Where is best to run a PbEM game?

The first text-based RPG I joined was a Star Trek game, ran in a Yahoo Group. A Yahoo group was an idea medium for the game, as it allowed you to email one address, and the email would be filtered out to every member in the game. It was a true PbEM game, as it all happened by email.

I setup my own PbEM using a Yahoo Group because I was happy with this format. Then over the years, Yahoo changed slightly and allowed you to view the messages on the Yahoo Group pages. It still kept the functionality of being able to submit posts by email, but you could also do it on the web too, which I actually prefer to this day, as submitting it by email just isn't as reliable and seems to take longer.

The Yahoo Group has a few extras that you can make use of, like a photo gallery, an area to upload files, and a rudimentary “database” to add data. At first I thought this database would be useful for keeping a record of all characters, but it was too limited for what we needed. We wanted a place to keep character information without having to post it, and keep finding it in the messages list when we needed to. So I created a separate website and wrote a system that allowed members of my PbEM game to login and edit their own character biographies, upload a character picture etc.

This still works fine today, but I'm finding it increasingly frustrating that we have two separate places to look. It would just be so much more handy if the picture of the character on the website appeared next to the post on the Yahoo Group. Or if you could quickly see the member's list of characters by clicking on their profile name in Yahoo Groups, rather than typing in a separate website address. This separation also means that the characters don't get edited or updated for long periods of time, making them less useful and less likely other members are going to check back and read their character biographies.

I have had a look around and I know lots of people use Yahoo Groups for their games, many use private forums, and some use Wiki software. My question is, which is the best and why? Please add your comments to the box below!