Re: SPACE POSTAL RPG - Help/Ideas/Suggestions wanted

From: Lance <emporer@success.net>

Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Phil Shulkind wrote:

> Steve Pritchard <steve@spelbind.demon.co.uk> writes
> >
> >Ah, we're in the UK, Lance. Our postal system isn't all that bad (though I
> >still moan about it a lot). Two days at the most for a first class letter
> >no matter where you live - at least, that's the idea.
>

Hmm, should have noticed the .uk tag.  OK, so I may be making some unwarranted
assumptions.  I use the phrase US Mail to differentiate from email without
using the common but perhaps inflammatory nickname Snail Mail, I did not
actually mean to be country specific.  Still, perhaps UK Mail is faster,
cheaper, more reliable than the stateside equivalent.  I cna still recall when
the idea was the same for US mail, two day turnaround to anywhere- the reality,
though, is far different.

We do have postmarks with time/date stamps, so that it would be possible to
verify the posting time rather than the arrival time of letters.  SOme states
make it manditory for creditors to accept this posting time as the date of
payment, rather than the reciept time, in fact, and there is an act in congress
to extend this to the entire country.  IT seems that credit companies hae been
found holding payment envelopes until they were past due, then charging
exorbitant late fees, and claiming the letters were recived late, when in fact
they were merely processed late.  But even without deliberate mishandling like
this, it is impossible for an individual to be sure his payment, mailed within
the time limit, will actually arrive on time.

> If only. Recently I've had two turns miss the deadline in their
> respective games. Both were posted in London well before the due date.
> One arrived late with a Glasgow frank, the other arrived late with a
> Nottingham frank. Both players insist that they mailed their orders from
> London well before the deadline.
>
> Email is no better, as anyone using Demon knows. Last Wednesday I
> received a backlog of well over 200 emails, some of which had been sent
> the previous Friday. So even sending turns by email some players still
> missed the turn. Just to add to the infuriation factor, there was a
> trickle of emails getting through from somewhere or other, so I wasn't
> sure how much wasn't coming through. Then there are other times where
> you can't get an email connection without having to make several
> attempts.
>
> Demon are quick to apologise, but I don't like the idea of my postbox
> being effectively sealed for three or four days. Appropriately named I
> think, but I've not found anything any better as an alternative.
>
> At least we don't have to pay in phone bills and account fees for
> someone to snail mail a letter! But that's "progress" for you - make
> more people a sack of cash!!

I have found email, though, to be remarkably reliable, only a single net glitch
to my memory, and one or two times when people report mailing something I never
recieved; the latter was caused by my provider placing a spam block on the
domain of the source.

I also pay a set monthly fee to my access provider, and a set monthy fee for
local telephone service.  My assumption is that almost anyone posting in a
newsgroup has the same; so the cost involved in playing a game PBeM is zero.
Living in another country, or in some odd circumstances in this one, your
milage may vary!  I'm pretty sure, though, that PBeM would still be a clear
winner over PB (international) Mail...

--
Lance Berg
http://empyre.net

References

Re: SPACE POSTAL RPG - Help/Ideas/Suggestions wanted
"Steve Pritchard" <steve@spelbind.demon.co.uk>
Wed, 29 Apr 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: SPACE POSTAL RPG - Help/Ideas/Suggestions wanted
Lance <emporer@success.net>
Wed, 29 Apr 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: SPACE POSTAL RPG - Help/Ideas/Suggestions wanted
"Steve Pritchard" <steve@spelbind.demon.co.uk>
Wed, 29 Apr 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: SPACE POSTAL RPG - Help/Ideas/Suggestions wanted
Phil Shulkind <phil@phildee.demon.co.uk>
Thu, 30 Apr 1998 00:00:00 +0000
SPACE POSTAL RPG - Help/Ideas/Suggestions wanted
"Plod" <NOSPAMYAGIT@buggeroff.co.jp>
Mon, 27 Apr 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: SPACE POSTAL RPG - Help/Ideas/Suggestions wanted
Lance <emporer@success.net>
Mon, 27 Apr 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: SPACE POSTAL RPG - Help/Ideas/Suggestions wanted
"Steve Pritchard" <steve@spelbind.demon.co.uk>
Tue, 28 Apr 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: SPACE POSTAL RPG - Help/Ideas/Suggestions wanted
"Plod" <NOSPAMYAGIT@buggeroff.co.jp>
Tue, 28 Apr 1998 00:00:00 +0000