Re: Are web based games the future of pbm/pbem.

From: madcentral@aol.com (MadCentral)

Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 09:44:09 +0000

>>Of
course there are the diehard vets who would never give up their mail
based games but they must surely be a dwindling number?<<

Not really, no.  Email has opened up new avenues for gaining players, but the
postal play method is still hugely popular.  For us at least and really isnt
showing any signs of decreasing right now.  Maybe it will, in time, but the
evidence isn't there from our player base yet.

>>I don't think Ro said he wanted to make a living from his web site did
he?<<

Who said he did?  The generic question "is this the way to go" seemed to
suggest he was asking for comparisons to other styles of game moderation and a
commercial comparison is pretty much inevitable.  Particularly when his
original message also compared his previous commercial business in hand-mod
snail mail.

>>If he's not trying to make a living it doesn't matter too much how
big his player base is,<<

Who said it did?  Again, it was the original message which stated player
numbers as evidence that "this was the way to go."

>>Not everyone wants to slog their guts out for
god-knows-how-many-hours-a-week for the meagre income you can make
from running paper based PBM games. <<

Phil, just because you feel your own income was "meagre" doesn't mean that this
is always the case.  I've never been unhappy with the income I earn, and we
still have a very sizeable paper-based player population.

Certainly, PBM has bought me a nice house and a nice car and sent me on some
great vacations.  It's also kept several staff in work over the years.  It may
not have given me a villa in the South of France or let me jet about in first
class all over the world, but its as good a way as making a living as many, and
a hell of a lot better than some.  Id certainly rather do this than go back to
a full-time 9-5 office grind.

>>Because Turf Wars is automated it
doesn't need much time, so whatever it provides is a supplemental
income. Seems great to me :) <<

Well, of course it does.  But that wasn't the point of the original question
posed.

>>Let's put it another way, I can get as much pleasure from one days
play of Turf Wars than I ever got from one fortnightly turn in St Vals
(or a whole damn game of It's A Crime),<<

But one persons meat is another persons gruel.  Not that Im suggesting that
Turf Wars is gruel (nor that theres anything wrong with Gruel, in fact I'd
rather like some more, please sir.)  But I loved Its A Crime when I played it
many, many years ago, and Im sure many hundreds of other players did (and still
do).  And the fact that you presently enjoy faster turnaround, and different
games, doesn't mean that what you enjoy is necessarily "the future".

>>and I pay - a donation of my
choosing - if I want to (which I do as I have faith in both the
designer and the product).<<

And quite probably, your faith is well-founded and you are contributing to the
future of a great game.

Steve T.

References

Re: Are web based games the future of pbm/pbem.
philshulkind@hotmail.com (Phil S)
Tue, 20 May 2003 22:28:18 +0000