Official policy on PbP participants who don't post?

[N N 959]

Joseph,

Have you been able to put together any guidelines on players who fail to meet a minimum posting frequency as required by the GM?

I got that one player who doesn't seem to have any urgency to post and it's killing the game. I really don't like DMPCing. Also seems kind of inappropriate to let another player take the character over.

[Amazing Red]

I know I'm not Joe, but if it's killing the game, do what's best for the others in it. If this person doesn't want to play, then just NPC him so the others can play. It isn't fair to the 3-5 other people to stall the game for one git.

[Derek Weil]

Again, not our online VC, but what many online GM's do is drop players after a given amount of time or a set number of chances/warnings. If they'e done at least 3 encounters you can award them a "partial" chroncile; 1 Xp, 1 PP, reduced gold.

If it's near the beginning, maybe grab a replacement player. There's usually tons of great players itching to jump in.

Even good PBPers have RL issues from time to time. It's best to push the game along. I've never had players complain because things were moving too fast, but I have had the opposite problem when life's gotten hectic on my end and I've had to slow down.

[Pirate Rob]

Do the same thing you would with a player IRL that only wanders by occasionally and isn't participating. Take them aside and explain/discuss the problem. If necessary give them a chronicle sheet appropriate for what they've completed so far and send them on their way.

[DM Beckett]

I think the best thing to do I to contact the player and find out what is going on. It's possible that they are having issues, (for instance loosing power due to the storms, or suddenly had a change in schedule), that's keeping them from posting, but that they want to play once they get it figured out.

On the other hand, it might just be that they have completely lost interest in the game, but do not want cause any drama or start a fight.

Or they could just be being a jerk.

But find out what the deal is. Keep in mind that you basically need to complete 3 encounters to qualify for being in the game. If they have not, you could just let remove them. If they have, but just are not taking part to the extent you expected and they unofficially agreed to when everyone started, then it kind of depends on if others complete the game and other rewards. The Guide has some rules about that.

You could also try to email the Online VO team at [e-mail], and give more in depth specifics and details, for a more official suggestion/answer.

[N N 959]

Thanks for the responses. Yes, I'm a familiar with all the techniques described above. But I think there needs to be a firm set of guidelines for PbP to alleviate the pressure on GMs.

The less discretion a GM has to exercise about how to handle this, the easier it is to deal with. That may seem counter-intuitive, but if you think about it for a bit, I think you'll understand what I'm driving at.

[Amazing Red]

Well I think the lack of guidelines gives you more leeway to run the game as you see fit. I think more discretion is better in this case. I'd like to hear what you decide on doing.

[Junar]

N N 959 wrote:

Thanks for the responses. Yes, I'm a familiar with all the techniques described above. But I think there needs to be a firm set of guidelines for PbP to alleviate the pressure on GMs.

The less discretion a GM has to exercise about how to handle this, the easier it is to deal with. That may seem counter-intuitive, but if you think about it for a bit, I think you'll understand what I'm driving at.

Totally agree. Personally I would replace them with an NPC (or just move on with one less). That said, a GM who isn't comfortable looking like the bad guy shouldn't have to. A rule would make it easier on the GM as he could say something like "Hey bud, thanks for your interest but the rules say I have to move on without you."

A GM who doesn't wish to adhere to that rule (ie giving a player more time to reply than is allowed with consent of the other players) could simply ignore the rule and none the wiser. A GM who wished to use the rule could do so. It still allows freedom for GMs.

[N N 959]

Exactly, Junar.

@AR. This was the last battle and the Player had already posted a move. After PMing and waiting for the player to respond for several days, I DMPC'd him for one round and then skipped his turn for the others. Fortunately the PC's wiped the floor with the combat encounter. The Player earned full credit and PP. But I've gotten no response or warning as to why he has suddenly decided to quit mid-battle. There was no squabbling or any other prior explanation.

And the thing is, I can see that's been on the site the whole time checking in. <shrug>

[IronHelixx]

We are working on a standardized set of rules for PbP Game Days that will be available to PbP GMs to use as a guideline in "regular" play, should they choose to.

There will also be clarifications on general PFS rules and how they apply in PbP games.

Once we have the draft completed we will work with the PbP communities to make sure the rules address issues correctly before the next PbP Game Day Starts in January.

- Jesse [IronHelixx]
PFS Venture Lieutenant

[N N 959]

Awesome JD

[DM Beckett]

Jesse Davis wrote:

We are working on a standardized set of rules for PbP Game Days that will be available to PbP GMs to use as a guideline in "regular" play, should they choose to.

There will also be clarifications on general PFS rules and how they apply in PbP games.

Once we have the draft completed we will work with the PbP communities to make sure the rules address issues correctly before the next PbP Game Day Starts in January.

- Jesse [IronHelixx]
PFS Venture Lieutenant

Cool, cool. It seems like a lot of the things I talked to the Online VO's a while back have all come true. :)