How do you stop people from godmodding?
I noticed that RPRepository posted a news article about godmodding – which remains a constant problem in roleplaying games. I’d say it’s probably the biggest problem – would you agree?
So in her article Kim gives a description of what godmodding is:
god moding (aka god modding) noun:
- A player who tries to control things that are not under their control, i.e. the reactions and emotions of other people’s characters
- A rude behavior in which a gamer oversteps what is allowed by the written or unwritten rules of the game.
There’s a more detailed description that I posted here, posted a long time ago and still strangely one of our blog’s most popular articles!
Who does it – and why?
Kim’s article has quotes from roleplayers talking about their experience with godmodders, and why they don’t like it. What I liked the most was the description of the types of people who godmod:
God modding is primarily exhibited by two types of people:
- Most commonly, very green new players
- Very rarely, old, impatient players who think that they have “earned the right”.
I think this is about right, although it’s a harsh truth. Knowng the causes of course I think can help us all drown out godmodding forever. Another quote which sums up godmodding is this by Degu:
A lot of people want to be the character that comes out on top or have a preconception as to how ‘badass’ their character should appear, as well as in contrast to the character they are up against. If a player feels that they should easily be able to beat their opponent i’ve seen it happen then. At the same time however, sometimes with newer players it’s just a lack of RP etiquette knowledge i think. I know i remember feeling very clumsy and unsure of what to do in a fight, for instance, when i first started roleplaying. I’m very sure i god modded a couple of times before being told off.
– Degu
How to handle a godmodder
We posted on this blog a couple of years ago a list of 12 user-submitted suggestions about dealing with a godmodder, some of which you might agree with, some you might not.
There’s some good suggestions on Kim’s article. Mostly of course it’s about communication.
I also like talking to people about it (in a nice way), and explain to them how god moding works against a story instead of helping it. It’s a bit of a blunt approach usually, but in my experience a lot of people never considered that being amazing at everything gets boring fast and isn’t very special when you think about it. Not when everyone else around you is amazing at everything too. 😉
– Sanne
And of course lead by example…
Be a role model and have the community or thread standards/rules spelled out where you can refer the player to them. “Here’s what we expect. Please work within our guidelines if you want your RP to be more successful.”
You can read the post by Kim here, which I encourage you to do. I think as many people know about godmodding and how to solve it the better! Let us know your thoughts and experiences about roleplaying in the comments below.
