Re: PBM costs

From: carsrac@dds.nl (Jeroen M.W. van Dijk)

Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000

In article <1995Aug29.100652.26195@leeds.ac.uk>, phy6drhj@ast.leeds.ac.uk
says...
>
>In article 595@protocol.protocol.com, chrisk@yogi.NoSubdomain.NoDomain
(Chris Kessel) writes:
>> |> Yeah, you've got THAT one right (among others)   I may need to form a
>> |> MEPBM- Anon support group soon. <G>
>> |>
>> |> Player of seven games.  <And more on their way to me...>
>>
>> I've got a general question for all PBM players.  How do you
>> afford it?  I used to play just one game, at $7.50 a turn it cost
>> $15 a month, plus usually another $30 a month on phone bills.
>> For that price I can buy a brand new computer or board game every
>> month that will almost certainly give me more play time than the
>> two PBM turns did, plus I'll have them forever and I can probably
>> sell them to someone else eventually.  I guess I could afford it, but
>> it seems I can get a hell of a lot more value for my money elsewhere.
>>
If you want to play games by email of less money. You can sent a message to
pbmserv@vtsu.prc.com with in the subject line 'help'. Richard offers only
boardgames for free. But it is still is play by (e)mail.

>Yeah, I play computer games as well.  I enjoy them but PBM gives me
>something that they don't on the whole. i.e. Competition and cooperation
>with other humans.  The diplomacy is the best bit.
>
From me it is more the fun and the random thing that can happen if you are
playing against 10 or more humans.
>
>> And never mind trying to play 3 or 4 games...that gets close to costing
>> as much as my car payment!
>
I played in three or more games low cost fantasic-rp games by mail and it
did cost me a car payment. BTW I don't have a car, Im a student :)

>Cost is not really the limiting factor (given that you have some
>disposable income), time is.  For a $7.50/turn game the complexity
>is usually high.  To do it justice (and get you money's worth) I
>suspec that you have to invest a reasonable amount of time.  This
>normally constrains me to playing one PBM of that type.  I play more
>but they tend to be simple faster turnaround games.  Guess what, they
>are cheaper too.

The same for me. I had to stop because I could get the time to play. I
play(ed) in Quest and if you didn't play you haven't to play any money.

>
>>
>> I've thought on and off about playing again, but the costs involved are
>> just way too high to really even consider it.
>
>I guess you are thinking about it differently.  Compare it to what you
>spend on alcohol (if you drink), videos or other entertainment per month.
>How long does the game keep you occupied/entertained during that month?
>That is what I use to judge whether a game is good value as that is
>really what you are buying.
>
I agree it is a way of living that keep you away from alcohol, smoking,
videos and other entertainment. It is a good hobby to kill the time with and
you have to find to balance between what you play for it and the time full
of fun you get.

Jeroen M.W. van Dijk
I play by the PBM Express in Holland
Low costs and a lot of fun.

References

PBM costs
chrisk@yogi.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Chris Kessel)
Fri, 25 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Re: PBM costs
phy6drhj@ast.leeds.ac.uk (Dean Johnson)
Tue, 29 Aug 1995 00:00:00 +0000