As predicted. An utter failure.
Let this thread serve as a lesson to any GM who thinks it's a good idea to upset the players that have shown themselves capable and reliable participants, in favor of new players that bring nothing new to the game, for the sake of getting more participants.
I was upset that an idea for a character concept I had created, completely on my own, had been used by someone else. Not because I really cared someone else used it, but because of what was done to it.
The race I had created, had spent days thinking up back story for, and had wanted to reveal to the thread slowly over time... was completely over written by one new player, who did not even think to talk to me about the unique race I had introduced. Many of the things I had left intentionally vague about the race, his character sheet outright laid out as fact. All the planning I had put into it was wasted, ruined really, and I had not even been asked my opinion. The character wasn't even creative... it just filled in the gaps I left blank on purpose, and with hackneyed ideas at that. Its only other trait was to be like my character, but better... bigger, stronger, less obvious in a crowd... It's upsetting, really. Not only because he did it, but because the GM allowed him to, without discussing it with me before hand, even after I voiced my decent.
And when I voiced my decent? I was told off. The only explanation given for why this was allowed was the lowest and most idiotic card any GM can play. 'I am the GM.'
Tip for good GMs: Never say that to your players. It is Not a valid argument. At best, it's childish. At worst, it marks someone who should not be in charge of a game.
A good player does not need to be told who the GM is. That is obvious. Every aspect of what that fact means is apparent. You should never point it out, because it should never need to be pointed out.
It is also not a valid basis for an argument. Saying that you are making a decision because you are the GM is the same as saying you are deciding the outcome of a story because you are its author. Yes, you have that power. However, a good writer will never allow his personal feelings to get in the way of depicting a good narrative, so any decisions he makes about the story should be based on the story, and not on him being its writer. That how a writer portrays a story can change how it is portrayed is an incidental side-effect, not a justification for ruining a good story.
In the same way, making a decision because you are the GM, and not because it will benefit the role play, is also unacceptable behavior. If the reason you made that decision is for the benefit of the RP, then you should be able to explain how and why. If you can not, you should not be making that decision. Being the GM means you Have to make decisions about the RP, not that you Get to.
After all that, all I can say is this:
This does not make me happy. I am not joyful over how this turned out. This is not satisfying to me, it is saddening.
I did not want to see this happen to this RP. I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in it, and I looked forward to where it might go. That it ended before it even really began is unfortunate in the extreme.
However, for all that I wanted to stay, I knew I had to leave. I could not take part in a group under a GM who acted in such a manner to one of her first and most consistent players.
When I said that this RP would be a failure, I did not mean it as a curse. It was an observation, based in experience. I did not mean it to be an insult, and a part of me is sad that I was right. However, looking back, I think it is for the best that this ended how it did. Fewer hurt feelings, and fewer hours spent on a story doomed to fail.
