What are the principles for being a great pbp player?

[TheyCallMeDeans]

As a new member of this forum, and a pbp rookie, I’d love to see your thoughts about what it takes to be a great pbp player.

What are the best practices? What should a player avoid doing?

[OGRE MAGE]

From a DM's prospective.....caring enough about how you play to ask this question is a really great start.

I will think on this and add some more thoughts, but succinct posts are always helpful. It is easy to misunderstand meaning in text, so try to be as clear as possible when you post thoughts and ideas.

[Starbeard]

Good question. I'll have to think on it more, but here are a few.

Like OgreMage says, succinct and clear posts are always good. As a player, it's easy to feel like you need to write as much as the DM or the other players, and with the same verbosity and level of description as the DM, in order to make it clear that you're equally invested in the game and not just letting the DM do all the work. But from (my) DM's perspective, succinct posts are usually more helpful. Remember that the DM has to read and assimilate everything everyone posts before responding, while players can often just sort of glance over posts without needing to read all of the details. So if everyone is writing 2-3 paragraphs a day, suddenly the DM has to read a novella before he can get to running his game. Post frequency is more important that post length in showing your sustained interest.

That being said, it seems best to gauge how often you're posting off of the other players, to make sure everyone's in tandem. Some games will have players posting back and forth several times before the DM comes in to move things along, while others will just have one post per player between turns, with a minimal amount of 'free RPing' posts between the players. If you're really excited about a game, it's easy to find yourself checking throughout the day for every update, and make an immediate response to everything a player or DM posts. If you're the party leader or otherwise helping to carry the game as one of the primary players, then fine, that's kind of expected, but it's possible to hog the forum space just as much as it's possible to hog the table time in a face-to-face game.

I've found that in PBPs, players will tend to be more shy than usual about posting actions that involve input from other players. At a table game someone voices an idea, everyone says 'sure' and you just move on, but over a forum that kind of interaction is impossible, and no one wants to be the person whose post forces everyone else's action before they've had a chance to say something. This also means players will fall into the habit of everyone waiting for someone else to post before they decide what to do, so that they aren't stepping on anyone's toes. From the DM's perspective, I like it when players take more decisive control and just do something, rather than waiting for a confirmation from every member of the party (which could take weeks). If you're concerned about your post taking control away from the other players, just take a decisive individual action and let the others worry about what their PCs are doing.

If you're responsible for keeping your character sheet updated, do so, and make an OOC comment about any updates you've made at the end of your post, so the DM knows that you've kept track.

[dmw71]

From a DM's prospective.....caring enough about how you play to ask this question is a really great start.

This, for sure.

I found this question just before I meant to check out of work for the day, but I will think on this as well, and will add a couple of thoughts I have later.

[Inferno]

Welcome!

It's not hard. It's mostly just good manners.

1) Post on time, or tell the DM you're going to be late so he or she isn't waiting on something that isn't coming.

2) Don't argue with the DM.

3) Don't argue with the other players. (However, feel free to argue with the other player characters)

4) Don't cheat.

5) Honor the spirit of the game, and the tone of its genre.

6) Be clear in your communication.

7) Have fun!

Here are more answers to your question: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=858

[TheyCallMeDeans]

Thank you everybody — great tips. I look forward to joining one of your campaigns some day!

[dmw71]

There are many very good responses posted already.

Maybe the one other thing I would add would be to attempt to make a post you make for your character advance the action in some way. D&D (and I'm assuming other RPGs are the same) operates in what is essentially a unending cycle:

1. The DM presents a situation;
2. The players share what their characters are going to do;
3. The DM interprets these character actions (and other factors) and repeats step #1.

It's sometimes difficult, as a DM, to advance the game when the players aren't really making decisions in that second step. Even if it's not a significant action, have your character do something every time you post.

[Alethan]

To add to Dave's post above...

There are IC (In-Character) posts (normal text).

There are OOC (Out Of Character) posts (red text).

"There is dialog. (Most DMs recognize the blue text caused by the Dialog button above the text area as appropriate dialog indication.)"

Most DMs are pretty strict on players indicating their character actions in IC text. So if your group decides on a plan in OOC text, it doesn't mean a thing until one or more of the players post their character actions IC. If your character is saying something, use the dialog text.

Also, I would suggest you always make sure that your post pushes action forward. Your character should always be doing something to make the game move forward. There's probably nothing more annoying to a DM than always having to bump the game post to get an action from someone.

Well... maybe constantly questioning the DM's actions or posts might be more annoying. All DMs have their own particular flavor or play style. You aren't going to always mesh with that. If you don't, that's fine. It's easy enough to bow out of a game. But don't ruin the game for the other players with constant bickering and questioning of the DM's actions.

Mostly, though, just be sure and follow Wheaton's Law.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ICRoe-QIw

[AsenRG]

As a new member of this forum, and a pbp rookie, I’d love to see your thoughts about what it takes to be a great pbp player.

What are the best practices? What should a player avoid doing?

My own set of rules:
1) Don't take more games than you can actually play in. Apologize if it happens.
2) Don't be a dick to other players. Help anyone that needs it, the GM included, if you can.
3) Be proactive.

[Scott308]

1) Don't take more games than you can actually play in. Apologize if it happens.

Excellent advice. It is very easy, especially when new here, to jump into too many games before you realize you don't have time to devote to playing your character effectively in each of them, especially if you are playing a system you are unfamiliar with. If it happens, apologize and drop out. It happens to the best of us on occasion. The GM will understand, and may be able to find someone to take over your character. This is much better than holding up the game because you don't have time and haven't posted in a few days.

[AsenRG]

1) Don't take more games than you can actually play in. Apologize if it happens.

Excellent advice. It is very easy, especially when new here, to jump into too many games before you realize you don't have time to devote to playing your character effectively in each of them, especially if you are playing a system you are unfamiliar with. If it happens, apologize and drop out. It happens to the best of us on occasion. The GM will understand, and may be able to find someone to take over your character. This is much better than holding up the game because you don't have time and haven't posted in a few days.

Yeah, I found it out the hard way, myself !

In fact, I'm not sure whether I haven't done it again. We'll see in the next few days whether I'd need to apologize.