games collapsing - is this normal or am I unlucky?

Ancalagon · Mar 13, 2017

Thanks for the replies.

It does take a bit of effort and investment to get into these games, so it's a bit disconcerting to see this failure rate...

I was asking about my behavior because I do tend to ask a lot of questions... I think that also I have a hard time sometimes telling the difference between a scene where the party can influence events and one where we are merely transitioning to the next significant scene...

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Shayuri · Mar 13, 2017

That's pretty normal too.

Pacing is pretty hard in PBPs.

Forged Fury · Mar 13, 2017

As others have said, it is pretty normal. I tried my hand at GMing and it basically went the same way, one time due to players disappearing, once due to my own lack of time. I think a lot of new GMs underestimate the amount of time and energy it takes to run a game.

With that said, I have played in a few long-term games. One went close to three years on the old WotC boards, if I recall correctly. So far, I have found the games that are most likely to be started and completed tend to be games that have a set time-limit to them or are one-off type games. On these boards, I've played about three games that I would consider mostly complete.

But don't feel bad about asking questions or posting whatever you want to post. One of the biggest PbP challenges is working around a number of different posting speeds/expectations.

SunGold · Mar 14, 2017

Ancalagon said:
It does take a bit of effort and investment to get into these games, so it's a bit disconcerting to see this failure rate...

Totally understandable, but all the time and investment needn't be lost! If you've taken the time to create a character you like, hang onto them. Just save them in a Word doc or whatever, with a note at the top about any variant rules (extra starting gold, etc.) the DM had you use. Then, if you decide to join a new game (and I hope you do!), take a look and see if you've got anyone whose background/build could be tweaked just a bit to fit in.

The character I'm playing in that game that's been going for 1.5 years (*waves to JustinCase*

) was initially made for a different game that never got off the ground. I repurposed her with a few edits and it's worked out fine.

Backgrounds matter, but the character is really going to be defined by the adventure and their relationships with their fellow PCs. So don't worry too much, or get too invested at the start. Just apply for whatever, and get invested in the game that sticks.

Ancalagon · Mar 14, 2017

Well...

In my Yoon-Suin campaign there is an NPC group of adventurers, a bunch of missfits and foreigners, that is essentially my old PCs from the PbP games, as well as unused concepts. Grassnoll and Darwinimar live on!

KirayaTiDrekan · Mar 14, 2017

DMing PbPs is hard and some DMs (like me) flake out a lot (my track record is pretty abysmal...makes me hesitate to try again).

Ancalagon · Mar 14, 2017

I must admit I'm tempted to run one, but I don't know if the setting would lend itself to PbP or not...

JustinCase · Mar 14, 2017

*waves back at SunGold*

Ancalagon said:
I must admit I'm tempted to run one, but I don't know if the setting would lend itself to PbP or not...

Only one way to find out. The worst that could happen is it'll be just another game ending prematurely.

ccs · Mar 14, 2017

Ancalagon said:
I must admit I'm tempted to run one, but I don't know if the setting would lend itself to PbP or not...

Why? What's the setting?

Ancalagon · Mar 14, 2017

It's Yoon-Suin. In a way it would be "easy" because I'm running that campaign in real life so I have done a lot of the work. It would also be interesting to see how different players react to it.

It would be difficult however because the setting is so different than the normal fantasy medieval default, it could throw people off. My lack of experience in running a pbp game is also a factor.

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