We've discussed bad players to death, but what's your idea of a good player? Why is it subjectively better than anyone else's idea of a good player?
Player Archetypes You LIKE
Chase Bennett
Matthew Perry
I've actually played with people like this and had fun every time.
1.The explorer
They like just talking to NPCs and discovering the setting. Not necessarily by reading about stuff, but by experiencing it through a player character.
2.Good-guy overlord
He likes being strong and dominating the setting, but also prefers being moderately-nice to others instead of killing everything. He would like to be the both feared and loved by NPCs, but still have strong opposition that can keep presenting him with a challenge. Maybe even a persistent foil that he could sometimes defeat and sometimes get defeated by.
3.Min-maxing Slut girl
Her characters are all a combination of min-maxed and slutty. She doesn't steal the spotlight for her antics, but every time she is allowed, she brings the scene she is in one step closer to ERP, until she reaches the threshold of what is acceptable for the current group and just kinda hovers there while also fighting orc ninjas or whatever it was the party was currently doing.
Justin Peterson
>cowardly Cleric
I like the idea of a Cleric who's pants shittingly terrified but nonetheless goes on the quests anyways out of obedience to his god/goddess.
Joshua Morgan
>The Glorious Bastard
He's got a plan. Its not the best, the brightest, and might even involve ignoring the laws of physics, but by god is it a plan so clever you just want him to succeed anyway.
>The Plot Tractor
When everyone else gets dragged down arguing semantics or the finer points of how to say "hello" to the gatekeeper this guy just walks up and says "hello." He keeps things trundling along, but waits a respectful amount before doing so. He knows its more fun to sometimes do the wrong thing than argue over what the right thing is.
>Down On His Luck
You've never seen him roll higher than average. His stats are okay, but simply can't make up for the aberration that is his luck. He's done everything from changing dice to sacrificing livestock and nothing works to help his lifetime bad luck. But by god, he still shows up every week and has fun. He treats every crit fail as a challenge to his creativity, how to unfuck himself this time.
Ian Lopez
christ-chan is one of the most autistic things I've ever witnessed
Nolan Ortiz
1-The dashing rogue/musketeer/adventurer
If the player is a (charismatic) loudmouth with tons of banter its really fun to see him interact with the npc's and the other pc, he might take the spotlight often but other players don't mind a lot and I do my best to give each players as much as attention as possible
2-The newbie
I played with ton of persons who were just introduced to the hobby, most of them were really nice and eager to learn, by chance I never fell upon someone who consider ttrpg as a video game or shit like that, new players are wholesome and making someone want to play even more ttrpg after a good session is the best feel as a GM
Asher Lewis
I don't know what to even call the archetype. The Prioritizer? He's the player who keeps the party on the right track and can tell when shit's getting stupid and pushes everyone back on track. When the players are following a trail that isn't there, he'll go "Hey, remember [important info everyone else forgot]? We should pursue that lead" and everyone gets back on track. He remembers the important and useful items that everyone else forgets they have, whether it's that one potion from eight sessions ago or a minor knick-knack from an entire year ago that would be useful right now.
Either way, that archetype is my favourite. They're a joy to GM for.
Christian Rodriguez
The one in for the fun.
That guy that embraces the risk of doing dangerous things and accepts that failure can result in character death.
The planner.
That guy that comes prepared for every kind of shit, brings interesting ideas to the table, outplays his enemies with his wit and saves the in for the fun's ass.
Alexander Evans
I've been the Down on his Luck and let me tell you user, there is NOTHING fun whatsoever about trying and failing to unfuck yourself game after game. I can only smile at so many critical fails, being unable to parlay a +7 in my skill into a winning result
Liam Morales
>Players who get invested in the setting and have pet races/kingdoms/organizations/etc that they have many characters hailing from and will even write lore and help flush out said place.
>Players with clear goals. They make their character want something specific and will create plenty of potential hooks as they slowly work their way toward it.
>Players who are odballs/quirky but in a compelling way.
>Players who try to roleplay with other party members unprompted
if you do anything like these, you are doing your GM so many favors