How Long Do PbP games last?

[HFool]

I know play-by-post games don't last very long on these boards, but those who have finished aat least adventure, how long did they last? How was the player activity? How about campaigns?

[Knaight]

I finished one chapter of one campaign elsewhere, and it took about three months. It could have been a one shot in and of itself, so that's a decent measure for time - though it was a fairly lightweight system, so there's that.

[NecroRebel]

It depends on the campaign. They're usually short, in terms of content, compared to face-to-face games, but still usually run for months or years. A game I'm DMing now has just about reached the end of the first major arc, and it's been going continuously since the end of July, generally with everyone posting at least three times per week. I have 3 more major arcs planned and several minor ones, so the campaign will probably take about a year, all told, and that's actually fairly short. Running it in a face-to-face game would probably take maybe 10 sessions, tops.

[Eldan]

On these boards? Not very long. Days, some last weeks. I haven't seen any last longer than a few months.

On other boards? I used to go to a German site that had games running for years (a few I was in myself), with everyone posting several times per day. Mythweavers also has a few very long-running ones.

Depends on the community, I'd say.

[Cespenar]

See my signature. I'm in a campaign that is well to its 4th year. It is possible, though very rare. The DM just has to be persistent enough to open re-recruitments over and over again when people fall, and lucky enough to find a few players that will stick the whole way. Among other basic DMing skills, of course.

That's a cool avatar you're sporting there by the way, Eldan.

[Tyndmyr]

I know play-by-post games don't last very long on these boards, but those who have finished aat least adventure, how long did they last? How was the player activity? How about campaigns?

It depends. I've had games never make it to actually getting started, and I have a game I've been playing or DMing in for a while now.

There IS a high failure rate of pbp games, yes, but there isn't a set failure time.

[Yuki Akuma]

It depends.

I remember playing in a PbP game on these forums for two years.

I'm currently 'in' a game that has had a single post (from me), and doesn't look like it's getting any more.

[Thorcrest]

I'm in a game that has been going for about two years... maybe a little more on these forums, but it appears to be falling apart now... (see my signature)

Most games don't last, for some reason or other, even if a few players are into it... if everyone is waiting for one guy and he's gone on holiday without saying anything, the game dies.

I'd say anywhere from 1 month to 6 months can be played in a session depending on how active you are in that time. For example, my game in my sig right now, we are going about one post every week or two where we have had days with 50+ posts... yeah, it just fluctuates like that.