Non-combat initiative, aka how to spread the PbP love?
Outside of combat, where turns are usually prescribed by initiative, does anyone have recommendations about how to allow all players to be able to participate equally without necessarily using some kind of initiative system?
In many of the games where I am the GM, it seems as though there always players who get to post first, whether due to friendly time zone alignment, work schedules, or obsessive/compulsive forum checking. I don't want to punish eager play, as it helps to avoid the momentum die-off that often kills PbP games, but it really leaves other players out in the cold. I have thought about using something like a possession marker, where whichever player currently possesses it and gets first dibs on posting, but I am not sure I like that idea. What have you used to address this in your games?
In many of the games where I am the GM, it seems as though there always players who get to post first, whether due to friendly time zone alignment, work schedules, or obsessive/compulsive forum checking. I don't want to punish eager play, as it helps to avoid the momentum die-off that often kills PbP games, but it really leaves other players out in the cold. I have thought about using something like a possession marker, where whichever player currently possesses it and gets first dibs on posting, but I am not sure I like that idea. What have you used to address this in your games?