Re: PBM

From: deej@nvuxr.UUCP (David Lewis)

Date: Tue, 29 May 1990 15:45:45 +0000

In article <265890a9.548e@petunia.CalPoly.EDU>, wbock@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Bill) writes:
> The downside, and the reason that PBeM will probably eventually wipe out
>  PBM, is the game's cost. The maximum is $15.00 a turn and it took me only
>  10 or 11 turns to reach what's turned out to be an average of about $14.25
>  a turn.

Hmm.  I'm not convinced that PBEM is inherently less costly than PBM.
Replace the cost of printing and postage with the email connect charges.
Overhead -- the PB(E)M company's computer -- is still there, as is the
salary/profit for the GM(s).

Of course, if the PBEM game is run as a parasite on a company's
computer, then things like overhead and connect charges are irrelevant
-- but that's not a valid comparison, unless you compare it with running
a PBM game on my company's computer, using their printers and paper and
envelopes and postage meter.  (Which, needless to say, is against
company policy.)

> And then there's time. Turnaround is a minimum of 2 weeks and
>  waiting for the next turn can be a pain.

Turnaround varies greatly among companies; many companies pride
themselves on turning around a turn within 24 hours of receiving it,
which makes total turnaround time a function of USPS transit time.  I
live in central NJ and play a PBM based in northern NJ; I've gotten
turnaround times of three days.  Other players in the pacific northwest
have gotten 10 day or more turnaround times.  Two weeks, in the game I'm
in, is very rare for continental US players.

However, I grant that PBM turnaround times can't come close to PBEM
turnaround times, in general -- for PBEM the mail transit time is almost
trivial, compared to the USPS.

--
David G Lewis					...!bellcore!nvuxr!deej
	(@ Bellcore Navesink Research & Engineering Center)
			"If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower."

References

PBM
wbock@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Bill)
Tue, 22 May 1990 01:06:49 +0000

Referenced By

PBM
wbock@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Bill)
Tue, 22 May 1990 01:06:49 +0000