Re: PBeM RPG's: Free or Pay?

From: soliiigm@aol.com (Sol III GM)

Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Karen Cravens wrote:
soliiigm@aol.com (Sol III GM) wrote:
>  Apparently I hit the one exception.  I signed up for the Baroque
Futures
>>PBeM RPG from your server to lurk on it. <SNIP>  Where is the GM for
that >game, and
>>what is going on?  It sounded good from the blurb, but I have still seen
>>no activity that would indicate a game.
>
>Nick is in the process of moving, and hasn't really got the game
>started up yet (he's his own provider, since his other choice is
>a really annoying university server).  I've been on his case a
>bit about the speed thereof, but since he cut us a good bit of
>slack a year or so ago when we were having server problems (read:
>our upstream provider was dropping, on the average, one message
>out of ten.  Or more.  This was a Bad Thing.  I spent about an
>hour each day seeing which messages hadn't yet made it through to
>my test account and manually re-submitting them as many times as
>it took), I've cut him more slack than the usual gamemasters.
>Besides, I'm not sure where I'd find another GM for such a...
>um... quirky setting.

hehehehehe...We run an 1897 setting in San Francisco with a lot of the
same elements, but with a bit broader scope, and not the same level of
'quirkiness'.  It ranks 4th in popularity out of the 6 Time Frames we have
going, and the 4 that we are about to bring out of playtesting probably
will not knock it down more than one place.  People like the Victorian
Era, and when you do something strange with it, you can develop a cult
following quickly (I still know people who play Space 1888, or what ever
that number was).  Our Schtick has been the mix of Vernian and Wellsian
Sci-Fi with the Gothic Horror and Victorian Mystery.

>>  Well, let's see here.  Your web site, although minimalist (A major
plus
>>in my book!) puts most of the 'professional' companies to shame.  The
>
>Thankyew, thankyewverymuch.  I believe in being Lynx-friendly,
>and my test machine is a 386DX40 with a 512K SVGA card.  I figure
>if I can tolerate it on that, 95% of the rest of the world can,
>and the rest probably are or ought to be using Lynx anyway.

I do the same with a 386DX40, VGA, and AOL 2.5's browser.  If I can read
it with that browser, anyone can.  I am a firm believer in Minimalist web
sights, unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.
  Especially on a gaming information site, I can not see the reason for
expansive wall papers, animated icons, extensive tables or even the use of
Frames for the most part.  A picture is worth 1000 words, but you had
better make sure that the picture says words appropriate to the material
you are presenting.

>I do have a very pretty bandwidth-sucking version of it with
>full-fledged graphical text with drop shadows for every option,
>and all sorts of nifty gewgaws here, there, and everywhere.  I
>just got Paint Shop Pro and pretty much had to go crazy with it.
>It'll never see the light of day, but it was fun to do...

I do all of my work with Paintshop Pro as well.  Check out
http://members.aol.com/Galacta/bastian.html for one of the first things I
did with the program.  You'll like it Karen, it's an anthromorphised
animal.

>Do you use a mailing list for your games, or just CC?

None of the Sol III games currently use a Mailing List.  However, we are
about to start a new price plan and game style that will use a CC style
mailing list.  We are even going to open it to a limited number of
Lurkers!

>>  I have said it before, and I will say it again.  I consider my main
>>competition to be Free RPG's.  Your's in particular.  As it is, you give
>>me a great goal, and that is making sure that Sol III is always
improving
>>and evolving to stay on the cutting edge of PBeM RPG's.  You keep me
>>honest.
>
>Good.  At times I feel vaguely guilty about doing for free what
>other people depend on for a living, but at the time I started
>(1985*), it never occurred to me that anyone *could* get paid for
>it.  And if I'd gone commercial then, I'd have had to deal with
>Southwestern Bell's business vs. home phone rates, and... heck,
>it's enough of a hassle just trying to keep everything running,
>let alone trying to figure out if I was making a profit.

1985?  Good Lord, that's 4 years before Sol III (In the form of
America2020) first saw the light of day!  I started as a free game as
well, but when I crossed the 100 player mark, figured it was time to start
seeing if there was enough money in it to let me do it as a job.  There
is, and there isn't.  If you do not have a superb product, you can't get
the customers.

>--  Karen Cravens      | Phoenyx PBeM RPG Listserver:
>majordomo@phoenyx.net
>    silver@phoenyx.net | http://www2.southwind.net/~phoenyx/
>                       | Home of the RPG Industry Discussion List
>                   Wit is educated insolence.

Eagle
Sol III Game Master
Sol III Play By E-Mail Role Playing Game
http://members.aol.com/soliiigm/

Friends come and go.  Enemies accumulate.

References

Re: PBeM RPG's: Free or Pay?
silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J. Cravens)
Sun, 22 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Re: PBeM RPG's: Free or Pay?
silver@phoenyx.net (Karen J. Cravens)
Sun, 22 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000