I don't mean to answer for Trevlix, here, but I'll add an observation or two.Wordcraftian wrote: Can someone give me the basic rundown of how an online game works? I can understand how a game can be played over Skype or G+, but I've seen a few forum (all text) settings with virtual dice and just wondered if anyone had ever played there. What was your experience like, and does it compare at all to live play?
Forum (or PBP, play-by-post) games tend to be rather different than games conducted via a live chat client, in which all participants are on line simultaneously and writing back-and-forth responses in rapid succession. Generally, games conducted via forum posts are more often asynchronous -- that is, the players post to the forum whenever they happen to have the opportunity to log on, although there's usually some agreement among players and Keepers that each participant will try to post at least several times per week in order to keep the momentum up. It's a matter of basic etiquette that the Keeper should allow each player to respond to a given post (if necessary) before moving the game along, and that each player should do their best to adhere to the agreed-upon posting frequency. In a good play-by-post game, it's up to the Keeper to ensure that no player is inadvertently left behind in the action (cf. your Harry Potter example).
How does it compare to live play? It's different, that's all. I don't think anything really replicates the joy of getting together with good friends in person to play a live game, but in this day in age some of us have to take what we can get. That said, I've really come to enjoy PBP games over the past two years or so -- though there are admittedly all sorts of pros and cons, some of which Trevlix has already addressed.
For my money, the biggest two "cons" are:
- 1. Slower game progression -- it may take days to resolve a single scene or encounter. Even longer, if combat is involved. Generally, PBP works best when there's a minimum of dice rolling.
2. Player attrition -- sometimes players and keepers drop out or simply disappear from a game because of changes in schedule or interest. Hence the high "mortality rate" of PBP games noted by Trevlix -- that is, the death of games, not of characters. It's pretty poor manners to simply stop posting w/o a good explanation.
On the other hand, the "pros" can be significant:
- 1. More opportunities for nuanced characterization and story. PBP tends to appeal to those who like to write, and allows for longer and more expressive descriptions of character actions, states of mind, environments and clues than what can usually be expressed verbally at a live game table.
2. Convenience and flexibility. You can pretty much play in your own time, without having to rearrange your schedule and block out 3-5 consecutive hours. That's a big deal for those of us with kids.