>play crunchy combat based space game
>one player b***hes that the game is an unfun slog and starts suggesting simplifications
>play rules lite story driven game
>one player calls the game meandering and wants more crunch
>he also hates the setting
>play CoC
>one player starts to complain about the setting
>do a VTM 20th anniversary edition session one
>it falls apart because this one guy hates everything about the game and its tone
It’s all one guy. I’m contemplating kicking him but technically he’s done nothing more than voice his opinions.
what do the other players think?
One finds him annoying, (this guy is the other GM in the group, make of that what you will) one thinks he’ll leave on his own, but the other player is his friend and might try and turn it into an argument.
I think overall I’m encountering a problem where the whole group wants to play very different games for different reasons and this player is just shit stirring that problem.
You start the conversation leading to kicking him by asking him what he wants to play specifically that he knows he'll enjoy. If he can't name a system, a setting, and a tone immediately and without ambiguity or feet dragging then he has to go. He should also be willing to run that game. Space combat crunch is fun, rules light story games are fun, CoC is fun, they're all fun. Except Vampire, that's not fun - never has been, no idea why people play it.
The way you solve that is that you list which games you are willing to run, and then work it out with them which game everyone would enjoy. It's not that hard. If someone is unwilling to compromise then they are an issue and needs to be removed, and "compromise" in this instance means going into a game with the intent to enjoy it. I'd rather play with a table of 3 than a table of 5 where 1 is insufferably negative.
"Dave, we've changed games (3) times because you kept complaining that you didn't like something about it each time. It's getting old. I know a message like this is blunt and seems rude, but there's no easy or polite way to ease into it. If you keep chasing the perfect game by grumbling about what you don't like - one a game is already in progress no less - it's just going to sour everyone. So, what the hell do you want to play?"
Know a guy who has been holding off running a game waiting for that perfect system to materialise. Never did.
At that point, just make your own.
This was me for ages.
It didn't help that my group is very married to 5e, which I hate, but am willing to run as long as I can constantly homebrew the worst of my gripes away.
I eventually just settled on picking up and learning a BRP because its crunchy enough the 5e players are at least somewhat satisfied but general enough/has enough sub systems I can run all the hairbrained ideas I have for campaigns in it without retraining my players every new campaign.
I wish I could find a group that were as into TTRPGs as me. Because I'd try a different system every week if I could. I just love trying out different mechanics and systems and seeing how they change how people play and roleplay. Every time I get to try something new I'm excited to incorporate it into other things.
>I wish I could find a group that were as into TTRPGs as me
Nta but same boat my friend, i could sit whole days designing cool games using various rulesystems but selling them to my players is a whole problem in itself, save some fotm aligning with one of my plans (eg: i got lucky once when i was working on a pirates of the caribbean game and the series black sails got traction). It's not that i don't have fun running the nth d&d game for them but the more we grow older the less they're willing to step out of their comfort zone, i guess sooner or later solo games will be my only option for indulging in my projects.
>Inb4 find other players
Here's the tricky bit: i found that the more passionate an individual is the more particular his preferences are so pretty much you end having the same odds as in tackling with less passionate friends in pulling your dream game regardless.
I'm not going to say it's absolutely the case, but extremely high probability he doesn't actually enjoy TTRPGs and is only there for your mutual friend's sake.
It doesn't even sound like the whole group wants to play different things if it's that single player who is complaining about every system.
At a certain point you need to put your foot down and either tell him to run his favorite system himself or stop griping.
Have you tried talking to him about the problem instead of just b***hing to us?
I already got some good advice with
so it’s too late for you.
>It’s all one guy.
Kick him.
>he’s done nothing more than voice his opinions.
If there's no way to please him, stop trying.
Seconding this. I have my preferences, but when the group as a whole wants to do something I'm not a fan of the option is make the best of it and enjoy my time with my friends, or to frick off and find a different group. It always cycles back around to genres and styles I prefer.
You do need to find some kind of balance.
That’s what CoC was supposed to be. The lack of baddie busting frustrated him and he didn’t want us to add anything from Pulp Cthulhu.
It’s your fault for pushing VtM on anyone but if it really is the same guy who complained about both styles of sci fi they have issues.
Let them choose the next game or make it clear in advance you are playing a full quest line at least 3 months before changing. Leveling up and improving is what hooks players to any system if you keep changing players aren’t getting their fix.
Whatever you do, play some one-shots of different systems, rather than investing time in prepping out a whole campaign only to have this whiner blow it up because he doesn't like the system. (NOTE: He doesn't like any system.)
I'd say you should just quit GMing because the ability to tard wrangle is key to being a GM and youre clearly too much of a pussified cuck to do it yourself and have to come here of all places to ask for advice rather than ask your dumb friends directly to just make up their minds.
>I’m contemplating kicking him but technically he’s done nothing more than voice his opinions.
He doesn't fit in and he's disrupting your fun. That means he's disrupting the group's fun, because they aren't getting play. Ditch him, he can go find some furgays on roll20 to play with. If that means ditching his buddy too, oh well. You can probably replace them easily.
I confronted him and he just left without saying anything. This is on a discord server but we know this guy irl, I will never bring ttrpgs up with him again and hopefully he won’t either.
Said it pretty gently too, I should clarify.
Simply tell him that he can either keep b***hing or keep playing.
Pick which game you and the rest of the group want to play most and if he doesn't want to play, he does not have to come. That easy.
Both of the first two aren't mutually exclusive.
GURPS is crunchy as frick and but the rules for combat are an unfun slog, and Fate Core is so rules lite that the game mechanics become flavorless slop.