perrinmiller
Adventurer
HM, I tried that method and I still shutdown my game here at EnWorld after being dissatisfied with player participation.First is posting time during combat. I have seen where DM's have stated that they will wait a few days for a post before saying a character is delaying. It looks like a good way to keep combat flowing, so I will implement it in most of my games starting with this one.
Since this is a medium speed game (I think) I will say everyone has 4 days after I post up a recap to get their actions posted. It should be enough time and if you think you can't for an upcoming round go ahead and post some upcoming alternate actions I could use. If you post nothing then you will be delaying till you re-post.
I think we should try using group initiatives. Something that I actually prefer in PbP games to accommodate everyone's time schedules and time zones. Then we don't need to wait for others to post in order if everyone has the same Initiative among the heroes and the DM just resolves in posted order unless stated otherwise in the player's post.
Then if a player is silent for 3-4 days, NPC them and update the round. Personally, if there is no communication from a player for an absence longer than 3 days, they have no right to complain if you moved on without them.
I actually converted all my games to that method and for the most part my players are happier with it. We are getting 2-3 rounds of combat done in a week compared to taking a week or longer for 1 round.
Funny, Aldern Foxglove and I discussed it, and he is the only person I have played with that was against it. But then he updates multiple times per day and expects his players to post in 24 hours or less so combats are moving along pretty well for him.
The business of delaying after 4 days is actually not going to speed things along and those of us still playing are penalized for that character's inactivity.
I would hope people could agree to post in an established timely manner (3 days for medium pace?) or at least communicate that they are going to be absent, so this game doesn't stall out waiting on people.