Cellphones, laptops and other devices distracting from game

JaymesBolton

Recently I have been having issues with my players using electronic devices to play games, surf the web, etc. during game. I feel I am not the only one who has experienced this issue (a recent of "Weregeek":http://www.weregeek.com/2012/03/21/ demonstrates the problem beautifully) and was wondering how people deal with this. My game is currently run over skype/xbox live as the rest of my gaming group are located in California and I DM from Washington, D.C.

Since I do use my OP site for a lot of things in game and use messaging to send players secret information that the rest of the party shouldn't know ( the joy and headaches of having a sneaky character) I do not want to completely disallow electronic devices( and my players would revolt). And I am looking for suggestions besides just "talking to them about as reasonable adults". And it is happening in other games ( we have 3 different games a week with different GMs and RPG systems) so I know it is not just my game. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Jaymes

"Changing History":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/l5r-changing-history

arsheesh

GM: "As you kick open the tattered door to the Troll Warrens the putrid smell of rotted flesh and fetid water wafts out to greet you. And that's not all that does, a towering hulk of warty green flesh screeches a challenge and lumbers forward to engage the party. Everyone roll initiative."
Player 1: "I got a 15"
Player 2 (Talking to his girlfriend on a cellphone): "...I miss you too baby, maybe latter tonight..."
GM to Player 2: "Gronk, I need that initiative score."
Player 2: "Oh, sorry, yeah wait just a second..." (rolls a D20) "...17."
GM: (Rolls a 13 for the Troll) "OK Gronk, your the first to react, what do you do?"
Player 2 (still on the cell phone): "...you know, that little lacy thing I like so..."
GM to Player 2: "Gronk!"
Player 2: "Huh, whu... oh yeah, what did you say we were facing?"
GM: "OK let's focus people. Gronk there's a Troll breathing down your neck, what do you do?"
Player 2: "...oh now that's just dirty girl!"
GM (sighs): "OK, Gronk delays..."
Player 2: "NO wait!, I power attack that mother licking Troll with my Soul-ripping great sword" (rolls some dice) "Does a 16 hit?"
GM: "Nope, looks like the troll is wearing some piece-mail armor that deflected the blow. Simmonds your up."
Player 1: "Simmonds takes a 5-foot step back and casts scorching ray!" (rolls some dice) "Wow, 31 points damage!"
GM: "Nice, the Troll lets out a shrill howl of animal pain as its warty flesh puckers and bursts. The smell of acrid flesh hits you like kick in the head. The..."
Player 2 (looking at a graphic text image of his girlfriend): "Oh my God, you're so f#%@ing hot!"
GM: "Do you mean the Troll or are you still talking to your girlfriend?"
Player 2: "Huh...
GM (exasperated): "Right. Gronk, distracted by memories of last night's wenching, never see's the Troll's attack coming. His defenses down, the Troll easily decapitates the Barbarian with a slash of its razor sharp claws. Gronk has gone on to that great Mead-Hall in the sky!"

The End

RobertBenton

I think my posts kill threads, but I agree with arsheesh. Either the game is (and I love your l5r campaign) or is not important. Another thing to consider is my solution to metagaming. Start imposing penalties to distracted players. "Oh whats that? You're thinking about a skimpy costume your girl could wear? Hard to see attacks coming with that kind of distraction. AC reduced by half your dex mod." Stack if necissary.

-Rob (Pale)

JaymesBolton

Arsheesh & Robert: Luckily its not that bad. Its mostly playing phone games and they are mostly attentive to game....its just seeing them looking at them on the my TV (using xbox live for the video part) looking down at their phones is just kinda of annoying. I might just be ranting and whinning for no good reason but oh well.

-Jaymes

"Changing History":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/l5r-changing-history

RobertBenton

Well, how bad is it? Is it just minor distractions every half hour or so, or is it full on episodes they are watching? If it is minor perhaps just letting them know that game time is game time could solve the problem. I am a super jealous and overtly dramatic DM (for story telling pourposes or so I tell myself), so I use various drastic measures to nip minor problems in the bud before they escalate. It works, but is not recommended for everyone.

magavendon

I have 2-3 players that consistently do things on their laptops during the game. They only jump in and participate when I actively turn to them and specifically ask them if they are going to do something. Otherwise they just sit back and let the other players do whatever it is the other players want to do.

I used to get upset by this because I figure that when it's game time you should only be focusing on one thing and one thing only, the game. But after thinking about it for a while I figure who am I to decide what should or should not be important to someone else? Their characters are just ignored until they are needed in this case, and they do pay attention when myself or one of the more active players is directly involving them. Thus, their actions aren't really hurting the group any, they're just being quiet and letting other players have all the spotlight. No one in my group (the attentive players or the inattentive ones) has complained to me about it so I figure it must just be me.

I do understand the feeling as a GM that you want your players to pay attention to every word you have to say, and you want them all to interact with the world and whatnot, but it is just a game and if someone else has more fun sitting around hanging out with the group and just occasionally jumping in to help with something or otherwise then that's their prerogative.

I still give those players less CP ("xp") though, since I'm not one of those GMs that give the same amount to everyone every session, and I give them out based on RP and furthering the plot (there is a difference!).
:P

I know none of this really answers your question but, like Robert above me, do(es) your player(s) sit there and space out (or otherwise) when it is _TRULY_ important and thus hold up the game for everyone else or are they just less active than other members but otherwise still contribute? Is this actually a problem of the player(s) or of yourself?

twiggyleaf

I think magavendon gives a very sobre analysis of the situation.


twiggyleaf
"Shimring - The Faces of Divinity":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimring
(a multiplanar 3.5 D&D campaign)

arsheesh

Hm, well Magavendon I think your anger was warranted. It would be one thing if certain members of the group were just more quite than others, and willing to allow other players a larger share of the spotlight. So long as they were still actively engaged (i.e. paying attention to what is going on) in the storyline and contributing to it then they satisfy the minimum threshold requirements for being participants within the game. However, as you described the situation, these players weren't really "playing" they were just taking up space at the table. They weren't actively engaged in the storyline and only contributed to it when directly asked to. They weren't really participants in the game, more like glorified NPCs.

This sort of apathy is bad for everyone. First, it pisses you, the GM. off. Why do you spend so much time preparing for the game if the players aren't even going to pay attention? Further, if a GM is passive aggressive about the situation and doesn't take action then this anger can turn into long term resentment, which will likely negatively impact the GM's contribution to the game, and may even spill over into his or her relationships with non-participant players. The non-participation of these players may detract from the experience of other players as well. Such apathy sends the message "this game isn't really worth my time and attention", or worse "you're not really worth my time and attention". Other players hearing this message might either assent to it and likewise become prone to distraction, or (like the GM) resent it and wish they were in a game where people actually cared about the story, and in particular, their character's contribution to it. Imagine a situation in which a player has composed a ballad of a recent adventure for his Bard to rehearse and upon completing the recitation the player looks up to see several players checking their email. Not cool. Role playing is a communal activity.

So what do you (the GM) do about it? Well, first I'd say try to nip it in the bud by laying down some ground-rules about table etiquette early on so that everyone is clear on what the expectations are. If they have a problem with this, they can always opt out and find some other campaign to leech onto. If you have never laid down any rules about Table etiquette in the past, then do so at your next game session. Hopefully most people will agree with these ground rules and your apathetic players may even apologize and turn things around. Of course now and then there will be that guy who either argues his "rights" with you or simply ignores your rules on table etiquette. Best to just remove that guy from your group completely. Players may occasionally fall back into bad habits but if you get on their cases about it a few times hopefully this will discourage such behavior.

I guess what it all boils down to is this, "what kind of game do you want?" Do you want a game where everyone is engaged, or one where dipshit over there is checking his email while you lay the scene of a combat encounter. If you want a game where players are involved, then do something about it. Either dipshit shapes up or ships out.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

JaymesBolton

I agree with megavendon and the situation is quite similar. The players do "follow" the game and know what is going on when I call on them they just are not actively participating unless I or one of the other players actively engage with them. I might just be whining and complaining about nothing and I do appreciate people listening to me rant.

Arsheesh: Yes I completely agree with you but my issue is that our group has been gaming together now for several years with several games a week (different GMs and systems) so its not easy just to say "shape up or ship out" (as much as I generally agree with that type of attitude). We are all friends (actually a pair of them are brother and sister, the sister is dating another player who is one of my closests friend and old roommate and her best friend is my girlfriend....and all of them are in the game...) so it makes it hard just to tell people to stop F***ing off and pay attention to game without looking like the bad guy.

Last session was particularly bad as a friend from out of town was visiting everyone and was sitting in at game, they had all just downloaded some sort of pictionary type game app (most of my players are very artistic unlike me), real life family drama had been occurring outside of game and everyone just seemed generally distracted. If next game is as bad as the last one then I will start seriously talking with people and laying down some ground rules about everything.

-Jaymes

"Changing History":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/l5r-changing-history

bluesguy

No one has an electronic device at the table except for me - my laptop - to manage information that I have put on the my Obsidian Portal site.

I do have distracted players. I have one ~14 year old who is ADHD. I try to make sure to come back to him every few minutes.

Sorwen

We had a similar problem this last weekend. I wasn't the DM thankfully. They get their cell phones out and are busy texting, looking various sports things, or even playing games because they decide they have nothing to do with the stuff that is going on. It got so bad that we didn't get much done. The DM had his own problems moving things along, but the cell phones made it many times worse.