Re: I was wondering...

From: hack@aio.jesnet.jsc.nasa.gov (Edmund Hack)

Date: Tue, 31 Jul 1990 17:11:09 +0000

In article <1990Jul25.162444.1@mel.cipl.uiowa> wolf@mel.cipl.uiowa writes:
>I was wondering where do most people get the information on PBM's so they start
>playing.  What I mean is, where'd you find out about the games out there and
>such.
>
There are 3 magazines in the U.S./U.K. that cover PBM gaming.  Flagship
is published in the U.S. and U.K. in somewhat overlapping editions.  It
is a bi-monthly, has 64 or so pages and has a very comprehensive list of
games and moderators in each issue. (several 100 long).  It is well
written and edited in a professional manner, professionally printed and
has excellent reviews.  Paper Mayhem is a smaller and less well-written
magazine published in the U.S.   I tends to cover the games of less well
known companies and has been guilty of several editorial lapses in the
past (i.e., it printed a review of a game that was _never_ released, and
may never have existed).  It has a few good writers, but typos and poor
writing are very common.  A large part of each issue is devoted to
reports of actions in games run by advertisers ( "The Pan-Galactic Horde
used their extra-strength halitosis guns to knock out the Interstellar
Nasties in Game IV of Kill-the-Enemy-Empire" kind of stuff).  The D2
report is published by a game company, but has independent editorial
control.  The editor has strong opinions and is not afraid to voice
them.  He doesn't call a spade a spade - he calls it a <expletive
deleted> shovel.  I prefer Flagship over all, with the others in the
order listed.  If there is interest, I'll post addreses and subscription
costs to the net later - I'm without my PBM files here.
>
>I was pondering the idea of setting up a PBM game which would be fairly
>inexpensive (compared to what I've seen in startup costs of 10-15 dollars and
>turn fees from 4-9 dollars).
>
>I was wondering how to go about advertising etc so that I would hit the
>broadest base so that my attempt would have the best chances of (hopefully)
>being a success.
>
>Any ideas, thoughts, opinions, etc....
>
>Michael
>WOLF@MEL.CIPL.UIOWA.EDU

I know from watching a friend of mine waste a lot of time and money in
starting a PBM company that it is harder than you think.  Only a few
games are commercially available for less than $4.00 a turn and they
tend to have a limited number of actions/orders each turn, or a have
options to enter turns by computer disk or email.  Look at a few of the
costs: Postage 0.25, envelopes 0.02, stuffing envelope 0.10 (1 a minute
at $6.00/hr labor cost), paper 0.05 for 5 sheets : 42 cents just for
mailing the turn out.  Let's say that it takes 240 hours of programming
and testing to get the game programmed - at starting wages of $25,000 a
year for a professional programmer, that's about $12.50/hr without any
benefits (another $5 per hour or so), giving a development cost of $3000
or so, throw in  $2500 or so for a computer and a printer, supplies,
etc. and you've got a development cost of $5500 for a minimal game.  If
the game requires much data entry, that cost ($0.50 - $3.00 a turn,
depending on the game) must be factored in.  If you charge much less
than $4, you are running a loss.  In addition, there are a lot of games
coming out now - many are "clones" of other games with only a few (if
any new ideas).  They tend to die out in a few years.

So, what you need is this: a good idea, a good programmer, a good
playtest and luck.  You also need to be realistic about pricing.

Edmund Hack
hack@lock.span.nasa.gov

References

I was wondering...
wolf@mel.cipl.uiowa
Wed, 25 Jul 1990 22:24:44 +0000

Referenced By

I was wondering...
wolf@mel.cipl.uiowa
Wed, 25 Jul 1990 22:24:44 +0000