Here's something I learned at Gaelcon.
I used to hate onlookers. I could not GM with an audience. I couldn't play with an audience. I saw onlookers as detracting from my experience.
At Gaelcon, Gregor had onlookers for a session of Cold City. And I had some for Contenders. And not only were they fun to have around, they contributed to the experience. AND came back for later games.
We should do more of this. We should invite the wavering girlfriends and hesitant pals to sit down and just watch. Here's what roleplaying can be like. Here's how many LOLs we get. Here's how we manage to cram emotion, adventure and giggles into an hour's demo. Fancy trying the next demo for real?
Word!
Submitted by Matt on Mon, 03/12/2007 - 22:34.
Or other such affirmative slang.
I think part of it is that habit of "it's our fun, it can't possibly be fun for others to watch", which a lot of us have developed.
-Matt
Realms Publishing
Yes!
Submitted by Gregor Hutton on Tue, 04/12/2007 - 16:55.
It used to be my mantra that RPGs were a participation event. You had to play not watch.
And that's partly true, but it is blind to the fact that like many kinds of improvised entertainment it is enjoyable to watch as well as participate in.
So, it was fun for me to have watchers and be a watcher at GaelCon.
It does get me excited about playing games myself if I'm watching and I find that the audience drops from my vision when I'm involved with playing the game. I don't think any of us "played up" to the crowd either. We just gamed and the people watching really grokked it.
It reminds me of people that used to hang out and watch the band just jam.
Lovely posts, you two. I was
Submitted by Joe Murphy on Tue, 04/12/2007 - 17:08.
Lovely posts, you two.
I was chatting to someone who'd seen a GM be actively rude to someone who was listening in, and that pissed me off. I'd like IGTs to be better than that.
Sure, if it's not for you, it's not for you. But demos aren't just for the three or four people around the table. They're for the community. Turning a newbie who tries Contenders into a weekly gamer (whether that's D&D or indie) has made the community better off.
And with some of the games we run, an audience can contribute a lot. Ideas for the more improvy games. Laughter and enthusiasm too.