Doesnt anyone PBeM anymore?

[TheDragonKnight]

i am in a Play by email RPG at the moment, and ive been wtih the same core group for over a year now. but the only people i ever see talking about this are the people who im already playing with. so i have to ask, are there no purists left?

ive played D&D, it quickly degenerates into who character can kick the rest of the partys ass, or who will break first the DM or the palyers (while watching your DM have a nervous breakdown is indeed fun, it tends to have negitave side effects on the campaign) even if you find a good group your happy with all to often D&D is about the combat, its not an RPG anymore your no longer palying a character your LEVELING your character.

console games (with rare exceptions) dont let you PLAY the character either, you have a predetermined plot to follow, you dont get to decied actions or have dialouge.

i post to a message board, its only the mesage board, theres no combat rules, no leveling, you have your character and your post is your characters actions (i prefer, as do most, to post in thrid person narrative or novel style). i find it vrey enjoytabley and creating a join post with somone else (the basis of cahracter interaction is a joint post, oterhwise you'd ned to post back and foruth dozens of two line replies) is usually a very enjoyable experience

my board is based on Startrek (i can hear the screaming now, another StarTrek nut, well i am but im only using it as an example this time)

so now i have to ask again after detailing what i do, why havent i seen anything like this before? does everyone want some kind of progress marker and level ups? do you NEED a goal? what happened to a true role player? youve got your character and you ARE him, you control his actions down to the smallest detail if desiered. thers no poit where you "win" if your character isnt killed (only at your choice, its the height of bad manners to kill somone else character off) tehn you simply contimue, you may ahve smaller goals, a current mission to complete, or waht ever but tahts its, its ongoing open ended, and i like it that way. havent you ever felt the sence of dissapointment when you came to the end of a really good game, a feeling of "damn its over" or even a "thats it?" ?

[Lord Draud]

heh well i will have you know that i am running a Vampire game taht has little combat and heavy investagative/political, as for most D&D game games you palyed for the mst for it because who can kick your ass first, you not to good at making lasting freinds how ever its true that its also a lot of combat, hot every i have now joined a game where that is to be run for 3 years that how much material this guy has and tis been 4 months and we are only lvl 3, D&D is more about planing and stuff with out plans you have to fill te time with combat or you start losing players ( heh i mean lets face it the people you and i played with prolly could not even consive of a gamme with out heavy combat let alone RUN one)

[TheDragonKnight]

Arrgh, ok i know my typing is bad, i admit it and i even try to improve. So as a result im likely the last person who should bitch about someone elses typing.

But dammit danath i cant read that, sadly enough the only thing there i understood was the insult directed at me.

[Angel of Darkness]

Um yeah I PBeM (Hey lerris!)

[TheDragonKnight]

LOL you dont count :P your already in a PBeM with me http://www.rpgamers.info/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Angel of Darkness]

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeell.....i still PBeM - just cause your their dont mean it odnt count :smash: you're gonna get a thwacking later lol ;)

[Lord Draud]

Pen and paper RP is always better then online and always will be but if you don't have the freinds to do it then i guess you have no other chooce

[silverDistortioN]

but if you don't have the freinds to do it then i guess you have no other choocedo you realize how condescending that sounds?

of all the people i have ever actually met, only four that i know of or even suspect have been into dungeons and dragons. keep in mind how well-travelled i am.

[Lord Draud]

well considering that in the US and canada alone there are over 20 million of us ( at least how bought the books ) i know at least 50 in the hamilton area and yes i know how condesceding it sounds and i ment it that why i se no reson to spend hours and hours on a computer roleplaying when you can be face to face with a group of freinds having more fun and geting some human interaction, i have tryed the whole online Rp thing and it drove me nuts

[TheDragonKnight]

must resist urg to snap back... msut not flame.... right somehow i resisted, no dont mind that smoking crater over there.

the reason i do it online is because thats where its based, a forum. secondly i happen to disagree my experiences RPing online have been far better than those ive had in person (wonder if you being part of the groups has anything to do with that? oh crud i wasent supposed to snap back looks like i failed :P)

as ive said befoer all the pen and paper settings ive been to degenerated into "whos character can screw over the party first" in my online simm i am not only in a group i enjoy interacting with in character or out of character, i am given the chance to meet new people, and i find writing quality posts to be rather rewarding, and i quickly became very very good doing it. i have become so good i have been encouraged by friends to try my hand at writing (and indeed many of the better players do write aside rfom their posting for the simm.)

in all the face to face games i played in attending quickly became a chore, not something i enjoyed, however ive been with the same core group in my star trek simm for over a year now and still love it, we are among the best out there and we have been recognized as such repeatedly. knowing you can produce something of such a quality is rewarding in and of it self, and actualy continuing to do so on a regualr basis is fun to me and by taking an active role in the management of my simming group and the fleet we belong to i am helping to make the experience more enjoyable for others as well..

this means my expereince is both fun and rewarding, something i never had localy. however i did learn valubale lessons from those groups. having family members (espicaly multiple connelys. two words. walkoffs and pullouts.) in one group is a bad thing, having the DM's girlfriend in the group is very bad. no matter how muc hyou plan and how cool the plan is, sooner or later someone is going to do something to fuck up your plan.. a DM who is too controlling is horrible. A DM that doesnt impose order at his table is wose. It is the gamemasters job it insure his palyers are happy, no players means no game! Good quality and LOYAL players are hard to find and a rare thing, trasure them, likewise idiots god simmers and just plain assholes come out of the wood work, run and hide >_<

i have seen some of my fellow simmers retire, because they nolonger enjoyed their experience (much like my departure from D&D) we choose this as a form of recreation, it should always be fun, however there are always those who are out to ruin the fun of others, this is unfournate.