General game play etiquette question.

Hey guys, general question I suppose. I'm still super new to this format, and this style of game as well, so I was wondering a couple of things.
I realize that other people I'm playing with might not have as much time to dedicate to playing as I do, so the time frame for these games is much longer than what I'd be used to with playing video games or in person, however, if our game isn't in initiative, is there a general rule or guideline with how much you should post? Should it be like a one to one ratio for everyone, or, so long as you aren't steam rolling through would it be ok to post multiple times? Or, is it more on a game by game basis? I realize I have a lot more opportunities throughout the day to post than other people would, and I'd like to keep the game going forward, but I also don't want people to get left behind because they have real life stuff to take care of. I guess my real question is how does everyone find the balance between patience and wanting to move the game forward?

Definitely talk to your GM about what they feel is appropriate for their game.

For me, I've found it to vary by situation. In general, once I post (as GM or as player) I'm gonna wait several hours to let others chime in - unless - it's an explicit 1-on-1 situation between me and the GM/player.

What you do then - when you're waiting for the other players - is go GM a game :D

Or maybe join more games as a player.

Yes, because if there's anything that the RPG/PBP community lacks, its players.

DMing a game seems to currently be beyond my current skillset, as this is essentially my first foray into these types of games. Would the more experienced players here advise just jumping into something like that, or building more experience first? When looking to join games, is the best approach just to keep an eye on the forums when someone decides to start a game? It seems a little uncouth to try to make a post stating you'd like to have a game started so that you can play, and then hope someone else takes up the reigns.

There are also a lot of great resources out there to build your DM skills (i.e., podcasts like Dungeon Master's Block). You don't have to have a ton of experience to be a DM on PBP, because you always have time to look up stuff you don't know! ;) You do, however, need to keep players engaged and the story moving.

In the meantime, absolutely keep an eye on the Tavern. It is also not at all uncouth to request a game. Several people have recently started games because people new to the forum were asking for one (myself included). Just be clear what kind of game you are looking for, and if someone has the time and energy to start another game they will contact you. It is almost never a problem to find more players to fill up a game.

Cool, I have a couple of games that people have been kind enough to start up for me, I just wanted to make sure that I didn't spam a bunch of posts and not give other players a chance. I don't think I have, but if I did think that I was pushing too hard like that, hopefully the DM's would advise me to pump the breaks. Thank you all for the advice thus far.

Sometimes it depends on the flow of the game. I often have times when just two players are posting, then later a different two will drive the narrative. Even if the GM is posting as regularly, active players can keep things interesting.

Honestly, a pbp game might be a good way to hone your GMing skills. With the slower pace of a pbp game, you have plenty of time to read up the rules in between posts. And as marithyme said, there are plenty of resources available online for beginning GMs, especially on youtube.

Of course, for a beginning GM, just like a beginning player, often, the simpler the system the better. Dungeonslayers, warrior rogue & Mage, Shotguns & Saddles, and yes, even D&D5th seems like all good candidates. If you want any simpler, you can always check out Dungeon Squad... Though, keep in mind, if your game is not D&D5th, you might have problems finding players on here...

I was going to suggest this, too. Rules you have plenty of time to research between posts. The subtle art of guiding a game through careful prompting, well, again, you will have more time to think it through and craft your posts than you would in an in-person game, where they're all staring at you and fingering their dice.

I agree that PbP is a great way to start GMing. The thing that could take up a lot of your time is worldbuilding (though that is lots of fun, too), so another option would be to run a published adventure. I know there are multiple iterations of Lost Mines running on GP (I'm subscribed to the one Marithyme is running and am very impressed with how well it's going), so these kinds of game can work well. If you have access to any of the adventures, and if it's something you are interested in doing... go for it!

If you start a game I'd be interested to join in. I post pretty regularly and am happy to see what a new DM brings to the table.