Forum or AIM based?

One of the main questions needed to be answered is whether or not this RP has more activity through forum posting, or through AIM.

For forum role playing, all of it is localized, and easier to manage. There will be few questions/confusions, and there are less necessities required to participate.

For AIM roleplaying, a common instant messenger is required. All players need to be available at a similar time for the roleplay to work. However, it will also move along much faster.

A mix can also be implemented, but it must be decided what would take place where.

 

I think a mix could be a good idea. Possibly the roleplaying part on the forums and then the battling on AIM, mainly because we all know how long forum battles take. It could also be faster by allowing a group of regular refs to be allowed to referee these battles?

 

I would recommend a mixture; similar to PnP gaming, where time moves in hours between battles, and in rounds when combat is active, I think it would be best if we had just general RP on the forum, but when we're in the middle of a Pokemon battle, or just a very intense situation, or w/e, we would try and move as many as possible to an AIM room for a half hour or thereabouts until it's resolved. Barring that, I'd say make it forum based entirely, because trying to get a bunch of people available at the same time every week is like herding cats.

 

We could do a mix, but I think that having it on the forum will attract more people.

 

This is a interesting question and we have valid points on both sides.

The URPG has a long history and involvement of IM-based systems (especially if you consider that most of our battles occur over AIM currently). Using AIM as a RP system would not be a stretch for most members.

On the other hand, pokemon roleplaying, at least in terms of what BMG, PE2K, and the URPG is used to, is heavily forum-based. I think it would be safe to say that a significant portion of our members do not roleplay on AIM. The forums have a strong tradition of forum roleplaying, and perhaps it would be a good idea to continue that model as we advance this system.

Ultimately, I recommend we start out with a focus towards forum roleplaying. It's something we're familiar with and we can always add in AIM roleplaying at a later time in the project's development.