Here are some common things I'm starting to see that are really starting to annoy me about the GMs here.

• Taking one small group of like four questions or a single character concept and judging a peorson of that single responce wanting nothing to do with them at all in any game if it don't please them.
• Similarly judging that a person dose not fit there game based of the character idea presented, not even willing to entertain the idea that you might be able to produce a more fitting character.  (This is particularly bad when little information on the setting is given in the first place to try and fit into)
• Ignoring a RTJ that they do not like rather than responding to it. (because we all know the best way to make something to go away is to pretend its not there, rather than say IDK..... say telling/asking it to go away)
• Thinking spelling and grammar is the only true judge of a persons intelligence, and that if you are not exceptional at both you are an invalid incapable of the level of thought required to play imaginary people like three year olds do.........  yah.  You don't need to be smart to rp well but it dose help, however one skill like spelling don't constitute intelligence. There could be and idiot savant with perfect spelling and grammar, and Einstein's was bad and his math skills wouldn't have got him out of middle school math class....
• And more of a pet peeve than a real problem... not giving information on a setting, even if there not expecting a well thought out character...take some consideration for people who will only play well thought out characters.

Ok so some of that is fumeing (oh dear lord what the auto correct tried to make that).... but I see much of it as a real problem

Problem is, depending on system, GMs are getting a hell of a lot of RTJs, and they need to figure out some way of determining who gets in and who doesn't? Would it be better if they gave you no reason just "You didn't get in?" Ignoring the fact that the reasons they have are still the same, you just don't know them?

I know your intention was not to be ironically correct in your statement, but it turns out that is indeed what is actually happening here. Thing is though, a person who reads that their RTJ will not be accepted without all the required information, and still fills out one without all the requred information deserves to be ignored. I'm not calling you out. I've never dealt with you to know that you do this, but be warned, I don't acknowledge anyting that doesn't have what I require on it. In fact, other than that one particular line, you can have anything else you want on your RTJ and if it's complete garbage, you have higher odds of being accepted, or even acknowledged than someone who doesn't have that one line.


I'm no perfectionist, but there are things within your first post on this topic that would make me not want you in my game. Particularly getting the correct "there" wherever you decide to put it. I snipped a comment where you should have said "their"... Just sayin' (and before you bag on me, contractions are a valid grammatical choice for informal writing).

To be fair, considering the wide range of spell and grammar check, if you submit an RTJ to me full of grievous errors beyond the usual, I'm going to assume you didn't care enough.

And if you do care enough, stick to words you know how to spell, intelligence is best conveyed not in the words you can write, but in the concepts you grasp. It will show if the idea is a good one.

And often, if I do judge someone on one concept, it's because they've shown some measure of themselves that will be problematic, such as a desire to be the lone wolf who everyone stands in awe of and is always right, or being the only one allowed nice things on the group ("I know it's an agent game, but can I be Green Lantern? Checkmate did it!" . . . I would allow Greg Rucka who wrote it to play that, not some powergamer on the internet)

The toughest part about putting together a game is finding a group of players who click and have good chemistry.  It's tough to do, but when you find a group of players like that, the games can be fantastic.

Part of that has to do with playing and posting styles.  Some players like to post only one or two lines, whilst others like to write entire chapters at a time.  Most players fall somewhere in between.

As a GM, if I get an RTJ that doesn't use capitalization or punctuation and misspells many words, I'm not going to accept that submission unless there's something about the player that overrides my initial objections, and I'll try to let the prospective player know in the kindest way I know how.  Being aware that a player is dyslexic is a good reason not to have perfect grammar, of course.  I don't demand 100% correct posts, and I make mistakes myself.  I have a friend who really struggles with grammar and spelling, but I'd still play with him in a heartbeat because I like playing with him and I know his situation.

As a player and a GM, I don't want to play in a long term game with someone who doesn't use basic standard English.  It's painful reading their posts, and other forms of RPGs are much more suited to a person who struggles with writing.  My friend, for instance, usually LARPS, and he doesn't have to worry about spelling or sentence structure during a LARP weekend.

In reply to Sir_Chivalry (msg # 4):

Your last paragraph illustrates a point that I seriously hadn't considered, but now that I look at it, I realize that it is a completely valid point. I have fallen into the trap of unwittingly allowing a player to enter a game I was GMing on the premise that a lot of their stuff was flavor text of abilities they actually bought. I thought it was a cool idea. It was a canon character from an anime that wasn't even related to the game. I hadn't seen it, so I figured she'd play nice and only go for flavor text. I find out she's trying to throw down some major divine power because the other character had said power. So I try to let it happen and put serious negs on it. From that point her entire involvement in the game was about preserving her powers and waving them in front of all the other players. At one point I got her to very strongly imply such. It was terrible. I'll never make that mistake again.

In reply to Mad Mick (msg # 5):

You have another friend that LARPs but you don't know him personally, and I'd say he's adequate. :D

   And yet, spelling and grammar are essential tools to master in order to be able to communicate with the written language.  Using a fixed set of rules to convey what you want to say in a way that others will understand you cannot be ignored.  No matter the level of your thought processes, if you cannot express them any better than that three year old you have mentioned, how is anyone to know?

I'm not sure about anything else, but I do see the point about GM's that do not respond to rejected RTJ's.
I can see the GM's stance on this, as well. Every RTJ that you want to reject has the capability of being the driving force behind the party, or the glue that holds the others together. It's exceedingly difficult to type that post in that finalizes the player's rejection. It's like any interpersonal relationship, you don't want to say 'go away' until you're absolutely certain this isn't someone you might want or need later on.
But it's like my father always told me, 'if you might love someone, set them free, if they're not there when the time is right, dial the number scrawled on the wall next to the payphone'.

The bit about Einstein is actually a fallacy.  He was brilliant at math, even at an early age, but he disdained memorization, which is what his classes prioritized.  He wanted to work out everything rather than memorize material.

If a player has problems with spelling, I recommend getting a good dictionary and looking up words. Like I said before, a player needn't have perfect spelling, but I appreciate players who make an effort.  Another friend of mine from high school struggled with dyslexia, too, but she really worked hard to do her best.  If someone has dyslexia, it might be a good idea to be upfront with that in the RTJ, just to let the GM know.

More on Einstein and math here.  It's good reading, particularly for people who hate rote memorization.  =)  http://www.todayifoundout.com/...thematics-in-school/

Are you sure we're not talking about the same person?  =)  I kid, I kid.  =)

I'm gonna defend the aspect of spelling just for a second.

Not everyone -can- spell. There are reasons some people can't. I'm not going to make assumptions based on someone's use of spelling or grammar as to their intelligence. It also is not indicator of whether they care enough.

Having said that, unfortunately, I would have to say poor spelling is a red flag to me; just because PbP is so much about writing that poor spelling/grammar makes it hard to sometimes interpret what a player is saying.

Oh I'd just like to say also that I've made no comment against spelling. My comments were against the wrong word being used, even though it was spelled correctly.

In reply to steelsmiter (msg # 6):

Years and years ago I belonged to a college gaming group that met once a month and GMs would offer one session games for people to play.  One GM usually offered Call of Cthulhu, the original 1930's setting.  We had for a while a player who without fail, would try to get the GMs to accept his Pashtani (spelling?) which was a blue furred humanoid feline; especially into settings that didn't fit at all...  Like CoC and other modern settings.

The CoC GM let him make up a character, but told him that he had to follow all the rules for character creation straight out of the book.  He also told him that his character looked human and had totally human attributes, and that his Sanity would be half of what it normally should be since his character was under the delusion that he was really a blue furry cat-man.  The player agreed but throughout the game kept trying to claim that he could use certain magical powers; all of which the GM nixed from really happening and kept having the player make sanity checks.  Needless to say the player didn't stay in the gaming group for very long.

Sometimes the GMs just have to say "No.  You can't play in my game."  It's not always nice, but as it has already been expressed, not everyone's play styles mesh.

In reply to steelsmiter (msg # 3):

Explaining why there not being accepted can be short and simple, and if they won't take no for an answer that is what the moderators are for...ignoring someone just puts of people who could have been good additions to the game with a little guidance (has been the case with one char in my mage game...and also the bane of it with another but that other was my fult for being TOO nice and helpful)... and it don't put off the people who are going to be persistent and troublesome

While I am not actually dyslexic its easier to say I am because its similar and people know what dyslexic is and I don't even think what it got has a name lol.....I have worked my brain raw grinding what spelling and gramor I do have in...my academic skills where graded all higher than 97-99.9% of kids my age in middle school with the accepting of math (Barkley affected high 80), and social studies/history (only slightly above average in the 70s) because the affect it has on me remembering names and formulas. Spelling and gramor? Internet other end of the spectrum. 73% where better than me I got 27. U.U

So you can imagine why it is a hot button topic for me. Yah I may not meet there high standard of there gauge for intelligence but what I have is a good 300% improvement over where I was 10-15 years ago. Thats something that can't say they have done with anything likely...and I know I'm likely smarter than them anyway....

>.<

So frustrating.

In reply to steelsmiter (msg # 13):

Yeah, I know you didn't. Funnily enough, I have a lot more patience with the wrong word being used, as I don't know what nationality someone may be; and the differing use of the same words spelt differently may be one of the last things you get from studying english; which is the -worst- language to learn as a second language. Even latin is easier.

What bugs me is when I apply to a game, and rather than being told up front, "A lot of people are applying so you may not get in" I am strung along(5 messages from the gm, getting a whole bunch of questions answered that built up the background for the character, and then get told, with not once being told how I could better make my character fit(which I always say, that I can change or shift my idea):


While that is nice, I rarely see a game open up to new players that I applied to at the start. More often I see games die off before accepting new players, with only the occasional game that actually does that.

In reply to Sir_Chivalry (msg # 4):

Not everyone makes chars that are personas. Generally this is true, but some times they make chars they think will fit in what they know of the setting, or just something they want to try for the heck of it.

The more important thing, even if there char consent dose show some trait of theirs that is in conflict, it dose not mean they can not control that trait or even that it is a predominate one at all.

Well I agree with some of what Azraile said.
The first two points are really up to the DM. You can get a TON of requests so just because you weren't picked doesn't mean one of those is true.

Ignoring a RTJ: A pet peeve of mine. I don't ask for much, just a "sorry, game filled up" or a quick reason. I've had RTJ's sit because I asked a question I needed answered to complete the RTJ and since I didn't put all the info in they ignored it. :P
To steelsmiter, I often find several pages of info/rules to read and a separate RTJ thread. Then the 'required' info is some secret phrase hidden in the middle of all that. By the time I finish the character I forget that little blurb. It depends on how much info you're throwing at the player and how obvious the required info is. If it's something like an age statement in an adult game I could understand your stance. Even so, no reason to not put some kind of reply.

Spelling/grammar: I'm not a Nazi about it and will overlook general mistakes. If the post is SO filled with errors that It's painful then it's an issue.

Not giving information on a setting: This is another peeve. I'm cool with a game being like on setting but I'm puzzled by one that also asks for extensive background. How am I to form more than a generic background without knowing the world I'm in?

Actually what bugs me even more than that; is when I'm not told that I -did- make it in; and only if I check the game because there's new messages do I see it.

I usually do keep people in mind; but a lot of the time, I've found that if they haven't been accepted within the first few months of being given that offer, they wander away and don't respond to an offer.