The Future (or lack of it) of PBM

From: Adam Saunders <adam@asaunders.freeserve.co.uk>

Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 00:00:00 +0000

"Jon B." wrote:
>
> To Phil (presuming someone may forward this to him), or anyone else with
> some insight,
>
> What exactly has happened to PBM/PBEM to cause it to deteriorate and become
> boring; beyond the obvious - realtime "video games" which have effectively
> destroyed the strategic/thinking mind?
>
> I had been part of a WorldWar I era naval PBM game for 4+ years which ended
> in December, and have been interested in finding a replacement to fill my
> time, but I am having quite a time finding one. Now, after hearing Phil, and
> ESPECIALLY the grumblings of everyone in response to his announcement, I am
> beginning to come to the conclusion that PBM/PBEM is dying a slow,
> lingering, painful death.
>
> Is the problem a lack of innovative games, lacsadasical GM's, poor player
> interaction, what?
>
> I thoroughly enjoyed the game which I was part of, and don't understand why
> there can't be some other game out there that can re-ignite that spirit.

Jon, there are *loads* of games out there. I can only speak about the UK
scene, and the companies I've played with but everything seems 'A' OK to
me. KJC, Pagoda and the Madhouse all have stables of well run, well
thought out, well presented and very, very playable games. They also all
turn out the goods on a regular basis (no waiting months for a turn).

I'm not personally into historical wargames, but if you are, then there
certainly seem to be plenty about. Again, I can only recommend games
that I have actually played. If you're not so bothered about the
'historical' aspect, then World War IV and Starfleet Warlord are both
excellent, involving games. (In the UK they're both run by Pagoda). If
you're worried that the hobby is dead, then just ask Carol to send you a
copy of Flagship, and you'll see that it's not!

In these days of e-mail, a lot of companies will accept turns by e-mail,
even if the game isn't actually designed for it. So, to some extent, it
doesn't matter where you live - Carol certainly seems willing to send
copies of Flagship anywhere on the face of the planet (Hand delivers
them too, or so I've heard <g>).

There's a huge list of PBM games on the internet/web/whatever somewhere
or other. I can't remember the address off the top of my head but I'm
sure that some kind soul will provide the URL if you ask. Don't give up
on PBM! There's life in the old girl yet!

Adam Saunders

References

Re: Bye.... = (
"Jon B." <jbbiz1@aol.com>
Mon, 15 Feb 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Re: Bye.... = (
"Jon B." <jbbiz1@aol.com>
Mon, 15 Feb 1999 00:00:00 +0000