What do you think makes for the best PBP/PBEM games? What could be improved?

[Rowan]

Curious about what you all think makes for the best games in whatever mass scale Internet format, and what, if you could magically "fix" things, could be improved to make them better or more viable?

Take a step back and look at things from a view of what your "vision" or "goals" for a good PBP or PBEM would be.

[AndrewTall]

For me the biggest issue is players trying to 'win next turn' - in my view for a game to be fun for everyone over a period of time people have to play their roles, recognise social constraints (and impulses) for/against war, respect/awe of temple/sources, etc - when people metagame or play as modern people in a medieval world they can break it very quickly.

Of course, some people don;t want to play the role-play side, even find it annoying, they see BR as a war game and would have the opposite view to me. Plenty of other views also exist, so I guess that what you need is a group of players with matching playing styles.

[DM-Isaelie]

I think you need a balance of those two points.

Having endless social discussions and roleplay with zero rule mastery is just as bad as someone who justifies all their role playing decisions based on meta-game rule analysis.

For most games, you really need to "survive" the first 3 turns or so, though. After the spasm of trying to do everything at once, people calm down when they realise the game isn't dead already... and start to think long term, and politic towards those goals.

I have to say, though, the most important thing these days is having a DM willing to run a game.

[Rowan]

And why is it so hard to get a DM to run the game?

I've thought about running one frequently, but then reality about time commitment beats some sense into me. So for me, the time commitment is the huge issue.

What are some areas where the burden is greatest on the DM?

[AndrewTall]

What are some areas where the burden is greatest on the DM?

Thinking of the internet games rather than tabletop:

1. Running npc's and npc realms while they are off-stage so that growth, etc are credible and aware pc's get a chance to take advantage of opportunities, etc.
2. Running adventures for players in different timezones.
3. Doing the book-keeping for the realms, even if only checking player realms.
4. Handling a game with over a dozen - possibly over 2 dozen - players.

The book-keeping can be reduced with use of spreadsheets and the like but is still a chore.

[arpig2]

The book-keeping can be reduced with use of spreadsheets and the like but is still a chore.

Amen to that.