Ah, I love Dungeons and Dragons. The in-depth character creation, the exciting combat and role playing, and of course, the endless creativity! Though, there's a caveat with that last one of course: Some people use their endless creativity for evil, rather than good. As D&D is a social game, and one not quite designed for solo adventurers, your hand is forced to recruit a bunch of others to the table to join you on your quest. Most of the time, this is great! The teamwork and special moments that happen between friends at the table are truly some of the most magical memories possible. But, of course, sometimes people just rub you the wrong way.
I don't think there's truly a bad way to play D&D, per say, but there's of course a bunch of types that are going to clash with the way I enjoy my games to run. Here's 4 specific types of these kinds of players that really tend to grind my gears, and I think you'll at least understand why.
1. The Shit Disturber
These types more often than not get called 'Murderhobos' by the community, sometimes they get branded as 'Chaotic Stupid', but I like to call them Shit Disturbers. Why? They like to disturb shit. They heard that D&D is this crazy game where you get to do whatever you want, and they're like a kid in a candy store. Except instead of a kid, it's a powerful warrior, and instead of candy they want, it's burning down buildings and killing harmless villagers.
These people I often assume are simply so overwhelmed by how open-ended D&D is that they hit the ground running, and they hit it hard. No video or board game has ever allowed them the opportunity to start a bar fight, kill everyone in the tavern, set the tavern on fire, then try to blame it on the elderly beggar down the road to the guards before. Of course, this is because most people who design games aren't fucking psychopaths.
This can be fun, I'm sure, ultimate freedom with no real world consequences is the kind of escapism some people play these kinds of games for. But for your Dungeon Master, it can be a bit of a headache to need to throw all their hard work down the toilet because you'd rather commit genocide for shits and giggles.
2. The Lone Wolf
As I said, D&D is a team game. You and a band of adventurers are generally expected to work together to go on quests, defeat monsters, and amass treasure. It'd be a real pain in the ass if one of those expected party members just didn't like working with others, wouldn't it? Well, some people don't see that problem, and love making a character who just is not a team player.
Maybe they're the gruff, brooding 'I work alone' type. Maybe they're trying too hard to be the 'reluctant hero' and can barely be convinced to play along for anything. Maybe they just have some lofty ambitions they won't let any team stop them from achieving. They come in all shapes and sizes, but the gist of it is that they're unwilling to truly co-operate. This is a bit problematic, considering it's usually vital that teammates work together to get things done in this game.
There's a reason 'Don't split the party' is such a common adage in this game: it's annoying. Making your Dungeon Master need to play hot potato with the narrative because you decided to go somewhere completely different is just plain irritating.
3. The Author
This person has a character concept they want to play, and they're going to play them. No, they don't care if that kind of race doesn't exist in your world. No, they don't care if you don't want to incorporate this homebrewed class concept they found on DanDWiki. They don't care if it doesn't make sense that this kind of character would have anything to do with the adventure you wrote, because this is their baby and you're going to love them too.
Take a look at that 12 page backstory they gifted you with: It will likely involve strange abilities being seen at a young age, dead parents, the various adventures they partook in during their time as a wandering... wait, we're starting at Level 1, and this says your character has already defeated a Vampire Lord? This has three whole continents mapped out in it, none of which are anything related to my setting! What's this about an ancient prophecy?
I can appreciate these people's enthusiasm, I really can, but they would be way better off just writing a novel. I don't appreciate you using my game as a way to test out your character concept.
4. The Engineer
This type often gets called either a 'Munchkin' or a 'Powergamer' by seasoned D&D players, but I like to think of them as Engineers: They have constructed this character to be a perfectly optimized killing machine, capable of utilizing rules loopholes, class combinations, and unorthodox usage of spells to be able to say "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."
This person seems cool at first, until they're steamrolling every encounter you throw at them like nobody's business, laughing at Ancient Dragons and rolling their eyes at the sight of a Beholder. They eat entire Orc armies for breakfast and wash it down with a tall glass of Balor blood. Unfortunately for everyone else at the table, fights have become more of a cinematic experience where they watch their friend wreck shop, usually fighting the urge to check their phones and wait for it to be over.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to be powerful, of course, but sometimes you can take it a bit too far. Never try to outshine everyone else at the table: They came here to play the game too, not watch you try to Win at D&D.