[ericthered]

What makes a good Play by Post game?

this question has two purposes: the first is to allow GM's (such as myself) to guide PbP games in directions that are funnest for the players, and to avoid mistakes. The second is to allow the building of a one-shot adventure, assuming I like GMing with the parameters suggested (yes, I'm GMing two already. This would be a brief spurt during a period when I have a lot of time).

There are a set of questions I specifically want to know. Please mention specifically what gets you excited for a game, and what makes you think you don't want to play. Remember that this is NOT gaming in general, but merely when using Play by Post. Also tell me which of these is the most important.

Genre: Fantasy, DF, Science Fiction, Supers, Space Opera and others. Which make you say "I've got to play this", and which do you particularly avoid?

Activities Planned: Do you prefer solving puzzles? or is it combat that enthuses you? How important is character development? Is negotiation an enjoyable part of play?

Supplement materials: Which sets of rules make or break a PbP game for you? This includes Cinematic vs Realistic, G:Magic, Thuamology, Supers, Psionic Powers, DF, MH, MA, and so forth.

Plot: how important is the plot? do you avoid games without it, and only go for ideas that sound cool? do you prefer just wandering around letting characters make their own decisions? And is this question even an issue?

Power Level: Do you love working with mounds of points? is such a prospect dull to you? does it matter by genre? similarly, (but not the same) do you enjoy being world shakers, or do you want to deal with peers? or is this even an issue?

House Rules: Are they annoying or wonderful? If depends, what determines this? or are they just all par for the course?

Gaming Group: Different players and GMs cause games to behave differently. when using PbP on this forum, how important is who is already playing in the game, or GMing it?

Other issues: what other issues strongly effect how well a pbp game runs?

Thank you for your answers,

Eric the Red