Why Text

In the same way that reading a book can give a more full experience than film, reading text can give a mroe full experience than a 3D video game. Right now, even the most realistic video game still has an element of separation that reading text lacks.

The Benefits
There are many significant benefits to using a text-based medium.

Patience
Learning to be patient between text-based posts is key to succeeding in the text-based world. But more than that, we can extend the patience we learn from the text-based environment to the world around us, and this kind of patience can have an effect on the stress levels of others around us, resulting in more work being done. This increased productivity can sometimes result in an observation that peaceful interaction brings more benefit than aggression, fear, or war. That's right: text-based games can contribute to world peace, as can anything that increases our capacity for patience.

Creativity
We constantly use our imaginations in our interpretations the text of the game environment. When we use a ready-made picture that doesn't engage the creativity centers of the brain, we ensure that our creativity increases. This can develop writing skills easily—but more than that it also can encourage people to develop skills in day-to-day problem solving and (when combined with increased patience) can lead us to develop skills which will encourage success later, when we decide to stop playing because of increased productivity.

Other Benefits
Other benefits to a text-based environment also include other items such as the following:
 * Increased social exposure
 * Furthered ability to handle stress
 * Increased work productivity

Benefit Limitations
These benefits all assume the responsible use of the game as a momentary distraction, something which can add to the enjoyment of life instead of taking away from it. Like anything on the internet, social addictions can cause undesired side effects.

Drawbacks
The drawbacks to text-only are few, but important to know.

Clarity
The primary drawback to text is that it lacks the emotional richness of voice. If someone writes the words:  You don't understand what I wrote, then the problem is that you can't tell what the phrase really means. That person might really mean: And there are lots of other interpretations that might exist for such a phrase. If someone spoke the phrase, their emphasis and intonation would give meaning. As this is missing, it could be taken any of these, or be taken in a way which might even be insulting.
 * You misunderstood what I wrote.
 * You of all people have no idea about my writing genre.
 * You always seem to misinterpret the meanings of my words.

The lack of connection through voice means that there is a potential for misunderstanding. And so text is not ideal for communicating the kinds of information needed at a social level.

Duration
Typing is slow. It takes a lot less time to just talk. Waiting for someone else to type out their post can take up to 30 minutes for a longer post, so large groups can take one hour or more between actions in a roleplaying scenario (though generally, 5 minutes is a good amount of time to wait).