On 1 May 2000, at 9:16, Carl D Cravens wrote: > On Mon, 1 May 2000, Thomas E Morris wrote: > > > A different animal, but I believe a better one; Try downloading mIRC and run > > real time chat games once every week or two. It's very close to a ftf game > > and the software has character generation, dice rolling and other stuff built > > right into it. I've tried pbem and just thought it was tedious but if you > > can get 4 or more people involved in a chat game- I think you'll be pleased > > (and I'd be interested in playing!). > > Many people consider PBeM to be superior to IRC or even FTF roleplaying. It's > a different critter, and it has its strengths over both IRC and FTF. Timelag > is both its strength and weakness... while lag slows the game, it at the same > time gives players and GM more time to think about actions, reactions, plot and > dialog. A good PBeM game reads much like a novel of sorts. IRC doesn't work > at all for the slow thinker or slow typist... but email works great for both. > > I still prefer FTF gaming, but I like PBeM quite a bit. I agree with Carl here. PBEM, FTF, PBIRC all are different, and of them, I prefer FTF, PBEM and PBIRC in that order. BUT, sometimes the tools make the difference between playing and not playing. The Other GM had set up a game and managed to get everyone to commit to attending (including the fellow who now has 4 little girls under age 5 at home, so finding playing time is difficult, at best). What happened? I got sick. I called Dee, the GM, and asked her to be logged into ICQ once the game got started. I connected from home, and using chat I got to participate in the game. It was a little surrealistic, since the other players took turns entering what was going on and reading my responses to the group. Next time, we're going to try one of the "voice over net" and/or "video over net" systems to see what we end up with. Coyt D. Watters "The Internet, billions of electrons with nothing better to do." ---------------------------------------------------------------- GMAST Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gmast/
