Of course GM's are responsible for players behavior. They inspire them, engage them, thrill them. OR not. Or they don't and then players fiddle with their phones. I've been a player like that - some sessions were so boring I was seriously considering going home. Why sugar coat it?

that's not what he means.

of course sometimes gms don't do a good job. this happens a lot. being a good gm is hard.

gms can bore players. this boredom can lead to players doing stuff while at the table.

but it doesn't have to. they could also speak up. they could say what is bothering them, so the game can improve. they could try to act in a way to improve the game by themselves (sometimes players are too passive and that leads to boredom).

the gm might be responsible for a bad game, but isn't responsible for how the players react to that game. they are.

Fair point Shlominus. However OP is a the GM here looking for advice not his players.

also a fair point.

Of course GM's are responsible for players behavior.

A misapplication of the word "responsible", I think. Only the player is responsible for their behaviour. The GM may not be engaging them, but the player is responsible for how they react to that.

A GM should try to engage all the players when possible, that's the GM's responsibility. They should try to be aware of when a player might be feeling left out, and either address it directly and assure the player their turn is coming, or take the player aside and let them know they understand the situation. They also need to know how to ask for feedback, and this is a great article because simply asking "how y'all liking it so far?" is a terrible way to do it, you really have to dig:

http://www.madadventurers.com/angry-rants-feedback/

Meanwhile, the player's responsibility is to stay engaged even when the action is not directly related to their character. It's also the player's responsibility to provide good feedback to make the game better for everyone, not just their own character.

The least friendly thing a player can do is bow out and only engage when it's their character's turn. A player who can't stay engaged in the game is like a person showing up to a dinner invite empty handed and proceeds to lie down on the couch with their shoes on and turn on the game so nobody can talk.

The above is why I tend to side with the GM on these things. Even if you objectively suck as a GM, you're putting your effort into presenting a story, the kind of effort a player never has to do.

this is a great article because simply asking "how y'all liking it so far?" is a terrible way to do it, you really have to dig:

http://www.madadventurers.com/angry-rants-feedback/

it is a great article and very appropriate to the situation at hand i think.

Of course GM's are responsible for players behavior.

A misapplication of the word "responsible", I think. Only the player is responsible for their behaviour. The GM may not be engaging them, but the player is responsible for how they react to that.

A GM should try to engage all the players when possible, that's the GM's responsibility. They should try to be aware of when a player might be feeling left out, and either address it directly and assure the player their turn is coming, or take the player aside and let them know they understand the situation. They also need to know how to ask for feedback, and this is a great article because simply asking "how y'all liking it so far?" is a terrible way to do it, you really have to dig:

http://www.madadventurers.com/angry-rants-feedback/

Meanwhile, the player's responsibility is to stay engaged even when the action is not directly related to their character. It's also the player's responsibility to provide good feedback to make the game better for everyone, not just their own character.

The least friendly thing a player can do is bow out and only engage when it's their character's turn. A player who can't stay engaged in the game is like a person showing up to a dinner invite empty handed and proceeds to lie down on the couch with their shoes on and turn on the game so nobody can talk.

The above is why I tend to side with the GM on these things. Even if you objectively suck as a GM, you're putting your effort into presenting a story, the kind of effort a player never has to do.

Fair enough - again, not my first language. Let's say 'directly influences' ? ;-) I will dig into that article in a free moment, thanks!

If you choose to act in a rude manner at a game table, you can't blame the GM. This is the worst form of player entitlement; a participant shouldn't even be accountable for their own behavior at the table!? The GM is not there to be your dancing monkey, and is certainly not there to parent the players, ffs.

Addendum: Read that article linked above, and I mostly agree that as the GM you need to give every possible opportunity for players to provide feedback, and that should be added to my statements above re: how to handle the situation. But I'm pretty sure that people are going to read: "So, you absolutely can’t expect the players to speak up when they are unhappy." and not read any further, making it look like the players have 0 responsibility to provide feed-back, which is crap.

So I'm brand new to GMing. My first session with one of 3 local groups I will be GMing EotE for was this last Sunday. 5 players and myself. 2 of the players are younger and the rest of the group is closer to my age and a couple are a little older.

One of the players seemed a bit distracted by their phone during the session. It bugged me enough to mention it to them, though I believe I could have handled it better.

"You talkin' to your girlfriend?" I, of course, was intentionally pointing out the amount of time he's spending on his phone was distracting, though it was in a rude way.

Instead, I believe I will address the group as a whole before our next session. I'll first ask them if there is anything they think I could work on to improve the enjoyment of the game for them personally, write their ideas down immediately. Then I will mention that phones and other devices can be distracting. I understand the need to check them and that is okay but unless it is an emergency or urgent, please keep the use of devices at a minimum. If it is urgent or an emergency, by all means, let me know so we can "pause the game" until they are finished.

If the device use persists, I will try the "stop talking and stare at them until they pay attention" method.

Of course GM's are responsible for players behavior.

I honestly can't believe this is even a point of contention...

With the exception of parents being responsible for their children, no person is ever responsible for the conscious actions of another person.

If you choose to act in a rude manner at a game table, you can't blame the GM. This is the worst form of player entitlement; a participant shouldn't even be accountable for their own behavior at the table!? The GM is not there to be your dancing monkey, and is certainly not there to parent the players, ffs.

Addendum: Read that article linked above, and I mostly agree that as the GM you need to give every possible opportunity for players to provide feedback, and that should be added to my statements above re: how to handle the situation. But I'm pretty sure that people are going to read: "So, you absolutely can’t expect the players to speak up when they are unhappy." and not read any further, making it look like the players have 0 responsibility to provide feed-back, which is crap.

I've read the article and it has some good ideas - however my point still stands. To reinforce it see this quote from Groggy Golem: ''I'll first ask them if there is anything they think I could work on to improve the enjoyment of the game for them personally, write their ideas down immediately. Then I will mention that phones and other devices can be distracting''

^ That is exactly my point and my opinion on the matter.

With that being said i think You missed the fact that I've agreed to saying 'GM is responsible' was not the best choice of words. It's up there.

Art

This post will wax a bit OT, but it's worth mentioning that some groups have come up with a list of rules for their table in Session 0. I won't rehash the excellent threads on the subject, but they're worth reading.

Things to consider in the rules:

• what is the absentee policy?
• what is the food policy?
• what is the booze policy?
• what is the drug policy?
• what is the Electronic Distraction policy?

Sure you don't have to write these up like you're going to get audited, but it does help to establish some common baselines for the group at hand. I would imagine most groups of pals wouldn't need to wholly codify everything but it goes without saying that sometimes you need to remind people of the social contract as we all mess that up sometimes.