tutorial beyond the rule book though. Maybe read the alexandrian, he has some good advice. The SW:EotE beginners box helped me a lot since it was very concise. Most ttrpgs have similiar products, but check reviews first.

>>96471203 (OP)
If you can't handle a bunch of information at once or improvize on the spot well, you're gonna have a fucking awful time GMing.

>>96478741
>If you can't handle a bunch of information at once
You can treat adhd with simple medication, other people shouldn't have a problem with it.
Heck, I have ADHD and I don't have this problem when running games, simply due to the fact that I'm enjoying myself
>or improvize on the spot well
Learn by doing. So far I could handle any non mechanical situation in games by applying common sense.

>>96471227
First post best post.

GMing is a lot harder than just being a Player. But it is not an insurmountable obstacle, it is just lot more work. And more importantly a lot more responsibility.
>t. Is the player 70% of the time

Then there are some circumstantial events, which might or might not apply.
>You are too much of a perfectionist
You can always do better, which will always bother you.
>Flakers regularly flake out the day before session (bonus point of on the same day)
Making you wonder why you're keeping your Sundays locked in preparation for the session
>Player don't read the rules for their characters, and ask for the third time what to roll for simple thing.
Making you wonder why you put effort into learning all the rules if they can't read the 20 pages that is related to them alone
>Someone launches a full legal court case on you to prove that the crazy shit they wanna do is totally legit, even if you've vetoed it.

I believe that if you have the right mindset GMing isn't hard, but it isn't easy enough that everyone will have fun with zero effort. I try to put in the effort each session and I pay attention to areas where I could improve or things to steal from other sources and so on. The DM crisis 5e bullshit is retarded, but there are tons of half assed GMs that should try more.

>>96471227
oh, fpbp

>>96471271
>Cite 3 examples of some people
Steve, Tom and Richard
What kind of answer did you expect??

>>96471380
what a whiny bitch
it doesn't say anything like that

>>96475829
You need to identify what's stopping you from just doing it. Sit down in silence and think about the think you want, imagine how other people do it, and what you'd need to do to get there. And then ask yourself what's stopping you.
I'm assuming it's not a material barrier, like wanting to play piano but not having money for a piano or classes. You won't be able to face the anxiety or fear that stops you from trying until you recognize you have those feelings. You have to name your demons and stuff. Some people need therapy to do this because they blocked their own feelings so hard their brain got reworked and ignores shit they don't like as if it wasn't there. Crazy stuff.

>>96478420
kinda this

I've had players that were actively sabotaging my attempts at GMing. And I'm not talking problem players or newfags being hard to control, I'm thinking of the regular GM actively making everything harder and then complaining to me that I did an awful job. Kinda abusive in retrospective, but my opinion of the dude was mixed with the general joy of getting into the hobby so it took some time to understand he was being a piece of shit and not that I was too retarded to finish a one shot.

>>96479109
Some people are just rat-fucking cat-turd collecting gigantic pieces of miserable shit from outer-nigger-space. It has generally been my experience that fellow GMs are overwhelmingly good players. They are happy to bite plot hooks, they know how to contribute, and many will even read the goddamn rules. You got very unlucky, but I hope you stuck to it nevertheless.

>>96481066
it took me years to try again, but by then I knew enough to distinguish me fucking up from thing not working for some other reason. I liked ttrpgs enough to keep trying, at the end of the day even with the best experiences it still depends on your own interest.

I still chat with the dude now and then but I left that table and I don't regret it at all.

>>96475745
This: >>96478130
Not knowing how to pet a dog doesn't exist, you might not know how to do it, or you might do it in such a way that it aggravates the dog. But to understand what it is, and desire it, is to understand its mechanics. Actual, mentally handicapped, wheelchair-bound, non-verbal, "dead within the decade" vegetables know how to pet a dog.

Saying "I don't know how to GM how do I do it?" is proof you are either mentally deficient in a very serious way, maybe not intellectually but your executive functioning is damaged in some manner. Because to know what a GM is is to know what a GM does. The only legitimate question is "How do I GM well?" to which the answer is "Practise and seek third party perspective.", which proves Howie's malignant personality. He is resisting the attempt to pet the dog well, he is implying that he requires a recipe to follow to accomplish it, a recipe already at the level of sub-vegetable that really is just setting up the question "But how do I extend my arm?". If Howie wanted to pet a dog he would have taken the steps necessary to do it, even if he was terrible at it. The scenario literally can not exist in real life, unless the questioner is doing so in bad faith.

Taken to GMing, if Howie wants to GM he needs to seek advice, then start GMing, then practise GMing, and eventually he can GM well. The lady was right for call him out on his true motivation which is to want to fell sorry for himself. Howie has a mental health issue.

>>96478382
Since you self-identify as a mushmouthed idiot without friends: how do you find people who want to play with you?

>>96471203 (OP)
Let's face it: a lot of people into nerdy hobbies are just socially inept and insecure. They are terrified of being the center of attention, or having to talk too much, or being in charge, or having to make judgement calls and answer questions.

Because it's really hard and, if you're a retarded autismo like me, really taxing. I've been foreverDM for more than a decade and I still don't consider myself particularly good at it, and finish each session feeling exhausted. Still enjoying it every time but, yknow, I don't blame people who don't dare trying it

>>96475559
I was once told it's from /ic/ and was made about one guy in particular there who would constantly ask 'how do I draw'.
>"Extend your hand straight. Move your extended hand gently towards the dog's back. When you feel the dog's fur, gently and slowly move your hand from the head towards the tail. Lift your hand and repeat. Feel the dog's fur and be gentle to make sure you are not pushing down too hard or pulling the fur."
But, like... HOW, though? You're making the same fundamental mistake as her, only more sophisticated.
>>96481367
>he lady was right for call him out on his true motivation which is to want to fell sorry for himself
The guy is the only one who doesn't make things worse, and because he knew better than to mess with something he didn't understand, and knew when he didn't understand. The Lady was entirely in the wrong because she initiated everything, "only trying to help".

>>96471227
No, being good is quite easy.

>>96474310
No, it really isn't.

>>96481066
>plot hooks
yikes.

>>96482115
Even rumor tables are plot hooks you fucking retard.

No.

>>96481899
>make things worse
Situation never changed. Howie was always upset, he was not more or less upset after someone showed him generosity.

>>96481066
https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/4147/roleplaying-games/dont-prep-plots

>>96479032
NTA but got Proof?

>>96481899
>But, like... HOW, though? You're making the same fundamental mistake as her
No he isn't, he's explaining the mechanical basis of doing so. I'm sure there are autists who can't do even that much though, the comic is just so-so at conveying howie as that type as opposed to an ignorant retard.

The real redpill in all of this is that nobody is obligated to teach you fuck all and you deserve to get shit on if you aren't willing to at minimum throw shit at the wall until something sticks.

>>96482729
How do you extend your hand?

>>96482656
See >>96482166
Retard

>>96482778
Yeah, that was incorrect. Try to keep up, retard.

>>96482776
Try reading the rest of my post first before you reflexively spit out your ebin zinger.

>>96482792
No. Answer me or die.

>>96482795
No, apologize to me now, with sincerity.

>>96482783
>In session 1
>Everyone has made a character
>GM says, "It is-..."
>You, the retard: "OMG STOP WITH THE PRE-MADE PLOT ALREADY, JEEZ, STOP THIS RAIL ROAD!"

>>96482807
Nope, not what I said. Rumors aren't plots. They're not a pre-planned series of events that the players experience without input.

>>96482807
>Everyone has made a character
You should stop railroading your players into having to make characters. What if I don't feel like making it? Quit taking my freedom away.

>>96482836
Not what was argued.

>>96482838
Quit railroading my arguments ugh

>>96482853
Not what was argued.

>>96482855
Proof?

>>96482863
Yeah, right here. >>96482814

>>96482864
Ok, thanks.

Dumb fuck.

Smart boy

Dumb fuck.

>>96475472
It's less an issue of time and more of energy. I work a shitty mcjob flipping burgers and I'm overworked and underpaid. I don't have the fortitude to run games after getting my ass kicked every night for a week.
>just get a better job
Better jobs require certification, which cots money.

>>96483793
>Better jobs require certification
Lmao dumbass, better jobs require nepotism. You get good jobs from friends and family.
>But I have no friends and family
Then die.

>>96482698
How am I gonna prove the book doesn't say what anon made up? Do you want me to post all the pages to show it isn't in any of them?
You should ask for evidence of the one making the initial statement. He didn't post them because he made it the fuck up.

>>96483854
>How am I gonna prove the book doesn't say what anon made up?
Post the relevant passages saying otherwise should be easy.

>>96482729
>The real redpill in all of this is that nobody is obligated to teach you fuck all and you deserve to get shit on if you aren't willing to at minimum throw shit at the wall until something sticks.
people taught you a ton of shit, you ungrateful sperg. You are obligated to do your parts like everyone else did with you.

>>96483861
why would the book preventively reply to a post someone would make 10 years later?
You have to ask for evidence of the person saying something is there, they are the ones who could show evidence because they are saying it is there. They didn't, because it's not. You're not just accepting random statements with no proof, you're asking for impossible evidence in their defense.

>>96475829
Accept failure as a possibility and embarrassment as the price of admission. You will cock up, you will look like an ass, and moving past that is how you get to the cool shit. You know why artists are frequently so weird? Because, to get to the point at which their skills impress you, they had to get past the point of letting embarrassment stop them.

>>96483897
>why would the book preventively reply to a post someone would make 10 years later?
2024 was 10 years ago? damn...

>>96482776
One can clarify and show someone what they mean by "extending your hand" but if someone is incapable of understanding how their own body moves, they need professional physical therapy.

>>96483865
>people taught you a ton of shit, you ungrateful sperg.
Apparently nobody taught you reading comprehension, dipshit.
>You are obligated to do your parts like everyone else did with you.
Lmao no, I have never had anyone explain to me incredibly basic shit. And regardless, I have zero obligation to explain to some retard anything at all. The people who taught me things were family and friends. I will teach my family and my friends things. Everyone else can get raped unless I'm feeling generous that day. And if they're entitled little twats like you, I'll be doing that raping.

>>96483919
oh, sorry, I didn't know we were talking about 2024 in particular.
why would a manual include responses to arguments made a year later?

>>96484099
>oh, sorry, I didn't know we were talking about 2024 in particular.
Oh so you're retarded and couldn't read, now I see why you can't post any evidence lul

>>96482801
I would, if only I knew how.

>>96484109
I can't post evidence of something that isn't there
Post the evidence that it's there or accept it's made up

>>96484179
Nah you can't post evidence for very different and much less acceptable reasons.
Can you post your copy of the 2024 DMG with a timestamp btw?

>>96484192
you're the one asking for evidence that things aren't there, so post evidence that I don't own it.

I would like to be a GM but my particular blend of mental neuroses causes me to overthink every single insignificant detail to the point that I can't get anything prepared. I've been trying to get a campaign going for about 2.5 years now, constantly bouncing between different systems, never able to decide on a setting, or getting stuck in the adventure/dungeon creation process. It's extremely exhausting and demoralizing.

>>96484203
>you're the one asking for evidence
Yes
>that things aren't there
Wrong.
You don't have a book because you have no idea what we're talking about ggwp

>>96484226
show any evidence that you're not making bullshit up then

>>96484337
Already did you lose.

>>96471203 (OP)
Modern D&D requires way too much prep and doesn't give potential DMs any functional structures to fall back on in designing adventures or improvising in play. It doesn't even teach you how to key a dungeon.

It's also particularly bad to create stuff in, with you needing to figure out like twenty different stats for any custom monster you make. Official adventures are laid out like trash.

D&D is also the only game anyone plays. There's a reason it's the "DM crisis" in 5e, but the player crisis virtually everywhere else.

>>96484387
>D&D is also the only game anyone plays. There's a reason it's the "DM crisis" in 5e, but the player crisis virtually everywhere else.
The player crisis occurs when a system is only interesting to extremely niche autists.

>>96475829
>Im a howie irl. How do i stop and just learn all the cool shit i wanna know how to do?
Find a book on the subject that teaches it, and follow the instructions (DON'T just read it, reading is not learning).

If there's not a book on the subject, try doing it; then, when you encounter something you don't know how to do, google how to do that specific thing.

>>96484399
Damn, GURPS must have no players then.

>>96484387
5e also has a huge pagecount across several books just for the core rules. Imagine being new and getting handed that and told you need to read through it to learn the game. Of course you don't need to read every page, but how are you supposed to know that beforehand?
No wonder people get turned off and consider it super complicated to GM.

Many less mainstream games are much easier to learn, but don't have the same market presence

>>96484765
There was also a different culture in the older editions. Up to 2e you sat down and rolled a character or got a pregen if it was the first time and were short on time. From 3e forward, worse in each edition, players are expected to buy the material and spend time making a character in their minds before even knowing what they were going to play.
Sure, once you got into it you could buy The X Handbook and get all those extra options you were supposed to force on your DM, but it wasn't something thrown to people new to ttrpgs

>>96475496
Trust me, the world is better off without the depressed failing guy trying to inflict his weird emotional shit on other people. GM is enough of a platform that the people occupying it should be able to maintain a mask of sanity.

>>96475829
You'll never be me. Just end it.

>>96484898
how though

>>96483808
>Then die
If he's dead he can't provide effort. He's exactly where he needs to be.

>>96483793
>Better jobs require certification, which cots money.
Do Americans realize how awful they have it. In my country I was paid to do my BA and MA. My PhD position was considered a job and therefore I had a full salary during. I can't fathom the reality you describe and live in. Hellish, incomprehensible, awful.

>>96485475
Some PhD students get a sallary here, you have to compete for it but you have an assured job when you're done. You can still get it on your own for vanity sake or because you're planning something, like a a politician, but it's kinda rare. BAs don't, they get a limited healthcare where you're study material for medicine students and free meals. I guess the concept is keeping them inside passing at least one class a years even after they give up and start working, so they eventually become something more useful against their will because they wanted to keep their cheap dentist.

>>96485475
>I can't fathom the reality you describe and live in.
Being a world superpower with standards of living so high the entire world wants to move here? Yeah that does sound unimaginable for you kek

>>96485475
I've seen the salaries in your country. I'll stick with America.

>>96483861
Post the passage that says human me fighter players don't have to wear a fist sized butt plug and cock cage. Bet you can't. So if you want to play an HMF you better get that booty lubed up.

>>96492393
Oops