The end of Play by Mail? <PLEASE READ!> From: "Bob Luthardt" <luthardt@clark.net> Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 00:00:00 +0000 This is not a dissertation, nor a well docuemented thesis. I am simply expressing my remorse at the steady decline of the true play-by-mail game. In fact, the "true" play-by-mail game has already vanished, replaced by what one might call the "Role-play by mail" game. Gone are the games where at some specific moment, a pre-defined winning scenario takes place, and the game comes to an end. Now we are offered the "open-ended", "play-me-forever" role-playing game where either one character, or a party of character roam a seemingly endless terrain discovering limitless bounty, and earning a continual flow of income. On occassion, you might even meet a fellow player, say hello how are you? how do you cast the teleport spell? and move merrily on your role-playing way. Once upon a time, these encounters between players usually meant that the slowly advancing lines of battle had finally met - the inevitable grand-scale war would commence, and the player who had made the wisest use of resources, the smartest decisions in tactics, and the brightest campaign in development would usually win. WIN - a concept no longer entertained by PBM companies. Once upon a time, the ultimate goal of a PBM was to WIN THE GAME. Now, the goal is to simply PLAY THE GAME - play forever, paying for move after move after move with no end of the cash-flow in sight. Imagine playing Risk where both players can restock themselves to maximum forces at the end of each turn. What joy - what bliss! Imagine playing Monopoly with each player drawing 2.5 million dollars from the bank each turn! What grisling competition! Or imagine playing a time honored game like chess where each turn, you can put your dead queen BACK INTO PLAY! Yes, you too can become a Kasparov! You too can be a carbon based Deep Blue! Unfortunately, you will never ever EVER win. I played just about every PBM game you could imagine when I was in college. My mailbox was stuffed with game turn results everyday but sunday - and that was only because no mail arrived on sundays. My favorite game by far was It's a Crime. This game was unique, and most importantly - it was FUN! But do not be confused - yes, it was fun to play, but much more, it was fun to WIN! It was fun to take a new territory from the guy next to you who kept robbing warehouses every week. It was fun because it was a COMPETITION. Now, with It's a Crime long gone, mostly because the owners of the game simply lost interest, i find myself searching for a game where I can COMPETE rather than simply wandering the countryside with my band of pseudo-AD+D characters, making money, attacking beasts, and waving a fine howdy-do to the other player who happened to wander by during phase 5 of turn 10. Perhaps I am part of a lost age; a dying breed who grew up on competition like Monopoly, Risk, Axis and Allies, etc. Perhaps I've been replaced by a new breed of players who think that a game is something you plug into a gameboy and an opponent is something made of super conductive filaments and silicon wafers. I conclude by wishing a fond farewell to the PBM games I used to enjoy. I rarely won, but enjoyed the "pursuit of victory". And when the game was ready to run again, I was there playing - week to week, month by month, year by year. I probably spent a thousand dollars on It's a Crime alone. As for these new, "no ending in sight" Role-Play by Mail games, I usually try the first one or two free turns, and never send in any money. Why bother? If I wanted to play Ultima VII, I have a PC that can handle it pretty well - why should I trouble myself playing it by mail? My true hope in this is that somebody in the industry will hear me, and perhaps will remember the past glory days of PBM games - and perhaps might realize that I am not alone - that there are others like me who are not conent to spend 6 dollars a week and waiting every other monday for the latest update in a vast, multiplayer version of solitaire. I also hope that somehow I've missed a game or two - games that are true games; games that set themselves apart from the cookie-cutter global/space/stellar domination games that seem to differ only in return addresses. Maybe there's another It's a Crime out there waiting for me to come home. Indeed, there is no place on earth like it. Referenced By Up