Fan asks: "What makes the greatest DM in the world?"

[Thorin]

http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=13594125&postcount=5

THE GREATEST DM IN THE WORLD

a young man asked [..] a question, the answer to which wasn't very satisfying [..]. The question was [..] "What's the secret to being a great Dungeon Master?"

[..] My answer went something like this: A great Dungeon Master is a master of improv, which is to say that when the adventure runs off the rails, the great DM can "go with the flow" and improvise to keep the game interesting and fun for the players. However, a great DM also knows how to get the game group back on the rails. Sometimes this means presenting an illusion of choice, but knowing full well how the players are likely to respond, whereby the DM prods the players so gently in the right direction that the players think they're still masters of their own fate.

[..] the young man [..] resented the idea that the DM would railroad the party in such a manner. On the drive home after the seminar, I thought about my response, as well as my own DM-ing experiences. Was I wrong? Did the young man misunderstand me? Then it occurred to me that my answer my incomplete, that I'd failed to mention something crucial: The true secret to being a great DM is to surround yourself [with] great players. Even the best improvisational DM in the world won't be able to sustain a campaign if he or she is running a game for a bunch of doorknobs.

When a Dungeon Master decides to run a D&D game, he or she enters a social contract with the players at the table. Under the terms of this social contract, the DM agrees to run the best adventure he or she can and give the players the freedom to make real choices. Meanwhile, the players must acknowledge that the DM has invested a significant amount of time preparing the adventure, and while some distractions from the main plot are acceptable, there may be occasions when the DM needs the players' help to get the adventure back on track. Players who ignore this social contract, who ignore the DM's subtle hints or deliberately resist the DM's attempts to run the adventure at hand, can make the DM's experience quite miserable. And when the DM is miserable, nobody is having fun. On the other hand, great players can inspire the DM, as well as provide fuel for future adventures in the campaign.

I completely concur with this sentiment.