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Kaeso
2010-09-03, 09:41 AM
The title pretty much explains it. It'd like to know a few play by post sites, because I really like DnD but I don't know anybody IRL that plays it.

Gray Mage
2010-09-03, 09:43 AM
The title pretty much explains it. It'd like to know a few play by post sites, because I really like DnD but I don't know anybody IRL that plays it.

This site has a very active pbp comunity. Just check the recruitment section.

Zaydos
2010-09-03, 09:43 AM
These forums.

Seriously they're the only one I know of.

Kobold-Bard
2010-09-03, 09:44 AM
Besides here, Myth-Weavers seems to be pretty good for PbP.

Amphetryon
2010-09-03, 09:46 AM
thetangledweb.net is a decent PbP community as well. I like their character sheets marginally better than myth-weavers.

DonEsteban
2010-09-03, 10:00 AM
rpol.net is by far the best site I know out there under technological aspects. It also has a very broad spectrum of gaming systems.

Community-wise I couldn't say. There are so many sites and I've played at so few...

DragonsAion
2010-09-03, 11:35 AM
rpol.net is the home of 1000 games started and 1 game finished. I have yet to be in a game that didn't fail due to a player and/or the GM jumping ship without a word or the game simply falling apart.

Haven’t been on Myth-Weavers long enough to say anything one way or the other.

Never heard of thetangledweb.net so I will have to check it out

*** Warning: personal opinion about to be expressed. Read the below at your own risk***

I'm kind of leery about playing a PBP here on this board. While playgrounders are great for ideas, builds and general information. The constant min/maxing, 20th lvl PC's with 20 different class levels, the need for a class to one-shot a balor while blowing up a kingdom with a single spell in order for it to be a "decent" class, and the like that I see here in the role-play thread makes me wonder just what kind of PBP games are played here.

Now I have never played a game here so I may be judging a book by its cover which you should never do. So in all honesty give it a shot.

**So as not to derail the thread if anyone wishs to talk to me about my opinion please PM me.

DonEsteban
2010-09-03, 12:18 PM
Hehehe. I'm tempted to agree with your opinion.


rpol.net is the home of 1000 games started and 1 game finished. I have yet to be in a game that didn't fail due to a player and/or the GM jumping ship without a word or the game simply falling apart.
It has happened to me, too, but there are tons of successful games as well. And I don't know if there are any PbP sites that are any better in this respect.

RPoL statistics:
There are 61,554 registered users.

3,052 users have logged in in the past 7 days.
4,023 users have logged in in the past 28 days.
4,999 users have logged in in the past two months.
95 users have joined in the past 7 days.

There are 2,386 active games with a total of 3,816,857 posts.
The average number of posts in an active game is 1,600.
1,780 of these games are looking for new players.
There are also 1,918 inactive games,
and a further 3,955 abandoned games.

Eldan
2010-09-03, 12:58 PM
Actually, I can't really recommend the boards here. Games tend to die fast and often, and people drop out without explanation. I'd try other boards.

RebelRogue
2010-09-03, 01:02 PM
rpol.net is the home of 1000 games started and 1 game finished. I have yet to be in a game that didn't fail due to a player and/or the GM jumping ship without a word or the game simply falling apart.

Haven’t been on Myth-Weavers long enough to say anything one way or the other.

Never heard of thetangledweb.net so I will have to check it out

*** Warning: personal opinion about to be expressed. Read the below at your own risk***

I'm kind of leery about playing a PBP here on this board. While playgrounders are great for ideas, builds and general information. The constant min/maxing, 20th lvl PC's with 20 different class levels, the need for a class to one-shot a balor while blowing up a kingdom with a single spell in order for it to be a "decent" class, and the like that I see here in the role-play thread makes me wonder just what kind of PBP games are played here.

Now I have never played a game here so I may be judging a book by its cover which you should never do. So in all honesty give it a shot.

**So as not to derail the thread if anyone wishs to talk to me about my opinion please PM me.
While I agree that games unfortunately has a tendency to fall apart in here, I do think that most players aren't really all that min-maxy when it comes to character design. At least the ones I've participated in.

Edit: Doh, missed the PM clause. I hope this does not weigh the thread down...

arrowhen
2010-09-03, 01:07 PM
In my 15+ years online I've *never* been part of a collaborative creative project (RPG, fiction, amateur game dev., etc.) that made it to a successful conclusion. People *always* seem to flake out in the end.

And yet, I keep on trying...

Tengu_temp
2010-09-03, 01:08 PM
Plothook, Mythweavers, this site. From my experiences, games on all PbP sites tend to die - what keeps a game going are dedicated players and a DM with a good vision. In general, the more specific the game's gimmick, the longer it fares, while generic fantasy dungeon crawls die quickly.

Geech000
2010-09-03, 01:12 PM
I'm active on NextGenRPG (http://www.nextgenrpg.com/). It is fairly small and tends towards superhero games rather than fantasy, but it is a good site.

I've tried playing in games here and running games here. I have had some fun with it, but the games tend to die fast. It is a problem with most PBP games.

Tyndmyr
2010-09-03, 01:14 PM
In my 15+ years online I've *never* been part of a collaborative creative project (RPG, fiction, amateur game dev., etc.) that made it to a successful conclusion. People *always* seem to flake out in the end.

And yet, I keep on trying...

Same. This happens even with people I know to be completely reliable in real life. I think it's just hard to stay focused on online volunteer stuff. After all, you can always just post tomorrow.

Tengu_temp
2010-09-03, 01:17 PM
In my 15+ years online I've *never* been part of a collaborative creative project (RPG, fiction, amateur game dev., etc.) that made it to a successful conclusion. People *always* seem to flake out in the end.

And yet, I keep on trying...

I'm currently DMing one game that's over 2 years old (and at the doorsteps of its grand finale), one that's over a year old, and one that's over half a year old. I'm also playing in a game that's over a year old. All of these games have active players, and all of them have very specific gimmicks rather than being generic DND adventures.

Frosty
2010-09-03, 01:18 PM
You trick is to be extremely selective in the applicants you accept, as a DM. And even then, sometimes you need to recruit replacements.

But, also check out DnDonlinegames. that site is pretty decent and it's all about PbP games.

Kobold-Bard
2010-09-03, 01:19 PM
Same. This happens even with people I know to be completely reliable in real life. I think it's just hard to stay focused on online volunteer stuff. After all, you can always just post tomorrow.

Which is when the DM needs to drop a big monster on everyone to remind them.

Speaking of which: my pokemon gamers have been too quiet for too long :smallbiggrin:

Toliudar
2010-09-03, 01:22 PM
To echo Tengu, there is hope. I've been part of three games that have had very clear, interesting storylines, and which at least a significant number of players have stuck around to wrap up, and each of these lasted 2-3 years. Not to say that there aren't lots of PBP that don't last a month, but the same is true of most projects, creative and otherwise. Wasn't it Woody Allen who said that 90% of success was showing up?

arrowhen
2010-09-03, 01:22 PM
Heh. Unfortunately *I* have a hard time maintaining interest in anything too gimmicky, once the novelty of the gimmick wears off.

Tengu_temp
2010-09-03, 01:34 PM
Heh. Unfortunately *I* have a hard time maintaining interest in anything too gimmicky, once the novelty of the gimmick wears off.

Which is why the gimmick must not be a one-note thing, but something that lets you throw new and new things at the players. Also, PbP games require strong, interesting plots - an open sandbox game will boggle down as players discuss what to do, and die.

Terraoblivion
2010-09-03, 01:36 PM
Well, being a player in all but one of the games Tengu talked about i can say that gimmick isn't really the right word. The longest running game is an unofficial fourth season of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, taking advantage of the breadth of the setting and the general atmosphere of it. A great deal more comprehensive than just a gimmick. Similarly the other games include steampunk Earth during an alien invasion, sky pirates and, in the one i haven't played, a sentai/tokusatsu show based game inspired by Guyver and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

I wouldn't really say any of these are just a gimmick that has novelty that wears thin. It is more that it is a comprehensive, defined setting with a clear, directed story to them that takes primacy. Something quite different, in my opinion.

arrowhen
2010-09-03, 01:45 PM
It's kind of funny, in the PbP game I'm running now the RP scenes, both inter-party and with NPCs, are slow (but still fun!) while the combats zoom right by - just the opposite of what I'm used to in tabletop play.

DragonsAion
2010-09-03, 01:47 PM
Wait there was a guyver-ish game and I missed it? I think I'm going to cry...

DnD and Pathfinder games are fun and all but I recently picked up cthulhutech and would love to try it out. from what I've seen you can use the system to play even non-cthulhutech games that are EVA and guyver-ish style.

tengu your one of the lucky few. I keep reading about games that last that long but I've never seen them.

Tengu_temp
2010-09-03, 02:16 PM
It's not really luck. It's knowing how to attract the right kind of players, and how to keep them in the game. Playing with people you already knew helps tremendously, too. I still had a few flukes, games that didn't take off the ground - mostly of my own fault, I didn't have any clear directions with those games. That's not a mistake I'll repeat again.

Hzurr
2010-09-03, 02:35 PM
The current PbP game I'm running here on the boards is just over 6th months, and we recently finished the first part/chapter/whatever; and started onto the second one. I'll echo some of the points brought up before, in handy "bullet" form

- choose the players & DM carefully: Seriously this is the only way a game will be any good. The current game I'm running is awesome, because I have awesome PCs. Any time you see a game where the PCs are simply the first 5 people who posted, that's a Bad Sign. If DMs are selective and choose characters (and players) that are interesting and players who are creative and who Play-Well-With-Others

- Don't play a hack'n'slash game: Where PbP excels is in roleplaying, and PC interaction and story. Where PbP does not shine is combat. An encounter can easily take a week, and it's very easy to get bogged down for days waiting for one guy to post.

- Characters should be deep, and interesting. If you're a one-trick pony, that trick isn't going to be interesting enough to sustain you for a 4 month (or multi-year) game.

- If you do feel the need to drop out, let people know: If you don't want to keep playing, be honest and say "hey, I'm not really interested, so I'm backing out." That way the rest of the game doesn't crash waiting for you to post, and everyone else can continue having fun without trying to figure out what your PC will do, or when the DM is going to update.

--edit--
One last thought. Different boards tend towards different RPGs. The GiantITP boards tend to be very 3.5 & Pathfinder heavy; whereas somewhere like RPG.net is very 4E heavy. Find a board that suits the type of game you want to play

Eldan
2010-09-03, 03:20 PM
There are games which survive. I was part of a german RPG site for a while, and we went through five or six published eberron adventures in a year.

arrowhen
2010-09-03, 03:25 PM
So last night I started writing up the rough draft of a recruitment post for a new game which, as it turns out, violates just about every single piece of advice given in this thread so far.

Sigh... I love a challenge. :D

2xMachina
2010-09-04, 02:56 AM
Hmm, doing the Tower of Deadly Evil on these boards. Pretty much hack and slash
Not that slow. I could go through 1 round per 1 or 2 days. And combat don't last that long.

Innis Cabal
2010-09-04, 03:40 AM
rpol.net is the home of 1000 games started and 1 game finished. I have yet to be in a game that didn't fail due to a player and/or the GM jumping ship without a word or the game simply falling apart.

Haven’t been on Myth-Weavers long enough to say anything one way or the other.

Never heard of thetangledweb.net so I will have to check it out

*** Warning: personal opinion about to be expressed. Read the below at your own risk***

I'm kind of leery about playing a PBP here on this board. While playgrounders are great for ideas, builds and general information. The constant min/maxing, 20th lvl PC's with 20 different class levels, the need for a class to one-shot a balor while blowing up a kingdom with a single spell in order for it to be a "decent" class, and the like that I see here in the role-play thread makes me wonder just what kind of PBP games are played here.

Now I have never played a game here so I may be judging a book by its cover which you should never do. So in all honesty give it a shot.

**So as not to derail the thread if anyone wishs to talk to me about my opinion please PM me.


Hehehe. I'm tempted to agree with your opinion.


It has happened to me, too, but there are tons of successful games as well. And I don't know if there are any PbP sites that are any better in this respect.

RPoL statistics:
There are 61,554 registered users.

3,052 users have logged in in the past 7 days.
4,023 users have logged in in the past 28 days.
4,999 users have logged in in the past two months.
95 users have joined in the past 7 days.

There are 2,386 active games with a total of 3,816,857 posts.
The average number of posts in an active game is 1,600.
1,780 of these games are looking for new players.
There are also 1,918 inactive games,
and a further 3,955 abandoned games.

The modding at RPoL is also rather...well, frankly they're mod team could use a lesson in manners. They're abbrasive and petty most times I've ever had to deal with them.

DonEsteban
2010-09-04, 05:28 AM
The modding at RPoL is also rather...well, frankly [their] mod team could use a lesson in manners. They're abbrasive and petty most times I've ever had to deal with them.
I must agree. It's also the only place where I managed to get banned from a forum. Ever. :smallfrown: It's still a good site.

Drascin
2010-09-04, 08:07 AM
It's not really luck. It's knowing how to attract the right kind of players, and how to keep them in the game. Playing with people you already knew helps tremendously, too. I still had a few flukes, games that didn't take off the ground - mostly of my own fault, I didn't have any clear directions with those games. That's not a mistake I'll repeat again.

I'm taking careful notes of all this, you realize. I was thinking of starting a PbP game around here (since my RL group got dispersed during the summer for a variety of reasons), and since you and Cubey are easily the best PbP GMs I've ever had or met... well, copy from the best, they say :smallbiggrin: