Added 5 minutes later
I did have one idea, though: to implement most of the battles through quests that are taken by a certain number of characters. And to conduct the battles, say, in Skype (in text groups, not conferences), where each person would control their actions independently. For example, Arandor rushes into battle, takes a lot of damage, and shouts in Skype, "Amka, heal me!" or something like that. I think it would be great, but again, there are problems with implementation due to the inconsistent online presence.