That's a serious problem in some games, and if that's true then the players have every right to complain. I've also been in games where the mods told their close friends in advance when first-come first-serve signups for plot roles were going to be posted, so that their friends always got those roles. In those cases the mods need to get their heads out of their asses.
But in my game, I think we've given a mod character a specific role in a plot once. We always opt out of signing up for major roles just to avoid that very problem. We just have whiny players who never sign up for major roles (we always give at least a week to sign up and then randomize), never ask questions, never propose plots of their own, and never come up with their own ways to affect the events or even ask if there's something they can do. Then they come into mod feedback posts and complain that they feel swept along by the plot and unable to get involved.
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ayrt
(Anonymous) 2012-10-28 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)But in my game, I think we've given a mod character a specific role in a plot once. We always opt out of signing up for major roles just to avoid that very problem. We just have whiny players who never sign up for major roles (we always give at least a week to sign up and then randomize), never ask questions, never propose plots of their own, and never come up with their own ways to affect the events or even ask if there's something they can do. Then they come into mod feedback posts and complain that they feel swept along by the plot and unable to get involved.