In a previous column, we discussed how to be a good PbP participant in terms of good posts and bad posts. This month, we're going to take the PbP etiquette discussion beyond the content of posts and into the behavioral space. In other words: how to be a good PbP participant (player or GM). Most of these apply to a live table game as well, but they seem to be the rules most frequently broken in or corrosive to PbP games.

Announce Your Absences

Real life happens. Sometimes, the way it happens will prevent a player or GM from posting at whatever rate the players have agreed upon to keep the game's momentum going. (The faster that rate is, the more likely this sort of disruption is to happen, of course.)

When it does, inform the other players - don't just fall off the map. Sometimes, circumstances will make this implausible, but when they don't, take a few minutes to let the other players know that you'll be out for a few days. Even better is to indicate some potential actions or stances your PC will take in the meantime. (E.g., While I'm out, Throklina will go along with whatever approach to entering Castle ProbablyLethal that the group decides.)

Be Ready to Lead or to Follow

Speaking of which, be agreeable. We discussed in a previous column how much real time player disagreements about plans and approaches causes in a PbP, and how that can cause games to stall out.

The old saw goes that the perfect is the enemy of the good. In PbPs, the good is the enemy of the good enough. Be ageeeable: your plans might be worse, but your game will be better.

Help the GM Out

Hey, another segue! Speaking of being agreeable, in a PbP game, when the GM dangles a plot hook in front your PC: bite it. Working out exactly how to get a PC integrated into the flow of a game is hard around a live table - it is even more challenging in PbP without nonverbal clues and real time feedback.

Along the same lines, if there's a particular sort of plot thread that you want to follow, tell your GM straight out. Don't make them guess. You'll both be happier for it.

Don't Ghost

The number one problem with PbP games is the disappearing player/GM.

Look: from time to time every player is going to sign up to play in or run a game that won't work out for them. Maybe they end up hating the rules, maybe there's a personality or play style conflict with another player, maybe the concept just ended up being less fun than it sounded.

With no real social connections, it's easy (compared to a live table game) for a PbP player to just stop posting when they've stopped enjoying a game. This kills PbP games. Even if the game wasn't working for you, it may well have been working for the other players: why spoil their fun by introducing the uncertainty and loss of momentum that ghosting will cause?

Think of it this way: when you sign up to a PbP game, you agree to at least announce your departure from the game. "This isn't working out for me. I'm going to drop out. Thanks for the game!" is all it takes to meet this rule. If players did that, the early death rate of PbP games would drop significantly.

Next month, we'll be back to discuss how to take advantage of the multi-media properties of the Internet.