Re: PBeM RPG's: Free or Pay?

From: chrisk@iago.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Chris Kessel)

Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000

|> >The PBM industry has been pretty stagnant for years and years now.  I stated
|> >about 2 years ago and I still believe, PBM will never grow unless turn
|> >fees come down by probably 50% and things move to email/www where diplomacy
|> >can be conducted online instead of through long distance.  And turn around
|> >times can move to 1/week.
|>
|>   Um...I hate to say this, but I suspect that you are out of touch with
|> PBeM.  I believe that all of those things are now common practice amongst
|> PBeM companies.

It is rapidly becoming more common, much to my delight, but there are still
a number of exceptions.

Turn fees are still high, though often email is at a discount (as I feel
it should be since it reduces costs).  $7-8+ for fees for Hyborian
War, Alamaze, Legends, etc, are still common.  I know PBM isn't a get
rich industry and $7 may just barely cover costs, but still $7 is a
prohibitively expensive amount regardless of the GM's bottom line.

1 week turn around is coming along, but a bit slower.

I stand by my statement that PBM as an industry won't really grow without
the changes I mentioned.  I'll amend that though to say those changes are
finally starting to take place.

Given the rising trend of online games I wonder if companies will setup
a PBM type, but for a fixed cost ($10 a game say) and turn around time
measured in minutes (instead of days) and a game finishes in a few
hours.  I know I'd prefer that.  Things like blitz empire, the chess
server, etc, already show the potential of that format.

Anyway, enough of my rambling.

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher Robin Kessel        Portland, Oregon | Yes, I was named
chrisk@protocol.com             Protocol Systems | after *that* Christopher
-------------------------------------------------| Robin.  Winnie the Pooh
Pooh:  I'm Pooh.                                 | is my hero. :)
Tigger:  What's a Pooh?                          |
Pooh:  You're sitting on one.                    |
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References

Re: PBeM RPG's: Free or Pay?
chrisk@iago.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Chris Kessel)
Thu, 19 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: PBeM RPG's: Free or Pay?
soliiigm@aol.com (Sol III GM)
Thu, 19 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000