Player A wants to work with Player B. Player C wants to work with Player B. Players A and C are explicit that they should be kept away from each other. Verrrry special...
Requests of the form "I can't play with X" seem reasonable to me; the players are saying that, if they have to choose between playing with X and not playing, they'll choose not to play. That's their right, and it's probably a favor to Justin for them to say it in advance, so he doesn't have to iterate.
There are some people who just shouldn't be pushed together. In every group there are people that other people can't interact with because of rl issues, or because they have really pissed each other off in the past.
It makes for a better game usually if you avoid the wangst of putting these people together!
Oh, I do understand this, and again, I have been to one LARP convention.
It seems to be there must be varying degrees of "I don't want to play with this person."
In some cases, it might not be a big deal if you had to. (say a husband and wife who want o be in the same game).
In some cases, as pointed out earlier, it might be a deal-breaker. (I would prefer to not play at all if I have to play oopposite my ex-wife who dumped me for a cute GM via e-mail during a con).
There are people I will not for example do romance with because a) they suck b) I have no chemistry with them c) I loathe and despise them
There are people I do not want to hang my entire game off, but if they happen to be around the same bit of the game the world will not come to an end. There are people I will run away screaming from. There are people who are my good friends in real life who I just don't mesh with in game.
It is etiquette to ask, and avoids the gnashing of teeth when your players discover that they are expected to be married to a person they would willingly shove under a bus, or are best buddies with someone they wished they had actually managed to poison!
I have about half a dozen people on my 'avoid like the plague' list. I don't think any of them will be at Intercon :)
Absolutely. And just to drive home how subjective it all is, I believe that everyone who was on someone's "please avoid" list was on at least one other person's "please cast me with" list...
Oh, absolutely. But most players are pretty good about making clear whether it's a minor issue or a major one. (Indeed, most don't bother to write it down if it's genuinely minor.) And if two people *both* say that they don't want to work with each other, that's usually a loud warning bell, which should be heeded...
It has its plusses and minuses. It does make the casting job harder, but can make for a better game. When a group of people know that they play well together, putting them somewhat together in the story can help that area of the story gel more quickly, which often improves things all around. And if a couple of people really don't get along, it's *enormously* important to know that, because nothing can destroy a plot more quickly than having two players who dislike each other cast in positions where they need to work closely together. (This is why I actually put more weight on the "who would you prefer not to work with?" question.)
Which, really, makes it much like everything else on the casting form: useful information that may improve the game if I can work it in. Like everything else, I sometimes have to ignore it (as in the above case, where the best fit turned out to be having all three players in fairly separate plots), but it's helpful when I can make use of it.
Remember, my main goal here is a successful game. I'm trying to make a sort of artistic statement, and the better the casting, the more likely that is to succeed. Happy players make for a better game...
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-01 10:45 pm (UTC)Do you do yourself a disservice by allowing people to make these kinds of requests, or is it just part of LARP etiquette.
I certainly understand the concept, and I know there are many reasons that people do not want to interact specifically with others.
It just seems as though it makes the GM's job harder.
Seems reasonable to me
Date: 2007-01-01 11:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-02 12:42 am (UTC)It makes for a better game usually if you avoid the wangst of putting these people together!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-02 12:54 am (UTC)It seems to be there must be varying degrees of "I don't want to play with this person."
In some cases, it might not be a big deal if you had to. (say a husband and wife who want o be in the same game).
In some cases, as pointed out earlier, it might be a deal-breaker. (I would prefer to not play at all if I have to play oopposite my ex-wife who dumped me for a cute GM via e-mail during a con).
Just thinking out loud.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-02 01:17 am (UTC)There are people I will not for example do romance with because a) they suck b) I have no chemistry with them c) I loathe and despise them
There are people I do not want to hang my entire game off, but if they happen to be around the same bit of the game the world will not come to an end. There are people I will run away screaming from. There are people who are my good friends in real life who I just don't mesh with in game.
It is etiquette to ask, and avoids the gnashing of teeth when your players discover that they are expected to be married to a person they would willingly shove under a bus, or are best buddies with someone they wished they had actually managed to poison!
I have about half a dozen people on my 'avoid like the plague' list. I don't think any of them will be at Intercon :)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-02 01:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-02 01:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-02 01:28 am (UTC)Which, really, makes it much like everything else on the casting form: useful information that may improve the game if I can work it in. Like everything else, I sometimes have to ignore it (as in the above case, where the best fit turned out to be having all three players in fairly separate plots), but it's helpful when I can make use of it.
Remember, my main goal here is a successful game. I'm trying to make a sort of artistic statement, and the better the casting, the more likely that is to succeed. Happy players make for a better game...
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-02 05:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-02 11:47 pm (UTC)