Re: pbm game fees

From: Kevin McGee <kdmcgee@aol.com>

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 00:00:00 +0000

Bob,
  I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment.  PBM only appeals to a
certain segment of the gaming population and I think that there will
always be those gamers that play PBM/PBEM type games.  To broaden the
base of PBM gamers, we need better (or more successful) marketing.  Since
I have never tried to market a PBM product, I can't really pass judgement
on those that have.  Changing PBM/PBEM games to make them more like more
widely accepted games could destroy the PBM/PBEM niche and its appeal.

Of course, this is not to say that I won't like to see an Odyssey map.

- Kevin

Bob McLain <bmclain1@khan2.dandelions.com> wrote:
>Doug Luke says that Odyssey has 'spare, no-graphics, database oriented
>reports', and that these reports may 'scare off' people knew to
>play-by-mail gaming.
>
>That's not necessarily true.
>
>Many early play-by-mail games had 'spare, no-graphics, database oriented
>reports'.  Anyone remember Empyrean Challenge?  Odyssey is like
>tic-tac-toe compared to the sheer number-crunching ferocity of Empyrean
>Challenge.  And back then it wasn't as easy to program player aids.
>
>If anything has changed, it's the expectations of players.  I don't think
>play-by-mail, at least not in its traditional form, can meet these
>expectations.  Want graphics?  Play a computer game.  Want opponents?
>Play a computer game against others via modem.  Who needs a moderator?
>
>But if you want to play something *really* complex, something like
>Empyrean Challenge or Odyssey, then you do need a moderator.
>
>I see play-by-mail as providing a niche service for a very specific
>segment of the gaming market.  There are still folks who *like* crunching
>numbers, and who don't necessarily want graphics on their turn reports.
>We can't compete against the well-funded companies who seem intent on
>offering multi-player games through the Internet.  These companies will
>not offer games like Empyrean Challenge; their games will be simple,
>colorful, and designed for the widest possible mix of players.
>
>The challenge facing play-by-mail is not design but marketing...
>
>Play-by-mail will continue to grow, and may perhaps even grow
>substantially with email gaming, but it's not clear who will benefit from
>the growth: existing PBM companies, or large game companies who branch
>into play-by-mail.
>
>Bob
>

References

Re: pbm game fees
DLUKE@msu.edu (Doug Luke)
Mon, 11 Sep 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Re: pbm game fees
Bob McLain <bmclain1@khan2.dandelions.com>
Tue, 12 Sep 1995 00:00:00 +0000
pbm game fees
keith.langley@mdcs.com (Keith Langley)
Mon, 28 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Re: pbm game fees
chrisk@yogi.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Chris Kessel)
Wed, 30 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Re: pbm game fees
cezton@nvg.unit.no (Kjetil Friden)
Wed, 06 Sep 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Re: pbm game fees
gl8f@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl)
Thu, 07 Sep 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Re: pbm game fees
desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Thu, 07 Sep 1995 00:00:00 +0000