Re: Ads on rec.games.pbm, The Real Post

From: kmgraphiks@aol.com (KMGraphiks)

Date: Sun, 15 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000

<<I thought that the sole purpose of a business was to make money?  At
least that's what I learned in Accounting 101, and it seemed a very
reasonable
conclusion.  If you can't afford advertising, maybe you should take a look
at the books to see if you're charging your customers enough in fees to
maintain your profit margin.  I've run across many a good PB(e)M game that
is still thriving today, and they don't find it necesary to post ads on
r.g.pbm or other USENET groups. >>

I think you're forgetting that most PBM/PBEM companies start out as
part-time ventures. They need to keep expenses at a minimum and turn fees
low to attract more customers (Accounting 102). These moderators most
likely frequent this newsgroup and find it a reasonable place to announce
their creations to the PBM world. If the PBM industry (and this newsgroup)
doesn't welcome new companies/games into the fold (by flaming their ads)
then there will be fewer and fewer games for us to enjoy.

<<I am concerned about SPAM and saturation bombing of me as a PB(e)M
player.
This group would be quickly added to my killfile if it where to become a
route of advertising for (any and in particular marginal) PB(e)M companies

seeking free advertising space in an attempt to help them make a
profit/survive.>>

Many games start out as marginal but evolve into wonderful games. Heaven
forbid they make a profit and survive! Just ignore the ads if you don't
want to read them, just like when you read a magazine.

<<A "unique feature" I appreciate in PB(e)M game companies is excellent
customer service.  I've played less than perfect games because the CS was
excellent, and dropped play of excellent games because CS sucked.  RSI
(Hyborian Wars) of several years ago, and BSE before it's takeover by RTG,
are cases in point for the good game-poor CS scenario.  If you're giving
quality service, even a marginal game will win adherents; but an excellent
product won't long survive poor CSR.  If a game falls into the latter
group,
even free advertising won't save it.>>

Customer service is very important. Players hate it when they can't get
ahold of their moderators or their moderators don't communicate with them.
I'd say a moderator that regularly (bi-monthly?) announces new game starts
and updates on this forum would be very accessible.

<<And if companies want to be able to announce a new game here, they might

want to consider doing it with a call for playtesters when it's in the
development stage.  If the game has "unique features" and "attractions",
it won't take long for the playtesters to let it be known.>>

A call for playtesters is not a viable way to launch a game. How many
playtests have you been in that never achieved a commercial release? The
commercial release of a game is big news in our hobby (or should be).
Relying only on "word-of-mouth" from your playtesters is a sure formula
for disaster (Marketing 101).

Ken Mitchell
The PBM Report

***********
SAVE THE ADS!

References

Re: Ads on rec.games.pbm, The Real Post
bswain@nyx.cs.du.edu (Benjamin Swain)
Sat, 14 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Re: Ads on rec.games.pbm, The Real Post
bswain@nyx.cs.du.edu (Benjamin Swain)
Sat, 14 Jun 1997 00:00:00 +0000