Breaking the stalemate

[Dog Pants]

We all know that forum beardy games can stall quite often when the players flounder. Happens all the time in SLA and it's frustrating for the GM and the players. I think about why it happens sometimes, and I've come to the conclusion that it's down to the format and the disjointed way information is presented. Now, there's not a huge amount to be done about that apart from spazzing back through and re-reading what's happened. I'll admit, I can't be arsed with that (or more accurately don't have the time), so I've been trying to think of other ways to be poked in the right direction. Because I know that as a player it can be hard to see the right path when it takes days to get the clues together, and as a GM I'd like to be able to offer clarity without giving away the answers. So I'm petition you fellow 5punkers to voice your opinions and suggestions on how forum beardygames could be made clearer. In the meantime I've had an idea, which I call 'Phone Haynes'.

For my SLA campaign I'd like to offer a service where you can phone Haynes (by xfiring or PMing me) to clear up questions and confusion over what's going on, and maybe get a bit of feedback on options and plans. It's something I don't mind doing anyway, but by making it semi-in-character I have mental limitations on what information I can give and the caveat that Haynes might not necessarily have all the facts himself. So it takes away the feel of cheating by asking the GM and allows the GM to offer guidance and weigh up the pros and cons of a plan. It also allows the GM to fill in gaps in player knowledge about the setting that the character would know. I'd like to integrate it into the game somehow (in a D&D game for example it could be a magic mirror to speak to an old wizard or librarian) so that it feels less like going to the GM for help, but for now the basic idea is there.

[friznit]

Have you considered using something like Google spreadsheets to track details and progress? You can make it read only if don't want people to mess around with it, and it's easy to publish as a web page or even embed (if iframe embedding is enabled on the forum? Or RSS, ATOM or even .pdf) if you want to keep it visible on 5punk for those of us who lurk

[Dog Pants]

Ahh, well sort of. I'm still interested in the idea of having all the documents (character sheets etc) as a collaborative online thing, so that might work out nicely. I suppose I could use that to make a log of important bullet points, like a quest log in a computer RPG. Anyone think that'd be useful?

[Roman Totale]

I like that idea. When we used to do it over Skype I always kept a running account in a notebook so I could see where we were up to and to remember important details. I thought I wouldn't need to do that on the forum as it's all written down, but I didn't account for the fact I'd end up spazzing back several pages as I'd forgotten something.

[Dog Pants]

I could probably just put a code box on the first post and edit that. That'd do the same thing wouldn't it?

[Grimmie]

I'm happy to use the googly docs - they're things that several people can edit at the same time, like Google Waves were.

[Dog Pants]

I've created a Google Docs group and uploaded character sheets and a BPN log. The formatting has all gone to shit, so it needs work, but the log is useful. I could only find Grimmie and Joose on my contacts though, despite having Deject in my Google+ circle.

[Joose]

Yeah, google docs completely fucks spreadsheet formatting. Largely because it doesn't copy in cell sizes or merged cells.
It's a good idea though, play by forum RPGs by their nature take a long time, it's easy to forget what is going on. A simple "this is what you know" log would go a long way to help that.
One potential problem I can see though is that players often misinterpret what the gm tells them. Sometimes it's just a case of wording, so it's perfectly reasonable for the GM to correct them, but in other cases it could be something that the actual characters could misinterpret. If the gm fills in the log, it'll take away a bit of the detective element of things. Sometimes, a little confusion is good, it means you get those "ooooh, *that's* what's going on!" moments. Also, you run e risk of giving away whether something is important information or not.

Not sure the best way to handle that. GM doing everything seems the best way to keep it from getting confused, but players doing it seems like the more "correct" way. Maybe players keep the log, GM steps if something entirely incorrect gets entered?

[Dog Pants]

That's sort of what I had in mind. Or the players keep the log and the GM fills it in when they forget, which is what I was expecting to happen :p