ME-PBM: looking for opinions From: ayma@tip.nl Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 00:00:00 +0000 Hi all! I noticed that quite a bit of stuff about ME-pbm is appearing in this group. I am translating the rulebook for that game into Dutch, so wondered whether there are some people with experience in/with this game who could write me [ayma@tip.nl]. I am looking for opinions about the game: why should people give it a try? Just from *theory* i would say that its strong points are 1- it's Tolkien!! yeaahh! 2- it is closed-ended [many Fantasy games are open ended or last years and years, and not everyone likes that] 3- it has a vivid diplomacy because of the Alliances and an overseeables number of players [also there other Fantasy games sometimes show people be left lonely in a corner of a big world, bored to death - while some people think inter-player conspiracies are THE major appeal of pbm: backstabbing, warfare, etc] 4- the Encounters and Riddles seem BIG fun; I do not think I have seen riddles in any other PBM game! 5- It has the 'right' kind of complexity to the taste of many - between the totally stilized treatement of cities/armies in some games and the very complex makeup in others, And I know some people do not like too much figuring out rules and doing mathematics - they just want to PLAY. So what do you think - are my impressions correct? Let me know. And add why YOU feel the game is good. And can someone tell me how long an average ME-PBM game runs? From page 115 I deduce: 21+ turns, so about one year? Or is it in practice longer? Thanks for any help! Aayko Eyma Holland ayma@tip.nl Up