I play in a group where we routinely switch out GMs. When I GM I tend to prefer story-based games with lots of character building and descriptive role play. We tend to run Paizo's Adventure Paths just because we all have jobs and families and lives and such and doing so cuts down on the prep work, but when I'm running a game I still tend to put a lot of work into fleshing out the modules.
My challenge has been that things seem to start off well, everybodies into role playing and we're all having a good time, but after a few sessions (typically 3-4 hours on a weekday night) my players seem to get bored with things. It feels as though they want to get on with things, to level their characters faster, to move through the modules quickly and to "get it over with, so we can go on to the next thing." We've started and stopped several APs this way, and we're lucky to make it 4,5 levels before the "go go go" mentally eventually leads to a TPK.
Any suggestions? I'm quick to blame a MMO mentality here, but all of the players, including myself played pencil and paper long before the advent of online gaming.
Best Answer
Tease them. Make sure they want to hear the rest of the story, they want to see the plot progressing and the combat is but a mean to that end.
More specifically, there is one thing I have always found important and my DM's have virtually never used: player backstories.
We all have our players write backgrounds for their characters, but how often do we use them to generate personal stories/quests that are meaningful to one (or more) of them every so and then? I honestly think that's the core of making quests interesting for the players, making them involve their characters' personalities as much as possible, whether through their past or their current mentality.
Every D&D player creates a character and throughout all of his sessions he/she keeps thinking of imaginary plots with his PC in the spotlight, desiring moments of him standing there, being the cool protagonist of the story as the camera focuses on his reactions while the story goes on.
So, maybe DMs should need to give out a little more of that to their players. Give them turns being awesome. How can anyone resist that? ;)