Plus I’ve been in groups where some players did more work than the GM did.

I once created a very detailed background story for my character with a lot of plot hooks, and kept it all in a journal where I was taking notes written in character of the game’s events. The GM would often asked to refer to my notes in game, and it soon became clear that he was not really putting much effort into keeping track of what was happening in the game. Plus he seemed to be just throwing together any encounter that he felt like at the last minute.

It was an awful game, and I felt like I did more work as a player than the GM did. A “Thanks!” from the GM would have been nice.

Thanks for the Reminder,
Flynn

@raistlin50201 – I end each session by saying “Thank you for playing, and I hope that you enjoyed it. Feedback is always welcomed, whether good or bad.” By ending each session with those words I believe that I have created an atmosphere where the players feel comfortable to tell me what is wrong with the game so that I can fix it.

It was when one of my players commented “I notice that you are the only GM I know who does that.” that a lightbulb went off for me – Thanksgiving Day article! Just like you I realized that it seems obvious, but most GMs don’t do it. I don’t think it is because they are not thankful, but we just don’t encourage it as part of the role. I hope that this article helps to change that.

@Kurt “Telas” Schneider – That is awesome, and I hope that other GMs follow your lead. In fact, I am going to email everyone in my groups today as well besides just saying it in person. Great idea!

And I’ll do it in person next session.

Thanks for the perspective!