At 09:16 AM 5/1/00 -0500, Carl D Cravens wrote: > >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... For me, PBEM is a chance to improve my writing skills. It's a way to get a bit of RP into every day. I can come home and switch between a few personalities and get the moves done up for the evening. It's a way to get the RPing I can barely get twice a month if I wait for FTF. It's a way to enjoy RP when it's so hard in real life anymore, what with a two year old daughter. PBEM is also different than FTF. There are things that are easier in PBEM. I can play a character and be certain that no one is thinking "he's a she" just because *I* am a woman. I can write the appropriate clues and signals into body language that I might not convey. I can foster secrecy when I want it. I can have one character spy on another and the other never know it. For just that reason, Amber really lends itself to PBEM. I have a PBEM character who when I play her FTF (every year at Ambercon) she is a bit different... because *I* cannot do the things she can do. She has a VERY high psyche and is a Trump goddess, and she thinks nothing of having three Trump conversations, all separate, and a physical conversation, and something else, all going on at once. I can't multitask quite that well. But over email, its just different threads. *smiles* But nothing give sthe energy of FTF gaming. NOthing is the same as being there, immersed in one's character, and just reacting. And better yet, going over it later from one's own perspective and realizing just how *differently* the character thinks! I always laugh listening to the tapes of the Amber FTF I play in and remembering what Adrienne thought and realizing what a confused little twirp she is still. Both are valid tpes of game play. Neither of them suits everyone. Both of them happen to suit me. I'm a PBEM addict these days. *smiles* But that works well for me. D. ---------------------------------------------------------------- GMAST Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gmast/
