rec.games.pbm Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) From: Brandon Blackmoor <bblackmoor@spamcop.net> Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:56:57 +0000 Play by Mail Games Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Last-modified: 2007-06-13 Welcome to rec.games.pbm. This is a newsgroup for discussing play by mail games, both ordinary mail and electronic mail, and both wargames and non-wargames. For the most part, this "discussion" consists of announcements of games seeking players. Most of these announcements are sent from PBEM-related web sites, and contain instructions on how interested players can seek more information. 1) What is "play by mail"? 2) Are there any mailing lists for PBM games? 3) What are some free, advertising-free web sites for finding and announcing PBEM games? 4) Are there PBEM newsgroups for people who speak languages other than English? 5) How can I generate trustworthy dice rolls? 6) How do I make suggestions for improving this FAQ? 7) Who wrote this FAQ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) What is "play by mail"? Play-by-mail games are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries (when played in this way, it is known as correspondence chess). Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter (a fanzine) written by John Boardman. More complex games, moderated entirely or partially by computer programs, were pioneered by Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo in 1970. The first such game offered via email through a major online service was Quantum Space from Stormfront Studios, which debuted on AOL in 1989. (Internet and BITNET email games predate 1989.) Play by mail games are often referred to as PBM games, and play by email is sometimes abbreviated PBeM -- as opposed to face to face (FTF) games which are played in person. Another variation on the name is Play-by-Internet (PBI) or play-by-web (PBW). In all of these examples, player instructions can be either executed by a human moderator, a computer program, or a combination of the two. In the 1980s, play-by-mail games reached their peak of popularity with the advent of Gaming Universal and Flagship magazine, the first professional magazines devoted to play-by-mail games. Bob McLain, the publisher and editor of Gaming Universal, further popularized the hobby by writing articles that appeared in many of the leading mainstream gaming magazines of the time. In the late 1990s, computer and Internet games marginalized play-by-mail conducted by actual postal mail, but the postal hobby still exists with an estimated 2000-3000 adherents worldwide. (from Wikipedia, "Play-by-mail game", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_by_mail) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Are there any mailing lists for PBM games? Yes. RPG Player Sanctuary -- devoted to online role-playing games; see http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/RPG_Player_Sanctuary These mailing lists concentrate on particular games: Adventurer's Guild -- write to majordomo@teleport.com, saying 'subscribe guild-l' in the body of the message BSE (Beyond the Stellar Empire, SMG version) -- write to BSE_List-subscribe@yahoogroups.com BSE (Beyond the Stellar Empire, KJC version) -- write to KJC-Phoenix-subscribe@yahoogroups.com DM (Duelmasters) -- write to duel-subscribe@egroups.com DungeonWorld -- write to DungeonWorld-subscribe@yahoogroups.com EiA (Empires in Arms) -- write to majordomo@indiana.edu, saying 'help' in the body of the message Galaxy-NG -- see http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/galaxyng-players Godfather -- write to godfather-L-subscribe@onelist.com Legends -- see http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/whispersofthepalantir/ LOTE (Lords of the Earth) -- write to LOTE-L-subscribe@yahoogroups.com MI (Monster Island) -- write to abb21@dial.pipex.com Midgard -- write to midgard_uk_pbm-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk Mortis Maximus -- write to MortisMaximus-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Necromancer -- write to Necromancer-L-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Polaris -- write to polarismain-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Quest -- write to quest-subscribe@onelist.com SDW (Stars of the Dark Well) -- write to majordomo@data1.com, saying 'subscribe sdw' in the body of your message Star Fleet Warlord -- write to sfw-list-subscribe@onelist.com Steel Fury -- write to SteelFury-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Third Reich -- write to goldfarb@texas.net (Chris Goldfarb): he has a list of people interested in PBM play Victory! -- write to victory-L-subscribe@yahoogroups.com World War IV -- write to ww4-list-subscribe@onelist.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) What are some free, advertising-free web sites for finding and announcing PBEM games? PBEM2.0 http://www.pbem2.com/ pbemcentral http://www.gossiping.net/phpBB2/?mforum=pbemcentral PBEM News http://www.pbemnews.org/ PBEM Nexus http://www.pbemnexus.com/ PBEM Portal http://www.pbem.tapirdesigns.co.uk/ PBM/PBEM List http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pbm_list/ There is also a PBM homepage at: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pbm.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Are there PBEM newsgroups for people who speak languages other than English? Yes. German: newsgroup de.alt.games.pbem Russian: newsgroup relcom.games.pbem Italian: it.comp.giochi.pbem ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) How can I generate trustworthy dice rolls? Many boardgames and other self-moderated PBEM games require dice rolling. One good way to do this is to use an email server: you tell it the address of your opponent, and it rolls dice and sends a mail message to both of you. This way, both sides can trust the answer. One such email server is at pbm.com: dice@pbm.com Send mail with "help" in the body of the message, and it will send instructions. Another source for trustable die rolls is RPG Library's "Secure Dice": http://www.rpglibrary.org/software/securedice/ RPG Library Secure Dice is a free online dice roller which will generate random numbers, generate a MD5 checksum of the results, and email those results to the email address(es) you specify. You can type the checksum into the verification page to ensure that the dice results are genuine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) How do I make suggestions for improving this FAQ? If you think of other useful topics for this FAQ, or if you have updates or corrections, please send your suggestion to faq@pbem.org . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) Who wrote this FAQ? The rec.games.pbm FAQ in its current form was initially written by Brandon Blackmoor in June of 2007. This version was based on a previous FAQ written by Greg Lindahl, who stopped updating it in April of 2006. -- Brandon Blackmoor bblackmoor@blackgate.net 2007-06-13 Up