Re: What is the best pbm game?

From: dwight@pentasoft.com (Dwight VandenBerghe)

Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 00:00:00 +0000

>> I have never tried playing a pbm game, but thought that I would give
>> it a try.
>> Could you please tell me _the best_ pbm game around? :)

Chess.  There are all levels on the net, and great supporting tools.
You can analyze your games over with a free chess engine when the
game is over.  You can get a game any time you want, with an opponent
of any rating that you want.  The rating system divides players into
natural classes, so unlike the pbm games in this ng, where you will
be in a game with experts, and will probably get your clock cleaned
over and over until you get the hang of it, with chess you start out
playing with those of your own strength.  The game is ancient - you
can play over games that Napolean played, if you want - and it has
its own literature, a thing of beauty, once you get into the notation.

What you will find with the usual pbm games is that you need to be
in an "alliance" to do well.  "Alliance" is a nice word for "gang."
So a lot of your playing is trying to work with other gamg members,
making sure they do what they said they would, and so on.  Some
gang members are flakes; some are kids with tons of testosterone
who are using the game as a way to try to prove that they're men,
by beating up everyone they see; some are just plain untrustworthy.
Pbm games are pretty tough to learn to play well, usually, and once
you've made the effort to get your arms around the rules and the
playing style, you naturally want to come back into other games
of the same kind and kick butt.  So as a beginner, you start these
games against guys who are way, way better than you, and some who
are way, way better than you probably will ever be at this game.
But they don't segregate them off, usually, so you end up being
cannon fodder a lot of the time.  The rules really, really matter,
and little teeny differences in the timing of different stages
of a turn can make huge differences in how you play the game.

So if you want to play pbm, and not chess, then try to get into
a game that is not totally combat-oriented, and join a gang soon.

Having said all that, the best pbem game, in my opinion, is
Far Horizons.  It's free, but you have to get up on the rules and
demonstrate proficiency before you're let in.  The contact used
to be ram@eskimo.com .  It's a wonderful, complex game.  Expect
to spend three or four hours a week on your turn, once the game
gets going.

Galaxy and its ilk are about going around shooting up the other
guy.  Not my cup of tea.  MEPBM is for Tolkien freaks - if you
don't know the names of the races and exactly who has done what
to whom in what era of middle earth, you may stand forever
outside the gate trying to solve the damned riddle.  Rich Man
Poor Man is an interesting, twisty game, but not for everyone...
the rules are very strange.  As far as games that cost money,
you have to be careful about the company that runs the game.

I like Llucky Llama in California - they are good people and they
run good games.  If role-playing is what you want to do, and
building civilizations and making armies and training wizards
and all of that, then I think your best introduction to the
field would be to sign up for Llucky's solo game of "You Rule!"
http://www.tightbeam.com/llucky/ is the URL.  It costs you
$1.50 per turn, which is very cheap, and you can play against
the computer all you want until you get good enough to play
against other people.  The game is rich and fun, with lots
of surprises and twists.  It's a great game, highly rated,
and the company often is rated right at the top.  They
have other games on their website, but You Rule is their
best, I think.

If what you want to do is muck around in a dungeon, gathering
treasures and killing monsters, then you might prefer MUD's
to pbm.  They have their own ng's.

But chess is the best pbm/pbem game, period, in my opinion.
Once you get the hang of it, it holds an extraordinary beauty.
I just finished an email game with a guy in Peru, and it was
delightful.  I have about sixteen games going right now,
seven via snail mail with postcards, the rest via email.
You're allowed to consult your books, so I have a modest
library, and part of my evening is to go through my books
and make my moves for today's cards / messages.  It's all
free; and there is more depth in the game than I will
ever fathom.  But since I am paired with others of the same
skill level, I don't get discouraged by being beaten all
the time by others who are more savvy - like what happens
in most pbem games like Galaxy.

Hope this helps.

Dwight

References

Re: What is the best pbm game?
Keith Parker <kgp8d@virginia.edu>
Sun, 09 Nov 1997 00:00:00 +0000