Musings of a Programmer
So as I continue to prep for the PBF I'm running of Scales of War, I have been frequently thinking of the various things I personally find frustrating about PBFs.
In a PBF, the GM posts whats happening, then a player responds to whats happening, then the GM replies, then the next player responds, then the GM replies, all the way around the circle. Now if everyone checks in the morning, then that means by the 2nd or 3rd player's response the GM or the 3rd, 4th, and 5th player won't see whats going on until the next day.
1 round of combat should not take a minimum of 2-3 days. Now a lot of people think no big deal, everyone can just check throughout the day and the GM can just respond throughout the day so it all happens in 1 day.
Unfortunately I don't think thats very reasonable, but I'm not sure how to help it...yet. But given that it can take 2-3 days to do 1 round, and that combat or heavy dialogue can take 7-10 rounds, that means it can take 2-3 weeks to do 1 combat! By then, no one knows why they were fighting in the first place, where they are, or sometimes, why they are playing at all!
A big part of that is information. But who wants to keep retyping the purpose of the game, where the players are at, etc etc all the time? What I"m working on right now is the ability to store text and recall text via small bits of forum code. Want a full nicely colored table for listing what players are there, what their status is, what NPCs are there, "where" they are, and even a link to a map (if any)? Using simple forum code that can be built organically over several weeks, something as simple as [pbf id="scalesofwar" mode="display"] will generate all of the info, in some or all posts, as needed! My code is nearly done, and I think will really help.
Similarly, want an avatar of your character? [characterinfo id="52" mode="displayavatar" ] will display the image for your uploaded avatar.
Dndorks.com forum users will, I hope, as I keep working on this, have a custom interactive application in their forums giving them all the tools they need for immersive roleplaying, whether its 4th edition D&D or a story-based RPG, the tools will be there to enable everyone to easily have nicely formatted game posts and help keep the game going.
In a PBF, the GM posts whats happening, then a player responds to whats happening, then the GM replies, then the next player responds, then the GM replies, all the way around the circle. Now if everyone checks in the morning, then that means by the 2nd or 3rd player's response the GM or the 3rd, 4th, and 5th player won't see whats going on until the next day.
1 round of combat should not take a minimum of 2-3 days. Now a lot of people think no big deal, everyone can just check throughout the day and the GM can just respond throughout the day so it all happens in 1 day.
Unfortunately I don't think thats very reasonable, but I'm not sure how to help it...yet. But given that it can take 2-3 days to do 1 round, and that combat or heavy dialogue can take 7-10 rounds, that means it can take 2-3 weeks to do 1 combat! By then, no one knows why they were fighting in the first place, where they are, or sometimes, why they are playing at all!
A big part of that is information. But who wants to keep retyping the purpose of the game, where the players are at, etc etc all the time? What I"m working on right now is the ability to store text and recall text via small bits of forum code. Want a full nicely colored table for listing what players are there, what their status is, what NPCs are there, "where" they are, and even a link to a map (if any)? Using simple forum code that can be built organically over several weeks, something as simple as [pbf id="scalesofwar" mode="display"] will generate all of the info, in some or all posts, as needed! My code is nearly done, and I think will really help.
Similarly, want an avatar of your character? [characterinfo id="52" mode="displayavatar" ] will display the image for your uploaded avatar.
Dndorks.com forum users will, I hope, as I keep working on this, have a custom interactive application in their forums giving them all the tools they need for immersive roleplaying, whether its 4th edition D&D or a story-based RPG, the tools will be there to enable everyone to easily have nicely formatted game posts and help keep the game going.