Interesting discussion you guys got going on! I can understand your problems, Rick, with online PbP rping, especially if you're approaching it from a writing background.<br/><br/>Here's my 2 cents:<br/><br/>PbP is a strange beast, a mixture of creative writing + simulation + visual cinematic action. It's those last two that put creative restrictions on the first, especially in a system game, which forces the action into a simulation environment. A purely freeform game is free of this restriction, and is more a collaborative writing experience. However, those of us who like system games enjoy the simulation aspect, where we don't know how things will turn out that are beyond our control.<br/><br/>That last one, the cinematic aspect, is where the argument about "should I write internal monologues or not?" comes from. Although this is heavily a creative writing experience, PbP takes a lot of cues from TV and movies, presenting perhaps more as a visual scene by scene experience than a written chapter by chapter one. Personally, I tend to try and write only what others can observe, as though I were narrating what you might be watching on a screen. However, I also admit that you sometimes have to include internal thoughts (and, it's just so darn fun, too!). However, I think this point is one more for personal taste, so I have no problem if someone includes tons of non-visual material versus those who prefer not to. Having both types of players in the same game is not a problem at all.<br/><br/>I come from a writing background, and I view my online games as a chance to have fun writing. No one may ever read my other written works, but at least a few people read this, so it provides a limited audience, like a couple of friends meeting at someone's house and doing a poetry reading together. I accept the restrictions that the simulation and cinematic aspects place on my writing, and in fact I try to embrace it to force me to be more creative by working within a framework, like the way writing poetry can be more fulfilling when you're restricted by a specific poetic framework (not sure what my deal is with poetry at the moment).<br/><br/>As far as feeling like you're a responsive participant, that doesn't necessarily have to be the case. Your only real restriction is not deciding important outcomes and world elements beyond your control, but you can narrate everything leading up to that, and what follows. You are also free to redefine what the GM writes, as long as it doesn't break already established narratives. For instance, with the plane crash, I didn't say much about the other passengers, just that they mostly all got killed. Oscar took the opportunity to build on that and describe the fate of the staff member who sat next to him. That's a good example of him taking creative control for some good writing, and keeping it all consistent.<br/><br/>Anyway, at the end of the day, the story is king. If a PbP game isn't an enjoyable read, then something, somewhere is wrong, and it's the GM's job to get it back on track. As far as individual posts, everyone has different styles, just do what feels right and is the most fun.