Welcome to an informal chat about DM basics. I'll be giving tips and tricks that I've learned over the years.
I got into role-playing games in the early 2000's due to the friends I had in my Boy Scout troop (426 FTW). We had plenty of activities organized for our camping trips but the informal activities were our favorites. Most of us played Magic and we would have tournaments between our scheduled hikes, but we had the most fun at summer camp. This was when we would have all the time to organize something bigger.
That was the first time that I saw those books bearing the name Dungeons and Dragons but I was hooked. We played every night for that week long camp and we loved every minute of it. We didn't have any real motivation beyond what craziness we could come up with. In short, we loved the freedom that the game mechanics offered us.
Unfortunately, we understood that we wouldn't be able to continue playing after the week was over so we decided to go out with a bang. That culminated in a Friday afternoon session comprised entirely of the DM trying to achieve a fair total-party-kill. He threw everything at us but we overcame; the dice loved us and wanted the game to continue. Finally, he threw a titan our way that almost decimated us, until the ranger decided to use his remaining wish to explode the titan's heart.
The DM destroyed the world in the blast. Out with a bang indeed.
It wasn't until a couple years later that I found another group to play DnD with. This was when I figured out some differences: my first experience was with the third edition (3e) but this group was using the second edition (2e). Also, the first group stayed within the bounds of the rulebooks (despite how freeing the game was) while the second group hardly ever looked at the books. That was when I learned just how much the rules didn't matter anymore.
But enough backstory let's get to the point.
My first time as a DM came with that second group that I played with. I had been the party's rogue for several months and I noticed a change in myself. At the beginning of my RPG career I didn't care about story (shocking!), I wanted loot and craziness. After a while I craved continuity and complicated plots and (for whatever reason) the rest of the group obliged. Then I ran a couple of games for them and everyone had a good time. We all had fun with my short plot-based adventure.
Fast-forward about two years when I was in the military. Fourth edition (4e) launched a couple of months prior and I was itching to try it out. I convinced some of my buddies from basic to play in the barracks and I went about attempting to write a plot-based adventure like my previous group enjoyed.
It fell apart. No one was interested in the world or the hooks. They wanted to throw dice and kill things while amassing as much loot as they could carry. I was thrown for a loop and I couldn't figure out what to do. I was also discovering that I didn't like 4e as much as the hype had lead me to believe I would. After a couple of sessions we dissolved the group and I proceeded to look for the same experience in video games.
So, I made a mistake with that last group. I assumed that the players would loved what I loved about the game, but I forgot that they were brand new to this type of game. I should have looked back at my first sessions and thought about what kept me coming back week after week. It was the thrill of combat and rolling dice on the table. I grew to love the plots but I wanted to kill baddies at first. I was just like that third group.
The lesson I can give to DMs of all experience levels is this: Find out what your players want out of the game. They might enjoy a conspiracy filled campaign where no one is as they appear or they might just want to delve into a dungeon and kill things.
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