Advice wanted on how to influence a GM

From: Simon Phipp <soltakss_at_V36jfhQTxEN0_hrPCai5gVcS5K5OziwMR-vWDo5NXQTdE0DaOxz0Jhbhk2dPypujK-q>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:58:00 -0000

Hiya All

At the risk of boring you, I thought I'd ask for some ideas ...

I ventured onto RQG Net and offered some advice to a chappie who has a GM who won't allow Sleeving in a game called "Eclipse Phase". Now, I don't know what Eclipse Phase is or really what "Sleeving" is (something to do with recoridng your mind in case you die so you can put it into another body) and I don't really care.

However, my advice was reckoned to be "some of the worst advice I've ever seen given on these forums" and "awful advice", note the use of the word "some" implying that there has been worse advice given.

So, can you come up with better advice than I suggested on how to make a GM reverse his crazy, ill-thought out and obviously wrong decision in favour of the whiny player's obviously correct opinion?

The advice I gave is:
Your GM is not wrong to want to run a game the way he wants to.

However, you, and the rest of your players, are also not wrong in wanting the game to be played in a certain way.

If negotiation hasn't worked then you have to use other tactics.

1. Continual whinging - harp on about the lack of sleeving throughout every session until the GM gets fed up and allows it or gives up and stops running.
2. If the situation appears when you could be sleeving, then mention it and act suprised every time he turns it down - question why he isn't allowing it and have a quick discussion. Repeat. Eventually he'll get the message or tell you to shut up. If it's the latter then do it again next time.
3. Find something in the rules that the GM allows but that is open to abuse. Abuse it again and again until he gets annoyed, then say "Well, if you allow sleeving then we'll stop doing this". Sure it might ruin the game, but that's a small price to pay.
4. Write up each session in a blog but include comments that the game would be so much better with sleeving for all and point out which parts of the session would have been improved. If there are no parts that would have been better then make them up.
5. If he's a player in another game that you play in, then pick on his character and only stop if he allows sleeving in the other campaign.
6. When GMing a game in which the offending GM is a player, introduce a rule that the GM/player doesn't like and then offer to drop it if he srops the "no sleeving" rule in his game.
7. Drag up a bad twenty year old GMing decision every time the GM enforces his "no sleeving" rule and compare the two.

and this one was suggested by "Dwight" who is getting the idea:

8) Sleep with his mother and then tell him that, as his new father, so he must obey you. If he doesn't believe you show him the night-sight video you took.

As a matter of interest, the thread is at http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=505148 if you care about the context or just want to annoy some people.

Thanks in advance for the lack of interest ...

See Ya

Simon