The Perils of Play By Forum

As most of you know, I don’t get out much nowadays so I’m forced to get a lot of my gaming goodness through electronic tools. Play by email is my medium of choice most of the time, but of late I’ve dipped my toe into the world of play by forum. I find the entire concept rather peculiar because playing by forum requires a moderator, and unlike a role-playing game where the games master has an active, exciting job to do in setting the scene for the players, I can’t fathom what motivates people to moderate an online game other than sheer good-heartedness. Whatever the reason I’m very grateful, because play by forum is a lot of fun.