To address the fellow-player problem Basil mentioned... man, that's a tough one. I guess lead by example? I've tried that role as a player and fell on my face. The game imploded shortly afterward.
The only answer I can think of is to just learn who the good players are around here. I can definitely recommend the current players in my game: Raistlinmc, Aurore, shadowthebard, Fracture, and Silverhythm. Goodguy has also been involved (though he's away right now) and is awesome. Other players like Dreadwave, Chibiamy, Blackfox and Bounder are really good as well, and there's more that I've at least seen in games but not personally played with. If I were looking to play in a game, I'd lurk on some of the GMs other games, and then see who applied. If I saw good players with good apps, I'd try to put in something that complimented their applications and then hope for the best.
My theory there is that if there is a majority of good players and a good GM in the group, then the newer or less-skilled players will step up. I've seen than happen plenty of times. Unfortunately, if only one player is good, the others will tend to drag him or her down, and that's too bad.
Lastly, there are some players that are just poison to a game. I won't name any but you've seen them around. They are mean-spirited in the forums, and tend to bully or start flame wars with other Weavers. It's not cool. Avoid those guys like the plague, as they will kill or at least severely wound any game. If you see one get selected in a game you've applied to, you should probably just drop. Most GMs can't handle them and it's just going to be bad for everyone. Forget fixing them, you can't, or at least I couldn't. Not as a player.
Luckily, the good players on the Weave vastly outnumber the really bad ones. Most of the rest aren't bad necessarily, they just need a few good games to develop their skills in. There's definitely an art to being a good player.
The only answer I can think of is to just learn who the good players are around here. I can definitely recommend the current players in my game: Raistlinmc, Aurore, shadowthebard, Fracture, and Silverhythm. Goodguy has also been involved (though he's away right now) and is awesome. Other players like Dreadwave, Chibiamy, Blackfox and Bounder are really good as well, and there's more that I've at least seen in games but not personally played with. If I were looking to play in a game, I'd lurk on some of the GMs other games, and then see who applied. If I saw good players with good apps, I'd try to put in something that complimented their applications and then hope for the best.
My theory there is that if there is a majority of good players and a good GM in the group, then the newer or less-skilled players will step up. I've seen than happen plenty of times. Unfortunately, if only one player is good, the others will tend to drag him or her down, and that's too bad.
Lastly, there are some players that are just poison to a game. I won't name any but you've seen them around. They are mean-spirited in the forums, and tend to bully or start flame wars with other Weavers. It's not cool. Avoid those guys like the plague, as they will kill or at least severely wound any game. If you see one get selected in a game you've applied to, you should probably just drop. Most GMs can't handle them and it's just going to be bad for everyone. Forget fixing them, you can't, or at least I couldn't. Not as a player.
Luckily, the good players on the Weave vastly outnumber the really bad ones. Most of the rest aren't bad necessarily, they just need a few good games to develop their skills in. There's definitely an art to being a good player.