Boeruine

[X-Aerenwe/TS (Miloš)]

I've never liked the "Imperial Senate" style of forums the kind of bickering Robert is describing is inevitable and I try to stay away from such games in recent years. In one game we had a representative from Rhuobhe on "the senate", and in another one some temple of Haelyn (WIT if I recall correctly) brought a choir of goblin boys to "the senate" to demonstrate the success of their conversion efforts among the goblins. I mean no offence to guys who played Rhuobhe and the temple in question, but events like that really break the immersion for me.

[X-IHH/Wallac Isilviere (Kasper)]

The Conclave performs the same function but so far we've avoided the sillyness of supporting each other that you note ;-)

Aye in CoT we have a long and proud tradition of not getting too involved with each other besides the usual partisan policies! ;-)

[DM B]

While I agree that the bickering will inevitably increase in intensity and uninvolved parties will inevitably be dragged into disputes (something that I see as positive incidentally) if a game has a central forum, the real issue is in my mind not the forum in itself, but the attitude of the players.

If players take a cartoon/board game approach then you will get problems regardless of whether there is a central forum of some sort - at least a forum offers an excuse for why regents at the opposite ends of Cerilia are talking to each other, etc.

Indeed.

Cerilia is a big place. And many players are incapable for envisioning that communications in a 16th century Europe-equivalent is not what they are used to.

[X-Tuornen/LF (Geir)]

I've done loads of role-playing the last few decades (actually I have, scary), I connect this com time issue with the fog-of-war we have. IC it, IC it all and it works. Lack of knowledge is for me a key tension builder, the fun of predicting what is in short unpredictable for the overwhelming lack of info. The solution is initiative  Be the ruler, do not predict, decide 

[X-Bellam & BC/TB (Bobby)]

I try to keep the communications lag in mind, and the lack of knowledge about what's happening in other parts of the world, but it can be VERY hard sometimes.  A combination of the age old player-knowledge/character-knowledge issue, and the presence of ABILITIES the player has (instant communication) that the character doesn't.  I just do my best to keep from abusing things and make sure I don't bitch if I ever get called on something.  Apologize and accept.