Cell Phones at the table

[Captain_K]

Allow or don't allow??

They are handy to look things up fast.

[slimykuotoan]

They absolutely kill the game.

[Go0gleplex]

No phones. Tablets if you are using them in lieu of books or no to them too. No ipods, walkmen, etc. They are just distractions that, as slimy said, kill the game and atmosphere.

[maximus]

No phones. I'm DM'ing for my kids, and the one time my son had the phone at the table it was nearly launched out the window. No phones...

[slimykuotoan]

A similar irritant is when voice-chat players are surfing the net whilst gaming.

Grrr.

[miller6]

GM: (to Player 1) "Okay, it's your turn." (gets their attention)
Player 1: "Where are we?"
GM: (After reading encounter description again): "Still your initiative."
Player 1: (watching video on Youtube)
GM: (to Player 2) "You're up. (Gets their attention)"
Player 2: "What are we fighting? Someone IM'ed me."
Player 3: Facebooking
Player 4: Laughing at internet meme.
Player 5: Talking on phone
Player 6: Actively playing but character dies due to lack of help from party.

[alcyone]

You need some sort of device to use my treasure generator!

When I was playing high level 3.5 I couldn't imagine getting through a session without Hero Lab.

Usually when we play in person I don't use any tech higher than a calculator.

[pawndream]

Doesn't bother me if players look at their cell phones during a game session. There is usually enough downtime within a game session that is doesn't really make that big of a difference. I can't recall a single issue where the game was held up because of someone looking at their phone, so I don't make an issue out of something that isn't.

All that say, I don't have any table rules about the use of technology during a game session.

[Go0gleplex]

GM: (to Player 1) "Okay, it's your turn." (gets their attention)
Player 1: "Where are we?"
GM: (After reading encounter description again): "Still your initiative."
Player 1: (watching video on Youtube)
GM: (to Player 2) "You're up. (Gets their attention)"
Player 2: "What are we fighting? Someone IM'ed me."
Player 3: Facebooking
Player 4: Laughing at internet meme.
Player 5: Talking on phone
Player 6: Actively playing but character dies due to lack of help from party.

In that vein;

CK leads players into the house and then opens a secret door. "welcome to my dungeon. watch your step going down the stairs."

Players commenting on how cool it is.
CK: "yeah. I figured it would be cool to have an underground room to game in. Set the atmosphere ya know."
Players come into a nice room and start setting up.
CK goes behind the screen at his end of the table.
Player One after pulling out cell phone: "Hey. I can't get any reception down here."
Player Two: "Me either. How am I supposed to stream my music?"
Other players concur...
CK-grinning: "What? You didn't think I built this room because I was afraid of zombies did you?" *cue evil maniacal laughter and fade to black*

[Treebore]

Depends on what they are paying attention to, the game at the table, or the game on their cell phone. If they can pay attention to the game at the table then I don't care.

[Buttmonkey]

I don't really care. If I can't keep my players' attention completely during a game session, that is kind of my fault. I've never had a player be disruptive with a cell phone or tablet at the table. I did have one player who would interrupt the game session to show something online. Fortunately, what he was showing was pretty damn funny, so I didn't mind. Maybe I've been lucky that my players who spend down time during the game on their phones have been able to keep up with what is going on in-game.

[Go0gleplex]

Well...another thing to consider is simple courtesy. Flipping rude to be invited over to do one thing then spend half your time not participating.

[pawndream]

Well...another thing to consider is simple courtesy. Flipping rude to be invited over to do one thing then spend half your time not participating.

The key issue with tech at the gaming table is that its use does not become disruptive. It's no different than the players who build dice towers, doodle, etc. during the session. I don't care how players occupy their time during a gaming session, so long as whatever it is they are doing does not become distracting for other players.

As far as participation goes, some players are naturally going to be wallflowers anyway. I have had players who sat in mostly stony silence an entire session, only responding when prompted, and was convinced they were not having a good time. Only to have them say after the session, "Thanks. I had a lot of fun tonight!" etc.

You can't really judge player-game engagement by perceived level of participation. People engage with roleplaying games differently. Some won't shut up. Others need to be prompted to say anything. Some quietly sit around waiting for an opportunity to roll dice. Some are uncomfortable with in-character roleplay and want to skip ahead to the action, etc.

[Omote]

It's impossible to keep people away from their cell phones today. On a basic level, players have kids and need to text spouses from time to time because that is how the world works. I could never say no to that. And frankly, if it's a quick text I'm totally fine with that. I do get annoyed when players engage in other phone-based games (Clash of Clans) and whatnot while at the time. I tend to run larger games, and sometimes when a particular character is not so involved in a scene they may drift away to twiddling away on their phones. Annoying to say the least, but some people are almost literally connected to these devices that it is hard to say no. I will kindly ask players to put them away from time to time, or ask them to step into the hallway to conduct their business if it is really distracting, but otherwise I try not to make it such a big deal at the table.

~O

[alcyone]

I find it weird. Phones don't really do anything very well. I look at mine when I need to call someone. Once or twice a month I get or send a text. The screen is small, there is no keyboard, there is no mouse, and the processor is slow and the RAM is small and the internet is expensive.

On the other hand, I nearly always have a laptop with me unless I am going for a walk or to the store for something. I would use it for phone calls too if I could get it out of my backpack fast enough.

[Brad]

Try telling the players with kids not to look at their cellphones during a 4 hour-long game. Good luck is all I'll say about that...

[Go0gleplex]

That is why I tell them that if they need to look at the phone, take a call, or text to please leave the table so the rest of us can concentrate on the game. And again. It is simple manners. Which it seems are somewhat a lost cause.

[slimykuotoan]

It might be good to have scheduled breaks for checking for messages and such.

[jdizzy001]

Scheduling breaks is a great idea. However, generally speaking, very few people are actually so important that they aren't able to separate themselves from their phone for a few hours. To be 100% honest, I have never met a role player who was that important (myself included). People who are so important that they *have* to be connected to their phone all the time tend to not have enough hours in the day to role play, even if they used to.

My point being, put your phone away. Even my wife knows, if I go out to role play I will not be near my phone (I'll leave the sound on so I can hear it ring, not text, in the case something important happens). "But what about emergencies?" For most of the human existence, humans didn't have cell phones, they survived just fine. If it is Really that important, A) call me, dont text. B) call the game shop or friend's house I am at, dont IM me. C) If you need me to get diapers, send a message, I'll check my phone after my game.

The best thing to do would be, as a group, establish cell phone ediquette before beginning the campaign. Let everyone add their input then come up with the table's cell phone rules. For added fun, you can come up with penalties for breaking said rules, like each infraction results in extra monsters during the next encounter, or for each answered text the offending player experiences equipment wastage during the night. The first character stripped of all possessions must retire.

PS google plex is spot on. Manners people. Manners. Put your phone away and play the game, or leave the gorram table! Trust me, Facebook will still be there when you finish.

[Ancalagon]

Allow or don't allow??

They are handy to look things up fast.

When I'm running a game, whether it be for a home campaign or a convention event, I give the same statement regarding phones: If you absolutely have to take or make a call, please step away from the table so as to not disrupt the game for the rest of us.

If a player looks up something while his/her character is not involved with what's going on then the player must do so quietly so as to not disrupt the game for the rest of us.

If a player is screwing around with a techie toy and is not paying attention then loses track of initiative, misses a room description, misses something spoken during the course of the game, etc., then the player gets a rebuke right there in front of everyone, the character comes back from his/her player's mental lapse to rejoin the rest of the characters whose players who were paying attention, and we continue.

[serleran]

If its an emergency or required for work (being on call) then sure. Make/take the call away from the table. Lest you lose your fingers.

[Brad]

"But what about emergencies?" For most of the human existence, humans didn't have cell phones, they survived just fine. If it is Really that important, A) call me, dont text. B) call the game shop or friend's house I am at, dont IM me. C) If you need me to get diapers, send a message, I'll check my phone after my game.

Or your wife could, you know, just call your phone...I guess I'm missing the whole point of even having a phone if you're not going to use it. What's wrong with a text that you might look at a few minutes after it was sent? It takes literally half a second to glance at the phone, see what the message was about, and ignore or respond depending on importance. I've heard similar arguments to looking at a watch during a meeting...if you're distracted by me looking at the time (which is literally 1/5th of a second), you're probably not paying attention to what's going on, anyway.

Scheduling breaks is a great idea. However, generally speaking, very few people are actually so important that they aren't able to separate themselves from their phone for a few hours. To be 100% honest, I have never met a role player who was that important (myself included). People who are so important that they *have* to be connected to their phone all the time tend to not have enough hours in the day to role play, even if they used to.

I also find this statement to be absurd. So really busy people just don't play games? I have gamed at times when I was on-call for work. A lot of us really busy people try to squeeze stuff in whenever we can, which does mean we need to communicate with work during activities that aren't quite as important.

[Go0gleplex]

I also find this statement to be absurd. So really busy people just don't play games? I have gamed at times when I was on-call for work. A lot of us really busy people try to squeeze stuff in whenever we can, which does mean we need to communicate with work during activities that aren't quite as important.

I spent 10 yrs on-call 24/7 as part of emergency response for Public Works. My average day was 14 hrs. The phone does not need to be at the table. You don't need to be at the table when talking on it. If it is an emergency odds are you will not be sticking around anyhow. Your argument is irrelevant.

[slimykuotoan]

Checking messages interrupts the flow of one's mental state, etc. And that lessons the impact of the game imo.

[Omote]

Who makes calls any more? For work purposes, maybe. But I don't really communicate any longer by making phone calls. Phone calls are dead. Evolve. Don't ever call me just to say "hi. What's up?"

~O

[Brad]

I spent 10 yrs on-call 24/7 as part of emergency response for Public Works. My average day was 14 hrs. The phone does not need to be at the table. You don't need to be at the table when talking on it. If it is an emergency odds are you will not be sticking around anyhow. Your argument is irrelevant.

Well obviously we're talking about two different things...I would leave the table to take an important call. I would not, however, totally disregard my phone when playing as there are plenty of times a text message is sent that is important enough to interrupt play. Also "the phone does not need to be at the table" is fairly unrealistic for anyone with a family. The game is not sacrosanct. My games are frequently interrupted with stupid jokes, shots, trips to the bathroom, arguments about football statistics, and random chatter. It's a social event, with the game as the centerpiece, and sometimes social events are cut short due to Real Life.

[Hex08]

If/when I own a house where I can have a dedicated gaming room I will build a Faraday cage around it to prevent cell phone usage. I can't think of single time one of my players was interrupted by something important but there are many times when the spouse wanted to know why clothes were left on the floor or share that a spider was on the wall or the Facebook addict couldn't stand to miss a single update. Not saying that emergencies don't happen but they are rare.

Games are frequently interrupted by jokes, sports debates and what not but they involve those at the table and are not a solitary activity like interacting with a phone for things that are more often than not, unimportant.