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CovertCobalt
2016-03-03, 08:30 PM
Hello, all! I'm new to the forums here, so hopefully this is the right place to post this kind of question.

I'm really liking the idea of a Play-by-Post RPG of some kind, but I'm unsure about how much time it could take in order to "keep up with the pace," as it were. I'm currently enrolled in University, with several volunteer and extracurricular activities that keep my quite busy most days. So, despite my interest, I'm hesitant about joining a game or running a game because it may be too much on top of everything else I already do.

Is there an average amount of time per day or week that y'all more experienced PbP'ers would say is necessary to stay active and involved with the typical game here on the forums? I'd be much obliged to hear your advice. :smallsmile:

TheOctopus
2016-03-03, 09:23 PM
Depends on if you're a player or a GM. Also depends on what kind of game it is. Some games, especially intrigue-heavy games, can run pretty heavy on dialogue, and that corresponds with an increase in writing time. Generally though, for a couple paragraphs per post and one or two posts per day, between fifteen minutes and a half hour is pretty normal for most PbP games.

CovertCobalt
2016-03-04, 04:55 AM
Depends on if you're a player or a GM. Also depends on what kind of game it is. Some games, especially intrigue-heavy games, can run pretty heavy on dialogue, and that corresponds with an increase in writing time. Generally though, for a couple paragraphs per post and one or two posts per day, between fifteen minutes and a half hour is pretty normal for most PbP games.

Thank you! I appreciate the guidance.

As a side-note, do you think GMing significantly increases the time necessary for each individual post? I can definitely commit 15-30 minutes a day, but if GMing ups if beyond an hour then it could be a problem.

Lacco
2016-03-04, 05:04 AM
Thank you! I appreciate the guidance.

As a side-note, do you think GMing significantly increases the time necessary for each individual post? I can definitely commit 15-30 minutes a day, but if GMing ups if beyond an hour then it could be a problem.

It will depend on how much preparations you need to do (e.g. running a already prepared module vs. running your own creation), how sandboxy the game is and how fast you want it to move.

I'm currently running a combat arena (due to the game being quite combat-heavy with complicated rules - at least for beginners) and I spend around 2 hours per day on the OOC and combats.

Once the IC starts, I assume 2-4 hours per 2 days, since I rarely make much preparations (I'll run them through a prepared adventure at first and then - sandbox...)...

But that's me. I'm considered a beginner pbp-GM And it's the only game I am running currently, so I can take my time. And English isn't my first language.

oshi
2016-03-04, 05:24 PM
I easily spent an hour per day on pbp as a player between looking up for rules, rereading things to refresh my memory and actually playing the game... But it's all down to how much effort you and the other players are actually willing to put in, I've played with people who posted a line or three every second day and clearly weren't following the plot.
One thing I found that really sped me up was playing from an actual computer.
Despite the convenience of using a mobile device, typing and copy + pasting operations are much faster with a full keyboard + mouse.