For PBM game moderators From: lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl) Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 04:38:03 +0000 Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo asked me to post this. It's of relevance only to PBM game designers or publishers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To all the pbm companies I am aware of: Two things I would really like you to do today. (1) Please go to http://www.aagad.org/Eligibility_Form.html - and submit your best pbm/pbem game for a possible Origins award. Last year we only had 3 or 4 pbm companies submit their games, and the awards committee has been thinking about dropping the pbm award. I know most of the voters have no idea what pbm is, and I know several pbm people have in the past claimed that the award "doesn't mean anything" but it DOES mean something. There is absolutely no question that it is FREE PUBLICITY to the games nominated and to the game that wins. The winners of the award go into Origins History, and will be posted on the Origins webpage FOREVER, and probably with a link to your website. The award is given at a ceremony at Origins, with hundreds of people in attendance, and then reported in gaming magazines. Plus the last couple years they have printed up a poster to give to game stores, with pictures of all the winning games. So if I want to win, why am I telling you about it? Pure self-interest. There is NO other independent third party out there in the USA giving away awards to pbm games. This is *it*. If they decide to drop us from "lack of interest" it will take YEARS to get back on the ballot if ever. And it doesn't cost you anything, not even a stamp. Just go to the website and fill out the form. Pick your best pbm game, and include your contact info. But you gotta do it NOW. Monday they will start compiling the eligibility ballot. If you don't get this msg until monday, it's still possible that you might get in. Possibly until the end of the week, but NO MORE THAN THAT. Everyone who wants to, submits his or her best game. The entire list is sent to the 200+ members of the academy (theres some free publicity for you also - these people are all in the game industry), and they vote on their three favorites in each category. The five best vote getters get nominated to go on the ballot. This will get you a LOT of publicity as the ballots are published and sent all over the industry for the public to vote on. You'll get a lot of publicity as one of the "five best pbm games of the year". Yes, I know a lot of the people voting have never seen your game or my game. But SOME of the people in the academy have played pbm games, and publicity is publicity. Tell me you'll turn down an award because someone who might have voted for you, picked you because your game's name sounded interesting!? Last year we didn't even have 5 candidates for nomination, so I submitted three of my games just to fill up the ballot. I don't want to hog all the nominations - I just want there to be some competition. If you know any other pbm companies who I haven't sent this msg to, forward it to them with my compliments. There is a place on the submission form for 'promotional information'. This is where you can tell the academy members how to get a "sample" of your game. You can offer a free rulebook, or a coupon for a discount, or even a free game if you want. Remember, at the very least EVERYONE who fills out the submission form will have his game mentioned to 200+ gamers! Secondarily to part one, if you are willing to spend $30, please join the academy. Altho there are 200 gamers in the academy, very few of them are pbmers. I know, we're all too busy running our games. But anyone who has designed and published a game (that's you, right?) is eligible to join. For $30 a year, you get a bunch of free games, and you are allowed to vote for the nominations. You can help make sure that the five games nominated are the best of those submitted. Just go back to www.aagad.org and click on "membership". There is a pdf you can download and print out - you can fax it to GAMA with a credit card number, and be a member of the academy. Plus in the final round of voting, your vote counts more than the general public for the final winner. (2) The pbm industry has been in a decline for some time. But there are a few of us left. I have some ideas for joint promotions and advertising that I'd like to discuss with a few people. Contact me if you are interested. Also feel free to invite other moderators. Rick Loomis (Greg, I probably should have mentioned, only the designer of the game, or the company that publishes it is eligible to submit it for nomination. If you are aware of a worthy game, please send the above message to its moderator/publisher). Flying Buffalo Inc www.flyingbuffalo.com PO Box 1467, Scottsdale, AZ 85252 480-945-6917 fax 480-994-1170 Referenced By Up