Any play by post games on Usenet?

[Retro64XYZ]

Does anyone know of any play by post games on Usenet? Any one ever play
role playing games on here?

[Grant Taylor]

On 7/12/21 10:16 PM, Retro64XYZ wrote:
> Does anyone know of any play by post games on Usenet? Any one ever play
> role playing games on here?

I don't know of any such groups, but I would be shocked if such did not
exist and was never done on Usenet.

I'd suggest looking for newsgroups with the term "game" in them.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

[Francis S]

If you happen to come across anything, I'd be interested!

[Jason Evans]

On Tue, 13 Jul 2021 04:16:15 GMT, Retro64XYZ wrote:

> Does anyone know of any play by post games on Usenet? Any one ever play
> role playing games on here?

If you're interested in creating a new gaming group in, we might be able
to do something like rec.games.usenet or something like that. Just write
up a proposal and a brief charter and email us at bo...@big-8.org.

One more thing, we want to create groups that people are actually going
to use, so if you're interested, just have a few people vouch for the
idea and we can totally make this happen.

Jason

Here is a list of current gaming newsgroups in the big-8:

rec.arts.sf.starwars.games Star Wars games: RPG, computer, card,
etc.
rec.gambling.craps Analysis of and strategy for the dice game craps.
rec.gambling.other-games Gambling games not covered elsewhere.
rec.gambling.poker Analysis and strategy of live poker games.
rec.games.abstract Perfect information, pure strategy games.
rec.games.backgammon Discussion of the game of backgammon.
rec.games.board Discussion and hints on board games.
rec.games.board.ce The Cosmic Encounter board game.
rec.games.board.marketplace Trading and selling of board games.
rec.games.bridge Hobbyists interested in bridge.
rec.games.bridge.okbridge Okbridge forum.
rec.games.chess.analysis Analysis of openings/middlegames/endgames.
rec.games.chess.computer Reports on game servers, databases,
software.
rec.games.chess.misc Forum for news/discussion related to chess.
rec.games.chess.play-by-email Reports/discussions regarding email chess.
rec.games.chess.politics News of nat'l/international chess
organizations.
rec.games.chinese-chess Discussion of the game of Chinese chess,
Xiangqi.
rec.games.computer.doom.editing Editing and hacking DOOM-related
files.
rec.games.computer.doom.help DOOM Help Service (new players welcome).
rec.games.computer.doom.misc Talking about DOOM and id Software.
rec.games.computer.doom.playing Playing DOOM and user-created
levels.
rec.games.computer.everquest The Online RPG EverQuest.
rec.games.computer.planetarion The Planetarion Game in general.
rec.games.computer.puzzle Puzzle-solving computer games.
rec.games.computer.quake.misc General discussion of Quake.
rec.games.computer.quake.servers Setup and maintenance of servers.
rec.games.computer.stars The strategy game "Stars!".
rec.games.computer.ultima.dragons The Ultima Dragons Internet
Chapter.
rec.games.computer.ultima.online The multi-player game Ultima
Online.
rec.games.computer.ultima.series Forum for fans of the Ultima
games.
rec.games.computer.xpilot About the X11 game XPilot.
rec.games.corewar The Core War computer challenge.
rec.games.design Discussion of game design related issues.
rec.games.diplomacy The conquest game Diplomacy.
rec.games.empire Discussion and hints about Empire.
rec.games.frp.advocacy Flames and rebuttals about various role-playing
systems.
rec.games.frp.announce Announcements of happenings in the role-playing
world. (Moderated)
rec.games.frp.cyber Discussions of cyberpunk related roleplaying
games.
rec.games.frp.dnd Fantasy role-playing with TSR's Dungeons and
Dragons.
rec.games.frp.gurps The GURPS role playing game.
rec.games.frp.live-action Live-action roleplaying games.
rec.games.frp.marketplace Role-playing game materials wanted and
for sale.
rec.games.frp.misc General discussions of role-playing games.
rec.games.frp.super-heroes Super-hero role playing games.
rec.games.go Discussion about Go.
rec.games.int-fiction All aspects of interactive fiction games.
rec.games.mahjong Mahjong related discussion and posting.
rec.games.mecha Giant robot games. (Moderated)
rec.games.miniatures.historical Historical and modern tabletop
wargaming.
rec.games.miniatures.misc Miniatures and various tabletop wargames.
rec.games.miniatures.warhammer Wargaming in the Warhammer Universe.
rec.games.misc Games and computer games.
rec.games.mud.admin Administrative issues of multiuser dungeons.
rec.games.mud.announce Informational articles about multiuser dungeons.
(Moderated)
rec.games.mud.diku All about DikuMuds.
rec.games.mud.lp Discussions of the LPMUD computer role playing
game.
rec.games.mud.misc Various aspects of multiuser computer games.
rec.games.mud.tiny Discussion about Tiny muds, like MUSH, MUSE and
MOO.
rec.games.netrek Discussion of the X window system game Netrek
(XtrekII).
rec.games.pbm Discussion about Play by Mail games.
rec.games.pinball Discussing pinball-related issues.
rec.games.playing-cards Recreational (non-gambling) card playing.
rec.games.roguelike.adom The computer game ADOM.
rec.games.roguelike.angband The computer game Angband.
rec.games.roguelike.announce Major info about rogue-styled games.
(Moderated)
rec.games.roguelike.development Design and programming of
Roguelike games.
rec.games.roguelike.misc Rogue-style dungeon games without other
groups.
rec.games.roguelike.moria The computer game Moria.
rec.games.roguelike.nethack The computer game Nethack.
rec.games.roguelike.rogue The computer game Rogue.
rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad Jyhad trading card game discussions.
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.misc General "Magic: the Gathering"
postings.
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules "Magic: the Gathering" rules Q&A.
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy "Magic: the Gathering" strategy.
rec.games.trading-cards.marketplace.magic.auctions Auctions of Magic
cards.
rec.games.trading-cards.marketplace.magic.sales Selling Magic
cards.
rec.games.trading-cards.marketplace.misc Trading trading card
stuff.
rec.games.trading-cards.misc Other trading card game discussions.
rec.games.trivia Discussion about trivia.
rec.games.vectrex The Vectrex game system.
rec.games.video.3do Discussion of 3DO video game systems.
rec.games.video.advocacy Debate on merits of various video game
systems.
rec.games.video.arcade Discussions about coin-operated video games.
rec.games.video.arcade.collecting Collecting, converting, repairing
etc.
rec.games.video.arcade.marketplace Commerce and requests for arcade
games.
rec.games.video.atari Discussion of Atari's video game systems.
rec.games.video.classic Older home video entertainment systems.
rec.games.video.marketplace Home video game stuff for sale or trade.
rec.games.video.microsoft.xbox360 Microsoft XBox360 console.
rec.games.video.misc General discussion about home video games.
rec.games.video.nintendo All Nintendo video game systems and
software.
rec.games.video.nintendo.wii Nintendo Wii gaming console.
rec.games.video.sega All Sega video game systems and software.
rec.games.video.sony Sony game hardware and software.
rec.games.video.sony.playstation3 Sony PS3 comsole.

[Rink]

Op 16-7-2021 om 17:31 schreef Jason Evans:

> On Tue, 13 Jul 2021 04:16:15 GMT, Retro64XYZ wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know of any play by post games on Usenet? Any one ever play
>> role playing games on here?
>
> If you're interested in creating a new gaming group in, we might be able
> to do something like rec.games.usenet or something like that. Just write
> up a proposal and a brief charter and email us at bo...@big-8.org.
>
> One more thing, we want to create groups that people are actually going
> to use, so if you're interested, just have a few people vouch for the
> idea and we can totally make this happen.
>
> Jason
>
> Here is a list of current gaming newsgroups in the big-8:
>

<snip>

>


And there also role play groups.
In English (I guess):

alt.startrek.role-playing
aus.games.roleplay
uk.adverts.games.roleplay
uk.games.roleplay

But I'm afraid they are empty for years, because I think usenet is not
suitable for gaming.
You'd better google for roleplaying websites, i.e. DeviantArt.

Rink

[Jason Evans]

Rink wrote:

> But I'm afraid they are empty for years, because I think usenet is not
> suitable for gaming.
> You'd better google for roleplaying websites, i.e. DeviantArt.

You know, people have played chess by mail before there was even
electricity. Ultra-low bandwidth gaming could be possible if someone puts
enough effort into it. I would like to see someone put together a Usenet-
based D&D game where you play by posts. I think though that it would require
that all players and the DM to only post with PGP/GnuPG signed messages to
avoid interference from non-players.

JE

[Job Bautista]

Retro64XYZ wrote:
> Does anyone know of any play by post games on Usenet? Any one ever play
> role playing games on here?

This one is not in Usenet, but in a small nntp network. There's a game
where one posts a pretty small ASCII art, post some clues (like the
category it belongs in the subject header, number of characters, and a
scrambled set of letters), and wait (usually within a week) for an
answer of what that art represents in rot13. I thought the game
originally belonged here, but it seems I'm wrong. :)

--
Job Bautista

An XUL fanatic, and an add-ons developer. I also do some simple
userscripts and bash scripting.

I like Cyndaquil. He's obviously the best Pokemon starter. Every Johto
Pokemon is cool too.

http://rw.rs/~job/

[Retro64XYZ]

I am really interested in doing this. I agree that we would need some
kind of agreement to use GnuPG or similar and have a hard timer set for
how long you can go before you are "passed up" for your turn. If I
volunteer to DM, do you all think we can pull together 2-3 more players?

[Grant Taylor]

On 8/11/21 12:24 PM, Retro64XYZ wrote:
> I agree that we would need some kind of agreement to use GnuPG or
> similar

What function will GnuPG/PGP (or S/MIME) provide? How would game play
be different (or fail) without GnuPG/PGP (or S/MIME)?

Are you speaking to impersonation / spoofing protection? Or are you
speaking to privacy?

> and have a hard timer set for how long you can go before you are
> "passed up" for your turn.

I understand why you want a timeout. But I feel like skipping someone's
turn would both alter the overall game flow as well as adversely
effecting someone's game play.

> If I volunteer to DM, do you all think we can pull together 2-3
> more players?

If there's a DM involved, I'd think that it might be worth providing
/current/ move / action / etc. as well as /intended/ / /planned/ move /
action / etc. for the next turn. That way the DM could proxy the
intention / plan in the event that someone times out. I feel like this
would be /less/ of a negative effect to the player and overall game flow.

I do wonder how things will work like shared state. E.g. how will
players A and B randomly draw from a common deck? I get how either side
can randomly draw from something. But you want to make sure that the
pile that each side is drawing from is synchronized, lest both sides
inadvertently draw the same card. -- I also think that this
synchronization may unwantonly leak what's in the other player(s) hand.
-- I can see how a DM can act as the authority for the singular deck
(state control) as well as only sharing what a given player is supposed
to know.

I think that email between players may help speak to (most) Usenet
spoofing. GnuPG/PGP (or S/MIME) can speak to the spoofing problem.

Aside: How big is the spoofing problem /within/ the context of
game-by-text? ;-)

I know that it's technically possible to send messages with different
parts using different GnuPG/PGP (or S/MIME) for privacy. Thus the DM
could manage state to multiple players in common public message(s).

Aside: I might suggest S/MIME over GnuPG/PGP as I think that more news
/ email clients have integrated S/MIME support than have integrated
GnuPG/PGP support.

[Retro64XYZ]

Let me see if I can cover all of this and more -

1. https://www.humblebundle.com/books/starfinder-paizo-books

I would like to play using Starfinder and the entire Starfinder set is
available on Humble Bundle for the next 7 days. Or you can acquire as
you see fit.

2. I think we could do with some impersonation / spoofing protection. I
don't think there are any privacy concerns to be had. It is just an RPG.

3. I will probably need to kind of flesh out an "example post" or maybe
even design an example of play so folks know what to add. I was hoping
people could add their rolls, intentions, and thoughts into one post and
then I can use all of that to build the "next turn".

4. We shouldn't have any state issues because there will not be a shared
deck or items that need to be kept in order. Just dice rolls. I plan to
use the honor system for the dice rolls. If you need to cheat at an RPG
to feel good, I am not going to really stop you unless you are really
flagrant.

5. I use SLRN for my usenet surfing and I am unsure how to sign messages
inside the application but I know how to do it on the command line and
then just paste the signed message.

6. As far as skipping, I think we could just say "Here is the scene" and
then give all players 3-7 days to get their actions in. If you miss that
7 day window, you go "last" and have to take action after every one
else. I think it would be fair.

I'm a collaborative story teller kind of DM and not an adversarial one,
so I think it would be fine for this game.

Do you think people would be upset if we ran the game inside
alt.fan.usenet as a seperate thread? Or should we try to find a home or
maybe take up the offer to start a play by post group? I feel like we
don't get so much traffic in this group that we couldn't spare the
bandwidth of some folks rolling dice and pretending to shoot up
starships and stuff... but I also understand there are a lot of rules
and decorum to usenet.

Thanks!
Aaron

[Grant Taylor]

On 8/11/21 7:33 PM, Retro64XYZ wrote:
> Let me see if I can cover all of this and more -

;-)

> 2. I think we could do with some impersonation / spoofing protection. I
> don't think there are any privacy concerns to be had. It is just
> an RPG.

I was thinking "cards down so that other players don't see your hand"
type of privacy.

> 3. I will probably need to kind of flesh out an "example post" or
> maybe even design an example of play so folks know what to add. I
> was hoping people could add their rolls, intentions, and thoughts
> into one post and then I can use all of that to build the "next turn".

I'm not a gamer, so I quite likely won't be playing. I'm much more
interested in Usenet technology and how it's used. Thus interested in
the discussion.

> 4. We shouldn't have any state issues because there will not be a
> shared deck or items that need to be kept in order. Just dice rolls. I
> plan to use the honor system for the dice rolls. If you need to cheat
> at an RPG to feel good, I am not going to really stop you unless you
> are really flagrant.

ACK

> 5. I use SLRN for my usenet surfing and I am unsure how to sign
> messages inside the application but I know how to do it on the command
> line and then just paste the signed message.

I'm aware of slrn, but I've never used it myself. Use the tools that
you / everyone else are comfortable with.

> 6. As far as skipping, I think we could just say "Here is the scene"
> and then give all players 3-7 days to get their actions in. If you
> miss that 7 day window, you go "last" and have to take action after
> every one else. I think it would be fair.

ACK It also sounds like there would be an upper bound of the next 7 day
window. You might want to draft out what happens if someone misses two
weeks (or whatever the window is) for whatever reason /without/
contacting the DM to at least say "Hey ... $FAMILY is in the hospital,
I'm extended AFK." sometime in that ~2 week window.

> I'm a collaborative story teller kind of DM and not an adversarial one,
> so I think it would be fine for this game.

<ASCII thumbs up>

> Do you think people would be upset if we ran the game inside
> alt.fan.usenet as a seperate thread?

As a Usenet server administrator, I believe that doing so is decidedly
outside of the purpose of the alt.fan.usenet newsgroup. I strongly
suspect that there is a better group to do this in.

Even alt.test would likely be more on topic.

That being said, I sort of doubt that anyone will overtly object. Maybe
try it to see if you have sufficient interest. Then use that as a judge
for what additional effort is warranted.

> Or should we try to find a home or maybe take up the offer to start a
> play by post group?

Getting a group created isn't exactly hard, but it's not fast either.
There's also a troll that likes to nitpick requests to death. If you're
going to wake it, do so with a hammer. If you're not going to wake it,
walk the long way around the mountain.

> I feel like we don't get so much traffic in this group that we couldn't
> spare the bandwidth of some folks rolling dice and pretending to
> shoot up starships and stuff... but I also understand there are a
> lot of rules and decorum to usenet.

I think that testing something for a defined period (and including copy
to that effect in thread, possibly messages from the DM) would probably
be overlooked. Especially if you use a consistent subject / keyword or
truly stick to a thread that will make it easy for people to filter if
they feel so inclined.

I obviously wouldn't feel proper blessing something, not that it matters
on Usenet. But I won't go out of my way to hassle people either.

Ask for forgiveness if someone objects? <ASCII shruggie>

[5GyYap52yQ1UGMWD]

Job Bautista <jobbau...@aol.com> writes:

> Retro64XYZ wrote:
>> Does anyone know of any play by post games on Usenet? Any one ever play
>> role playing games on here?
>
> This one is not in Usenet, but in a small nntp network. There's a game
> where one posts a pretty small ASCII art, post some clues (like the
> category it belongs in the subject header, number of characters, and a
> scrambled set of letters), and wait (usually within a week) for an
> answer of what that art represents in rot13. I thought the game
> originally belonged here, but it seems I'm wrong. :)

That sounds really cool. I would like to setup a private usenet network
where people can play pen and paper games through posts. The issue
though is with the dice rolling.

Maybe the DM can do the dice rolling instead? or just constrain it to a
few friends and just do an honor system.

--
Pointless meanderings in a bleak and lonely world.