A Question of Group Games

[Sukaretto]

So as you may have guessed from the title, I have some questions regarding group games. Or specifically, I have an idea for one that I'm interested in starting, but I want to get a better understanding on how y'all's guidelines for that works on this site before I build up the rules and mechanics of the game. Now, I may have more questions in a bit, but for now my main questions revolve around number of thread and adult content.

That said, I have in mind an idea that encourages adult content between players. However, there's also a main plot to the game, and since sex scenes can tend to slow down the plot (because, you know, that amount of back-and-forth takes time) I was thinking about asking players to take sexual content to separate threads. However, obviously, it's a rule that small groups can only have a set number of threads (ie 2 per member of the group.) If people have multiple partners they write with personally then this may get above that limit. Plus, if it's just two people having their characters "get it on" then do they really belong in the group forum at all? So I was wondering if it might be better to encourage people to take their encounters to one-on-one threads. But is that even allowed? And if so, would those posts count toward 1000 posts to qualify for a large group game?

I suppose if 1x1 threads aren't the best idea, the next best plan would to allow each member to have 1-2 threads in the small group section for their sexual escapades and have them reuse threads, and hope that that would be a sustainable system. I can't really see it working having large free-for-all threads with all the different scenes going on at once. But anyway, hopefully this isn't the wrong place to put this. I just figured I'd leave it here since I'm mainly looking for a staff opinion on what is the best way, within the rules, to make that sort of thing work, although of course other people's opinions are welcome as well.

[Nymphadora]

In my experience with group games, some GMs will have one thread specifically for the sexy side of things. The post headers are what keep things clear but it keeps you from having too many threads forming that may gum up the works with regards to number of threads and so on.  It would just be titled 'Sukaretto Group Game Title: The Naughty Stuff' for example to go along with all the other game thread and so on.

Hope that suggestion helps. :)  Others will likely pop in with thoughts too!

[Sukaretto]

Yeah, I considered that option. If you've seen it work before then that might be okay. I would just be worried that with multiple different scenes going on simultaneously in the same thread then it might get a bit jumbled, if you know what I mean?

[Nymphadora]

That would really depend on the number of players actively playing in that thread as well as the speed of the respective players. With good post headers, it should hopefully be alright but it certainly isn't for everyone. I have indeed seen it work but that doesn't mean it always works. How's that for non-committal?

If you feel it's getting too hard to follow and especially if you have enough players to warrant the threads, you could then have people split out into a thread per coupling... While I myself am a fan of threads per active location in a game, I find the idea of a thread per couple much less appealing.

No matter which you go with, you can always make the call once you have a better idea of the players who are interested and active in the game, that may be the deciding factor right there. :)

Oh, another thought I just had that could help make posts per couple stand out more if you stayed with a single thread for sexy times... make very visibly different post header layouts per coupling.

[Oniya]

Okay - the major reason that there's a guideline for the number of threads in a starting-group game is to encourage people to interact.  That's what holds a group together and enables you to get past the 1000 post threshold.  If you've got more than two threads per player, then folks are spread pretty thin.

It's no longer a 'hard limit', but more something to keep in mind.

(Also, it's very helpful to have a set naming system - usually a bracket-tag - that labels all of your game threads.  This helps you keep track of them for when you do cross that limit, and helps us collect all the threads to put them in the sub-forum.)

[Sukaretto]

Good to know, and that makes sense. Actually, that is the same reason as why I want to separate out the scenes that only involve a few people, in order to allow for more character interaction in the main threads, if that makes sense. But it's definitely something that I'm going to consider when making my decisions. It's just nice to hear everyone's opinions on it before making a decision.