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Checkmate-Pony
2016-09-16, 03:31 PM
I have been on this forum for years now, met many people and made more characters than I can count, for nearly any game system I can think of.

And yet I've never seen any of those games actually last much more than the introduction post IC.

I've been attacked by my fellow players several times for no paticular reason (ussualy after the first post) GM has left without explanation, GM suddenly struck with depression or other personal problems that prevent them from playing, insults to my wife and livelyhood because I spoke out of turn (I'm not sure what happened either) I could go on...

And I've even asked some of my friends (or even strangers) who also utilize this site and whom have been here much longer than me, I asked if they ever in their time on the forum actually had a game that lasted more than a forum page: And none of them had.

I guess what I'm saying is: Why do games never start around here? I see endless threads on the recruitment page, most of them being variations of D&D and such, and I'm seeing famillier faces all the time, can it really be true that no games last? If everyone is as unfortunate as I have been finding a game, then what are we doing? Is everyone crazy? It's just an endless cycle of recruiting and then not doing anything. It makes me very depressed because it seems no one else is bothered by it.

I don't really have a solution, I'm just very confused... What's wrong with you people?


Or maybe the question is: What's wrong with me? :smalleek:

Anyr
2016-09-16, 03:47 PM
Rest assured that your experience is by no means the norm. I for one have found plenty of active, long lasting games on these forums. It's true that PbP games (on pretty much any forum) tend to have a high attrition rate. A lot of the recruitment threads do indeed end up fizzling out. But many others still manage to get off the ground, and soar.

Genth
2016-09-16, 03:59 PM
As a GM who, by my own admission, has fizzled on games more than I'd like, perhaps I can offer a slightly embarrassed explanation - although from the outside, players and people being insulting to eachother is dumb and people should not do that.

I have ideas and plans aplenty for games, and (slightly proud to say) I've never put up an idea that's not garnered interest, nor made a character that wasn't picked for a game. So obviously the problem isn't that I don't have good ideas. But, and this is entirely on me, I get a little too perfectionist. I often feel like if I don't post several paragraphs, then I'm not properly contributing, and so this means that I don't post while I'm trying to think up the best way to write screeds. Getting better at accepting lower quality posts from myself, but writers block is a thing.

A couple of times I've got a bit angry at myself for this and said "Well, since I can't stay the distance, I should never post on these games ever again!" - but I have come back, and I am getting better at things.

WindStruck
2016-09-16, 06:42 PM
I've had my share of games that fizzle out before they really begin.. I've also played in some games that kind of went for a few weeks then randomly stopped... and then there's a much smaller amount that have actually ran for a long time and gone very well...

Frankly, I don't know what it is. Maybe internet anonymity, and then the fact that pbp games tend to move so slowly, and it's easy to just make up any old excuse when you don't particularly feel up to it anymore. To be quite honest, I find it quite offputting to find such a high rate of players/DMs that randomly decide to bail (sometimes without even so much as a word).

While I'm sure some excuses are legitimate, I think a good portion aren't. And it irks me because when you sign up for the games either as a player or taking on the roll of DM, it's like you're promising a commitment to the others so that everyone can have a fun game. But when one person drops the ball... everyone loses out. In other words, if you work 10 hours a day 9 days a week, have a wife and three kids to take care of, and you frequently can't even spend 2 minutes to tell other people you are far too busy or at least give some vague guidelines for your character actions... well, the problem is you shouldn't have signed up in the first place.

Ramsus
2016-09-16, 06:57 PM
I'm not really surprised by the high attrition rate. I am constantly surprised at people (GM or players) just ceasing to post or completely vanishing entirely. Also on occasion I'll note that some games die simply due to GMs not seeming to even try and make sure players are aware they're being waited on or bothering to try and replace a player when one vanishes.

Interpersonal issues.... *shrug* That's just life as far as I'm aware.

I do think it would be a good idea for pretty much anyone recruiting for a GM to actually have players that they don't choose due to size limits for a game to be more or less formally on a backup list as it does seem like almost every single game will have one or two people drop out in the first few weeks and there's really no sense in not preparing for something that happens so frequently.

Tacitus
2016-09-16, 07:08 PM
My experience has been that one out of ten games survive for meaningful progress, with or without the original participants. While I can say nothing of the toxicity you seem to have encountered, its a matter of finding a group that you can gel with that posts around roughly the same time of day with a DM/GM/Storyteller/Etc that is willing to make progress even if not everyone has replied to what has been going on.

I've had games where I lose interest, and most of the time I do try to make it known and make my apologies, though so very few ever even say a word which leaves people wondering and the game stagnates waiting for someone to come back who isn't going to. The best game I ever played here on Giants lasted for years, and the DM was perfectly willing to skip people fairly regularly to keep up the flow, with or without NPCing them for the scene depending on what was going on and if it was a combat scenario.

I'm coming to believe that PbP is really not how you ever want to run a game. If everyone is in a similar time zone and has a similar schedule, why not just use an instant messaging service, tabletop gaming service, and/or VOIP? If time zones and schedules don't mesh, you rather quickly run into someone being left out of meaningful RP time because the rest of the group may write pages of RP while the odd man out is at work or somesuch.

Chambers
2016-09-17, 07:38 AM
Mod of the Broken Pattern: Thread moved to Roleplaying. Carry on.

Vetril
2016-09-17, 07:38 AM
It's just that a lot of people are more interested in building and optimizing than actually playing D&D.

Checkmate-Pony
2016-09-17, 07:50 AM
It is mostly the toxicity that has been the problem (I won't speak much about toxicity, because I have already been givin ban strikes for voicing it once before)

But the personal hostility (as well as hostility towards my characters) became so bad that I no longer speak in the recruitment thread or OCC (except for the bare minimum to get by) because I don't want people to keep getting so angry.

But this didn't really work, I've still had times when one or more players decided to make my time a living hell, on a personal level and ingame; right from the start, to a point where I left the game without saying a word because I was so upset over it.

That does not make me any better though.


I'm disheartened, I've tried for so long now, and I've been a GM for so many years, but I've never actually been a Player before, I feel disconnected.

And now a days, everytime I go on the recruitment forum I just get so angry, because I automaticly hate everyone, because all I can think of is how absurd and hostile everyone is to each other; all the time...



But I know I should not be thinking that of anyone, or saying that about anyone.
Because it isent true, it's something I'm imagening.

But it's all I've ever know.

Cluedrew
2016-09-17, 08:22 AM
I can't speak to the insults, but I feel that there is a reason a lot of PbPs don't do so well. A lack of shared space.

I have had one really successful play-by-post/forum role-play, and most of the people involved in that knew each other in real life. So we would mention it in real life, talk about our ideas and remind each other who had the next segment. A sit-around-the-table format has even stronger shared space, everyone is within meters of each other during the session. And they have a single defined commitment to that session as opposed to the "you can always put it off a bit longer" commitment of online. Actually that is a second reason, the time commitment is not really defined so it can come and go easily.

But the shared space of reminders, passing ideas around and saying stupid ideas that turn out to be brilliant instead of typing them out, they all help and connecting online cuts a lot of that out.

Darth Ultron
2016-09-17, 09:36 AM
Play by post has always been this way. Why? Guess people are just people? After all it is true just as much in real life too, and for any group activity.

Post a recruitment thread and dozes of people will be dying to play and even make characters and say they are so excited to play. And some of them might post a couple times once the game gets started...and then they will vanish. The same is true with DMs. Oddly the people that often post a couple times daily ''when will the game start'' are often the first to vanish.

I really miss the days of having a D&D chat room. Way back in the Time before Time, Wizards had a live chat room where you could log in and play D&D. I ran so many great games back in the day. But there is no spot for live gaming today :(

But it is possible to get a good pbp going, but the number is like one out of ten.

Anyr
2016-09-17, 10:24 AM
It is mostly the toxicity that has been the problem (I won't speak much about toxicity, because I have already been givin ban strikes for voicing it once before)

But the personal hostility (as well as hostility towards my characters) became so bad that I no longer speak in the recruitment thread or OCC (except for the bare minimum to get by) because I don't want people to keep getting so angry.

But this didn't really work, I've still had times when one or more players decided to make my time a living hell, on a personal level and ingame; right from the start, to a point where I left the game without saying a word because I was so upset over it.

That does not make me any better though.


I'm disheartened, I've tried for so long now, and I've been a GM for so many years, but I've never actually been a Player before, I feel disconnected.

And now a days, everytime I go on the recruitment forum I just get so angry, because I automaticly hate everyone, because all I can think of is how absurd and hostile everyone is to each other; all the time...



But I know I should not be thinking that of anyone, or saying that about anyone.
Because it isent true, it's something I'm imagening.

But it's all I've ever know.

Okay, this next bit of advice is hard to phrase in a non-confrontational way. Please know that I mean no offence in anything I'm about to type. It's just a set of observations from personal experience.

From what I've seen, most of this forum's RPers tend to be normal, reasonable people. Of course there are always a few toxic players, here and there; But on the whole, they're the exception. So whenever anyone (including me) starts to feel that toxicity is following them around, it's important to ask ourselves one uncomfortable question: "Am I part of the problem?"

Now, that's not the sort of thing we like to think about. It's easier to believe that the things plaguing us are all someone else's fault. But when we find ourselves consistently getting into fights wherever we go, that hypothesis becomes less and less likely. Yes, it's theoretically possible that every single game we join just happened to be full of toxic people; But I wouldn't bet on it. So the next time you feel your blood boiling, try a few introspective thoughts like this:

A) "Am I seeing hostility where there actually is none?". Tone doesn't translate well into text. Forum posts lack the visual and verbal cues that come with face-to-face interaction. When we can't see the playful smile on someone's face (or hear their lighthearted tone), it's easy to interpret their words in a way they didn't intend. Sometimes a post that we see as being hostile was actually written with no such intent.

B) "Is this person targeting me, or my views?". This is a very important distinction. When someone calls you an idiot, they're attacking you: But when someone says that your character build is illegal, they're just disagreeing with you. Not every disagreement is a personal attack. If our hackles rise every time someone contradicts us, then it leads to a lot of unnecessary fights.

C) "Is this argument really worth the trouble?". Our desire to win often leads us astray. When caught in an argument, we want to emerge on top. But the time and energy we devote to such things is sometimes absurdly high. When all that's at stake is a few gold pieces, sometimes it's better to just let it slide. Not everything has to be a deathmatch.

D) "How do my posts sound to the other players?". This ties into Question A. Our fellow players aren't telepaths (probably). They won't always interpret our words in the way we intended. When typing something, consider the different ways that other people might read it. Get into the habit of phrasing things diplomatically. Sometimes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

E) "Am I angry right now?". If the answer is 'yes', then step away from the screen. Don't post while angry. Don't interpret other people's posts while angry. Seriously, don't. Take some deep breaths, drink a cup of something soothing, and return when you've calmed down. It's amazing how much this helps.

Again, none of this is intended as a personal attack. The questions above are ones I often ask myself. Sometimes, the other player really is 100% in the wrong; But not always. For the sake of not becoming toxic ourselves, we have to be willing to accept our share of the blame.

Koo Rehtorb
2016-09-17, 10:40 AM
I've never tried it so maybe I'm way off base here. But PbP seems like a terrible format for a game.

Checkmate-Pony
2016-09-17, 10:54 AM
Okay, this next bit of advice is hard to phrase in a non-confrontational way. Please know that I mean no offence in anything I'm about to type. It's just a set of observations from personal experience.

From what I've seen, most of this forum's RPers tend to be normal, reasonable people. Of course there are always a few toxic players, here and there; But on the whole, they're the exception. So whenever anyone (including me) starts to feel that toxicity is following them around, it's important to ask ourselves one uncomfortable question: "Am I part of the problem?"

Now, that's not the sort of thing we like to think about. It's easier to believe that the things plaguing us are all someone else's fault. But when we find ourselves consistently getting into fights wherever we go, that hypothesis becomes less and less likely. Yes, it's theoretically possible that every single game we join just happened to be full of toxic people; But I wouldn't bet on it. So the next time you feel your blood boiling, try a few introspective thoughts like this:

A) "Am I seeing hostility where there actually is none?". Tone doesn't translate well into text. Forum posts lack the visual and verbal cues that come with face-to-face interaction. When we can't see the playful smile on someone's face (or hear their lighthearted tone), it's easy to interpret their words in a way they didn't intend. Sometimes a post that we see as being hostile was actually written with no such intent.

B) "Is this person targeting me, or my views?". This is a very important distinction. When someone calls you an idiot, they're attacking you: But when someone says that your character build is illegal, they're just disagreeing with you. Not every disagreement is a personal attack. If our hackles rise every time someone contradicts us, then it leads to a lot of unnecessary fights.

C) "Is this argument really worth the trouble?". Our desire to win often leads us astray. When caught in an argument, we want to emerge on top. But the time and energy we devote to such things is sometimes absurdly high. When all that's at stake is a few gold pieces, sometimes it's better to just let it slide. Not everything has to be a deathmatch.

D) "How do my posts sound to the other players?". This ties into Question A. Our fellow players aren't telepaths (probably). They won't always interpret our words in the way we intended. When typing something, consider the different ways that other people might read it. Get into the habit of phrasing things diplomatically. Sometimes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

E) "Am I angry right now?". If the answer is 'yes', then step away from the screen. Don't post while angry. Don't interpret other people's posts while angry. Seriously, don't. Take some deep breaths, drink a cup of something soothing, and return when you've calmed down. It's amazing how much this helps.

Again, none of this is intended as a personal attack. The questions above are ones I often ask myself. Sometimes, the other player really is 100% in the wrong; But not always. For the sake of not becoming toxic ourselves, we have to be willing to accept our share of the blame.

Ofcourse I have asked myself those questions, but as I already said: Even when I tried to speak as little as possible, when I tried to voice no ideas, did not ask questions or disguss terms, doing everything I could to be as non exsistant as possible as a person, whilst still being present, when all I did was the bare minimum of soft spoken compliance, it still happens, over and over.

Not even B or C can be applied because I don't argue with people (I give nothing to argue about) and I don't voice any veiws or my ideas to anyone because I don't want to share them with the internet, especially not anymore. (I'm ofcourse doing it now for the purpose of this thread)

The only exception is when I'm directly asked for an opinion, even so, I keep it short and as polite as I can

I can't possible be left to blame anymore when I give nothing away to be hated so, atleast I can't see it at all myself.

Checkmate-Pony
2016-09-17, 10:55 AM
I've never tried it so maybe I'm way off base here. But PbP seems like a terrible format for a game.

What do you play, then?

Koo Rehtorb
2016-09-17, 11:06 AM
What do you play, then?

In person is preferable. Over roll20 is tolerable if in person isn't available.

A list of problems that I at least perceive about PbP in no particular order:

1) Text is a lousy method of holding a conversation. You're lacking all kinds of inflection and body language and so on.

2) On top of that, it's even worse if you aren't having a text conversation in real time. Sending letters to each other is very far away from actually talking to a person.

3) PhP seems like it has the quality of being simultaneously more time consuming and less fulfilling. If you sit down to play a game for a four hour chunk then that's a sizable amount of time, but people do that sort of thing all the time. Society functions in a way that lets people set aside time slots to do things on a regular basis. A PhP game seems like it would demand that people be checking in on it on a near constant basis if the game pace isn't to end up being glacial.

4) This one's a stab in the dark. But perhaps the ease with which someone can put a PhP game together makes it easier for people to abandon it too. There's less pressure and worry about being able to find a new game if you give up on this one if it's trivially easy to get into one. If you're setting up an actual group and a time to play every week then that's at least a certain amount of commitment before the game even starts which might make it more likely to stick around.

LudicSavant
2016-09-17, 11:08 AM
What do you play, then?

One alternative to PbP is to play real-time games... which is totally possible over the internet, via programs such as Roll20 (https://roll20.net/) or OpenRPG, or even just something like Skype.

One of the issues I have with the way games are set up on this forum is that it throws "PbP" and "Real Time" recruitment in the same forum and can thus be difficult to filter the former offerings out. I feel as though there should be two recruiting subforums, or at least the convention of labelling recruiting threads by medium (e.g. topic titles noting whether they want you for PbP, PbEM, Skype, Roll20, or whatever).

Simply addressing this one issue seems like it could meaningfully improve the success of finding games through the GitP website.


I really miss the days of having a D&D chat room. Way back in the Time before Time, Wizards had a live chat room where you could log in and play D&D. I ran so many great games back in the day. But there is no spot for live gaming today :(

A chatroom where people can pick up players sounds like a capital idea. I recommend we create one for the GitP community. A stickied Discord channel, perhaps.

PersonMan
2016-09-17, 11:26 AM
I've never tried it so maybe I'm way off base here. But PbP seems like a terrible format for a game.

It's bad if you want to play the same type of game you get at a table, but it has its own advantages.


1) Text is a lousy method of holding a conversation. You're lacking all kinds of inflection and body language and so on.

This is a sign that you look for something in your games that I don't - and I agree, PbP isn't that good if you're looking for a group social activity.


2) On top of that, it's even worse if you aren't having a text conversation in real time. Sending letters to each other is very far away from actually talking to a person.

Pretty much same as point 1.


3) PhP seems like it has the quality of being simultaneously more time consuming and less fulfilling. If you sit down to play a game for a four hour chunk then that's a sizable amount of time, but people do that sort of thing all the time. Society functions in a way that lets people set aside time slots to do things on a regular basis. A PhP game seems like it would demand that people be checking in on it on a near constant basis if the game pace isn't to end up being glacial.

PbP is slow, true, but if you have people check at least once a day you're all set. It's the sort of thing you do in the morning, then briefly in the afternoon, and again in the evening, rather than a big even once a week.

Checkmate-Pony
2016-09-17, 02:08 PM
I know the problems inherent to PbP

I don't have much luck outside pbp and real life but that's for entirely diffirent reasons than what I experience on this forum (besides I can't complain about real life and chat roleplay on this forum, you people can't do anything about that, that's outside this place)

Lord Of Mantas
2016-09-17, 03:25 PM
Not that it's relevant to your specific problem, but I have another theory on why a lot of PbP games tend to fizzle out: Lack of motivation from the players and, in particular, the DM.

Generally, in my experience, a lot of PbP games live or die by the DM, because players - while an integral part - are a lot easier to replace than the DM. And unfortunately, in comparison to players, DMs are rather rare, particularly in terms of the games people often want to play - hence the many threads looking for one. But being a DM for a game requires a lot of investment, both of time and emotionally, into the game - and if that's lacking, then it's all too easy to just peter out after a page or two. And generally speaking, I've found that unless the DM was the one who proposed the game in the first place, their investment is usually lacking.

DataNinja
2016-09-17, 06:10 PM
I've never tried it so maybe I'm way off base here. But PbP seems like a terrible format for a game.

I've found that it really, really helps PbP if you combine it with another format. Generally, the way I've done it and seen it done successfully, the main game itself is PbP, with people posting at their own rates, but then we have another - usually Skype - chat, to discuss things OOC. It helps keep people engaged with whoever is on, you get to know people better, and it means that there's usually someone to talk to.

Jay R
2016-09-17, 06:19 PM
Don't forget this basic fact:

Playing with friends usually works better than playing with strangers, in any situation.

JeminiZero
2016-09-17, 10:12 PM
My 2 cp: Despite what the some above say about the format, I have had some successful experience with pure PbP games.

Having said that, unfortunately, the better half of the games I've joined, tend to die shortly after the first combat (or even before then). I think its just the nature of the medium.


Generally, in my experience, a lot of PbP games live or die by the DM, because players - while an integral part - are a lot easier to replace than the DM.
This is mostly true. Although its also possible that mass player dropouts will (sometimes) demoralize the GM sufficiently to quit.

One related point: The better half of my medium-to-long running games have been in Mutants and Mastermind. I suspect this is because of the system's simplified book-keeping compared to D&D, which reduces GM workload. (This is not to say that M&M games never fail, just that in my experience, they have had a better chance of success.)

Lord Of Mantas
2016-09-18, 01:18 AM
I've found that it really, really helps PbP if you combine it with another format. Generally, the way I've done it and seen it done successfully, the main game itself is PbP, with people posting at their own rates, but then we have another - usually Skype - chat, to discuss things OOC. It helps keep people engaged with whoever is on, you get to know people better, and it means that there's usually someone to talk to.
This. Very much this. Talking to my other players on Skype, even if it's not the primary mechanism for the game, has helped a lot to help get to know one another and discuss OOC matters quickly.

Knaight
2016-09-18, 01:48 AM
PbP is inherently fairly slow, tends to involve a bunch of strangers, and has the whole factor of not being in person and as such falling down a few spaces on people's priority lists. It's a format that is particularly plagued by attrition, and a lot of us are playing home games that don't have those issues.

Darth Ultron
2016-09-18, 09:10 AM
A chatroom where people can pick up players sounds like a capital idea. I recommend we create one for the GitP community. A stickied Discord channel, perhaps.

Is there a way to get an official one here?

Live chat games can be a lot of fun. The best is just making a room like ''6th level adventure D&D 3.5'' and then having people show up live and want to play immediately.


I've never tried it so maybe I'm way off base here. But PbP seems like a terrible format for a game.

It is true you don't get the personal interaction with other people....but you also don't get the problems too. A real life game has all the problems like people not showing up, not paying attention, being distracted, and not getting along.....and more.

If your in a spot where you can't get a real life game together or ''you don't have the time'', PBP is better then nothing. PBP has the advantage that you can play ''all the time'', even while ''doing'' something else.

PBP is very slow...but this is not a bad thing. Slow pace can add more detail and interaction and fluff and story. It's very much the difference between a movie and a book.

And a PbP can be as fast, if everyone can agree to do it. I lot of people are ''online'' 24/7. And, if they want too, they could easily check on the game every couple hours and post. And this greatly speeds up the game play. Though it can be tricky to find people that can take all of five minutes every couple hours to make a post. A lot of people ''can't'' do it, even though they carry around a smart phone with internet access 24/7.

thirdkingdom
2016-09-19, 06:24 AM
I have been on this forum for years now, met many people and made more characters than I can count, for nearly any game system I can think of.

And yet I've never seen any of those games actually last much more than the introduction post IC.

I've been attacked by my fellow players several times for no paticular reason (ussualy after the first post) GM has left without explanation, GM suddenly struck with depression or other personal problems that prevent them from playing, insults to my wife and livelyhood because I spoke out of turn (I'm not sure what happened either) I could go on...

And I've even asked some of my friends (or even strangers) who also utilize this site and whom have been here much longer than me, I asked if they ever in their time on the forum actually had a game that lasted more than a forum page: And none of them had.

I guess what I'm saying is: Why do games never start around here? I see endless threads on the recruitment page, most of them being variations of D&D and such, and I'm seeing famillier faces all the time, can it really be true that no games last? If everyone is as unfortunate as I have been finding a game, then what are we doing? Is everyone crazy? It's just an endless cycle of recruiting and then not doing anything. It makes me very depressed because it seems no one else is bothered by it.

I don't really have a solution, I'm just very confused... What's wrong with you people?


Or maybe the question is: What's wrong with me? :smalleek:

Did you report the posters attacking you? Personal attacks are against the forum rules.

thirdkingdom
2016-09-19, 09:51 AM
I've never tried it so maybe I'm way off base here. But PbP seems like a terrible format for a game.

You're essentially saying: "I've got no experience whatsoever with the topic at hand, but here's what I think anyway."

Koo Rehtorb
2016-09-19, 10:27 AM
You're essentially saying: "I've got no experience whatsoever with the topic at hand, but here's what I think anyway."

I think it's more like saying "I have fifteen years of experience playing soccer and maybe I'm off base here but maybe playing soccer with a big rock instead of a ball isn't optimal."

Ramsus
2016-09-19, 12:22 PM
That's essentially the same when speaking on the topic of playing soccer with a big rock when it's clear in the premise of the conversation that A) everyone knows about regular soccer balls already and B) for whatever reason they don't have one to play with or don't desire to play with one. Also, I do hope you realize that the theoretical person in your simile came off sounding a lot more patronizing than helpful in any way. Given that, why would you think that kind of advice would be helpful? They may as well say "I know you guys are discussing apples, but I think you would like these tasty oranges."

thirdkingdom
2016-09-19, 12:47 PM
I think it's more like saying "I have fifteen years of experience playing soccer and maybe I'm off base here but maybe playing soccer with a big rock instead of a ball isn't optimal."

No, it's nothing like that at all.

MintyNinja
2016-09-19, 01:18 PM
Let's not get off topic about the merits of PbP vs RL and Soccer vs Rock-Ball.

As for how the community acts and reacts with new games, it's a sad truth that most games fizzle out shortly. Once in a while you can catch that glorious long game with a determined GM that won't give up on you, but I've found that those are the games that I quit. After a year or so in Real Time taking a week In Game, it feels more pointless than even regular D&D.

And not to toot a horn that may or may not be mine, but I've run a couple games a long time ago and eventually I hit that burnout point. I'm running a game right now and I'm aware that burnout's a possibility, but I'm hoping to circumvent that with planning. If you wanna see what kind of games last, check the In Character threads.

LudicSavant
2016-09-19, 02:18 PM
Is there a way to get an official one here? Yes. You'd just have to set up a discord channel or something and then have a mod sticky it.

Koo Rehtorb
2016-09-19, 05:31 PM
Given that, why would you think that kind of advice would be helpful? They may as well say "I know you guys are discussing apples, but I think you would like these tasty oranges."

I mean... the topic is about how the OP can never find a satisfactory PbP game, no matter how much he tries, to the point of wondering whether he's the problem. I think it's a perfectly valid suggestion that maybe the format itself is the problem. It's at least something worth considering.

thirdkingdom
2016-09-19, 06:47 PM
I mean... the topic is about how the OP can never find a satisfactory PbP game, no matter how much he tries, to the point of wondering whether he's the problem. I think it's a perfectly valid suggestion that maybe the format itself is the problem. It's at least something worth considering.

Let's assume for a second that you have a point, notwithstanding the point that countless people have had success with play by post gaming. I'm going to rephrase the argument.


OP: I've been trying to get into video games with no success. I join in these MMORPGs and end up either getting insulted or dying way early. I just can't seem to win.

Somebody else: Well, I've never played video games before, but maybe you should think about the fact that it sounds like it's a totally sucky way to play games and I honestly don't think it would work.

Koo Rehtorb
2016-09-19, 07:10 PM
Let's assume for a second that you have a point, notwithstanding the point that countless people have had success with play by post gaming. I'm going to rephrase the argument.

I don't particularly want to spent time arguing over analogies, but I think there is a great deal of overlap between playing tabletop RPGs in person and playing tabletop RPGs over a forum. Enough so, in fact, that I do think there is a "Field of Related Knowledge", if you will.

Cluedrew
2016-09-19, 07:39 PM
Koo Rehtorb has told us both his*opinion and the experience he is basing it on. If you (thirdkingdom or anybody else) thinks the second is not enough to lend that much weight to the first, that's fine. But he can still voice it. Can we discus the topic now?
* Or her I'm guessing here.

LudicSavant
2016-09-19, 07:53 PM
Is there a way to get an official one here?

Live chat games can be a lot of fun. The best is just making a room like ''6th level adventure D&D 3.5'' and then having people show up live and want to play immediately.

I'd be willing to help with setting up such a channel, and I'm sure others would be as well. Why not make this its own topic? (If you do, point me to it).