Play - By - Post

[KnowTheToe]

I have played in one or two PBP games in the past and have been thinking about joining a new one. My question is, about how many players do you think is the "right" amount?

The reason I ask is because as I looked around the web, most games have 7-8 players. My concern is game pace. On line games tend to go slower, but waiting for eight players to chime in would be difficult. I would also think having that many players would limit the greatest advantage of on line gaming, the chance to really role play dialog, politics and intrigue.

I would be very interested in hearing your opinions.

 

[Sixchan]

4 or 5 is usually best. IMO.

 

[JoeBlank]

I voted 3-4, but agree with Sixchan that 4-5 is probably best. As long as you have players that you know will post regularly, err on the low side. If you are recruiting people you don't know well, you might go up to 5 to be sure you have enough consistent posters to keep things moving along.

Except for combat, you can usually keep things moving without waiting for everyone to post. I have been in groups where we defer to a group leader. This works well in dungeon-crawl portions of play, so you don't have to wait for 5 players to agree on whether to go left or right.

 

[Aeolius]

As I run a PbP, I voted for 7-8.

People join message-based games because their schedules won't allow them to attend regular gaming sessions. Add to that the volatile nature of the internet; i.e. people "disappear" all the time. So, have a larger number of players and don't expect everyone to post on a regular basis - some folks might miss a week, while others might post several times a week.

 

[bolen]

where could I get involved with this? Is there a major site for PbP games?

 

[Dagredhel]

where could I get involved with this? Is there a major site for PbP games?

I'd also like to know.

If someone with experience would explain how PbP works, what is required of a prospective player, how one can become involved, & etc., it would be much appreciated.

(I've taken a gander at the forums here that seem to be utilized for online play, and still don't really 'get it'.)

Thanks.

 

[Aeolius]

In my campaign, I post a new "Chapter" once a week. During the week, the players respond to events in the Chapter, to NPCs, and to one another. I will add updates as time permits. The next week, I post a new Chapter. While this method of game play requires a degree of patience and the occasional spell-checker, I have found it one of the best options for those with hectic schedules.

Also, to speed up matters, I handle most of the "mechanics"; die rolls and whatnot.

 

[Mirth]

I voted 5-6 as I find that to be perfect for the games that I'm currently in.

As for those who want to know more about PbP gaming, our wonderful moderator garyh of the Playing the Game forum put together this FAQ just to answer those kind of questions.

I can't say enough good things about PbP gaming, especially since it is my only gaming outlet at the moment. Try it once and you'll probably be hooked. And if you're like me and like to experiment with a multitude of gaming styles, campaigns & characters, then the PbP boards will probably offer up something to your taste more often than your regular group will.

If you have any questions about how the boards & games work after reading the FAQ, then feel free to post them here or email me privately (email's in my profile) and I will try to answer them for you. If you want to get a sense of how a game works, check out any of the games in my sig.

Good luck & good gaming! Hope to see you all on the PbP boards!!!!

Jay

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I find that 5-6 works out to be just about right for me in the game I'm running. If one person goes AWOL for a while, there're enough people to keep things going without it becoming oddly empty feeling. I'm in two games as well, one with 7 (Peter's The Scarab) and one with 6 (Gru's Delta Squad), and it feels like the right size to me as a player, too.

As far as my posting patterns and policies, I'm pretty relaxed, I post when it makes sense and tend towards a more set posting schedule during combat. At least that's my intention and what I'm going to do with my group now. I also roll all the dice and use standard array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) for abilities.

Best,
tKL

 

[Viking Bastard]

It's all about the players.

If you have very active players, 4-5 is the best number.

But with average-active-players you'll need more to keep the game from dying.