Thread: [Guide]The Ultimate GM compendium of Knowledge

What to expect as a GM

New to the world of Game Masters? You have come to the right spot! Veteran Game Master you are, and want to learn a few more complex tricks? You also have come to the right spot! However scroll down to another guide if you a Veteran =P, since this first part will bore you to death.
This will explain to you the real things that being a GM will bring. It's not all powerful, its not the best way to play WoW for the fun of it, and it will strip a lot from you.

Now, if your reading this part of the GM compendium, that means you're not yet a GM but are interested in becoming one for a populated server. With this you can think over your decision to be a GM. Keep in mind, out of 100 players, 1 GM will be chosen. And that one GM will have to cater for that 99 players. So get ready, this might not be all fun and games =P

- You will have to devote every second of your gaming time to helping players. You're not playing WoW to have fun anymore, your playing it to help others. This is important to know. When you come back from a hard day at work, you won't sink into your chair to play and raid, you will be sinking into your chair to work again, and for no pay, other then thanks and respect from the players.

- You will face many who call you out, get angry with you, or are just plain rude to you. It's important to try and make as least enemies as possible if you are a GM. Your role is to help people, not annoy them or defend yourself. If they insult you, move on. Ignoration is key. And if you serve everyone's ticket with fairness, and to the best of your abilities, usually people wont get mad at you. Although the donors might give you problems, since you have to check them over to see if they are not scamming you. You lost your right to opinion when you became a GM, you must judge people for exactly what you see, not what you think you see.

- Everyone will assume that you're God and can fix anything. If you can't do something, tell them that it's beyond the power given to you. Don't tell them that you won't do it, tell them the truth, that you can't do it. This will avoid a lot of hard feelings against you if you explain to people that you can't solve their particular problem and the reason why.

-You will deal with dumb tickets. Get ready for the "jimmy called my character fat! can you give him a ban!!!" Bring on the phony smile and blizz like canned answer.

- You will deal with drama. From the player's point of view, it's a soap opera. From the GM's point of view, its a nightmare. Almost all servers will have some drama, or something that is currently happening. it will be your job to appear calm and in control. They will watch, and exactly how players treat the Blizzard GMs whenever they appear human, they will flame you as well. So if you call out the Admin on the forums, expect the Admin to be angry at you, and the players to gossip about it to the max. Do one mistake and a screen shots will fly around the forum.

- You will be begged gold/levels/gear/GM powers/GOD LIKE POWERS!!!/items.
Know what you can give, and what you cant. personally, every time a player begs me for something, I give them an empty wallet, or a pet rock, until they figure it out =P And there will be some that whisper you asking to be GMs. Just politely say that you have no authority on that, nor can you give recommendations. Some servers, however, do allow GMs to recommend players to be GMs as well.

- Know that your command over the GM powers is critical in being a good GM. You WILL have to know them by heart, or will be forced to =P If you don't know most by heart, you can still survive, at a somewhat less practical effective use. Find the part of this compendium that has the detailed GM commands for reference and use them for now. Keep in mind, you will start to learn most commands by heart just by simply being forced to use them in situations.

- Know that you can be replaced. There are hundreds of silent players, each of them fighting for GM powers, and many of them might be even better then you are, should they get the chance to prove it. Don't give them that chance. If you work hard, and everyday, no one will complain about your effectiveness and you won't lose your post.

- Know that most of the server will know your name. Wear it with pride.

- Know that you will have to be able to type fast. Really really fast. Trust me.

- Know that you must have good social skills. Make enemies with none, friends with all. Bribing won't win you friends, just exploiters. If you serve everyone's tickets as they want it to be, you won't have problems with having people talk about you =P. If you give powers and items to a group of people, you will have a cult following you around that will stab your back at any chance they get to get more stuff.
I have seen corrupted GMs like this, and they have all been downed simply because they refused to give ultimate power when their gang asked them for, and they turned on him and sank him to the bottom of the sea. And even worst when he does give ultimate power like Hand of Death, and when I come to patrol and nerf them they point their grubby figures right at him. Don't get sucked into this like a lot of GMs have. Keep it professional.

- Know that you will have a few break times, when there are no tickets, so you will get to play around with your powers, but do not let yourself make too many breaks, else your efficiency will drop. And keep an eye on what you wreak. Clean up NPCs that you spawn, and don't keep a messy server.

- Know that you will have to deal with hackers, exploiters, liars, and thieves (Donor item frauds too.) So start on a strong foot, and don't let them get the better of you. if you show mercy now, you will set a rep of benediction and hackers will run rampant while you are on. But keep in mind, it's better to have 3 hackers out there, then to ban someone that was simply bugged and was trying to get rid of it. Deal with exploiters of bugs however you wish, whether they apply to hackers, or to a different class, is up to your server rules.



- Know that you will have to know every one of your server's rules. And enforce it. You will be the judge, and the defendant will only have his side of it. Make fair choices, but do not go soft on every one you find. Keep in mind, every case will always be to the hacker's side, since usually it comes down to his word vs a witness's and the witness might just be trying to get him banned for personal reasons.

- Know that there will be hard times, and some times when you would love to be a player, a normal player. That means you will have a lot of stress on this job. can you handle stress well? If no, don't bother to read the rest of this Compendium, you're not GM material, if you break rather then bend.

If you are ready for all of these, then you are GM material. Look over yourself and honestly judge yourself. It's all right if you miss a few of these points, but keep in mind, if you miss more then 3, consider staying a player for now. If you think you are ready, then, dear reader,

Read on, and become a GM pro before typing your first command. =P