A PBEM game starts when as many players as was set by the person who created the game have uploaded their .emp files. There are options for the creator to change the number (to force the game to start with fewer players, for example), and to set a deadline for submitting turns. I'm in one of the Elimination Tourney games; the deadline for that is set at 72 hours from when the Last turn executed, but we've been running somewhat over a turn a day on average. [If someone misses the deadline, the AI runs their turn. Which is a huge incentive to get your turn in on time.
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Cap'n Q
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"
[This message has been edited by capnq (edited 29 May 2001).]