Okay, non-gaming people can just skip over, move along, nothing to see here ...

How does a GM get players to keep logs?

Should a GM want players to keep logs? In most cases, I'd say yes. Game logs are a tremendous service, both to the players and to the GM. I know, as both, that I forget details from session to session -- not the Big Plot Stuff I Have Written Down, but the little things: the young woman at the airline counter who was saved from a certain death, the name of a girlfriend, a guy with a funny hat who caught my eye in the bar, that the duke looked askance at me when I mentioned my acquaintance with his sister, etc.

And never mind actually going back a year or two later and looking at stuff ...

(I'm not going to distinguish here between campaign logs and character logs; there are some differences, of couse, but for the sake of this discussion, many of the same talking points apply.)

This all came to mind yesterday when, sitting down to Margie's ViD game, we all sort of looked at each other and started wracking our brains trying to remember What Happened Last Time, there having been a month-long hiatus due to other weekend activities.

In general, I have found games with strong logs to be that much stronger themselves, richer in background, and more participatory from players. If you don't remember the little details, or the emotions they engendered, between weekly or biweekly sessions, a game is going to be not much more than a couple of stereotypes and a character sheet. If the GM has to keep reminding players of Interesting Things That Happened (small or large), it may be a sign that game logs are seriously lacking.

That's why. So ... why doesn't it happen more?

Using myself as an example (always dangerous), when have I actually kept logs, and why? The answer is, I haven't done it that much. There have been some where I started off logging, but didn't keep it up (TiHE). And others where, aside from the initial character write-up, there was nary a log in sight (asked for or not).

By far the most thorough logs I've kept have been for the Nobilis game mentioned. What's prompted me to do that?

1. A rococco plot/setting that would have had me even more lost had I not kept a log.
2. A character I enjoyed writing about.
3. Being able to experiment with different approaches to writing the log (everything from a transcript of my scribbled notes to a King James style gospel).
4. Having a place to easily post the log, providing instant feedback (and easy reference later). Blogs are great for this.
5. Feedback from the GM on the log (either to its substance or its style).
6. Everyone else was doing it. That both makes it more likely for a player to do it and easier (I always reference the logs already posted by others to see if I forgot something.)
7. Game incentives (character MPs and chancel advancement) for doing it.

Game logs are work, plain and simple. They take time. A game long from a session that I've been taking decent notes for will burn at least half an hour, maybe more, and it has to be done right now, otherwise I'll be in real trouble remembering stuff. Taking the notes, transcribing the notes, posting the notes -- it's all effort. And unless ...

Ah. There's the rub. The "unless." The benefits of game logs are large, but soft. The satisfaction of a character well-drawn and understanding of the game (hey, isn't that, the responsibility of the GM?) are all well and good, but will almost always falter in the face of Everything Else in the Inbox. Life is too busy for casual gamelogging for its own sake (unless you're doing something silly like writing a novel about a game character, but I digress).

Thus, for players (and I speak as one myself) to keep game logs, there have to be incentives to do so, or disincentives to not. I've already mentioned some soft incentives; here are a few more:

• Praise for the logs, noting how they've enhanced the game experience. Feedback on the logs themselves, even to just acknowledge them.
• Ragging on people (gently, please) for not getting their logs in.
• Quick reaction by the GM to the logs, posting them online, etc. (if you're not going to let them post themselves).
• Reference by the GM back to the logs for character bits ("So you're sitting at a bar, and this attractive woman in a green, form-fitting dress sits down next to you. "You probably don't remember me, but I'm the woman at the airline counter you saved from that terrorist guy with the machine gun ...").
• More game time for folks who (via the logs) provide the GM with more plotty bits (an extension of the above, though a dangerous one).
• Constructing a game setting or plot that requires some sort of note-taking. If everything is session-to-session, with little carry-over, there's little point to a player keeping a log.
• Encouraging players to come up with characters they are interested in writing about. (A character quiz might be of value here -- if they can't write about the character out-of-game, they probably won't in-game.)
• Peer pressure. If everyone is doing it, it becomes something of a competition (for some folk, at least).

That sort of thing will appeal to or (dis)incent some players. Others require more hard (dis)incentives. These are usually in-game benefits for characters whose players have done their logs. These can be tied to character advancement (regenerated MP as Doyce has been doing in his Nobilis game, or an XP bonus in a D20 game), or to some more transitory reward (action dice, FATE Points, etc.). You can think of those as incentives, but some will see them as disincentives to not do it (i.e., my character will fall behind the others if I don't get the log in).

The trick here is finding the proper balance. Too much of an incentive and it stops, paradoxically, being fun. As noted, too much of an incentive becomes too much of a disincentive to not perform. If it becomes part of the expected advantages of play, suddenly it becomes a big stick over everyone.

Too light of an incentive, of course, and you probably haven't changed all that much.

A side question here is, do you want to force players to keep game logs? Is that as iron-clad a responsibility for each player as, say, being sure to bring your dice and character sheet, or showing up, or stuff like that?

I suspect the answer will vary with the GM and the campaign. Some games may lend themselves to logs -- because of plot details or character richness -- than others. Some GMs may be much more interested than others. I'd be reluctant, personally, to require a log from each person, due to different inclinations and abilities (though that may be more a reflection on me as a GM than on what the games may actually need). Too, I might be reluctant to force someone to commit outside time to the game -- though that sounds silly even as I write it.

Hmmm.

Anyway, way too many rambling thoughts for a Monday morning. Those still here can move on to the next thing.

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