PreservingGameState

We need guidelines for preserving face-to-face game state between sessions.

John Braley suggests Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) as a basis for GameFrame notation, allowing games to be quickly recorded and picked up much later. Every game should perhaps have its own FEN-style notation.

Or should we use digital photos to preserve game state?

Also rubberband card decks and individual hands when saving state.

Play-By-Email GameFrame? Important because games can be very long and involve many people (and a lot of equipment if not played virtually). Enables a GameFrame game to be distributed over time and space, which is hard normally (it's one of the most frequent objections when people first hear about GameFrame).

Problem: how to handle arbitrary decks of GameFrame cards in email or on the Net? Also, how to notate (1) GameFrame and (2) arbitrary subgames? Ordinary you can just play Puerto Rico (for example) via a Web interface, but usually Web versions enforce the rules of the game and do not allow "breaking the rules" with powers.

What about human-run PBEM GameFrame games to avoid rigidity of computer-moderated games? Compare the long-running Cosmic Encounter game on Usenet.

Pure verbal email? Descriptive plain English? There must be some collectible card game web tools that allow for arbitrary built decks.