No. This sounds like a horrible place. Don’t go here again, sorry to say this. You will find a new place, a better one!
New DND player here
Recently started playing and found a place that had a beginner DND campaign starting. Ive loved that campaign and it got me wanting to play a bit more.
So i thought id try out the one shot nights that they provide.. However they overload the tables.. Theres always about 7/8 players and its pure fucking chaos,
Im there to learn about playing DND and players are just talking over the top of each other on peoples turns..
Played a 4 hour session the other night and i had literally 2 turns in initiative over 2 combats, i had no chance to do any of the stuff at all id lined up for my character. Learned nothing from any of the other chars abilities cause they all got 1 turn too.
Players instead were just talking over the top of players on their turns and ignored any prompts by the DM to actually move the story forward.
So this is more of a rant i guess and a question as to are all store one shots with randoms like this?
No. This sounds like a horrible place. Don’t go here again, sorry to say this. You will find a new place, a better one!
I used to run weekly drop in one shots in a LFGS for years and it was a lot of fun. But the shop's policy was that they would not turn any players who showed up away, and the consistent shortage of willing DMs meant I'd end up with tables 7-12 players. It just wasn't good and doesn't work well like that. There were times when I had smaller tables (teaching newbies nights or other DMs free), but when I was the only consistent one each week the numbers always got higher. It's just your luck unfortunately. But get to know some folks over a bit of time and bond over the game. That's how you'll hopefully get a fun group. Best of luck!
These kinds of open one-shot tables tend to be absolute clusterfucks, yes, unless they're managed by a very competent DM. Even keeping player numbers low often isn't enough, since you have to manage a bunch of strangers with wildly-varying skill levels and playstyles. I would suggest trying to find a regular online game if there aren't any more to be found in your area.
The hardest part of dnd is finding the right table and scheduling. The wrong group can ruin the best story, or the wrong DM can ruin the best of tables. Find your people that all want to play the same kind of game and find a table that is the right size for you. I think 4-5 is a good number for starters. The game store DnD night is really a roll of the dice (lol) on what you are going to get, and it sounds like the people you were with are lacking table etiquette (which everyone needs) and might not have a story that aligns with the level of roleplay you want. Don’t let that ruin DnD for you! There are good groups out there that would love to have another good member.
Games that can choose to be picky about their players (i.e., private games) usually are. Stores usually aren't and, as a result, often fill up with the sorts of players who can't get a seat in a more bespoke game because... reasons. If you want non-chaotic games, find a private table to play with.
They need more tables and more GMs Tables should cap out at 6, preferably though they're limited to 4 or 5