Greetings All and thank you for inviting me Haibane,<br/><br/>Here is my basics for any group game:<br/><br/>1. a genre and location that allows for equal mix of Hack and slash, adventure and intrigue.<br/>2. A solid set of in world rules. I.e Magic Does/Does not exist, These are the laws of the land, this criteria makes you a mutant this does not etc.<br/>3. Sex occurs just like in the real world but is not the focus of the story unless otherwise stated.<br/>4. Characters are allowed to come and go as the game is open world However if you drop out or leave during a scene where you are required then I will play you, as true to the character as I can,until either you return or can be dropped out of scene.<br/>5.If I do not hear from you for over a week, and you have not responded to a pm or given prior notice of absence, I will assume you have left the game.<br/>These Basics have saved me a quite a bit of grief in the past.<br/><br/>As for structure I as Gm often play several NPCs at once and require my players to post who they are playing and where the character is in their posts. Also because it is a Open RP I try to keep a primer thread up to date as well informing new and returning players who's who and where we are at in the story.<br/><br/>Now on to your list: (I'm mostly going to talk as a Gm for now on these)<br/><br/>Different speeds/availability of players posting: Because of my wife's disability and bad health as well as my work and family schedules I am guilty of disappearing almost as often as many of my players. However, I know how things can get around here so I try to minimize the effects by: letting people know my schedule is odd upfront, getting a Co-Gm whenever possible, and writing multi-location multi-NPC mega posts. Any of those who have played with me should be familiar with these. I find that by writing several scenes at once I give everyone something to respond to am able to move the game along effectively. It also makes it much easier for players to pick and choose what pertains to them out; while still giving them the opportunity to read the rest too, if they'd like.<br/><br/>Different post lengths/Different writing abilities: This is the same problem usually. I find mostly those that are new or not confident in their abilities are the ones that write only a few lines at a time. Course this is not always the case sometimes its the fault of the person you're in scene with writing you into a corner. Both are Bad but can only get better with time, encouragement, and tough love.<br/><br/>Story progression pace (moves too slow/jumps on ahead too fast)/Scenes that drag on too long (sometimes there can be too much detail): IF A scene goes on too long with no resolution it one of two peoples fault. The GM or The players in the scene. If its the GM well then Guess I better move something around or make something happen quick then, if its the players well then maybe As Gm you can interupt them too. One of the fun parts of being GM is making the RP like life and dropping the unexpected in on those making other plans. Heheheehe.<br/><br/>Too much sex gets boring!/Not enough sex!/Sex starts half way down page 1 when you'd rather it didn't.: See rule #3<br/><br/>GMs controlling pace (don't lead the plot enough/lead it too much and are too pushy) (puts her hand up in guilty admission).: this one really is a matter of Style, time, and experience. Some GMs have a set schedule of how the encounters move others wing it. I like a little of both. I know where I'm headed but often if someone writes something that contradicts that or gives me a better idea then I love to wing it. I also have a tendency to write in traps for my players somewhat like the choices in a choose your own adventure. I'll use the arrival of rival NPCs to present choices or a computer screen or book with an index lying around. makes for a wonderful twist when a Player realises they may have just screwed everyone by choosing door number 3.<br/><br/>The game that dies because player X leaves/Players leaving and refusing to allow a new player to take over their character. Is this a good or bad thing?: See Rule#4 and 5<br/><br/>That pair of players who go off on a massive 2-page 1-on-1 posting spree in the middle of a group scene just because they're both online that night: This one does bother me a lot. in fact its one of the few areas I don't have an answer for yet. I've lost players for this reason alone before as well. So anyone got a way they deal with this other then the "take it somewhere else" option? Wasn't even sex the last time just two girls talking about nothing for 3 pages mid game and refusing to interact with anyone else. I'm open for ideas on this one?<br/><br/>Also one other pet peeve. Players who add in more NPCs by mentioning Characters in post they have no intention of playing. I recently started GMing a X-men based RP and soon found myself playing 15 NPCs because of the various factions and story elements I wanted to include problem is I have had several other Players mention Canon characters as being part of a scene when they were never previously mentioned, thus I ended up picking up 2 more before I was able to impress upon my players the amount of stress such random acts of inclusion put upon me. Any one else have that problem when playing Fanfic based games? How do you handle it?<br/><br/>Respectfully yours, ~Nos~<br/><br/><br/>