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View Full Version : Play by Post VS In Person gaming.



druid91
2010-05-02, 08:45 PM
So I have played a couple of in person campaigns as well as a few Play by post games. the main difference I have seen is roleplay, In play by post its mostly roleplay, there is a bit of out of character silliness but it isn't as rampant. whereas in face to face you can get sidetracked for half an hour quoting monty python.

Any other things like this that you have noticed?

erikun
2010-05-02, 08:54 PM
I've noticed that I focus more and interact better in person. Online, I get distracted more easily. I typically have several other windows open, and will frequently lose track of important details. Well, lose track of them more often than I do in person.

As for play-by-post, remember that each action is typically written up within 15-30 minutes. Such posts tend to be detailed about the character and what they are doing, but boredom and forgetfullness is even more likely when a round of combat can take 2-3 days, or when exploring a dungeon takes the larger part of a month to complete.

Deca
2010-05-02, 08:56 PM
The downside in PbP is the extreme length of time it takes.

The upisde is the superior roleplaying. It's easier to roleplay on PbP then it is in real life IMO.

Private-Prinny
2010-05-02, 08:56 PM
I prefer in person gaming, since you can get more done in less time, and roleplaying is more fun.

Project_Mayhem
2010-05-02, 08:57 PM
Depends on your group, and the general mood I guess. With the same bunch of guys, I've both wasted hours laughing at in-jokes, and roleplayed (roughly in real time) a tense hour long negotiation with no breaking of character

Zeful
2010-05-02, 08:59 PM
Play By Post is helpful for quieter, meeker, DMs lacking in the public speaking portion of the roll.

In person gaming has better atmosphere in contrast, though having internal jokes derail the game is common, though having a good DM, most of it won't go too far.

druid91
2010-05-02, 09:12 PM
Depends on your group, and the general mood I guess. With the same bunch of guys, I've both wasted hours laughing at in-jokes, and roleplayed (roughly in real time) a tense hour long negotiation with no breaking of character

No we would never break character but our characters were the typical adventuring party, Heavily armed, murderous, hobos with nigh deific power.

Otherwise some of the stuff we did wouldn't have gone off all that well, like my first druid being paranoid and making it if anyone went in his room for any reason they were likely to be burned to death by the traps he left everywhere. And eating pie with a scimitar. I don't think I could get away with the second one in a play by post. Or my tendency to balance a were-cat on top of the wizards head.

demidracolich
2010-05-02, 09:17 PM
I find that play by post games go faster because with my group we have a session about once per month.

Project_Mayhem
2010-05-02, 09:23 PM
Ah, that could be an issue - we're still students, so we play basically whenever we want to

druid91
2010-05-02, 09:28 PM
PbP games generally have the disadvantage of dying after the first week, if not considerably sooner. You do get lots of practice in creating characters you wind up never using though.

You should try myth-weavers, they do slow down a bit but I have been playing the same game on their for almost a year.