Rate/Review your GM

Players in a game should be able to give their GM a rating/review so that future players can check and see what other players think of them. This would allow players to avoid GMs with bad reputations, or at least be forewarned. The equivalent of 'Customer Reviews' would be nice.

Yeah, it at least gives players enough of an idea on what kind of GM they're dealing with or at least see what people think about that GM.

This subject has been kicked around for a long time and I think the last official response was that there will be no rating system. If you search for reviews, ratings, and other such keywords you should find older threads. I believe it was felt that a rating system could and would get abused to the point of being worthless.

No.

Though I realize its a rather long read I'd be worried that you'd see something similar to this(pdf) happening with a rating system, though I realize the two situations aren't completely analogous.

HoneyBadger said: No. This. So...? -1 (I think) I don't think it would be a good enough indication of GMs. You should just ask the GM and hopefully they will tell you what they are like. A lot of the times you can kind of get a feeling anyways from their behavior.

The Same Page Tool is a superior means of vetting both players and GMs than a numeric ranking system.

GM's are volunteers, they are creative types, this site needs more GM's (there are more players than GM's, all around). Everyone who GM's is new at it, when they start GM'ing. I think that a rating or review system would be off-putting or discouraging for some GM's, and that's not what we need. Some things you could do from your end to help find GM's you like, Ask the people who are already playing with that GM, if you see who they are. Ask the GM what their style is like Promote and describe yourself as far as your play-style and what GM style you are looking for. Fill in your Player profile / bio. Carefully read the GM's posts, their profile (by clicking on their roll20 name), and most importantly read their game description. Ask to observe a session first, or ask about an introductory session for a sample before you fully commit.

Can we rate players too? I kid....

Jake M. said: HoneyBadger said: No. This. So...? -1 (I think) I don't think it would be a good enough indication of GMs. You should just ask the GM and hopefully they will tell you what they are like. A lot of the times you can kind of get a feeling anyways from their behavior. Agreed. But moreover, there are two elements that irk me with this idea - one at a personal level, and the other on a community basis. Role-playing games are in spirit not competitive, yet awarding your GM points based on any subjective opinion would seem to foster that kind of atmosphere. Roll20 is designed to be a welcoming, inclusive community -the possibility of bad ratings could easily put off potential members (and subscribers), or new GMs who are just starting out. Being a GM can be hard , and learning to GM is, well...quite a unique endeavour. Every Game Master is bad at first -I was bloody awful. You only really get better by getting the chance to suck, and taking a path from there. On a more personal level, rating a GM carries a faint hint of entitlement. This may of course merely be my perception of the suggestion, but I would point out that a GM is not running a game to please you. They are giving up a proportionate amount of their time -substantially more than any player might -to bring together a group of people that want to have a laugh. It seems fair to expect some work from a GM, naturally, but demanding they have a good rating to be worthy of your presence as a player is bound to cause tension. On a more positive note, I believe that most GMs are very open to constructive feedback. If you're unhappy in a game, tell her, or him. In most cases, as long as you are reasonable in your approach, they will take your discontent seriously and address any issues you might have. And, if you find it entirely unworkable to continue with your group, you could always simply look for a different one - roll20 has five hundred thousand members; finding a new group should be child's play. Anyway, that's only my feeling on the matter, I'm not out to offend anybody.