Something that I’ve noticed more with each year is the pervasiveness of electronics in our gaming lives. Initially it was just calculators at the table for those games that actually involved equations.
Next it was tools for the Game Master, like mapping software and NPC generators. This technology didn’t actually end up at the table, just its product. Gradually as dice rollers and character creators became more advanced, players and GMs began bringing PDAs or laptops to games. We are now in the age where e-readers, tablets and netbooks almost outnumber the players in games. As much as I like my laptop, I am discovering that gaming groups and LARP troupes are being damaged by the prevalence of technology.
Yes, it’s wonderful to have PDFs of every book related to your game ever published. Yes, it’s handy to be able to just zoom onto the internet to find that specific piece of data that you want at that exact moment. Unfortunately, this also means that players don’t truly learn and retain their game’s mechanics or setting. Why remember something when you can just look it up? When you don’t bother to learn something for yourself and just “look it up,” you don’t get as much out of it. Your experience of the subject matter is much more superficial.
Electronics are also horrible distraction. You are not successfully multi-tasking. Several studies have been published concerning so-called high efficiency multi-taskers. It actually takes them longer to accomplish all of their tasks together than it does for them to do them one at a time. Instead of paying attention to other peoples’ actions while waiting for your turn, you find Facebook or your email to be summoning you for “a quick peek.” When your turn comes around, you have to ask for a recap or even have to be prodded into taking your turn. This wastes everyone else’s time and frustrates your fellow players.
Lastly, they tend to distance the participants from one another. You find yourself looking at the screens rather than one another. What used to be a social event has turned into a slightly over glorified MMO. Everyone rolls their dice at the appropriate moment and mechanically takes their actions, but there is very little interaction or actual role-playing. The game has ceased to be a shared world experience has turned into a series of tasks to be completed.
The GM, ideally, should be the only one at the table or LARP with an electronic aide. Even his or hers should only ever be used to look up a book or material directly related to the game. If you find your GM to be spending more time staring at their screen than interacting with the players, perhaps it’s time for a new GM.
The single biggest argument against banning electronics is the argument about book costs. Our games are made by companies who spend their time producing creative, niche products for a niche audience. They don’t have the reduced production costs of something like a Harry Potter novel. They charge what they do, just to keep the doors open. If you want more gaming books, buy the ones you use. If you can’t afford all of the books yourself, perhaps your gaming group can look at building up a group library. Each person in the group buys a few books.
A group library also means that no one person is dragging a huge pile of books to game. Everyone brings a small handful and shares at the table. You can use your PDFs between games for character updates and ideas, printing out the pertinent details to bring to game for your own use. To avoid dragging my entire VtM library to games, I’ve printed an important page or two before.
I have also heard the time constraint complaint. People claiming that they don’t have the time to read or mess with their characters between games. That’s complete bologna. Gaming is an interactive hobby. Like any interactive hobby it does require effort between games. Softball player practice their skills between games. RC pilots work on their planes between flights. Reading up on where your character comes from or rules applicable to your character doesn’t require a huge amount of time. It’s not like you are being asked to be an obsessive setting or rules guru, just competent. If you aren’t willing to spend a little time on your hobby outside of the actual “events,” maybe it isn’t something you are really all that interested in.
This is not an attack on other gamers. I have done and said all of the above negative things. From this day forward, I resolve to leave my laptop at home or in another room when I am attending a Table Top RPG or LARP. I will use books and paper character sheets at games. I will learn and retain the rules and settings for myself, rather than just looking them up. I will immerse myself in my characters at games and role-play my heart out. I will enjoy the game and the time with my friends.
I ask you all to do the same.
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