Re: Why do games go commercial?

From: ColinForbes <timewyrm@suilven.demon.co.uk>

Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Hi,

Carol Mulholland wrote:

> I don't myself know many PBM GMs who've switched from running a
> free game to charging. Maybe the switch is more common in PBeM?

Actually, I did just that with my first non-Diplomacy game, namely
Midhir. I started Midhir as a free game, and soon had around 20 players
- about right for the game which was an open-ended, free-form, hand
moderated world game (not really a wargame).

After two years I decided to start charging a minimul charge of one
pound whiuch subsequently rose over the years. Why? Mostly to cover
costs, but also because of player pressure. When the game was free a
number of people started sending money to help with costs. I thought
this might be misconstrued as an attempt to gain favour with the GM, so
thought it would be fairer to charge everyone.

Interestingly, another (minor) reason was one of credibility. Nicky
Palmer (then editor of Flagship) made a rather disparaging comment in
the pages of that august publication, wondering if a game that was free
could  a) be any good and b) might be likely to fold suddenly. I am
happy to say that the current editor of Flagship (hi Carol!) has a
rather more enlightened view of free games.

Colin.

References

Why do games go commercial?
treasonmaster@my-deja.com
Fri, 26 May 2000 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Why do games go commercial?
treasonmaster@my-deja.com
Mon, 29 May 2000 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Why do games go commercial?
Carol Mulholland <Carol@flagship-uk.demon.co.uk>
Mon, 29 May 2000 00:00:00 +0000