PBEM/PBP - Is it really playing DnD?

[Enceladus]

Trollin' trollin' trollin'.....

Seriously this has been gnawing at me ever since I heard of the concept. Just so you know I've been gaming since '82-'83, somewhere around there anyway, its been so long I can't remember.

Heres the deal:

I just simply can not fathom spending all kinds of money, buying all the books for this hobby, going to web sites, participating if forums and not getting a group of good gamers together and playing this game. I just couldn't handle it.

The whole PBP or PBEM concept is well, to me kind of a waste. The experience is totally washed out, where's the face to face interaction with the DM? Other players? Geez I could go on all day about what's missing. What's good about it? It seems to me the internet has allowed us an excuse to hide behind something rather than to get out and socialize. Hell, the last two gaming groups (first one joined, second put together) I didn't know the people from Adam until we started rolling up characters. Are people just shy? Antisocial? Help me out here.

Call me old fashioned I guess, but no matter how desolate you think your gamer pool is (unless you live in Antarctica) there is always someone who can play or who you can bring into the game. Anyways, sorry if this seems a bit direct, its just a question thats been bugging me for a while.

Agree? Am I insane or just old?

 

[kingpaul]

The group I play with only gets together every 2 or 3 weeks. I'd prefer more often but diverse schedules will not permit. I will say that I've participated in several rather fun PBP/PBeM RPGs. The problem with them is that many seem to evaporate afte a short while. Like any face-to-face group, you need to get a good dynamic for it to work well.

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Couple things that are good about it...

1) If you don't have the opportunity to play in real life, be that you live somewhere without any other gamers around, the only gamers aren't your type of gamer, no one in the local scene plays the variant or game you want to play, or even if you can play once in a while but your schedule or whatever doesn't allow you to get enough of a gaming "fix".

2) If you like roleplay but for some reason can't perform when under the gun in person, PBEM/PBP allows you to take time to consider what your character would do.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I find that my FTF group manages to get together once every couple of weeks for about two months of the year... the rest of the year, we only manage once every 3-5 weeks. Everyone's schedule is too busy and too unsynchronised to fit in more.

But you don't need to find a 6-hour block where everyone is available for a PbEM. All you need is to find a spare half hour each day... or more if you're involved in multiple games.

Have you actually tried a PbEM game, or are you just trying to wrap your head around the concept from the outside?

-Hyp.

 

[Catulle]

I tend to think of PbP as an 'and' option, rather than an 'or' one. For that matter, I really wasn't sold on the notion until I tried it. I tended to feel pretty much the same way you outline in your post, in fact.

The biggest downside? Misinterpretation can run rife. The internet's like that.

The biggest upside? Out-of-character chatter becomes minimal, since it's confined to the OOC threads for the most part.

All IMHO, of course.

Regards,

Barry

 

[Enceladus]

Have you actually tried a PbEM game, or are you just trying to wrap your head around the concept from the outside?

-Hyp.

The would be an affirmative.

I have no desire to ever really try it either, for the aforementioned reasons.

If you don't have the opportunity to play in real life, be that you live somewhere without any other gamers around, QUOTE]

There's always a gamer to be found, if not, make one.

the only gamers aren't your type of gamer, no one in the local scene plays the variant or game you want to play...

This is where the "get along and play well with others" saying comes from.

or even if you can play once in a while but your schedule or whatever doesn't allow you to get enough of a gaming "fix".[/

That one I can buy, RL takes more and more time the older you get. I still make time to game every other Saturday, my players rarely miss a session however and there isn't one of us thats under 30.

Misinterpretation can run rife. The internet's like that.

All the time. This is where there is no real substitute for real live people.

 

[WayneLigon]

Well, in response to the thread title: yes, it is. The same things happen. They just happen more slowly

It (PbeM/PbP gaming) fills a void for me. I used to be able to game two or sometimes three times a week, with different groups. There was more diversity and change in my overall gaming experience. I got to try new things much more often.

Now I have one game a week and while it is overall very fullfilling and enjoyable, I find I want more change. We tend to play a campaign for years at a stretch, and I want something different. Through PbP, MUSH (Treyvan, for starters) and online tools like GRiP, I get to play our current game, D&D, D20 Modern and Mutant and Masterminds.

If there is anything different about it, it's the style. I like the fact that I can take my time and craft a pose or post that's descriptive. I find that I'm actually a better role-player online, simply because I communicate in writing better than I do face- to - face. I can do character thoughts. I can do body language. I can do better facial expressions. I can comment on backstory. I can do long-winded exposition and not hog table-time. In some ways it's not as good as being able to get with a group of people, and in some ways it's better.

Go check out some of the Dusk posts in the Hosted D&D Settings forum, or the myriad PbP games in Playing the Game. Go check out Angelboi's Shadows Rising d20 Modern game, or his Mutants and Masterminds Game. There's lots of fun stuff going on in all those places.

 

[maddman75]

I don't think anyone here would disagree that a tabletop game is ideal. But for us fogies who can't seem to get his players together more than once a month, it's a nice stopgap method.

Also, if you are usually the DM and only have the one group, it gives you a chance to play the character concept that's been bugging you for awhile. Neverwinter Nights can fill a similar role, though one can DM that game as well.

 

[robaustin]

I play in one RL game, DM two PBEM's (in the same world of my creation) and play in another PBEM. I have to say that initially it wasn't easy to get into a GOOD PBEM to play in. A lot of them DO evaporate due to lack of enthusiasm - but once you get into a decent one where everyone has sufficient interest, it can be a great supplement to playing in real life. The thing is finding a GOOD GROUP that is comitted to posting on a regular basis. I think it helps to DM at least one PBEM, because then you're always being kept on your toes and you see how your interest affects all the other players' interest. You feed off each other, and the more the DM posts, the more the players post and vice versa. I'd say the DM should be posting at least once a day, if not more - or else your PBEM is going to flounder and fail.

Human beings are by their nature social creatures - and so I don't find that a PBEM game will ever REPLACE a real life game for me. However, it sure can be fun and supplement the experience. It keeps all the rules and such fresh in my head so that when I DO play in real life I'm not forgetting tons of stuff.

I think also as we grow older - get married, have kids, etc... Our time for playing diminishes. PBEM can supplement your love for the game when in the "down time" between games. My real life group plays usually once a month, sometimes twice if we can schedule it. We play around EVERYONE'S schedules - and with some folks having kids, other having moved over an hour away, it does get tricky. But we do make the effort. But if I didn't play PBEM during the long stretches we don't play, I'm sure my interest for the game would go down quite a bit.

There are concessions you make as a player in PBEM - usually letting the Dm roll dice for you. As a DM on PBEM, I always "show all work" - in other words I make a post with all technical stuff out in the open, so that the players can see me being honest (I copy and paste rolls from an online dice rolls). It DOES show stats to certain extent, so players can choose to have certain stats hidden if they wish - but I make sure I'm showing as much as possible. I've been caught a few times on mistakes and in that way it keeps me on my toes. PBEM's also tend to move slower - but if you can keep a decent post rate going (1 post per day for each player) you don't move THAT slow.

Also - a good PBEM will provide "extras" - maps in a drawing program - other graphics to enhance the game (pics of monsters, etc...) You get out of it what you put into it.

The advantage to PBEM over playing over chat over the internet is that you don't have to set aside specific meeting times - you just post whenever you like. This allows people from all over the world to participate. There is one person from Australia in our PBEM. It's incredibly convenient.

Maybe actually playing in a decent PBEM might change your mind? Just a suggestion!

--*Rob

 

[Umbran]

Am I insane or just old?

I dunno about old, but you are a bit close-minded. Makin' up your mind before trying it isn't exactly fair, now is it?

Peole are not necessarily just shy, or anti-social. Sometiems, the gamers around you are jerks, or they don't play the kind of game you want to play. Sometimes, no amount of "play nice and get along with others" on your part will help that.

Sometimes, it is a matter of schedule - the players you have can't meet often, so you play online instead. Sometimes, it's because you want to play at least a bit with players who are far removed, geographically. I'm getting into a pbem with friends from high school. I'm in Boston, two players are on Long Island, one in New Jersy, the GM is in Virginia, and another player is in Washington State. There's simply no way for all these folks to get together physically to play.

Lastly, a pbem does have some advantages, aside from teh aforementioned things of play when you want and play with folks you can't physiclaly meet. There's time to think, for one thing. I consider that less important. The big one is the chance to buff up your writing skills. You want to work on your prose, a PBEM game is a fine way to do it.