Kaodi said:
My theory is that having a single player will make it go faster, but I could be horribly wrong. Maybe you could clear things up on that one, Nonlethal Force, since you have experience?
My ultimate cop-out answer is that it totally depends on the posting rates of the other person. I tend to be a 1-8 posts per day kind of DM. There are some days I can check hourly. There are other days where I can check just before bedtime and that's it. The same is true with the other player. So, ultiamtely the thing that holds PbPs up is the posting rate.
However, having said that, I think it is possible for a solo game to move more quickly than a typical four person adventure. This is simply true because when the player is ready to move on, the DM can move without waiting to make sure the other players are ready (since there are no other players!). This tends to streamline the game in addition to allowing the game to remain focused.
However, I have found that in the solo game I run with Unleashed that the pacing is about the same. Actually, that solo game posts more often than any of my other games, but Unleashed does such a good job at character development that the time that would be gained by streamlining play is spent on character development and wolrd-immersion rather than fast play. [In truth, I'm all for that! I'd rather worry about character development than speed, though.]
In the end, here's my advice for if anyone decides they want to play a PbP:
1. If you want the ultimate character building experience and you post frequently enough to be able to keep a story going yourself, find a DM who enjoys doing solos. Because the only thing holding you back from developing your character to the fullest extent is you.
2. If you want to play a "faster" game, then play a solo game so that the game is focused and there is little lag time. However, realize that levels will still be measured in months, not days or weeks.
3. If you want to build online relationships, have good character development, but don't want to shoulder the burden of storytelling completely, play in a multiple person PbP. Depending on how your DM does combat, how often the other players focus on sidetrips, and how often the slowest poster posts ... this game could level a few times per year or have a few years per level.
In the end, though, PbP is about dedication to the game. The game will break down to a halt if a player (and especially two or more) find themselves no longer dedicated. I've been in my share of those, and while sad ... it happens. I like solo games because there are fewer people to lose dedication and when it does happen it is easy to close the game. I also like non-solos because the interaction between the other players is often fun.
PapersAndPaychecks said:
As you'd expect from me, this uses 1e. I'm fairly certain that DMs using 3.x would seriously need to find ways to streamline combat, or the game would just grind to a halt.
I do 3.5 and my combats don't go on forever. I do a few things to make it work, though. I try to post some kind of online Battlemap. {For an example, check out the current last page of my Mightier than the Sword game in the Playing the Game forum, They've been in the middle of the BBEG fight, so this fight is probably the longest they've ever had}.
I also am very clear about posting the INIT order. It helps players know when other people are waiting on them. I also encourage players to post their character's action ahead of time, but that only comes with trust. For the most part my players trust that as a DM if they post an action ahead of time and something happens in the INIT that makes their action now sub-optimal that I will pause the combat and ask for clarification rather than penalize them for posting earlier. This takes some time to build trust, but once that trust is there, combat can fly. Most of my games can accomplish 1 or 2 rounds of combat per day, so long as all the players are posting at their normal rates.
I also do ALL dice rolling. I know there are DMs and players out there that react quite violently to this, and in a FtF game I react the same. But not having to wait for dice to be rolled online (and especially not having to verify the results) is a big time boon for the DM. As a player, I actually don't sign up for games where the players roll anymore because I don't like wasting my time running over to invisible castle, doing the roll, and then linking to it. I'd rather just trust the DM. It's far less work, and it makes the game move faster.
Those three things really help combat, and I imagine that they would help combat in any rules system (wheter 1e, 2e, or 3.x) I hope those suggestions help anyone thinking of DMing. Again, please feel free to reference my games if you have any questions here. I don't lift them up as perfect examples, but they are games that have been running for over a year - so they're not broken either. I simply ask that if you have questions about them, please post in the OOC threads in the Talking the Talk forum rather than the IC threads.