Re: PBeM RPG's: Free or Pay?

From: "Russell Wiltshire" <russell.wiltshire@virgin.net>

Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Greg Lindahl wrote in article <5oe4bi$rbo@news2.zippo.com>...
>silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J. Cravens) writes:
>
>>
>> (Apparently someone should be paying me, since I haven't really
>> seen anything said about a pay game that a properly organized
>> free one doesn't have.)
>
>Well, it's safe to say that commercial games are more likely to be
>well-run, but that doesn't mean there are good and bad examples in
>both the commercial and free categories.
>
>One thing which as really hurt the commercial PBM industry is that
>many of the small start-ups haven't delivered what they promised.
>Bob McLain was all hot under the collar about it, and then he did
>exactly the same thing with American Flagship. Unfortunately, that
>makes it hard for well-run startups to attract customers.

I haven't started up yet - but I am developing a PBeM game. (I've posted
another message for some feedback on what players want). But I must say the
business about many small startups not delivering has worried me. Having
given my launch some thought, I have had to address the question "how do I
attract committed players when there is so much on offer ?".I run the risk,
as do all new starters, of appearing as just another two-bit GM wanting to
"try out" a new game system. The internet has provided us GMs with an
extremely easy way to publish new games of our own design.

The only solution I can think of is to make sure my game system is of good
quality, advertise well, and above all - earn myself a good reputation. The
PBeM list doesn't appear to have many feedback comments shown in the
summaries of games. This sort of "word-of-mouth" between players will help
to highlight the real gems, and provide some pointers for new GMs.

If the number of uncommitted GMs is hurting the industry, I think players
ought to start shouting about the real successes so new players know where
to start and therefore find out about well run games before they join a bad
one and forget the whole idea.

Cheers, Russ.

References

Re: PBeM RPG's: Free or Pay?
silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J. Cravens)
Thu, 19 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: PBeM RPG's: Free or Pay?
lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl)
Fri, 20 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000