Yggdrasil said: 1) Always try to keep in mind that all text games are going to move a bit slower than RL/video/voice games. That is very true. Most text games will take an average about 2 to 3 times longer to finish then a voice based game. This is mostly due people's typing speed but there are other reasons also. 2) Try to prevent any kind of shorthand or unnecessary lingo or slang, this helps everyone understand clearly what the poster is trying to get across. If you are trying to play in character then when the character speaks is time for the shorthand or lingo if it is in character. Any descriptive text or description of action should be as Yggdrasil says. Get your players also to add in descriptive actions. 3) Having everyone chat at the same time can make it hard to follow whats going on, try to find a rhythm or "turn order" that works for the amount of players involved. I find it also helps to whisper anything that is not pertinent to the game itself or use Discord or a third party chat system to help further reduce non game clutter. That is very true at first but with experience, everyone will find their rhythm as you indicate. As long as the GM makes it clear that the posting needs to be posted in context with the scene and the action that is happening, it will flow or begin to flow smoothly. For OOC (Out of Character) chat I usually use another chat system be it discord, skype, or even another roll20 room in another tab. This allows for rule questions, general chatter, and other general BS that goes on at a game table. The only thing that gets whispered in my games are specific information to a specific character due to their actions or reactions that no one else should know. I also have combat rolls whispered so that no one knows what the other character's combat results are other than by my descriptions. 4) Keep your groups smaller, as text games take more time to get much of anything done it might be best to limit the number of players in any given game (I normally don't play or host games with more than 5-7 people). My hard limit for my games is 5 players unless I know the players very well then it is 6 max. Anything more than that adds to much time to any combat or general roleplaying sessions. My rule of thumb is 4 or 5 on the average for the number of players. If the party is to small then think about using npcs to beef up the character party instead of extra players. Let the players control the npcs. I do recommend giving the players some leeway in the description of the scene also. If you give the players the basic description of a room and you have a player say they are searching under the rug but you didn't describe that there was a rug, well let there be one now and maybe even let the player find something minor like a gold ring or just a gold coin but just don't reward their addition every time or let them add something that will give them an advantage over something.
