I am running a game with long-term established players. Our group numbers five, including myself. We have a very clear **non-adversarial, non-hierarchical** GM-player dynamic: we tell a story together, and the GM should be having as much fun as the players. The GM should also not be worrying *more* than the players about the direction of the story. In essence, the role of the GM in our games is to keep the group's and the story's cohesion, and ensure both stay in line as we play. As GM, I am more often in the position of helping our table navigate safety, trust, and boundaries, than I am ever 'running the show.'

If I have any outsize role in the story, it's because players often look to me to help patch holes in a way that feels good - not because they expect me to dictate the story per se. This is a unique dynamic, and it's not one I've experienced at many tables. It works well for us, and it works well for my (near-exclusively freeform) RP style.

When a player who is new to our table arrives, either at the beginning or the middle of a campaign, frequently I encounter a mismatch in expectations. This mismatch has occurred regardless of the incoming player's experience playing role-playing games in general. In the past, I have seen the following:

* A new player expects me to create literal dungeons (note: we do not play D&D): areas of the map that the players then crawl.
* A new player expects me to personally act as the world in general, or as a specific hostile force that they are supposed to overcome, conquer, plunder, etc.
* A new player expects me to take the reins on telling the story personally, and finds the level of narrative control the table hands them uncomfortable or unexpected.
* A new player expects me to be at *least* in charge of describing scenes or characters in detail.
* On occasion, a new player has found it odd or uncomfortable when I ask another player at the table (not them!) if they would like to play an NPC.

In short, **new players to our table often expect us to act like a hierarchy**: there is me, the Master of the Game, and there are the players, my subjects, of which they are one. **But this is not how our table tends to work.** In the past, I've had significant trouble communicating this to players in advance - the entire style of gameplay seems completely unfamiliar to some, and I have trouble giving them any sort of touchstone for understanding it.

How do you help players new to your table, who seem to be struggling, understand that your game is *not* run in a hierarchical way (with the GM at the top and the players beneath)?