Re: The Broad Axe Tavern is now open for busy

From: dwilson@bnrmtv.UUCP (Douglas Wilson)

Date: Wed, 21 Jun 1989 22:47:11 +0000

In article <Jun.19.22.18.45.1989.28305@paul.rutgers.edu>, gabai@paul.rutgers.edu (Steven Gabai) writes:
> ---mail summarized from 1 person---
> Find someway to get the "Broad Axe" out of rec.games.pbm. It is
> entirely inappropriate to run a game in that group. It is meant
> for forming games or posting of summaries.
> ---[end of summarization]

All of which I believe is true.  However, this should be salvagable.

>	I had been hoping to test out an idea in PBM RPGs, that had
> been bugging me for awhile: Namely the time delays and headaches of
> using an established PBM technique.  In rec.games.frp there has been a
> major discussion about PBeM games and all of their difficulties with
> the complexities that are sometimes lost when mapping a
> role-playing-game from the face to face mode to the e-mail mode.  I
> thought of a series of steps to remove the problems inheriant with
> this technique.
> [...] received 35 requests to join my game [...] another 30 requests

It certainly got everyone's attention.  It looked a lot more interesting
than the diplomacy summaries.  From the amount of requests you have
received, I have no doubt that there is merit to this attempt, but it still
seems rather a waste of bandwidth.

>	Since that time I have received input that this board might
> not be the proper medium for the game. If anybody has opinions or
> ideas please contact me. It is not my aim to cause any discomfort to
> users of the net, merely to use resources that haven't been tried to
> improved the entire field of PBeM games. [...] am I really out of line?
> This mode of operation has sped up the PBeM mode from
> 1 hour per month to 1 hour per day, I think
> that this says something in favor of this experiment.
> Concerned,		Steven Gabai		gabai@paul.rutgers.edu

The idea sounds great in theory, but is horribly inefficient.  I think if
you are willing to reduce the scope of your project down to a realistic
level, there would be only the occasional grumble from the terminally
discontent.  By adding one line to your header, you can solve most problems:
	Distribution: __
Where "__" is the code for your work-place/school, city, general area (such
as "ba" for the San Francisco Bay Area), or even (though this is a bit much!)
state-wide distribution (must be either very small or dead in the way of
gamers to demand this wide a distribution).

While this doesn't help you much for the game you already have started (how
many of them are even in your state?), it would seem like the optimal solution
for everyone.

One last thing:  PLEASE post summaries if this is done.  I would be very
interested in hearing how it goes, and most everyone like to read well told
summaries/stories.

Tiananmen Square, Bejing: Gun control strikes again.
  ----------------------v----------------------------------------------------
/	Doug Wilson	|	dwilson@polyslo.CalPoly.arpa		      \
\	   Lately of:	|	amdahl!bnrmtv!dwilson@ames.arc.nasa.gov	      /
  ----------------------^----------------------------------------------------
Religion is the opiate of the masses.	---  Karl Marx
I want a new drug!			---  Huey Lewis

References

The Broad Axe Tavern is now open for busy
gabai@paul.rutgers.edu (Steven Gabai)
Sat, 17 Jun 1989 13:51:03 +0000

Referenced By

The Broad Axe Tavern is now open for busy
gabai@paul.rutgers.edu (Steven Gabai)
Sat, 17 Jun 1989 13:51:03 +0000