HI play over the net?

[Darco]

me and a friend of mine put together a D6 style RPG over the net, we used a fourm based method... The thing is finding players... Its hard even if it is over the net... We have 10 starting races as of now and are working on more... right now we have no RPers just the two admin (me and the Co owner) it would be great if you spread the word and maybe the link of this new and upcomeing RPG i will post the link, also if you scroll down you will see i linked to your site here! oh BTW its all free! thanks bye.

http://pub124.ezboard.com/bstarwarsrpg96042
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blah blah blah, join my online D6 RPG! http://pub124.ezboard.com/bstarwarsrpg96042

[Maximilian Bernas]

How exactly does one play over the net? Like in a chatroom or something?
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"Let your anger be like a monkey in a pinata"
- Master Tang

[Ditonnrekk]

Well... there are a couple different ways to play, depending on your style.

1) IRC games: Chat-based play seems to be on a steady decline these days, as the first generations of 'net gamers get older and find themselves with less flexible schedules to coordinate meeting times with people in multiple time zones. But I have found that, with the right GM, it can be very rewarding, at least as much so as a round-table session. Differences are to be had, of course, and the requisites are much more demanding (as a for instance, bad typing/spelling/grammar are not as inhibitive to the role-playing end of things in an in-person session), but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for chat-based games.

2) PBeM games: Games run through email are definitely among the most popular on the net. They demand little in terms of time committment (reading and writing game posts aside), and players can participate from almost anywhere: work, university computer labs, internet cafes -- even on the go, if they're snazzy with mobile/PDA internet and email access. There are some glaring negatives to this format, though. Firstly, startup games have an unreasonably high mortality rate. I couldn't put an exact number to it, but I would hazard to guess that at least 50-55% of PBeMs that start die off within the first three months or so. Take that with a grain of salt: it's a guesstimate. This can happen for any number of reasons, but the two most common are GM flakiness and mass player attrition (again, which has its own slew of causalities behind it). Another downside is that games tend to move at a very slow pace. Most games and GMs on the net demand that players post at least once a week. Even given that, in the PBeM format, game posts tend to take the form of a section of story narrative ("Bran notices the giant purple hippo eating from his mushroom farm, and considers doing something about it. But then he remembers that giant purple hippos require a +3 or better weapon to damage, and being that his +2 Electric Plunger of Stamp Collecting wouldn't do anything he decides instead to let his companions deal with the hippo menace."), characters in PBeM games tend to do very little per game post. In the above parenthetical, Bran basically writes two sentences explaining that he's not going to do anything. If that's his post for the week, Bran will not do anything until seven days later. And if, in the meantime, the GM and other players are waiting to hear from everyone before moving on... Yeah. Pretty slow. And don't even get me started on combat. Some GMs, depending on what system you're using, have their stuff together and can make combat go by painlessly. However, most don't. (I should note that, most often, it is in the middle of a combat that most PBeMs tend to wither and die)
Don't get me wrong, I love PBeMs. But they have their own difficulties :-p

3) MB Games: Message Board games are a lot like PBeMs in many ways, and in most cases they face the same list of negatives (high mortality rate, slow pace, awkward and slow combat). I tend not to like MB games because I'm lazy. :-p If asked to choose between PBeM and MB, I would pick PBeM because: the game posts come to ME. I don't have to go to another website to play the game, it's right there in my in box. Yay! yay laziness!! Yay, I say, yay!
But there is a lot to be said for MB games. For a GM, at least, a good MB program offers good customizability. The GM can arrange a message board into threads which represent locations, and thus bring a sort of physical representation to the game's layout. Imagine the phpBB layout if it were applied to an online game: one topic is Corellia, another is Tattooine. Within the Tattooine topic, you habe the "sub-topics" of Jabba's Palace, Mos Eisley and the Land of the Floating Blue Elephant People with Beard Stubble.

So. That's how you play online, by my reckoning. Enjoy.

[Master Rizzy]

A shining example of that is the site I use. jedi.net It is a great site but isn't only RP. It takes up my time in between missions with my group.
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I am insane and you are my insanity

[Rerun941]

I highly recommend www.roleplayinggames.net for your play by message board needs. It was started by a SWRPG (d6) guy to keep his gaming group together.

Rerun
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Han - "How're we doin'?"
Luke - "Same as always."
Han - "That bad, huh?"

[darthomer09]

Another way you could play is with AIM. It would be more interactive and easier to sent handouts.
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Rebel Uprisings

In Soviet Russia, RPG plays you!!

[darthomer09]

Speaking of, i am trying to form a group of RPGists on AIM. Anyone who is interested can IM me at mostly anytime after 5:00 weekdays. if i'm not there you can always e-mail me at thesithdragon88@hotmail.com
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Rebel Uprisings

In Soviet Russia, RPG plays you!!