Re: ME-PBM Sux

From: sstelter@vyasa.helios.nd.edu (steven stelter)

Date: Fri, 09 Jul 1993 22:59:52 +0000

In article <1528.344.uupcb@datadim.com> jeff.leggett@datadim.com (Jeff Leggett) writes:
>Wow!  ME-PBM Game #100.  I played in Game #14 and found it to be boring
>and uneventful and droppped after about 12 turns.  I thought it was a
>little expensive as well.  I know play Monster island and Dark Magus (if
>they would ever get their act together).  What i would like to know is
>what makes ME-PBM so appealing to all of you?

A fair question (although your subject line is perhaps going to earn you
more flames than you're looking for).  Mostly, the attraction for me is
the setting: being able to run around in Tolkien's world, interact with
(or, in some cases, actually *be*) characters from the books, and play around
with some of the concepts (what would an Elrond-Smaug combat be like?) is
enough to keep me hooked, even if many of the rules leave a lot to be desired.

I also dig the variety of the game.  Plenty of artifacts and spells to choose
from, each nation has its own special set of advantages and strengths (I'm
not a fan of games where all positions are created equal), and dozens of
encounters and NPCs to puzzle over.  I only wish there were more of them.

As for the claim that ME-PBM is boring and uneventful...it depends.  It can
certainly be so if your neighbors ignore you, and especially if you're located
in some remote part of the world with no idea where your enemies live.  I'd
be interested in hearing which position you played in Game #14.  From my
point of view, I'm currently on my fourth ME-PBM game (my first was Game #10);
some have been good, some less so, but "uneventful" isn't a word I'd use to
describe any of them.  I've certainly received more action for my money playing
ME-PBM than I did from Monster Island.

--Steve Stelter
                                                 sstelter@darwin.cc.nd.edu

References

ME-PBM Sux
jeff.leggett@datadim.com (Jeff Leggett)
Thu, 08 Jul 1993 15:15:00 +0000