Talk:Gamemaster

Adding a type of Game Master

One Game Master that was not mentioned is one that is based in IRC type games. Such as mine (Mysticrpg.net). There are Game Masters that act as Administrators and Moderators. They are volunteer based and usually work on a heirachy system. They keep the rules adhered by in both the forums (posts) and the IRC channel. In the IRC channel they hold Operations (ops) which give them the ability to kick/ban unruly players.

The Game Masters in this type of setting keep the game flowing, create "realm based storylines", are trouble shooters, interact with the players, have many other different tasks to keep the game running smoothly and are over all very busy.

This type of Game Master is on duty mostly every day to conduct moderation of the rooms and Posting Boards. --Katastrofy 03:28, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

another type of game master is emmerging...

EDIT: The kind that can't operate a spell check

For the record, a new kind of game master is here. this kind is like me, a title that we bestow uppon ourselves to show that we have a natrual talent for playing video games. This is because for some reason, we are good at predicting what will happen next, and also because we can figure out patterns real easily. If we want to give a hint at the game we are best at, we will put a cool name from that game as an alias for our title. For example, You don't see people with a name "Game master Bob", that just dosen't sound good. So thats why we do this, hence my name: Game Master Abyssian. I have this anme beacause of my skill at FFCC ring of fates. And also, lot's of people give themselves this sort of name. lol! So think of a game you're really good at, make up a title, and start putting down hints in stuff like this for people!

Keep Gaming: Game Master Abyssian

EDIT: thank goodness you gave me those words of encouragement! The multimillion dollar video game industry could have toppled had it not been for you!! WHOOO!!!

EDIT: this is the most pathetic thing I have ever had the displeasure of reading on Wiki. It's spelled "Abyssinian" by the way. FAIL.

24.22.9.161 (talk) 23:55, 20 November 2008 (UTC)Game Master Abyssian24.22.9.161 (talk) 23:55, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Merging from Game Masters

Found Game Masters as a separate page, reading it seems clear it needs to be merged here. I'll try to keep the important parts of each. So if anyone is wondering why I'm suddenly injecting a lot of text into this page, that's my trying to keep part of the other one. GRuban 14:21, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Just the opposite, there is little in this page that isn't duplicated in function on Gamemaster. Iceberg3k 00:20, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

DM and GM should not be merged. GM can be used for DM, but the reverse should not be said. Maybe shrinking the DM article or explaining why it is different from GM would be better than merging. shadzar|Talk|contribs 16:31, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject Role-playing games

There has just been started a new Wikiproject regarding Roleplaying Games. If you would like to join, please go to Wikipedia:WikiProject Role-playing games and add your self. Angelbo 13:11, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

revamp

this article is not very wikipidia-esque... too many examples, too conversational and instructional just too much like a book. Blueaster 22:54, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

What I don't understand about GMs

Is that... When there must be a roll and when there's no need... Is it completely up to the GM? Such as... "I walk from bedroom to the kitchen" no need to roll dices, but "I walk the Marco Polo way from Europe to East Asia", there is a roll considering speed, weight, hitchhiking skill, or whatsoever... Right? Is it up to the GM? Or depending on the system there are rules about what GMs can and cannot do? I'm really not and RPG player... ^^" 189.5.136.36 01:08, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Typically, the GM really only requires rolls, etc. for nontrivial things, or things in which success isn't guaranteed. Whether to roll or not (and pretty much anything else directly out of the player character's control) is totally up to the GM. So, it's certainly possible for a GM to abuse their station; however, this can lead to the game being unfun which will probably cause smart players to leave. — Matthew0028 19:14, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Game Master // Gamemaster // Dungeon Master

What I think is more confusing here, is that table-top role playing and online gaming is mixed up in the article.

The guy who is a story teller and explains to a group what environment they are in is usually referred to as a Dungeon Master these days. There are differences from game to game however and each system often uses their own terminus. This topic could easily be tucked into an article about table top role playing games or, in this form, even fully removed.

To complete this, it should list different kinds of games (GURPS, D&D, Shadowrun, Vampire...) with their different DMs and give a more general overview.

The Game Master in online gaming is (sadly) often no more then a customer support employee; bound to their companies rules and regulations. Online Games that do offer the players controlled events that involve the players directly are usually never controlled by the actual "Game Masters" themselves these days but have other specialists that have a different name. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by WishStone (talk • contribs) 04:03, 27 December 2006 (UTC).

What's "TOS"?

"GFs were given powers quite similar to AOL "Guides" and could call them in at will to TOS and/or ban users as they saw appropriate." What does it mean "to TOS users"? Terms of service, perhaps? Is that a verb? In other words, this should be rewritten and/or clarified by someone who knows what is meant by the sentence. — Matthew0028 19:16, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

• In my experience, to TOS means "to report someone for violating the terms of service," but if these people could ban, then why would they need to report someone?
  
  Otherwise, it could possibly mean "to deal (as opposed to report) someone for violating the TOS,", but that conflicts with the rest of the sentence that states that they could "ban users as they saw appropriate," implying it depended on the person's personal guidelines rather than those of the TOS. However, in practice, this makes some sense as forum mods and the like tend to have their own guidelines, rather than strictly following the TOS.
  
  Confusing. @_@ --85.5.94.202 (talk) 04:47, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Expansion

Forum/Board Role Playing Games.--Abzt (talk) 20:10, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Merge discussion

Should Dungeon Master be merged here? -Drilnoth (talk) 16:26, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

Yep. It's exactly the same subject. Better to have one good article on it than two half-good articles. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 18:52, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

Yes, merge them. Also, there is a lot of good third party RS material in Gary Alan Fine's book, Shared Fantasy: Role Playing Games As Social Worlds. Protonk (talk) 21:20, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

• see here from this failed attempt for my reasoning and response. shadzar-talk 05:45, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't see that this argument holds water. If "GM can be used for DM" then it's a subset of it, and we can easily merge a subset. We don't have to say "DM and GM are the same thing" is order to merge them; however, merging allows us to only document their shared characteristics once rather than having two articles which differ in only subtle ways. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 10:43, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

The point is that unlike most things that could be merged the terms are not synonymous as DM is trademarked to one particular game. LARPs using Story Teller does not make the ST have all the same duties of a DM, likewise a GM is not always in the sense of that which is a DM. Game Master can refer to many things outside of roleplaying that is in no way like the duties and jobs required of a DM and a very broad term. Game Master could simply mean host like Alex Trebek for Jeopardy. Having Story Teller or DM merged to Game Master would leave little for Game Master itself to be used as a corallary between them all as each can be used very differently. Also looking at all the other meanings of Dungeon Master such as related to S&M, etc being place into Game Master by defualt should someone not have enough information about the specifics of a DM would cause factual inaccuracies and could lead readers to confusion about what they are reading should all these slightly similar terms be merged. Game Master would need to be renamed to make sure it defines itself or has ample room in the article to address all place it could be used, and where the term is used for roleplaying games rather than anything else, and this goes the same for Story Teller. DM and ST are both trademarked or copyrighted for specific things and have specific uses. I just feel it better not to need such disambiguation in a single article because the combined terms could mislead the readers. If the intent is to remove disambiguation and create a single article then why does Gamemaster (board game series) have its own article rather than the term be explained within this one? I also don't like recentism as a reason for merging DM to GM as GM was adopted for roleplaying games in part because DM was trademarked or copyrighted for use with a single thing. It is just a gut feeling that it isn't right to do. It would really make more sense to merge all 10 articles from the Dungeon Master (disambiguation) into one article first. But if it is merged I will definitely hound it for accuracy to depict them correctly and also assert that a section be added for a StoryTeller from the StoryTeller Sytem by white Wolf to show yet another type of "game master", as well all other uses of the term for completeness and less confusion. IF this article is to hold all things similar then it needs to show no bias, and should be done right, not halfway. shadzar-talk 21:10, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Actually, maybe we should keep them separate. Dungeon Master needs some work, but could improved so that there isn't as much repetition and more D&D-only information. -Drilnoth (talk) 15:50, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Might be the "same" to most people nowadays, but gamemaster was used in print earlier and initially in a more generally passive role, moderating opponents vs. the perception of a DM (or GM) taking a more generally active, if not downright combative role. Not to say the terms can't be merged but I'd rather not be the person to stick my head up and say DM should redirect to GM since the former is later and has more restricted usage in system, if not in setting. 02c, anyhow. Cheers, David. :) Harami2000 (talk) 21:58, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

Time to end this discussion. Dungeon Master stands on its own as an article. It is clearly individually notable not in any marginal sense. No real gain in merging here. Oh, and I have been both a Dungeon Master and a Gamemaster so I have a fairly good grasp of the differences in terminology. Polargeo (talk) 16:40, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Godmodder?

Godmodder is a player who pushes their character beyond what is feasible, for example giving them powerful abilities from nowhere and effectively breaking the rules laid down by the Game Master. They aren't Game Masters themselves. Why is this included in the article, as an alternate name for a Game Master? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.131.180.78 (talk) 15:25, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Some changes...

• Previous Version: A gamemaster (also GM, game master, gamemanager, referee, or shén yàng 神样)

• A gamemaster (simplify as GM, also known as game master, game manager, game moderator or referee, and guán lǐ yuán 管理员, zhǔ chí zhě 主持者 or shén 神 in chinese, gamemaster ゲームマスター, kanrisha 管理者 or kamisama 神様 in japanese)

shén yàng 神样 is not actually related to gamemaster in chinese, it means "the appearance of god" or "god-like", so I've changed it into shén 神, meaning "god" in chinese, but only a few game uses it, so it's not actually necessary.

guán lǐ yuán 管理员 meaning "Administrator", and zhǔ chí zhě 主持者 meaning "Director/Moderator", both are often used by player as a name for GM in many Chinese online games.

In Japanese online games, Gamemaster is usually called GM or ゲームマスター (ge-mu masuta-), and kanrisha 管理者 (same meaning with guán lǐ yuán 管理员 in Chinese), and kamisama 神様, meaning "god", just another name of GM.

And, I'm not sure but...I think referee is an uncommon name for GM.

And lastly, if the "also known as" part is a bit too long, I hope someone could write the example of Chinese and Japanese name of GM in some other places, but if it's unnecessary, then just remove it...thanks. ( I don't know much about Wikipedia's rules, so if I am not suppose to write things like this at here, please delete it, and terribly sorry for using poor English... )　175.144.41.122 (talk) 06:22, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

for a multiplayer role-playing game?

What about tabletop role-playing games? Kintaro (talk) 06:44, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

"GM"

The usage and primary topic of GM is under discussion, see talk:General Motors -- 70.51.202.183 (talk) 18:31, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

gamesmaster

This seems a very poorly researched article from the history of the term point of view. There is a claim that the first use of the term was in 1977 - 3 years after it was used in an original edition of D&D. It is also the case that Paterson has found a similar use in Dungeon by Craig van Grasstek in 1974 -ONLY one crucial difference.

The term is written as gamesmaster NOT gamemaster. This article nowhere even mentions that way of writing as Gamesmaster and there is no disambig to games master (a PT teacher). Where is the origin of these different spellings? and hence teh use of the term? How far back does it go? To Kriegspiel times of the 19th century? or not. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.112.30.115 (talk) 04:31, 11 December 2020 (UTC)