Re: rec.games.pbm Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

From: rahoomy73@gmail.com

Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2012 06:09:42 +0000

=D8=A8=D8=AA=D8=A7=D8=B1=D9=8A=D8=AE =D8=A7=D9=84=D8=A3=D8=B1=D8=A8=D8=B9=
=D8=A7=D8=A1=D8=8C 1 =D8=B3=D8=A8=D8=AA=D9=85=D8=A8=D8=B1=D8=8C 2004 UTC+3 =
10:01:11 =D9=85=D8=8C =D9=83=D8=AA=D8=A8 Greg Lindahl:
> Archive-name: games/play-by-mailLast-modified: 2003/05/09 Play by Mail Ga=
mes Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)Play by Mail Games Frequently Asked Que=
stions (FAQ)Welcome to rec.games.pbm! This is a newsgroup for discussing pl=
ay by mail games, both ordinary mail and electronic mail, and both wargames=
 and non-wargames.There is a PBM WWW homepage at: http://www.pbm.com/~linda=
hl/pbm.html1) What is Play By Mail?2) What games get talked about here? 3) =
What other games are there? 4) Are there any mailing lists for PBM games? 5=
) I read German or Russian or Italian. Do I win a prize? 6) Is commercial a=
dvertising allowed here? 7) How can I generate trustable dice rolls? 8) How=
 do I find oponents for board games?---------------------------------------=
-------------------------------1) What is play by mail?PBM stands for "play=
 by mail". Since this IS the Internet, we use it to mean both ordinary post=
al mail and electronic mail. Games like Diplomacy have been played via post=
al mail since the 1960's, starting with John Boardman's 'zine. The US comme=
rcial PBM market was started by Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo in the early =
1970's. Now there are commercial PBM companies all over the world. In addit=
ion, there is some activity in role-playing games via mail.Why play PBM gam=
es? Well, even though the commercial games are expensive, they offer some t=
hings that some people have a hard time finding face to face -- good oppone=
nts, convenient playing times, and games with lots of hidden information. N=
on-commercial games can offer the same benefit, as long as the people runni=
ng it are dedicated.How do PBM games work? Generally you mail in orders to =
a moderator, human or computer, once a week, and they mail the results back=
 to you. A PBM game can be as simple as a human running an ordinary Dungeon=
s & Dragons game, or a 45,000 line program moderating a fantasy strategic/r=
ole-playing game with 50 pages of rules.PBEM games -- those conducted via e=
mail -- are generally played by mailing human-readable files back and forth=
. A few games require special software on your home computer; if so, it wil=
l be mentioned in the game desription, if there is one.--------------------=
--------------------------------------------------2) What games get talked =
about here?Many postings on this group will have a game name mentioned in t=
he subject line. If you post, please mention the game in the subject so tha=
t others who are interested in the same game will actually read your postin=
gs. Some frequently mentioned games are:Adventurer's Guild (AG): a commerci=
al fantasy arena combat game. It has its own FAQ posting.Atlantis: a free o=
r commercial strategic fantasy PBeM. The largest existing game of Atlantis =
is Eressea.Duelmasters (DM): a commercial fantasy arena combat game.Galaxy:=
 a free PBeM originally written by Russell Wallace, with a space setting. I=
t exists in several forms, including Blinde Galaxy, and GalaxyNG.Legends: a=
 commercial D&D-type simulation in which 200 players wander around a large =
map trying to become more powerful.Middle Earth (ME-PBM): a commercial stra=
tegic simulation of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy universe.Quest: an open-ende=
d commercial fantasy PBM game.In addition, other PBM games are discussed in=
 separate newsgroups:Core Wars and C++ Robots: a game of battling programs.=
 An email server is available for an ongoing tournament. Discussion about C=
ore Wars generally takes place in rec.games.corewar.Diplomacy: a boardgame =
often played by email. Discussion for this game generally takes place in th=
e group rec.games.diplomacy.Board games: games such as Empires in Arms, Thi=
rd Reich, and Axis and Allies are discussed on rec.games.board, and are som=
etimes played by mail.Chess: discussed in rec.games.chess.play-by-mailFanta=
sy Baseball and Football: discussed in rec.games.sport.baseball.fantasy and=
 rec.games.sport.football.fantasy------------------------------------------=
----------------------------3) What other games are there?The PBM List is a=
 list of all PBM Games on the planet, pretty much. It has details about all=
 the free games that I know of, plus a paragraph each on a bunch of commerc=
ial games, plus a list of all PBM Games on the planet courtesy of Flagship =
Magazine.------------------------------------------------------------------=
----4) Are there any mailing lists for pbm games?There are several:http://g=
roups.yahoo.com/group/PBMDesign leads you to an mailing list about game des=
ign.These mailing lists concentrate on particular games:Adventurer's Guild =
-- write majordomo@teleport.com saying `subscribe guild-l' in the body of y=
our letter. BSE (Beyond the Stellar Empire, SMG version) -- write BSE_List-=
subscribe@yahoogroups.com saying anything in the body of the message (this =
replaces the RTG version of BSE) BSE (Beyond the Stellar Empire, KJC versio=
n) -- write KJC-Phoenix-subscribe@yahoogroups.com saying anything in the bo=
dy of the messageDM (Duelmasters) -- write duel-subscribe@egroups.com Dunge=
onWorld -- write DungeonWorld-subscribe@yahoogroups.com saying anything in =
the body of the message. EiA (Empires in Arms) -- write majordomo@indiana.e=
du saying `help' Godfather -- write godfather-L-subscribe@onelist.com sayin=
g anything in the body of the messageLegends -- write majordomo@listbox.com=
 saying `subscribe legends' in the body of your message LOTE (Lords of the =
Earth) -- write LOTE-L-subscribe@yahoogroups.com saying anything in the bod=
y of the message. MI (Monster Island) -- (another newsletter) write abb21@d=
ial.pipex.com Midgard -- write majordomo@midgardusa.com saying 'subscribe m=
idgard' in the body of your message. Mortis Maximus -- write MortisMaximus-=
subscribe@yahoogroups.com saying anything in the body of the message. Necro=
mancer -- write Necromancer-L-subscribe@yahoogroups.com saying anything in =
the body of the message. Polaris -- write polarismain-subscribe@yahoogroups=
.com saying anything in the body of the message. Quest -- write quest-subsc=
ribe@onelist.com saybing anything in the body of your message SDW (Stars of=
 the Dark Well) -- write majordomo@data1.com saying 'subscribe sdw' in the =
body of your message. Star Fleet Warlord -- write sfw-list-subscribe@onelis=
t.com saying anything in the body of the message Steel Fury -- write SteelF=
ury-subscribe@yahoogroups.com saying anything in the body of the message. T=
hird Reich -- write goldfarb@texas.net (Chris Goldfarb), he has a list of p=
eople interested in PBM play. Victory! -- write victory-L-subscribe@yahoogr=
oups.com saying anything in the body of the message. World War IV -- write =
ww4-list-subscribe@onelist.com saying anything in the body of the message -=
---------------------------------------------------------------------5) I r=
ead German or Russian or Italian. Do I win a prize?Yes! There is a newsgrou=
p de.alt.games.pbem with some interesting things going on, but it's all in =
German. Some German-language games are included in the PBM List mentioned i=
n section (3) above.Likewise, there is a newsgroup relcom.games.pbem, which=
 is mostly in Russian. They play a lot of "Galaxy" in Russia.Likewise, ther=
e is a newsgroup it.comp.giochi.pbem, which is mostly in Italian.----------=
------------------------------------------------------------6) Is commercia=
l advertising allowed here?Usenet is traditionally a non-commercial place, =
because many people who read the Net are actually paying to receive article=
s. Posting an advertisement is somewhat like sending them junk fax. However=
, there are three exceptions to this rule:A) There is an entire hierarchy o=
f commercial groups, called "biz.*". These groups allow advertising. But th=
is group isn't in that hierarchy, and biz.* isn't well propagated because n=
o one wants it.B) Traditionally, a single, short, tasteful, fact-filled (no=
t hype-filled) advertisement for a product will be favorablyreceived.C) Mos=
t groups, like this one, have some informational postings which will list, =
in one place and in a consistent format, commercial information. In this ca=
se, the list is the "PBM List", mentioned in section 4 above, which is post=
ed twice a month and is available via WWW and ftp.So if you are a commercia=
l company and wish to make information about your game available on Usenet,=
 (C) is your best bet. Send email to lindahl&#64;pbm.com and I'll tell you =
what information I need to put you on the list.[ For more information about=
 this Usenet tradition, please see http://www.cs.ruu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/us=
enet/advertising/how-to/part1.html. ] Other than posting basic information =
about your game, supporting your game on the group is encouraged -- if folk=
s have questions, post and answer them. It's only repetitive hype-filled po=
stings, or perhaps repetitive answers of the same question, that will tick =
offUsenetters. If you did post an advertisement, it might pay to use the [A=
D] keyword for it, but you might not want to use that for a single, fact-fi=
lled advertisement ((B) above) because people might ignore it, thinking it'=
s a repeated ad. I haven't seen much use of this keyword yet, so I don't ha=
ve much practical advice to give regarding it.-----------------------------=
-----------------------------------------7) How can I generate trustable di=
ce rolls?Many boardgames and other self-moderated PBEM games need lots of d=
ice rolled. One good way to do this is to use an email server: you tell it =
the address of your opponent, and it rolls dice and sends a mail message to=
 both of you. This way, both sides can trust the answer.One such email serv=
er is:dice@pbm.comSend mail with "help" in the body of the message, and it =
will send instructions.----------------------------------------------------=
------------------8) How do I find oponents for board games?Eric Pass maint=
ains a directory of gamers who want to play various board games by mail. Yo=
u can contact him at epass@nyx.net or you can check out his WWW pages at:ht=
tp://www.nyx.net/~epass/pbemlist.html -------------------------------------=
--------------------------------- If you think of other useful topics for t=
his FAQ, please send me mail at lindahl&#64;pbm.com. If you're tired of see=
ing this posting, add the subject line to your kill file.GregLindahl (linda=
hl&#64;pbm.com)

References

rec.games.pbm Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl)
Wed, 01 Sep 2004 19:01:11 +0000