[Fallen]

I'm all about focus.  To me game time is time to game.  I had to break from a group not long ago because it was anything but.  When I write a background, put forth a character sheet and lug all my gaming stuff for/to said game, I wanna game. To just chat, I don't want to put forth all the aforementioned effort. I'll meet them for coffee or something and put forth my $2 which I have done in the past with other gaming friends and still do.

As a GM, I put even more work into a game.  Before game, after and with a couple breaks we'll chat but I tell folks if you're not here to game, I don't need to waste my time putting forth so much effort.  We all get together aside from game for social stuff.

This kind of thing might look a bit extreme to most people and yet I cannot help but agree.  From a GM's standpoint, I tend to put a lot of work in a gaming session's preparation and subsequent continuity.  Not that "playing a game" ought to be so serious as to supplant the underlying goal of having fun, but, yeah, come game time, I want people's focus to be on the game.  If they can't or won't, then I typically don't see why I should be there at all.

As for dealing with occasional slip-ups, or some OOC suddenly taking such a turn as to shift focus away from what's going on (or what could soon happen), I usually resolve it smoothly and in a way very similar to what kirk posted above:

start rolling dice. wait. roll again. wait. Roll again, chortle nastily, and jot down a note. roll Again, and ask a player what their perception is, again.

If they go on long enough, the ambush is perfectly executed.

It may not necessarily be rolling dice explicitly because there's an ambush coming up, but the fact that I'm smirking and rolling dice from behind the GM screen is normally enough to draw back the players' attention into what's going on.

[nojosecool]

I agree with you all so far.  Thanks for the feedback on this one.

My group has a lot of times when we break character and just start chatting.  It's usually goofy, somewhat related, and hilarious.  I'm okay with that.  What I don't appreciate is when my players start talking over me and giving me the stink-eye for interrupting their conversations when I try to get the game going again. 

I just ran my first 100% original run with these guys last time (well, one borrowed character playing a Johnson), and last time was much worse than it usually is.  Or maybe I just noticed it more because of the amount of effort I put into this run.

This is one of a few segue runs I'm doing between DotA: Dusk and DotA: Midnight.  See here how it turned out for them...
http://forums.shadowrun4.com/index.php?topic=4479.0


I'm actually thinking of putting together a "GM's shitlist" encounter sheet to use for when I'm using the "roll perception" suggestion that the other players have suggested.  I think I'll have an OOC conversation with the group before we start next time also.  I was thinking of giving them fair warning that if I am talked over when I'm trying to get the game rolling again, I'm going to start rolling dice and hitting them with GM's shitlist encounters wherever they are.

The shitlist encounters won't be anything unrealistic or over-the-top difficult (random commando attack at a restaurant would be an example of unrealistic AND over the top), the encounters will just stall the group and make their run more difficult.  For example, some jerk intercepts the camera jammer they just overnighted from their fixer.  Their mark spots them so they lose the elements of anonymity and surprise.  Or some urchin snatches a pistol out of the sam's holster and ducks into an alley.  If they don't hear me say it, they don't get to react.  Stuff like that.

I don't want the light and jovial atmosphere to go away, I just want the game to resume when I'm ready to resume.  Mostly I was asking you guys because I was hoping to find a way to balance this out.  Most of these replies have been very helpful in maintaining the balance, so thanks!  I don't freak out about 2 minute breaks for outright silliness, but when we're pushing 10 or 15, it's gone waaaaay too far.

[Fallen]

I'm actually thinking of putting together a "GM's shitlist" encounter sheet to use for when I'm using the "roll perception" suggestion that the other players have suggested.  I think I'll have an OOC conversation with the group before we start next time also.  I was thinking of giving them fair warning that if I am talked over when I'm trying to get the game rolling again, I'm going to start rolling dice and hitting them with GM's shitlist encounters wherever they are.

I've actually penned down quite a few "encounter tables" -- not anything so absolutely random as you would erstwhile see in AD&D campaigns and not exactly the sort FASA published for the adventure "DNA/DOA", but more of matters having to do with what's going on in whatever part of the city the characters are currently in.  I suppose it's similar to FASA's "Sprawl Sites" encounters, just with much less cheese and in a way to be much more useful so to bring about either situations that have to do with the current scenario's continuity or things that may open the door into some "side-questing".

Stuff I've penned down includes:

Accidents: either traffic or structural, like, say, power outages.

Crimes: a miscellany of things going on in the shadows bordering the flow of the characters' interests.  They may, for example, stumble upon (or be very near to) some obscure or covert criminal dealings.

Random violence: Violence is an intrinsic part of the Shadowrun game world and, so, sometimes bad things happen that may or may not have to do with the characters.  Bombings, or drive-by's, or fist fights.  I've had mobs of Humanis walk down the streets before, shouting slogans over a megaphone.  You can imagine the implications.

I also reserve for myself a few instances of "unexplained" or "freak" events -- Like an uncontrolled elemental on the loose, or a group of people being manipulated through some obscure source doing something which defies logic: like random graffitis, or cutting up someone's face (it has happened before), and anything else that I can somehow work into the game.

They key here is that whatever you choose to prepare should ideally be a reflection of your game world and be coherent within the bounds of not only the setting but subsequent campaigns and scenarios.

I've found it to keep the players interested and much more aware of the inherent dangers (or occasional freakishness -- sometimes hilarious, sometimes shocking) of the setting which their characters inhabit.

[CanRay]

"A naked, very male troll just ran past all of you, screaming 'WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' while waving a pair of road flares in his hands.  Two Eagle Security officers are in pursuit, despite this not being their jurisdiction."

[nojosecool]

Fallen,

That seems to fall into my "not unrealistic and not over-the-top" criteria while adding in the element of significance to the setting.  Me likey.  +1

[kirk]

Your commlink tells you the battery in your smartgun is failing and you need to recharge or replace it soon.

The 27600 block of Getaway Road has been blocked while maintenance workers clear the sewer line of blockages.  It seems disposable diapers aren't supposed to go down the toilet.

A flash mob has formed where you are.

[Fallen]

"A naked, very male troll just ran past all of you, screaming 'WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' while waving a pair of road flares in his hands.  Two Eagle Security officers are in pursuit, despite this not being their jurisdiction."

HAHAHAHA!

Brilliant.

[nojosecool]

Your commlink tells you the battery in your smartgun is failing and you need to recharge or replace it soon.

The 27600 block of Getaway Road has been blocked while maintenance workers clear the sewer line of blockages.  It seems disposable diapers aren't supposed to go down the toilet.

A flash mob has formed where you are.

I'm soooo using the flash mob!

[CanRay]

"A naked, very male troll just ran past all of you, screaming 'WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' while waving a pair of road flares in his hands.  Two Eagle Security officers are in pursuit, despite this not being their jurisdiction."

HAHAHAHA!

Brilliant.

I've had to bring my group back on track a few times.  I come up with ideas like this off the top of my head.

A flash mob has formed where you are.

I'm soooo using the flash mob!

Here's some suggestions for that.

[Onion Man]

"A naked, very male troll just ran past all of you, screaming 'WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' while waving a pair of road flares in his hands.  Two Eagle Security officers are in pursuit, despite this not being their jurisdiction."

As a player at nojose's table (and part of the problem, some of the time).

I spend edge to go first.

[Charybdis]

First step for our groups are to minimise potential distractions. Not following these requirements is seen as very rude, and is enforced by other players more than the GM (ie, Me  )

A) Dedicate the gaming room. No TV's, Radios or Observers (unless they promise to shut it).
B) Phones on Silent. For us, a good night is a performance, and while the villain/face is giving a great speech, or the gunfire is thick and fast, nothing ruins the mood faster than a tinny 'La Cucaracha' ringtone
C) If leaving the table (for bathroom breaks, smoko's etc), expect your PC to be likewise unavailable. If in combat, wait until after your turn, and make it a quick trip unless you trust the GM to roll your defensive tests... HeeHeeHee...
D) If you expect to be interrupted during the session (expecting a call, have to leave early etc) be upfront with the group beforehand so we can expect it.
E) Have a recognised and-Gesture or Phrase that calls for attention (from GM or Player alike). We're all big kids, and the no-one should not need to be a teacher in front of the class 'Eyes this way, people. Everyone have their listening ears on? Good children...' No. Just, No.

As for dealing with distractions as they come up:
1) Use hand-gestures/key-phrases to bring focus back
2) Be reasonable. If a genuine situation occurs (family emergency, storm, etc) let it slide
3) As GM: Be interesting.
    If something is happening too slowly, wrap it up.
    If something is obviously boring everyone, wrap it up.
    If someone is hogging the spotlight, wrap it up.
    I will gladly end any situation if it's just devolved to a dice-rolling exercise. If the players have taken out 8/10 opponents, make a judgement call if the enemy have any aces to play and if not, call it quits with a 'we surrender' or 'you mop them up with no further hassles' magic wand.
  Same for long-term legwork. Let the PC's buy successes to speed up gameplay (1 sucess per 4 dicepool) and move on. If the players want to squeeze anything further out of a scenario, roll those dice specifically, but keep the game moving.
eg If the face has 16 dice to play, and is up against a street snitch, just hand over the info
4) Win our younger days, we had the In-Game scenarios of 'A dragon flies overhead and looks at you hungrily', or the 'Miniturret pops-out where you stand. It's close enough for you to see the camera lens re-focus on your face'. However we don't use these anymore as it gave the In-Game-PC's a line on a complete tangent to the game at hand. Whole point was to regain focus, not start a brand new scenario....

[Fallen]

3) As GM: Be interesting.
    If something is happening too slowly, wrap it up.
    If something is obviously boring everyone, wrap it up.
    If someone is hogging the spotlight, wrap it up.
    I will gladly end any situation if it's just devolved to a dice-rolling exercise. If the players have taken out 8/10 opponents, make a judgement call if the enemy have any aces to play and if not, call it quits with a 'we surrender' or 'you mop them up with no further hassles' magic wand.

This.  Very much this.  It's, I believe, one of the most important responsibilities of the GM.  It simply has to be exciting and interesting, otherwise why even bother with it?

It certainly can be something that may sometimes feel difficult for some, but it's a solid exercise in wits and of the imagination.  To me, it's always been part of the draw of GM-ing and the bigger part of the satisfaction I get for a job well done.