Gaming: eMail Roleplaying
I'm not a fan of playing roleplaying games by email. My few experiences with this style of roleplaying have been mediocre at best and at times terrible. I had played out scenes of ongoing face-to-face campaigns and decided from there that I had no interest in this style of game. Sure, it was nice to play out one-on-one conversations via email, but any time a third character or GM was involved it became awkward. Plus, I found it very difficult to "feel" the character I was playing when the character would only say a few sentences in an email and then I would wait several hours or days for the reply.

So, I was a bit disappointed to find that Michael Kucharski's "Mercy and Forgiveness" Ambercon campaign was starting to have a lot of roleplaying via email after the con. Right away, players were emailing eachother and fleshing out some of the scenes in between scenes we played at the con. Still, I really enjoyed playing my character, Anoki, and I was willing to try.

It's almost six months later and while this experience has not changed my opinions of email gaming, it has given me some more insight in where email gaming shines. Some of the scenes between and Anoki and just one other character have really helped to define his relationships with these characters. It has also helped me to remember who he is. I may play Anoki in a game at Ambercon North, but if not for that I would not have played him for a year by the time next year's game came around. Thanks to the email roleplay, I am keeping the character fresh in my imagination.

One thing I have noticed is that some players/GMs are better than others at leaving you an opening and giving enough information in the email that the plot doesn't drag. Unfortunately, it's not always so. Sometimes the other player writes too much without leaving any obvious option in their text for the other player to insert their reactions. In one scene I played out with another player, his character had had poured a glass of gin from his bar, handed it to Anoki, made a toast and drank before I had a chance to reply. Anoki doesn't drink alchohol. (An admittedly rare thing amongst Amberites, Anoki does not drink for religious and social reasons.) The other problem I've had is when a player or GM doesn't give you much and the scene seems to crawl. If the GM is GMing a fight and all you email out each thrust, parry and maneuver, a scene takes forever and I quickly lose my interest. Another player character and Anoke have been fighting against some giant "wolf-like" creatures for weeks and my enthusiasm is long gone.