Pacing for PbP

I wanted to ask the more experienced GPers what they think is a good way to pace a game that has a post a day schedule? Every two weeks some action? Or every week? Or less? How do you deal with situations where one character dominates due to RP storylines?

Those are great questions.

I'm curious to hear some of the answers as pacing is something I have an issue with in just about all games I run (whether on here or in real life).

In real life we have the luxury of being able to read the players, sense their interest or lack thereof. In PBP, much less info to mine.

I have a post-a-day target for my game, and perhaps the system is just good for it (FFG Star Wars), but my players seem to pretty engage the dice daily (IRL). If by "action" you mean combat, I think that highly depends on the system and how much of a pain combat is in this format. But I try to make sure every scene means something to the story. No encounters just for the sake of it. Furthermore, every time I post as GM, I want it to have game implications. To advance the situation on some way. It doesn't always happen, but that's my goal.

I agree with emsquared. I try and restrict my posting to facilitating the game, and use any other communication for an OOC thread. Its also good to be aware of what's going on in game. My personal experience is that combat of almost any kind can really slow down a game in PbP. This is a challenge because I find myself looking for ways to keep encounters interesting, but keeping in my the type of game my players want to play, or what kinds of things they'd want to see in the adventure.

That is something that I've noticed too. Combat seems to be way less fun in this format, in my opinion. I sort of groan at the thought of prolonged fights sometimes.

I think this is the gold standard but sooooo hard to pull off.

I am in one of Szemely's games (Kingdom of Birodalom) and that is my guide of what a good game should be. I feel his pacing really works. He intersperses RP with action and the game has a mystery element. It is fun not knowing. But also part of what makes that game good is that the players are very engaged. They use italics to express their characters thoughts. This helps the other players learn more about the characters internal voice and their motivation. They also post quite regularly.

1. If things begin to slow down or stalled, prompt your players to do something. I often make a post in an OOC tag just saying: What are you doing next?". Sometimes, I'll even review what is currently happening. This sends alerts to people if they're subscribed and reminds them that I'm waiting on player input.

2. As an alternative to an OOC prompt, throw a story complication in. If the players are stalled trying to decide what to do, just throw something at them. New NPC bursts in, cave collapses, or someone down the street screams.

3. If the players have clearly won the combat, but they're just going round-by-round, clearing things up... just end the combat. Give a short description of it and call it good.

Great points Naatkinson.

That's a good idea about the combat encounter. I'll have to keep that in mind.

I've been running a game with a fairly steady posting rate for about two years and I think the main thing is that as a GM, you have to keep pace with how much your players are posting. If players are doing things (besides interacting with each other), there should be some prompt feedback as to how their actions are affecting the game world. And there should always be "action," not necessarily combat, but making sure there's always some clear and proximate motivation for the players to be doing something or working toward some goal is the main thing that keeps games from stagnating, in my experience. If they start getting into "what do we do now" mode, it's time to have an NPC give them a nudge, or make them roll some Perception or Insight checks to get a clue, or whatever it takes to give them a rabbit to chase after.

It's pretty common for one or more players to kind of take a lead role, just because not everybody's level or interest or posting availability is the same, and I think for the most part it's okay to let them move the ball forward and not always wait for a full discussion/consensus before advancing the story, but at the same time I think it's important to try and create deliberate opportunities for the less involved players to have an impact on what's happening whenever possible.

As a player, my characters often end up in a lead role simply because I build characters that like to talk. So if there's nothing crazy going on (or I notice that no one has posted in some time) I'll have my character chat up someone else or do something dumb (especially in combat) so that other characters can react, in order to get the ball re-rolling. I like to give GMs and other players something to work with, in case players are stumped on what to do next.

Thanks for the kind words!

This does touch on what Qralloq had mentioned earlier; and while I'm obviously not able to 'read the table' as it were, three of the players in Birodalom are people that I've been both playing and interacting with on this site for over two years now. I'm comfortable running games for them and playing in games they run. I think we all know what to expect from each other and that is an immense help in both pacing things and just having a damned good time. You've been a great addition to the group and I'm looking forward to see what direction the four of you take the story.
Prolonged combats can be a real pain, especially when it gets down to the "I attack again" phase. One thing that helps a bit is handling initiative as a group thing more than "you go, then they go, then that guy goes, then...". I think from here on out I'm going to use the SWRPG method for handling initiative and just have assigned slots that anyone can jump into at any point during the round.

But like Naat says, if the outcome is obvious, just RP that sucker done and move on. :-)