Re: New PBeM/PBM Site

From: arnie@solid-gold.co.uk (Arnie)

Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000

On Fri, 09 Jan 1998 17:48:16 -0600, silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J.
Cravens) wrote:

>In article <34b54506.5196282@news.firstnet.co.uk>,
>arnie@solid-gold.co.uk (Arnie) wrote:
>>It seems to me that all Phil is asking for is the chance to try out
>>his ideas. I fail to see why he has to justify his actions and ideas
>>to this group before actually putting them into practice. Since when
>>did we become judge & jury (and before the trial date, too, for that
>>matter)?
>
>He does, but the problem I stated way back when is this:  instead
>of people finding a site that already exists and already has a
>start on what they're wanting, they feel compelled to start their
>own.  So instead of a few good sites, you get dozens of
>half-baked ones.

Which is fine by me as the half-baked / unsupported sites tend to die
fairly quickly (shall we go through the list?), leaving the best /
most supported ones to continue to grow and expand. Perhaps they even
borrow a good idea or two from the deceased sites...

The other benefit arising from a flurry of new sites is that the older
ones tend to go through a period of self-examination and improvement -
perhaps to appear fresh and interesting in the face of new
competition? I wait with baited breath for a couple of the older sites
to update some of their pages. Maybe some fresh competition might even
spur them into activity.

I still don't see anything wrong with plain old competition - the best
sites would be here to stay, and the rest would fail. But to not give
them all a fair chance in the first place is just plain wrong, however
you try to justify it.

>
>What if you want to advertise your game?  Why would you want to
>have to go to fifty different sites to put up ads?

Fifty? I wish! In total over the past couple of years there might have
been this many (at a push), but now there's barely five general PBM /
PBEM sites worth looking at. This is why we need fresh blood and new
ideas.

>
>>I like Greg's site, but I'm sure his excellent game finding service
>>wasn't always as good as it is now. My point is that unless people are
>>allowed to go with their ideas, to build on these and see what they
>>can really make of them, perfection will never be achieved. This
>>applies to PBM web sites as much as it does to anything else.
>
>Ah... Greg's site is not pbem.com.

Huh? I never said it was. Greg's site runs on pbm.com hosted by that
friendly chap at Shadow Island; Ed's site runs on his own pbem.com  /
Irony Games server (shared by several other, non-PBM-related
companies).

Obviously you haven't seen *Greg's* excellent game-finding service
lately. Only three clicks of my trusty mouse and I'd narrowed my
choices down to just 11 games from a list of literally hundreds - the
hardest part was deciding which of these 11 to play as almost all were
exactly the type I was looking for. Now that's an excellent service by
anyone's standards (and yes, I've already suggested to Phil that he
shouldn't step on Greg's toes regarding game search listings... unless
he can come up with something even better, of course).

Not to say that Ed's game-finding service isn't probably great as
well, though it must be said I haven't yet put it to a proper test as
it seems to feature mainly RPGs, which don't hold much interest for
me.

>>Would it really be so terrible to just give the guy a chance and see
>>what comes of it? What possible harm could it do?
>
>It fragments the target audience.

You mean it gives all of us more choice regarding where to go for our
PBM / PBEM browsing pleasure?

Yup - my point exactly.

At least we agree on something. :-)

Pete.

References

Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
"Starburst" <fil@syroxdev.co.uk>
Tue, 06 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl)
Tue, 06 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
"Starburst" <fil@syroxdev.co.uk>
Wed, 07 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J. Cravens)
Wed, 07 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
arnie@solid-gold.co.uk (Arnie)
Thu, 08 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J. Cravens)
Fri, 09 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
"Starburst" <fil@syroxdev.co.uk>
Tue, 06 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl)
Tue, 06 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
"Starburst" <fil@syroxdev.co.uk>
Wed, 07 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J. Cravens)
Wed, 07 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
arnie@solid-gold.co.uk (Arnie)
Thu, 08 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000
Re: New PBeM/PBM Site
silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J. Cravens)
Fri, 09 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000