Play by mail?

[Starshadow]

At some point in the 80's, when I was hard up for a good D&D game, I discovered the perfect scam for gullible gamers like me. Play by mail. It was something like $25 for the setup and rule books and the $10 for three turns. The DM would mail the scenario, I would mail back my character's actions. I don't remember if it was much fun and I do know I stopped because it was expensive. But I have always been intrigued by the idea. Years later, I played Changeling by email...the next evolution I suppose.

Well, here is an idea to take those notions one step further. Play by message board post.

NO, I am not suggesting that Caer Falken go this route on a regular basis. But I was wondering if it might interest you in certain circumstances.

FOR EXAMPLE: Last night's adventure was essentially over, in that, the kobolds were all destroyed. However, I know that there were many actions that could have or should have been taken, which you ordinarily would have (might have) if time were not an issue.

That left me with a few options. I could just end that session and say, mission accopmplished, too bad you missed the treasure, but that's what happens sometimes when the game is slow going. Or I could have just said, you did A, B, C and D, and here is all the loot you would have found had you looked for it. OR, I could always stretch the game into another night of playing so that you could finish the tasks, perhaps throwing in some previously unplanned encounters so as not to make the whole night too boring.

The first option sucks. I don'tlike depriving players of rewards because time ran out, and there were times when I also contributed to the slow down, so it isn't fair to penalize you.

The second option is anticlimactic for players and DM alike.

The third option is how short adventures typically get dragged out.

But what if under such circumstances we just wrap it up in posts here? You tell me what you want to do, just as you would in the game, and I respond accordingly. Within a few days, you could reach the final destination without having to skip anything or lose anything (including a night of play).

Let me know what you think.

[Lyssandra]

Actually, I had considered suggesting something similar to you. There've been lots of occasions over the past few years where small stuff could be handled "behind the scenes" during "downtime" without bogging down the game.

Planning strategy/meetings ICly is one such example. Devonshire had a situation where we stopped the game to do time after stopping the apothecary, and then spent a large portion of the first hour the next week debating his fate.

The yahoo group is a good place to Play by Post/Email...I'd prefer that over the message board because people can get notifications and reply without going to the site constantly.

So, my vote is yes. We ought to have ample time between now and Friday to go investigate the tunnels, and to have our druid return the bear to safety.

[Lyssandra]

In case I wasn't clear. What I'd favor is using the group as an extension of the Friday sessions.

We will still roleplay through email, the small things. Not just tell the DM in an OOC capacity of what each of us does.

[Starshadow]

Good suggestion. I am not adverse to doing this via the Yahoo Group and would do so if the majority wants to go that way. I had even considered doing it that way originally. However, these are the reasons for believing Host Board is better for this:

Players not involved in this quest may not wish to get an influx of email about it.

Yahoo is unreliable and frequently sends mail late or loses it.

Hostboard provides an ongoing, chronological series of posts that acts more like a chat room than Yahoo email, thereby preventing people from having to search back through previous emails for reference.

Anyone involved in the posting will be notified when there is a new post (that is, if they have configured their settings to do so).

[Starshadow]

Originally posted by Lyssandra:
Actually, I had considered suggesting something similar to you. There've been lots of occasions over the past few years where small stuff could be handled "behind the scenes" during "downtime" without bogging down the game.

Planning strategy/meetings ICly is one such example. Devonshire had a situation where we stopped the game to do time after stopping the apothecary, and then spent a large portion of the first hour the next week debating his fate.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I agree here too. I had actually encouraged players to use this board many times, and with that sort of thing in mind. Perhaps most players just think of The Caer Falken Inn as a Friday thing, and they aren't interested in interaction during the week. Maybe they have no time. maybe it's the whole, "it's just a game" attitude, and planning and discussion are just too much "work" for something that is supposed to be fun. I don't know, it's all speculation. I may be totally off base, but the fact remains that not all players are able or willing t to do more to enhance the game, and would prefer sitting around for an hour figuring out what to do as opposed to advance planning.

To me, most things I am involved with, even the games, are hobbies if they occur with any regularity. I no longer play in a Magic the Gathering league, so I don't tweak my decks like I used to. I no longer compete in fencing or archery, so I don't go and practice them anymore. I find when my band goes long periods without getting together, I am less inclined to practice.

But when I KNOW the band is getting together, I play my drums every day for at least an hour. And when I know I have CFI each week, I spend time mulling ideas over in my head, typing up notes, generating NPC's, and the like.

But not all people are alike, or else Erina and celene would be carbon copies. And that is why I have resources for communication, so we can discuss plans and strategies. If we WERE all alike, then there would be no need to discuss what to do, you would all spontaneously do the same thing, because you would have the same instincts. Whether or not to kill the bear, because it is dangerous, kill it to put it out of its misery or set it free from its prison would not have to be debated.

All I can do as the site and game moderator in the down time, is the same I do during game time. I give you options and resources, you folks make your decisions based on the tools you are given.

In the mean time, just as that character waiting for an ambush by the gnoll hoard, I will sit back and see what happens, who plays, when they play, what they play, how they play and how and if they prepare.

I could say, you get out of the game what you put into it, and that is a half truth. The other half is that, you get out of it what everyone else puts into it. Because what others do in a community effort matters, and I have learned over a long time dealing with people in social situations, putting all of yourself into something does not yield great rewards unless the others also involved do... at least to some degree.

Let's see how things go.

[Dramavictim]

I'm not a fan of Yahoo groups, I admit it.

The idea of 'minor stuff' like chatting at the Inn or with a merchant in sometown going post by post here works for me. The other stuff I'll have to think about.

[Tarracat]

I agree with Drama, last minute tie ups loots, quick take this to there are fine, but further actual rp I really don't have time to do, and I hate typing long documents as that's all I do all day, after 1400 lines of text, the last thing I want is to continue writing "essays"

I'm all for the ic divy up and loot, but jaunts into town or to have a discussion with a priest or townsperson isn't something I can commit to.

[Starshadow]

Here is a sort of compromise. Let's try this:

I will post a prsentation (and in fact, I will open a seperate thread for it. You can all then contact me individually, via email, AIM, tell me personally or whatever. In fact, one of you has already emailed me contingencies. Be as in character or OOC as you want, wordy or brief, it doesn't matter. I will then compile the responses and post a result, as if I am telling a story. You can then respond to that post, and so on and so on until everything is wrapped up and everything resolved to your satisfaction.

When all is said and done, you can critique the whole thing here in this thread. We can keep what we liked, change what we didn't, or trash the whole idea and never do it again.

Remember that this is not meant to replace our regular games, but to save time when the session is essentially over but not quite completely resolved. It is meant to save time on Fridays. If this works well, we can do as Lyssandra suggests and utilize this for other situations, such as discussing what to do next when you are stumped or deadlocked or know you need to talk to someone before proceeding.

It is my opinion that simple things like this go a long way to prevent a long tedious slog down of play on Fridays as everyone sits around wondering what to do, something that generally costs hours of game time. In this way, you can actually take your time and spend hree hours making up yor mind without making everyone else wait in real time.

So let's give it a try, and please read the next thread.