Crisis at 'Poly

[Rommel2D]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Rommel, you're not Con. He's the blue banana man. You're the green tights with a switchblade on the front ...

You seem to have forgotten that everyone is con's DL.

Speaking of which, I though this thread was going to be about Arnelos for some reason...

[Rommel2D]

If you're setting up a game that will be played for such an extended period of time (half a year should be considered the bare minimum), it is well worth a few minutes of research to find out who you are playing with. By clicking the 'search' link, you can pull up a player's posting history and see what games they are in. By scrolling through a tracking thread of a few games they are in, you can get a good idea of their usual response times.

I group players into three categories (hey, look at the poll choices ;-): I consider the bare minimum for a good PBEM player to be a response within 24 hours under normal circumstances. This was the criteria for the Iron Civer tournament, so anyone with the sword-on-blue icon is a safe bet for a reliable player. (I'll have to go back and recheck this because I think Beta was admitted to the group just because he volunteered to be a replacement. )

Another category is the people who have real life issues on a regular basis that lead to repeated holdups in any games they play, or have overestimated the number of games they can maintain participation in. These games usually only stay alive if they have personalities that keep the tracking thread interesting...

Then there are the 12-hour max response people. If you can get a group of these together, you could have a 2-a-day slot game that makes for an exhilerating PBEM experience. Unfortuantely, RL events can affect various people's availability, and this last category is the most rare to maintain (not to mention a tendency to overestimate your own level of commitment).

I'd be interested in another 2-a-day if there are three or more other PBEM heroes ready to fight for truth, justice, and the Apolyton way...

[Shogun Gunner]

My notebook of ongoing negotiations and such is called "notepad.exe"

[Rommel2D]

This notebook idea is a good one that hadn't occured to me.

[Beta]

Ok - I have 44 pbems on the go. I know this precisely as I have a pretty detailed list - and as I got behind this week - I did major housecleaning and catching up. Only one - an old PTW game - Team game - looks like it is dead. I am also playing two demo games (team Monkey and Vox) and just finished my stint as Emperor in the demo game.

Generally, I play my pbem's as they come in. Some of the bigger games (top gun, crusades, misfits, grapes) I may let sit for a day while I play the quicker games.

And yes Rommel, every now and then one sneaks through the cracks and either doesn't get played, or gets played and not sent. This is usually on two-bottle-of-wine nights.

I tried to keep a notebook, but found it a pain. I rely on my e-mail and PM log and my memory to keep track of deals made. I think 'silent' pbems make a lot of sense, and will sign up for most that come along.

I am generally on-line twice a day to play saves, but work or RL stuff can cut into that.

I am at about my limit for game time - but if someone comes with an interesting idea for a game, I am all ears.

[bongo]

44 Almost more than Paddy

Come to think of it, I am in several games with both of you

Edit: Only 1 with you actually, but 4 with Paddy

[Rommel2D]

Originally posted by Beta
And yes Rommel, every now and then one sneaks through the cracks and either doesn't get played, or gets played and not sent. This is usually on two-bottle-of-wine nights.

You shouldn't encourage your brother's drinking habit like this- what with con's head injury and all, even more games will end up suffering...

[at least I hope you're not finishing two bottles by yourself- makes my liver hurt just thinking about it. ]

[Beta]

And no, I don't drink alone.

[Addled Platypus]

I promised myself to not get involved in more than 10 games.

only so much grey matter left over for my "honey does"

[sabrewolf]

i've been unreliable twice for about 5 days in january, otherwise i've played pretty much anything since the beginning of my PBEMs a year ago within 36 hours, usually around 4-18 hours after recieving the save.

currently, only 3 games are moving on at a sensible pace and 2 are annoyingly slow. the rest are dead

any new PBEM i join should have reliable players only from now on should have reliable players who will notice by themselves if they are blocking any games and fire a replacement or retire for the sake of the others. what's it worth hanging on to stuff that won't survive the next era change?

so to all the overly busy players who continually are unreliable players: pleeeease find a solution!

[Paddy]

Originally posted by bongo
44 Almost more than Paddy

Come to think of it, I am in several games with both of you

Edit: Only 1 with you actually, but 4 with Paddy

[Shogun Gunner]

Originally posted by sabrewolf
i
any new PBEM i join should have reliable players only from now on should have reliable players who will notice by themselves if they are blocking any games and fire a replacement or retire for the sake of the others. what's it worth hanging on to stuff that won't survive the next era change?

so to all the overly busy players who continually are unreliable players: pleeeease find a solution!

Hear, hear!!!

I think I'm fortunate not to have that problem in my current PBEMs. However, this can be an annoying problem for many players. I guess people don't understand the daily time committment over a very long length of time or RL situations emerge...it happens. A few of my current C3C PBEMs clicked over the one year mark recently.

What's weird is the no-notice disappearance after playing with someone for many months.

[Paddy]

yeah a sudden disappearance certainly can be strange

[Beta]

Originally posted by Shogun Gunner

What's weird is the no-notice disappearance after playing with someone for many months.

Yes - I agree. Unless it is urgent RL calling, it is more than weird, it is disrespectful of those who invested the time and energy in the game.

sabre - I agree with your point completely as well.

[Grandpa Troll]

Re: Crisis at 'Poly

Originally posted by 1889
If you voted B or C then lucky you, if you voted A then lets try to come with some suggestions to speed things up. That is suggestions that we can do to send our turns on faster.

When I get a turn in the mail I leave marked as unread until I have time to play it and send it.

I keep a note book for my PBEMs where I record any deals I'm working on. On the cover I make a note of when I last sent it on. If I haven't seen it in a few days I start wondering if I missed it in the mail so I check the thread.

Also posting in the thread is a big help.

For all those people playing 10+ games, whould you play as many if your games were faster?

some of my game are simply overwhelming me..cant hardly breathe..any help would be great

actually I miss the all day affairs of playing but love this style as well

it kinda sucks when it is a slow turn rate..i luv it hard and fats..well that didnt come out right now did it?

Gramps