Some players reply promptly, others leave it to the last minute, some miss rounds but contribute to others and some will register but never contribute. Instructional Design Virtual Games require a dynamic instructional process. You are close to your players and in a position to be responsive to feedback. As the games are played in rounds, this makes instructional design a dynamic, iterative process. If something is not working, it can be readily changed.
Players can have a great time participating in an e-mail game but learn nothing.
To ensure that the games have maximum impact on performance improvement, debriefing is perhaps the most important component of an e-mail game. Debriefing provides the opportunity for reflection to take place which hopefully will facilitate the transfer of learning from the game to the work context. We tend to use a bulletin board for debriefing. It provides an opportunity for players to meet and share their experiences. We have developed a debriefing template which can be adapted to each context by the facilitator.