PbP Question re: adventure hooks

[Paladin]

Hey guys. Let me preface my question by saying I'm an open-world sandbox kind of guy. The games I enjoy playing offer a lot of freedom and options without obviously guiding me in a particular direction by littering a million glaringly visible potential hooks across the landscape. I like having to find the adventure or make it myself.

And that's where my problem lies. I run games the same way, and in PbP (I've attempted two so far--one died and one is currently dying) this has presented me with problems.

I've had players stand around or avoid posting because they don't see a clear path ahead. People don't see big hooks to grab and seem to lose their enthusiasm. I've generated reams of content for them to uncover in literally every corner of the game world, and have random tables ready to generate even more if it's required, but I can't entice them into exploring it. They're all great players with plenty of experience, so I'm fairly certain the problem is on my end.

I'm not really sure what to do. It bores me to run a game where things are all but spelled out. But it obviously doesn't satisfy players to have to explore and uncover their own adventure from scratch, and I don't want to waste anyone's time.

How on earth do I find a happy medium?

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Paladin, I am just learning the whole pbp thing myself, so I hope that my game works and that will show you what I do and hopefully that will be of some help. Also see this thread above on this page. Making the Most of Play by Post Games.


Also look at the Traveller game that is currently going on. If I had the time I would join it.

Sorry I did not reply to this sooner, I meant too and did not get back to it till now.

BTW where is the pbp games that you are running, do you have links you can post to both of them?