Hello players of Netheril, it’s me, ya boi, Blackheart. What it do.
It’s come to my attention that some of you have criticisms of the way I DM and handle myself outside of my mechanical role as DM. Which is cool, I respect that. Different opinions being presented are how I grow as a person and get better. Helps me think things through differently, you know?
However, the problem is that about 0% of this criticism is being given to me directly.
Like I said, criticize me all you want. I like that. Even if it’s mean, I don’t care, I have thick skin. I wouldn’t exactly be a good naval officer if I got offended at every little thing, now would I? So trust me, I can handle your feedback.
This is for your best interest - because if I can match a character to a username and talk about what the deal is, I’m going to not only be able to resolve the issue faster, but I am also more likely to genuinely take the criticism that is being given. Because I would much rather have X player who plays Y character tell me that I did something that needs improving than have DM D tell me that some person they can’t disclose said this. Like, ok? Was this person at my event? Did they see something I didn’t? What led them to think that? I will never know because I can’t ask more questions and figure out the whole story.
So seriously, if you have a problem, about 99% of the time, your best course of action is to bring it directly to me. And that goes for any of the other DMs too. Because DM D isn’t going to know what was going on at DM F’s event because they live across the world and were at work when the event was happening. We don’t bite, I promise.
Well… Maybe Elven does.
The only time, in my opinion, that you should go to another DM to discuss a problem is when you feel like you are being personally targeted or discriminated against.
And despite what you might think, I take no personal enjoyment out of targeting specific players, characters, or groups (outside of plot reasons that a group would want to do that sort of thing of course). And nobody else does either. We don’t take enjoyment out of knocking certain players down, nor do we like picking favorites when it comes to rewards and loot.
So, if you have any criticism of me… Please, feel free to approach. Until then, good luck and have fun.
Blackheart