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<blockquote data-quote="perrinmiller" data-source="post: 5750555" data-attributes="member: 88649"><p><strong>DM Workshop #6: Game Pacing</strong></p><p></p><p><strong><u>DM Workshop #6: Game Pacing</u></strong></p><p></p><p>In the 9 games I currently run, each group is a little different (numbers of players, posting frequency, and styles), but there are some basic things that hold true.</p><p>1. A game typically progresses at the speed of its slowest player's schedule. This can be amended to the second slowest player in larger groups if the slowest is typically skipped and just posts when they can outside of combat.</p><p>2. OOC communication on who is next to post and when the scene should be advanced ensures smooth flow.</p><p>3. All games develop a pattern or cycle of posting based on the participants RL schedule and </p><p></p><p></p><p><u>Cycle of Posting:</u></p><p>No matter what style of game being run (heavy RP or balances) there are some basic courtesies that should be kept in mind. Typically, the players should be posting in a pattern of exchanges, very similar to when they are in combat. What this means is that after a DM update, all players should have a chance to react and post before the next significant thing happens. The DM is the one that can control this.</p><p></p><p>For example: One character moves forward to talk to some NPCs and greeted them. Two players observed the situation and commented to each other. That leaves the other two characters yet to post, before the DM should post a reply to the speaking character's greeting. With a group of 5 players, this can slow things down, but it is proper etiquette. So normally, the DM should not post more than once in a 24 hour period during role-playing so everyone has a chance to take a turn.</p><p></p><p>However, not all groups are the same and there are always exceptions. The diplomatic character could be controlled by the player that is the most frequent poster. And, among the other players, some do not or cannot post daily and have not minded when things keep flowing without them. So after an adequate time period has passed, the DM could post a reply without waiting too long since the other players are expecting the diplomatic spokesperson to do all the significant talking with the NPCs. They accept that they get skipped a time or two and catch up on their next post or just play things from there. But still the DM would not be updating more that once a day most likely.</p><p></p><p>Another exception, is when direct questions are asked that need to be answered much sooner instead of holding the game up. These might be a character asking a question that requires answering before anyone can post again, or it might be the results of an action everyone is waiting on. These are judgement calls, but can be pretty obvious. Usually DMs don't wait and answer right away. When the player and DM are on-line at the same time, posts can be exchanged quite fast, but proper etiquette would mean that they not post more than 1-2 times each before allowing the other players to react or participate. However, those posts should probably be shorter, like speaking in a conversation without long monologues.</p><p></p><p>Of course, DM updates in combat don't follow these guidelines and are another exception.</p><p></p><p></p><p><u>Scene advancement. </u></p><p>This can be communicated easily with players putting an OOC comment that they are ready to move along. This is good, and the DM should not take this as impatience on the player's part. Better yet, this can be done IC as well by posting something like, "Character X grasps his longspear and moves forward once his companions are ready." </p><p></p><p>There will be times where half the party is ready to move forward, but the other half are interacting with each other and should be allowed to play that out. This is part of the fun.</p><p></p><p>As a rule, the scene should never be advanced significantly in time without clearly knowing the players are ready. I have some games where the players are continually interacting and you just have to ask them OOC if they are ready or not since they will keep going for days RL otherwise.</p><p></p><p>To illustrate how things should work, here is as an example:</p><p>After combat ends, the players should have each have ample opportunity to react and interact. This could last 2-3 days while the characters talked to each other, searched for things and dealt with the dead bodies. Duirng which time the DM provides answers/results only until they are ready to move on. If the players are not helping advance the scene, the DM can simply ask if they are ready or just tell them he plans to advance the scene the following day. Simple OOC communication can go a long way.</p><p></p><p>However, a better way would be that the players post their characters finishing up, then exiting the battle site to inform their employer they completed the task. They mount their horses and start moving down the road again. Then without even asking, it is clear that it is the DM's turn to advance the scene in REACTION to the players. The players are the heroes of the story, they would feel somewhat in control of their destiny, even if the adventure is linear.</p><p></p><p></p><p><u>Styles of Scene Progression:</u></p><p>There are two different styles for scene progression:</p><p>1. Player driven</p><p>2. DM driven</p><p></p><p>Which style is best depends on the players really. I have found most players are not comfortable with Player Driven scene progression, and rely on the DMs to do all the work. </p><p></p><p>With that in mind, most players react to the scene and talk to the other players. They do skill checks when they think they need to be done. Then that's it, waiting for the DM to move things along at some point (usually when people stop posting :wink: ). </p><p></p><p>Skilled PbP role-players, typically don't need a DM to advance the scene at all. Instead the DM can post in reaction to the actions of the characters, describing the results and what happens when they post moving to a new location. This is a fundamental difference compared to what is typically seen in the majority of games. Here is an example of player driven style: <a href="http://unlimitedrpgs.com/forums2/viewtopic.php?f=386&t=5076&start=195" target="_blank">WERE: Ch2 - Korvosa: Fortunes Beware</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="perrinmiller, post: 5750555, member: 88649"] [b]DM Workshop #6: Game Pacing[/b] [B][U]DM Workshop #6: Game Pacing[/U][/B] In the 9 games I currently run, each group is a little different (numbers of players, posting frequency, and styles), but there are some basic things that hold true. 1. A game typically progresses at the speed of its slowest player's schedule. This can be amended to the second slowest player in larger groups if the slowest is typically skipped and just posts when they can outside of combat. 2. OOC communication on who is next to post and when the scene should be advanced ensures smooth flow. 3. All games develop a pattern or cycle of posting based on the participants RL schedule and [U]Cycle of Posting:[/U] No matter what style of game being run (heavy RP or balances) there are some basic courtesies that should be kept in mind. Typically, the players should be posting in a pattern of exchanges, very similar to when they are in combat. What this means is that after a DM update, all players should have a chance to react and post before the next significant thing happens. The DM is the one that can control this. For example: One character moves forward to talk to some NPCs and greeted them. Two players observed the situation and commented to each other. That leaves the other two characters yet to post, before the DM should post a reply to the speaking character's greeting. With a group of 5 players, this can slow things down, but it is proper etiquette. So normally, the DM should not post more than once in a 24 hour period during role-playing so everyone has a chance to take a turn. However, not all groups are the same and there are always exceptions. The diplomatic character could be controlled by the player that is the most frequent poster. And, among the other players, some do not or cannot post daily and have not minded when things keep flowing without them. So after an adequate time period has passed, the DM could post a reply without waiting too long since the other players are expecting the diplomatic spokesperson to do all the significant talking with the NPCs. They accept that they get skipped a time or two and catch up on their next post or just play things from there. But still the DM would not be updating more that once a day most likely. Another exception, is when direct questions are asked that need to be answered much sooner instead of holding the game up. These might be a character asking a question that requires answering before anyone can post again, or it might be the results of an action everyone is waiting on. These are judgement calls, but can be pretty obvious. Usually DMs don't wait and answer right away. When the player and DM are on-line at the same time, posts can be exchanged quite fast, but proper etiquette would mean that they not post more than 1-2 times each before allowing the other players to react or participate. However, those posts should probably be shorter, like speaking in a conversation without long monologues. Of course, DM updates in combat don't follow these guidelines and are another exception. [U]Scene advancement. [/U] This can be communicated easily with players putting an OOC comment that they are ready to move along. This is good, and the DM should not take this as impatience on the player's part. Better yet, this can be done IC as well by posting something like, "Character X grasps his longspear and moves forward once his companions are ready." There will be times where half the party is ready to move forward, but the other half are interacting with each other and should be allowed to play that out. This is part of the fun. As a rule, the scene should never be advanced significantly in time without clearly knowing the players are ready. I have some games where the players are continually interacting and you just have to ask them OOC if they are ready or not since they will keep going for days RL otherwise. To illustrate how things should work, here is as an example: After combat ends, the players should have each have ample opportunity to react and interact. This could last 2-3 days while the characters talked to each other, searched for things and dealt with the dead bodies. Duirng which time the DM provides answers/results only until they are ready to move on. If the players are not helping advance the scene, the DM can simply ask if they are ready or just tell them he plans to advance the scene the following day. Simple OOC communication can go a long way. However, a better way would be that the players post their characters finishing up, then exiting the battle site to inform their employer they completed the task. They mount their horses and start moving down the road again. Then without even asking, it is clear that it is the DM's turn to advance the scene in REACTION to the players. The players are the heroes of the story, they would feel somewhat in control of their destiny, even if the adventure is linear. [U]Styles of Scene Progression:[/U] There are two different styles for scene progression: 1. Player driven 2. DM driven Which style is best depends on the players really. I have found most players are not comfortable with Player Driven scene progression, and rely on the DMs to do all the work. With that in mind, most players react to the scene and talk to the other players. They do skill checks when they think they need to be done. Then that's it, waiting for the DM to move things along at some point (usually when people stop posting :wink: ). Skilled PbP role-players, typically don't need a DM to advance the scene at all. Instead the DM can post in reaction to the actions of the characters, describing the results and what happens when they post moving to a new location. This is a fundamental difference compared to what is typically seen in the majority of games. Here is an example of player driven style: [URL="http://unlimitedrpgs.com/forums2/viewtopic.php?f=386&t=5076&start=195"]WERE: Ch2 - Korvosa: Fortunes Beware[/URL] [/QUOTE]
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