4 ms·

This seems to be a niche that nothing else fills right now. It's much larger scale than tabletop D&D. Much more freeform and literary than MMOs that do have a l

This seems to be a niche that nothing else fills right now. It's much larger scale than tabletop D&D. Much more freeform and literary than MMOs that do have a large scale. And asynchronous except for the monthly deadline. Unfortunately it also feels like, to do it right would require it to charge significant fees. There would be a lot of effort required reading, collating, adjudicating and responding to each and every player even if groups doing roughly the same thing got shared replies. Probably more than an individual game-runner with a hobby could do.

pavel_lishin 7y ago
I wonder if Patreon could be the scaffold upon which this could be built. The basic tier includes receiving the monthly play-by-play, but the highest tier is for the Player Characters, limited to N players.
- JulianMorrison 7y ago
  Or "at monthly income level $$$, we can support up to N players. Higher tiers get first dibs but then it's first come first served. If our income goes up to $$$$, we will be able to expand our operation and support up to M players."
gatesphere 7y ago
Flying Buffalo, Inc. still runs traditional PBM games.
PyroLagus 7y ago
> This seems to be a niche that nothing else fills right now. It's much larger scale than tabletop D&D. Much more freeform and literary than MMOs that do have a large scale. And asynchronous except for the monthly deadline. I think MUSHs fit all of those except asynchronous, but I think there might be asynchronous ones out there.
- JulianMorrison 7y ago
  MU* isn't very similar at all to PBM. No arc, no plot, no NPCs, no aggregation, no adjudication. Supports far fewer people in any given scene. Generally only has one or two people logged in. Non-freeform "rooms". The scenery may be literary but the players generally are not.
jonshariat 7y ago
Why not just play the middle man and enable others to do the writing. They get paid and you get a cut.
- JulianMorrison 7y ago
  This is called "having a company, and employees", yes.

pavel_lishin 7y ago

I wonder if Patreon could be the scaffold upon which this could be built. The basic tier includes receiving the monthly play-by-play, but the highest tier is for the Player Characters, limited to N players.

JulianMorrison 7y ago
Or "at monthly income level $$$, we can support up to N players. Higher tiers get first dibs but then it's first come first served. If our income goes up to $$$$, we will be able to expand our operation and support up to M players."

gatesphere 7y ago

Flying Buffalo, Inc. still runs traditional PBM games.

PyroLagus 7y ago

> This seems to be a niche that nothing else fills right now. It's much larger scale than tabletop D&D. Much more freeform and literary than MMOs that do have a large scale. And asynchronous except for the monthly deadline. I think MUSHs fit all of those except asynchronous, but I think there might be asynchronous ones out there.

JulianMorrison 7y ago
MU* isn't very similar at all to PBM. No arc, no plot, no NPCs, no aggregation, no adjudication. Supports far fewer people in any given scene. Generally only has one or two people logged in. Non-freeform "rooms". The scenery may be literary but the players generally are not.

jonshariat 7y ago

Why not just play the middle man and enable others to do the writing. They get paid and you get a cut.

JulianMorrison 7y ago
This is called "having a company, and employees", yes.