Why do PbP games fade away from inactivity?

[Deuce Traveler]

I notice that there are always new PbP games starting up but most lack the endurance to continue after several weeks. I have my own opinions as to why since I've had both successful and unsuccessful games here but I thought I would pitch the question to the ENworld crowd.

 

[Insight]

I've stopped joining and starting PBP games because of my sometimes limited ability to post. There are some periods where I can freely play and run these games, but usually not for a long stretch of time.

 

[Nebten]

You pretty much answered your own question within your question. Due to inactivity, whether its the DM or players, the PbP game falls apart.

Another problem is some DMs try to run things like a normal game, such as using initiative, can also slow things down when everybody is waiting on one person. When things slow down, this decreases traffic to the board and thus decreases interest.

In the beginning, it should be agreed upon about how often it is expected somebody should post: every 24hrs, every 48hrs or only once a week. If somebody doesn't post, either the DM can run the PC or a default action should be set in place.

The DM has to be commited to staying up to date with his game. They also have to be commited to keeping the story going and not waiting for every single player to chime in.

The player needs to be responsible to check in on a regular basis. The player also should add to the story as well. If all their posts are 1 sentence agreement, it really brings the game down and again inactivity sets in.

Like a lot of RPG groups, people involved at the time thought they could commit to a running campaign but then other factors in life arise and RPGs are not (nor should be) a high priority.

 

[Mark Chance]

Well, reflecting back on the PbP games I've experienced that fizzled out, I notice two common factors:

1. I'm playing in the game, or
2. I'm running the game.

Apparently, PbP games fade away because of me.

 

[Shazman]

Well, it seems to me that PbP is very boring. I tried it once, and there really isn't enough fun, in my opinion, to keep it going for very long. It's hard to make playing one turn a day exciting.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I have a few ideas:

1: Pace. Every time I see people advertising PbP games with weekly turns, I don't hold out much hope for them continuing. To me, PbP is a daily posting game, or posting at least 3-4 times a week.

2: Too many games: In general, especially on forums dedicated to PbP gaming, many players are in too many games. I know why they do it (#1 above), but it makes it hard to give the game the attention it needs.

3: Every voice counts: Too often DMs wait for everyone to chime in. Well, especially for PbP, if you do not post regularly, your voice does NOT count.

4: Lack of detailed posts: Especially in PbP, or any online medium, HOW you say it / DO it is at least as important as what you do. The added depth of a post helps make the characters seem alive.

5: Pace: Saying it again as this is, to me, the most important point. Get the pace high and keep it there.

 

[Umbran]

For the same reasons that tabletop groups often don't last - people have other priorities. A pbp (or any game) is in competition for a person's time with... everything else in life. If the game does not sit high enough in the person's list of priorities, they won't spend the requisite time on it. If enough people in the game do that, it falls apart.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I think the possibilities for a game played via Google Wave are interesting. Wave offers more for the RPGer in comparison to forum software or email.

 

[amerigoV]

Pace is the killer for me. At times, they move at a crawl, others a flurry of posts precisely when I do not have time to pay attention to it.

Along with Pace, DM ambition is another. I ran the short adventure in the back of the Eberron Campaign Setting book (3.5). That is at best 2 sessions face to face. I had a good group of players and they all stuck to it and kept pace - it took 3 months to run (and that is low level stuff where I can run a few turns of combat at a time). In my mind, that now is about the optimal story scope for PbP.

A buddy of mine tried running Red Hand of Doom -- it died an ugly death just because it was too big (that thing would take something like 5 years to run PbP).

Lastly, the strength of PbP is also its fatal flaw. The format allows for deep emersion, and the DM can wax poetically with flavor text. The issue is some piece of key detail that may have only happened one game day ago gets buried in all the posts. By the time it comes in again in real time (say a month later), that detail is looooong forgotten.

I am sure there are some great techniques to counter some of those issues, but I have not been in games that could keep the Big Mo going that long.

 

[Umbran]

I think the possibilities for a game played via Google Wave are interesting. Wave offers more for the RPGer in comparison to forum software or email.

Yes - if they get over the performance problems seen when a Wave gets to be around 100 or so entries. I think that's still a major stumbling block.