Why Be A Game Master?

[Flip]

In terms of the game, I think there's no better way to keep up with the game than being a GM and doing your job as a GM. You discover a new thing everyday.

In terms of the work, you practice your professionalism moreso than anything else in being a GM. The fact that its a thankless job enables one person to work without gain. If you can do that, then your work ethic improves by a -lot-.

[Mewi]

In terms of the game, I think there's no better way to keep up with the game than being a GM and doing your job as a GM. You discover a new thing everyday.

In terms of the work, you practice your professionalism moreso than anything else in being a GM. The fact that its a thankless job enables one person to work without gain. If you can do that, then your work ethic improves by a -lot-.

Being thanked is only a bonus to order ^~

[A92FL0163]

Wearing a dress while being male and not being laughed at for it?

[ADDFurret]

Some wish to restore the success of what was brought down by corruption.

Others wish to bring down that success with corruption.

[Auroraâ„¢]

I think nearly anyone who has been a Game Master will agree with me; at first it's a very enjoyable experience, you do get a lot of "fame" and "glory" - but you'll also meet people who will give you a hard time for no reason at all. Eventually the cons start to outweigh the pros, and that's when most people stop caring because they aren't getting the ego/powertrip anymore.

The fact of the matter is, being a GM, particularly one with a lot of responsibility for the community as well as server side issues, isn't easy. I can see why people don't understand why we do it, and I don't think there is a simple answer to "why" either.

Everyone has their own reasons, some are negative - power, abuse via unlegit items/zeny, popularity - and some are positive - a genuine desire to help the server, to make it grow, etc. You'll find a lot of people start out with that sincere wish to help a private server prosper, but after the original hype of the job dies down and they realize how much work it is, no one wants to do it anymore or they end up going sour and corrupt.

Unfortunately there are a lot more bad Game Masters in the world of Private Servers, ones that'll give the rest of us bad names, but it can't be helped. I've never done something unlegit in my entire RO career, but I have been accused of it and people have started rumors for whatever reasons. Eventually it happens to almost anyone, no matter how nice you are or how well you do your job. So, why?

I've worked on several servers with a population of anywhere between 500 players to 1000+, I've got a lot of experience under my belt, so I've found my reason for GMing. You may call it selfish but I do it mostly for myself, and I think it's better that way. Yes, I do want to help the server, but I moreover enjoy certain aspects of the job and so I continue to work on the staff for my reasons.

I've been doing this long enough that there's no chance that I'd take a GMing job for popularity (partly because I know it doesn't work that way), nor will I be in it for the "power" (since I simply don't care much for it), and my general awareness of how RO communities work will forever prevent me from being biased. In terms of my knowledge and opinions, after a very long time, I've settled into a nice little corner and found a comfortable spot in the world of RO, and I plan to stay here.

Enjoy your wall of text! Although there's one more thing I've got to add to this;

GMing is a thankless job, often the only thanks you get is in the silence when no one is complaining.

I really think Tieria has the general idea of why it happens, and how it usually ends up, down - otherwise, a basic idea of what being a GM is like.

I've also been part of several GM teams and helper teams, and I've been from servers that have only lasted a few months, and carried an average population of 50, to servers who are still here today (even if they're barely standing), which ranged from 300-900 players. So, I can also safely say I've got a decent amount of experience in what I should and shouldn't do as a GM, as well as how to handle certain types of players. Granted, I don't know everything, I really don't think anybody does, but I do know enough to know that I enjoy being a part of a staff, or even the head of a staff, mainly because of the fact that I know I'm able to make a difference, even if it's just a notch out of a block of wood, and I honestly do enjoy being able to communicate with players, help them, guide them, and attempt to make a good community out of the server I am working for/founded.

Unfortunately, however, a lot of people now-a-days (not the whole of the staffer population, but a vast majority of them) only, as stated in numerous other topics, wish to be a part of that staff because it makes them feel important, and it they just love having all of the attention. They think that the job of a GM, no matter what the position, is a walk through the park, period. They believe that, with recognition and power, they are now better than the people they're there to support/administer. And, as, again, already stated, the minute something, even the slightest thing, goes wrong for them, they just don't care anymore. Sometimes all it takes, even, is for them to be persecuted for doing their job. It really is kind of sad, and sometimes it's even the people who seem to have the most potential for the job. You have no idea how many people I've seen, who were actually whole-hearted staffers, quit their job over the stress that certain people in certain community force on them.

Another thing that I enjoy about the job, which I've already vaguely mentioned, is the community in general. Some people have said that there's a bad apple in every bunch, or that there's always going to be that person who tries to take you down - this is true, however, it doesn't always happen, and I can vouche for this. Granted, there have been plenty of times where I've been given grief for doing my job, but there also have been, if not more, just as many times where I was either:

A.) Thanked for doing my job, or
B.) Everyone went on with their lives.

It's definitely not going to happen the minute your job is done, and it definitely isn't a guaranteed fact that it will ever happen to a person. I've met plenty of staffers who have managed to do their job, and never once get persecuted. Honestly, I firmly believe whether or not you're given grief off of what you do depends solely on how it was either handled, or how that person views you. You could be the nicest staffer, and someone could view you as the meanest, and that view is more than likely solely based off of something you might have said, that they might have taken the wrong way, for example. There are plenty of things that affect the outcome of such a situation, not just the fact that you're doing your job.

Anyways, like I said, I view the job of being a GM as, actually, very rewarding, even though what Tieria said is true, being a GM is often a thankless job, though not all of the time. I personally view it as, you don't need to be thanked to get a rewarding feeling from what you've done. I believe the reward comes from being able to get to know the players on a personal level (me, personally, as a staffer and a player, seeing as I firmly believe in playing on the server you GM for, even though most people believe it's impossible to do that without being corrupt), and being able to help the players out, or give them a fun and exciting RO experience.

My views may sound kind of cheesy to some people, but they're my views, and it's been that way for, basically, as long as I've been a staffer, and I stand by them strongly.

[Dauphine]

So I'm curious, why do people want to be Game Masters?
I mean whats the real appeal to it?

Do people just want the power? Possible fame? Or what?

I have no f*** clue why I am one. Granted, I tried quitting, but I like to spoil myself with the idea the server can't roll without me. Then you have the complaints, the problems you keep solving, the idiots who keep doing retarded stuff you have to fix, the drama, the cussing, the spamming, the begging...

Why am I not quitting T_T. Mostly it's that whenever I come back to check I see so many things I could help with, and I just end up doing it all again. It's a fulltime job sometimes, unthankful in every way, but being active and managing stuff and having awesome discussions about new ideas for the game and having laughs.. it has its good sides as well

[Brainstorm]

So I'm curious, why do people want to be Game Masters?

Because they are idiots that have not realized they should be playing the game instead of @item'ing their legitz, so they make their own servers to feel important.

[Cookie]

I think the best part of being a Game Master is writing a script, then implementing it, and watching it actually work. There is no better feeling when success is achieved. I didn't really enjoy being an Event GM. Too little structure in how the job works.

[Hrist]

Wearing the Male GM man-skirt is very liberating on the thighs.

[Dauphine]

Wearing the Male GM man-skirt is very liberating on the thighs.

We got the arch bishop sprites as GM sprites /slur.

Of course every male turned female because of this on our Staff

[SilverStream~]

I have been a public relations gm on several servers, which I don't want to name.
I can't say much about technical stuff, I barely know how to set up a server. Not my thing.

Being in PR myself as a profession(I'm a journalist and editor), I can with my hand on my heart say it's a 50-50 job.

Often, people will tell you what a great job managing, being the face of the server etc you are doing.
But also alot of the time it's people who b**** and cry about how this is wrong, this isn't right, you
should do this like that.


Promoting, I like server promoting, because I can do something I like and enjoy. If I were a tech GM I couldn't manage
the stress, sitting forever coding and not doing much else =\

When you are a PR Gm, you have to "make sure" that the players are not bored. So lots of spawning event's,
hide and seek, trivia(tooons of pm's), monster spawn event, planned event, forum contests, ingame contest etc.

I like being with the players, and the players like that aswell, only some are "you spawned a poring for person x, your
corrupt because you wouldnt spawn a mvp for me". =.= Get's annoying.
There are alot of gm team's that don't have their own PR gm, and the amount of events, and contests is cut down
because of that. Having a dedicated person to have fun with everyone who plays on your server is a huge benefit.



Back to 50-50, you have to give to get, and no one will give info to you first. Put something up, see how it goes and
if they like it, go for it. If they hate it, go for it, but change it next time =.= -also hate, because you will get crying
people saying how bad your events/contests are.


Being the super nice, super cool person everyone likes =) Often it's not like that though, and you have to work to find out
what the players like, maybe they don't like you even before they met you or talked to you, what kind of people they are,
which "jokes" would they take, what do they think looks best etc.
  This part of the job I fancy though, you get to design banners, things for the website, posting reviews/advertisements on
sites, talking to ranking sites and lot's of things. Often getting the players to contribute to promoting the server is best, as
you fulfill the "50-50" part of the job, where you let the community take part in decisions.
Forum contests are really fun, alot of people indulge themselves in forum contests. If your forum is slowgoing, put up a contest
and your members will come there in no time. So you see it's alot about having fun, but being professional about it while at it.


I had gotten alot of crap, people not happy about their support tickets, this not working, they are doing something wrong, why aren't
you helping me and only forwarding the ticket so it takes even longer? All the time something is something  about the something whatever ._.

Don't know what kept me going lol, the server itself, the community, or both?

Either way working as a Public Relations GM for me was, and still is a super experience, and you benefit from it ten times over what you would think.




So why be a Gm? Because of what you will learn, see and find out while you do you job.
I learned a ton during my years. Now I'm only casual player =) and do some work here and there.

And along with being a gm, if you do a good job managing your server together with your gm team you can put it on your resume.
It could make the difference between that job you wanted and the burgershop around the corner =\

-SilverStream~

[Ayu]

I didn't really enjoy being an Event GM. Too little structure in how the job works.

I on the other hand, thinks that it's part of the charm. I am an event GM + PR similar to SilverStream's description, and I know nothing about coding or scripting or anything technical. So, the situation always comes down to this for me in heRO:

"These are my limited and available resources because I can't script. This is all that I can work with, but luckily my 'boss' (head admin) GM-Pandora gives me a massive amount of freedom. So, how can I make as much new things and new varieties of events with just what I have?" With just @spawn, broadcasts and @recall commands and regular player abilities alone without any NPC assistance or custom maps, you can really make more events than just trivia, hide/seek, and spawning event.

It *really* helps you on resource management in real life too. Instead of rushing over to demand more help, resources or technical assistance, Event GM trains you and forces you to think of creative uses and enhances problem solving skills relying on working with what you have, and make the absolute very best and most out of it.

[LiteX]

Being a GM can depend on the point of view, the truthful GM, is more or less like the "Help Everyone, Enforce Rules" and things like that, alot of people think being a GM is doing whatever they want (Power Abuse) so this is what leads to corrupt GMs (Ex: GM having a gf and he gave her "special rights", i really don't care if the person behind the screen is the GM's brother,sister,girlfriend/boyfriend,son,mother,father,friend,cousing,dog,banker,teacher,whatever, i believe everyone should be treated the same),
Many players believe the GM is a robot that can work 24/7 so sometimes it is a burden to be one

So being a GM can vary on many different reasons, why be one alot of people may ask?
It depends of the person, corrupt ones tend to rise up everytime the admin is searching help, the truthful ones tend to back out sometimes do to them knowing that GMing is a job, not a privilige.

[Sarin]

I'll go the other way around and say why I don't want to be a GM. I lack patience while dealing with noobs, I might be even sometimes, given the rights, banning people for punishable idiocy, I prefer playing the game rather than caring of it, and I haven't been interested much in RO's technical side so I can't even be a scripter etc..

[SilverStream~]

I'll go the other way around and say why I don't want to be a GM. I lack patience while dealing with noobs, I might be even sometimes, given the rights, banning people for punishable idiocy, I prefer playing the game rather than caring of it, and I haven't been interested much in RO's technical side so I can't even be a scripter etc..

Alot of times, one becomes a gm because you enjoy the server you are playing on. I have been offered to work as a PR/Event GM on several servers, but I couldn't do more then one server at a time because all my focus had to be on that one server.

And often the "good" GM's come from people who have played for a few years, and know alot about the game, server's history, generaly how the server is and works. Combined with training in coding, and using gm powers they do even more for the server then they already can.

For me, I always did banners, wallpapers, some buttons, loginscreen's, and other minor stuff. Sometimes I did event backgrounds they put in their loading screens, maintenance loading screens etc.
While doing that I found out that if you contribute, you get. If many players work together they can shape the server for the better. There is often that group which are a-holes but they are a small group often.


You don't want to be a GM and you state why, and those are perfect reasons of why not to be one xD, but you have to understand, that there are many different gm positions.
If you want to, you could be strictly a forum moderator if you wanted to and like to talk. Or you can be a quest creator, web designer, coder, admin(lots of work ._.) PR and some more positions.
I was on a server once that had an organizer gm, which only managed the team itself, arranged meetings(online), set up their schedule, was a large part of decitions(ingame knowledge and server knowledge) and was a more "behind the scene's" person. Though this gm was a moderator on the forum they had. This was not a ro server, if you wondered. But that does not change anything. RO could be a entirely different game and we would still have this thread.


But you should write why you would like to be a gm =) Why you wouldn't want to be one everybody knows haha, thats easy to figure out. But everything you do as a gm counts as experience and knowledge. Knowledge is power they say, but you can't use it without experience =x


Mh now I got in a good mood