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My comment on this will lead you over to it. Thanks for pointing that out!

Curious, but here's the link for the time. http://nosphaer.tumblr.com/post/914...../nerd-d-tipset

Updated the link.

One tip I learned early on to my cost: do NOT, under any circumstances, indulge belligerent players, even if they tell you you are being a kill-joy by not letting them punch their way through conversations.

A tip for whatever game you're going to learn, or that you may already know, to solve any misunderstandings:

Read the book.
Completely. Read it.
No, don't skip the sections you 'know'.
Yes, you have to read those sections even if you've played every other variation of this game.
Yes even the introduction.
Yes, even the start of every section explaining what it is. Especially those.
Yes, the glossary too. It's there for a reason.

Read the book?
Good.
Now re-read it again.
Look at how everything interacts with each other now that you know the rules.
Look at the design of the system.
Yes, design. Game designers for what you're (likely) playing don't make their games popular through throwing a splash of +1s here and an extra hit point there because they feel like doing so after having such a delicious lunch. There is structure and planning in most systems. Or most core rules in any case.


Did you do all that? Good. Now when someone asks "How do I play RPGs?" you tell them this.
No, don't 'teach it to them yourself.'
What, you want to know why?
"Dunning-Kreuger Effect" and possibly "Curse of Knowledge" if you've been playing RPGs forever.
Google them.
See how this leads to miscommunication, and possibly a "Chinese Whispers" version of the game?
Now tell them to read the book.

That's a nice concept, but I think that's the difference between the casual players and more serious ones. Personally, however, I think it's a must to take on this attitude before attempting to be a DM.