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| Issue #5 - My Learning Games of Alamaze - Charles Mosteller |
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Posted by: GrimFinger - 01-06-2024, 06:19 PM - Forum: Articles that appeared in issues of PBM Chaos
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My Learning Games of Alamaze
Charles Mosteller
Game 5663 - Dwarves
Turn #7 - This game is plodding along. My Dwarven kingdom gained control of a new village, this turn, via usurpation.
The Lizards kingdom was dropped from the game, this turn. That makes what? Four kingdoms, and we’re only in Turn #7? Man, that’s crazy! This is what happens when new players don’t know how to play, and aren’t firmly invested enough, interest-wise, in learning the game. But the flip side of that coin is, for Alamaze to acquire new players to grow its overall players base, you run the risk of players dropping out or being dropped (by not issuing turn orders for three turns in a row). The risk of players dropping goes hand-in-hand with the reward of growing the Alamaze player base. Drops are nothing new to PBM games. Heck, even chess has to deal with the occasional problem of players flipping the board (I’m looking at YOU, Wayne Smith!).
Wayne doesn’t really flip chess boards. He’s too busy collecting his safe driver awards.
As this game of Alamaze is but one of several Learning Games for me, even with player drops considered and taken into account, this game is still useful, from a learning perspective. Hey, maybe I’ll finally managed to gain control of a second region in a game of Alamaze, finally. I am playing around with the game interface and issuing various orders. Right now, this game is a stress-free environment for me, so the learning has a very casual feel to it, right now. No pressure on the Dwarves, at present, in game 5663 of Alamaze.
Game 5684 - Underworld
The damned Elementalist kingdom has been defeated, at long last. Yeah, sure, it was mostly the handiwork of Alamaze player (and new owner) Brekk Firestarter (or is that one of my character’s names? I forget), but somebody had to plant the seed of progress, and that somebody in this particular game of Alamaze was me. After all, ‘twas I who initiated communication with the Lycans (werewolves). And if you’re thinking that this is a roundabout way of me saying that Alamaze’s new owner has fleas, I assure you, nothing could be further from the truth.
The death blow for the Elementalist player was likely the Lycan’s military conquest of that kingdom’s last population center, which probably resulted in the elimination of any remaining Elementalist political figures/characters. I know that all of my sleep spells cast and attempted assassinations and kidnappings of Elementalist characters, this turn, ended up being of no efefct - for the battle for control of that last Elementalist population center took place before my assassins and wizards got a chance to stir the pot, this turn.
That accursed Elementalist really should have not messed with my town. That’s what brought this whole chain of events that led to his kingdom’s demise into existence. Don’t tell me that a new player can’t have an impact of a game of Alamaze.
Overall, my Underworld kingdom in this game of Alamaze is in pretty decent shape (famous last words, huh?). But what kingdom will next rise to oppose my kingdom’s greatness?
Game 5693 - Underworld
Turn #20 - This game had really grown fairly boring for me. The last two turns, it has begun to pick up a little bit. Of course, I’m being militarily and diplomatically invaded by two kingdoms, now, but what the heck? Nobody lives forever, right?
My Amazon and Forgotten enemies, being the naturally obedient creatures that they were destined to be, are nonetheless “teaching” me certain aspects of how to play Alamaze. My coming defeat at their combined hands will ultimately yield a victory for me, all my own - in the form of acquiring a better understanding of what Alamaze is like, when you’re on the losing end of things.
From my current perspective, my kingdom has no realistic way of fending off these two invading interlopers, but perhaps there’s a chance, yet, to bleed them a little. I pondered dropping the game, just to tweak them and to deny them the true thrill of victory, but nah. I won’t learn as much, that way. Besides, it always kind of sucks, when players drop games, just to deny their fellow player the good feeling that goes along with a genuine win.
My real concern isn’t losing this game of Alamaze. Rather, it’s whether as my kingdom’s population centers get conquered (or razed to the ground, as in one recent case) and the amount of gold that my kingdom takes in, my remaining kingdom assets will be able to function effectively to any real degree. This is one of the true risks that go right along with crafting a character system that is gold-dependent. If your characters can’t work, because you lack gold, then what’s the point of continuing to stick things out? Winning is its own reward and incentive, but what is the incentive for losing kingdoms’ players to continue on. That’s what I aim to find out.
Game 5703 - Demon Princes
Turn #13 - Talk about a hell of a development, I usurped control of three Giant-held towns, this turn, in the Giants’ starting region of Mythgar. Mwahahahahahahaha!
I can’t really say that I was surprised by this tasty development, seeing as how i’m the one who planned it, but even still, it’s nice to see one’s plans come to fruition. Not that all of mine do.
This particular one did, though, and that’s exciting for me. And did I mention, that a Giants’ village is going to follow suit, next turn? Yep! My Demon Prince character is already there.
Also, I had my king character to issue a #355 – Relocate Capital command, this turn. What that translates into, for better or for worse, is that my kingdom’s new capital is now located in far away Mythgar - and the way that things work in Alamaze, is that a number of my kingdom’s characters that were stationed in my old capital have made the move right along with the capital, itself. Ooh, the possibilities!
This is a trick that I learned recently in Game 5684, my first real game of Alamaze, which helped facilitate the Elementalist kingdom’s very recent demise in that game.
At present, I can neither confirm nor deny that character Lucifer Morningstar is on the move in game 5703. He’s definitely there, somewhere. It’s just a question of where. Rumor has it that he’s literally an agent - an agent of Hell!
Stay tuned for further developments.
Game 5705 - Warlock
Turn #9 - Looks like somebody built a Legendary castle at Stormgate, but it wasn’t me.
Instead, I’ve barely looked at my turn results for this game of Alamaze, and my next set of turn orders for this game is due, again, when? In a few hours, by the looks of it.
: igh:: I guess that I had better get with it, then. Too much stuff going on in life to fully concentrate. Yet, I’m not really having this problem with my Demon Princes game. So, something about this particular game of Alamaze is lacking, compared to that one. Oh, that’s right - it’s the excitement, dummy!
This is where flavor of a kingdom comes in, and why flavor is imperative to longevity in the playing of a game. I am playing the Warlock kingdom, but I have no actual warlock, only wizards. Which begs the question, why is this kingdom called the Warlock kingdom? Is this false advertising? Or is the warlock flavor supposed to originate from certain spells that this kingdom is capable of casting? So, basically, is this the Will-Someday-Be-The-Warlock kingdom?
Flavor, flavor, flavor. One can never have too much of it in a game, but one can frequently not have enough.
Looks like my kingdom neither gained nor lost any population centers, this turn. I am pursuing my ESO (Early Strategic Objective) in this game, a 5-pointer rather than a 3-pointer. Will I achieve it by next turn, though? You have several turns to claim your ESO rewards, after you accomplish your Early Strategic Objectives (that you set for your Alamaze kingdom no later than Turn #3).
My kingdom’s Early Strategic Objectives for this particular game are:
Control a region [worth 2 points]
Have an influence of 17+ and 2 Princes (not Demon Princes) [worth 2 points]
Have at least 3 Wizards, power 4 or higher [worth 1 point]
From the looks of it, I won’t have three wizards of Power Level 4 or higher, by next turn. Ack!
I have until Turn #15 to meet these objectives and claim their associated rewards, so I am very hopeful that I will achieve my kingdom’s Early Strategic Objectives, yet.
Game 5712 - Cimmerians
Turn #4 - Not a bad turn for me. Not a bad turn, at all. This turn, my Cimmerians accomplished several different things. A Cimmerian governor usurped control of a village in the Crown Islands from the Humans (non-player kingdom). In the process, he was also promoted to the rank of baron, it seems. A Cimmerian ambassador usurped control of a Neutral village. Meanwhile, a minor city in this region of the Crown Islands was successfully usurped by a Cimmerian Duke, who was aided by a Cimmerian count via his stirring of unrest in that city.
Additionally, a Cimmerian military group launched an attack upon a Neutral village, with all Cimmerian military leaders and wizards surviving the battle. All three of my military leaders on hand for this battle earned promotions.
I decided to try my hand, this turn, at Searching for Encounters. It’s easy as pie to do, and there’s no reason reason why I shouldn’t have attempted this command before. I assigned two different agents to this mission of searching for encounters, and lo and behold, I lucked out and found two of these unusual sights to explore.
Because I am an idiot, apparently, I waited until last turn (Turn #3) to issue my Kingdom Customization order for this kingdom. Really, that’s something that any player should do on Turn #1, because there are real, tangible benefits to doing so. One of the items that I claimed for the customization of my kingdom in this game of Alamaze was +1 added to my kingdom’s influence. I could have really used that, when I first began to try and usurp control of population centers. This oversight can clearly be chalked up to human error on my part.
I will be trying to transfer an artifact from a population center to a character in the coming turn, Turn #5. In order to accomplish this, I will be using the #910 command.
#910 – Transfer Artifact
This order allows you to move artifacts from place to place under your control. An agent/fanatic may pick-up an artifact from a group, population center or emissary and deliver it any of those possible targets. Only the pick-up point must lie within the agent's range.
I’ll be using an agent to carry out this artifact transfer. But does the agent stay at the location of the artifact’s intended recipient? Or does he automatically go back to where he started, this turn, which is my kingdom’s capital? The rulebook doesn’t actually say (at least, not where this command is listed in the rulebook, so I’ll have to pose that question to either Alamaze support or to an experienced player of the game.
All things considered, Turn #4 turned out to be a confidence builder for me for this kingdom of the Cimmerians. I’m feeling pretty good about how I’m doing, right now, all things considered. Maybe this kingdom will grow on me, yet.
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| Issue #5 - PBM Editorial - Charles Mosteller |
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Posted by: GrimFinger - 01-06-2024, 06:17 PM - Forum: Articles that appeared in issues of PBM Chaos
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My recent plunge into the realm of Alamaze has resulted in me talking a lot about Alamaze, of late. I invite you to write in, and tell us all what PBM games that you are playing (or reminiscing about), these days.
When I think about Alamaze and about playing Alamaze, my mind and my memory wanders to Hyborian War and to Middle-earth PBM. These three PBM games that all originated decades ago actually have a lot in common, even though at first glance they may each appear to be quite distinctive things. And for certain, they each are quite distinctive from one another, in their own way.
All three of them are wargames. All three of them places characters and armies and troops at the player’s disposal for waging war upon one another with. Each game features an economy and economic aspects. And each game features artifacts, of sort, though Hyborian War’s in-game artifacts take a much more subdued form (magic weapon, magic armor), one which players have far less control over, compared to Middle-earth PBM and Alamaze.
Which of these three PBM wargames is perfect? None of them. They each have their pluses and their minuses, they each have their strengths and their weaknesses. Back when all three of them were still fairly young (back in the 1980s), I tried all three of them. And of the three of them, I ended up playing Hyborian War the longest, and Alamaze the least. Middle-earth PBM, I only played in a couple of games of it - but that was twice as many games of it that I played, compared to the Alamaze of back then.
To a degree all three of these PBM games are team games, in that players almost always tend to end up working together, in various ways and to varying degrees. Middle-earth PBM, however, is the true purist team game of the three. It trounces the other two hands down, in this regard - but it isn’t as though Alamaze and Hyborian War can’t be played with true teams, because they can be played that way, and in fact, they have been played that way, before.
In their design and mechanics, Alamaze and Middle-earth PBM are the most alike. There are numerous similarities, but the actual feel of these two PBM games is quite distinct from one another. Even decades later, I can still recall how it feels to begin a game of Middle-earth PBM. You’re immediately transported to the realm that is Middle-earth. This is due primarily to two things - the characters and the map.
Interestingly enough, it was the military side of Middle-earth PBM that I wasn’t particularly fond of, way back then. The character side of the game always commanded very strong appeal. For who doesn’t want to be Er-Mûrazôr, the Witch-king of Angmar and Lord of the Nazgûl?
Yet, here we are, almost forty years later, and yours truly has begin to play Alamaze in earnest. No doubt, my old friend, Rick McDowell, the designer of Alamaze, would likely be pleased that, at long last, I have “seen the light.” Too bad that it had to be after Rick sold Alamaze to someone else and went on to other things in his life. As the old saying goes, though, better late than never!
And do it is hard for me to play Alamaze without thinking of Middle-earth PBM, and all of the wonderful lore that goes along with it. But how much more amazing it is, then that I am discovering that Alamaze is growing on me. Middle-earth with its high fantasy lineage and Hyborian War with its sword and sorcery lineage, but where does Alamaze properly fall? Probably somewhere between the two, but leaning more on the high fantasy side of things. Both Hyborian War and Middle-earth PBM adhere more strongly to cartographic certainties than does Alamaze. Alamaze suffers from having a literary heritage to attach itself to and to ground itself in, whereas Middle-earth PBM has Tolkien’s writings to fall back upon, and Hyborian War has Robert E. Howard’s writings to cling to. Where is Alamaze to find a similar Rock of Gibraltar in literary form to ground itself in?
But the games are not like the books. The games are not the stories. Try as they may, apples will ever be apples, and oranges will ever be oranges. Books and movies and games, at best, only borrow from one another. They are never truly one and the same. But then again, how could they ever hope to be?
On the programming end of things, Hyborian War is the least-changing of the three. In recent years, which of these three games do I think has shown the most progress on the programming end of things? To me, it’s a no-brainer. It’s Alamaze. But that should not be taken by anyone for me to mean that Middle-earth PBM has made no programming progress in recent years. New modules have appeared. But Alamaze has truly undergone some wholesale programming changes, both in recent years, and since Alamaze first appeared on the play by mail gaming scene several decades ago.
Of the three of them - Hyborian War, Middle-earth PBM, and Alamaze - in my estimation, Middle-earth PBM has the strongest overall support staff. To its credit, Hyborian War has the longest serving intact support staff, by far. And Alamaze in its current form has a brand new owner aided by one who is, arguably, the most energetic programmer to be found at any of these games’ respective companies - UncleMike.
It’s just my gut instinct and nothing more, but the folks at Middle-earth PBM seem (and I stress the word, seem, here) to be constrained in their development of new games that sit atop their underlying game “engines” by licensing issues. Clint Oldridge and crew at Middle-earth PBM, feel free to write in and correct me on this, if I am wrong on this particular point.
Which of these three game “engines” do I think would be the quickest to adapt to growing their gaming legacy, if the folks behind them had the resources and the drive and determination to do so? Personally, I think that the Alamaze game “engine” would be the quickest to bring a new gaming product to market. For instance, imagine all three of these games’ underlying engines (programming/code) adapted to run, say, a World War II game. Or any other genre of game or game setting.
Can they even do that with the Middle-earth engine? The underlying programming, itself, I don’t think would be under licensing shackles from whomever controls Tolkien Estate licensing issues. Likewise, I don’t think that the underlying programming for Hyborian War would require approval from the Conan licensing folks. The underlying code for Hyborian War is old, and doesn’t seem to get updated with any real degree of frequency. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
The lack of new games in PBM built atop the underlying programing infrastructure of existing games is one of the greatest deficits in all of PBM history. Proven and time-tested game engines relegated largely to single-purpose these and settings. Talk about missed opportunities!
As it relates to gaming, what is programming? In my own words, programming is the art of what’s possible. Lack of initiative, lack of time, lack or resources - these three things continue to hamstring PBM gaming. And PBM gamers are the worse for it.
How many different ways do you slice the same cake? Lee Kline at Reality Simulations, Inc. has already demonstrated that new possibilities exist for old PBM games, when she agree to run a Special Variant Game of Hyborian War that I concocted several years back. Same programming, but with some manual changes made at the beginning of the game. Fifty turns were ran, before any player started issuing turn orders to their kingdoms. A special character added to the game - Tsotha-Lanti (which in the game became Tsotha-lanti the Vulture).
Did it break the game? Yep! It sure did. But it proved to be nothing that Lee Kline and RSI couldn’t fix and overcome. Where before there was uncertainty, now Lee has acquired new experience. It just goes to show that where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Whether anyone fully realizes it or not, manual changes can inject a ton of flavor and excitement into new games of Hyborian War. Programming changes or additions hold no monopoly upon increasing the offerings available for PBM gamers to choose from.
Changing base data files is an option worth exploring more. Changing kingdom names, character names, adding new characters to starting positions - these are all things very much worth considering and trying. But if you can change the underling code, itself, if you can add to it, then the world is truly PBM’s oyster.
In a way, we are all running out of time. Time passes - steadily, methodically, unrelenting in its acquisition of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, and decades. If not now, then when?
Jason Oates’ Games still runs Company Commander. What about Company Commander in a more updated setting? How about a NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict scenario? Or what about a Russo-Ukrainian War or individual fronts from that war replicated in game form for past (and future) Company Commander players? Or is that a licensing barrier, also? Maybe a programming one, as well. Who knows? I don’t - but I do wonder.
And the first step in getting gamers to try PBM games? Getting them to wonder. To wonder about the games, and to wonder about the possibilities.
Tell me this - does a willingness to bring more options into PBM gaming bring chaos with it? Or without such options, are we all left to languish in the chaos of old?
Think about it, but be sure to write in and let us all know what you think.
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| Issue #4 - My Learning Games of Alamaze - Charles Mosteller |
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Posted by: GrimFinger - 01-06-2024, 06:16 PM - Forum: Articles that appeared in issues of PBM Chaos
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My Learning Games of Alamaze
Charles Mosteller
Game 5663 - Dwarves
My Dwarven forces are currently invading the region of Pellinor. It;s an uncontested invasion, though, because the player who started in that region dropped (or more likely, was dropped by the system, for not issuing turn orders there turns in a row). Being as how all six of my current games of Alamaze are for the purpose of me teaching myself how to play Alamaze, I consider them all to be learning games. In other words, game splayed with the express purpose of learning how to play Alamaze, rather than playing to win, per se.
Of the Alamaze kingdoms that I have tried my hand at, thus far, the Dwarves are not my favorite kingdom - not by a long shot. They just don’t feel Dwarvish enough, to suit my taste buds, though certain things about this kingdom do have a very Dwarvish feel to them. A couple of examples are:
#650 – Create Special Location (various) (Gold Mine for Dwarves), (but I’m limited to just one, and you can’t issue this particular order until Turn #4, at the earliest).
#599 – Dwarven Defenses (Dwarves only)
Because of the Dwarves great ability in working with stone, they may use this special order that will increase the defenses of a given Dwarven controlled population center by 4,000 at a cost of 10,000 gold. May only improve a pop center's defense through this order once a turn.
Headed into Turn #7.
Game 5684 - Underworld
My first real game of Alamaze, the game where things really started to click after about a half-dozen turns or so. Now headed into Turn #18. I’ve assassinated. I’ve kidnapped. I’ve executed prisoners. I’m in cahoots with the werewolf (Lycans) player, and I’m at war with the Elementalist, who just enjoyed the good fortune of having three of his kidnapped characters escape from my kingdom’s dungeon, before they could be executed a little later that same turn. Did I guard the prisoners? Nope, I failed to do that. ACK!! Headed into Turn #18.
Game 5693 - Underworld
Headed into Turn #20. I started a war with the Amazons, and both the Amazons and the Forgotten have declared me an enemy. The Amazons just took a town from me. The bastards! In the same turn, I sent Level 20 agents to assassinate four of that kingdom’s characters - a Duchess, two Baronesses, and a High Priestess. While I was at it, I also assassinated a Level 9 Free Traders agent on the same turn. I don’t know what that scoundrel was up to, nor do I really care. I wasn’t in the mood to be merciful, this most recent turn. They had better pray that I never figure out the military side of this game!
Game 5703 - Demon Princes
My favorite Alamaze game of the bunch, thus far. I flubbed one of my opening gambits with this kingdom, and I felt like a fish flopping out of the water. That was a few turns ago, though. Now, I’ve begun to unleash my kingdom’s most powerful characters against the Giants kingdom. Via demonic gates, the Demon Princes teleported into a Giants’ minor city. I rebelled it out of the Giants’ control, one turn, and the next turn, I usurped control of it.
Then, I built a castle there, this last turn. I also caused a Giants’ town to rebel, to aid my Atlantean ally’s emissaries in regaining control of that town that the dastardly Giants had previous invaded and seized. This isn’t the Jolly Green Giant that you might already be familiar with, depending upon your veggie preferences.
Having met my Early Strategic Objectives (ESO), my kingdom recently gained a fourth demon prince character. Yep, his ass is already deep in Giant territory. Let’s see how the Giants player deals with three more of his population centers being ripped from his clutches in the coming turn. Right now, fun as fuck is how I would describe playing the Demon Princes kingdom in Alamaze to be. I’m laughing my ass off, I’m having so much fun! We’re headed into Turn #13 with this game - and 13 sounds like it just might be my lucky number!
Game 5705 - Warlock
At the moment, this one is kind of a ho-hum game for me. I liked it, at the start, but circumstances and certain decisions on my part placed my kingdom in a state of relative poverty very early on. We’re heading into Turn #9 in this game, and I finally managed to gain control of the major city in my region, and control of my region, also. This one has been a casebook study in how NOT to play Alamaze, for me. But it’s all good and useful stuff for learning. I’m my own worst enemy in this one.
Game 5712 - Cimmerians
My newest game of Alamaze to start, we are heading into Turn #3. I’m making good use of my military groups to explore. All five of them have been moving around and searching for population centers. There’s been no real action in this game, yet.The next turn or three, most of my attention will likely be focused on gaining control of some Human-controlled and Neutral population centers, so that I may begin strengthening my kingdom’s economy with the gold and food produced by those towns, villages, and a minor city that are scattered throughout the region that most of my kingdom’s forces and assets start in.
I picked the Cimmerians kingdom to play in this game, to force myself to begin to come to terms more with the whole military side of the game. Unlike before in other games of Alamaze, in this game as the Cimmerians, I’m getting much better at transferring characters and troops (brigades) between military groups, at creating patrols, and generally just getting a better feel for what I can do with military groups. That said, I am still woefully lacking in skill on the combat end of this game. I’m learning, though. All of my learning games of Alamaze combined considered, I’m steadily progressing with my learning of the game.
This game of Alamaze, I also intend to begin focusing on learning first-hand more about recovering and using a wider range of artifacts that Alamaze features for players’ entertainment. What I have found, thus far, is that being in multiple games of Alamaze, simultaneously (it’s free to play Alamaze, after all), greatly accelerates my learning of the game. Primarily, this is accomplished by facilitating my familiarization with the game interface, which is the real key to learning how to play Alamaze, in my considered opinion. Once you understand how the game interface works, it becomes noticeably easier to learn how to play the game, and to get better at the game.
Familiarization is the key to fun! Once you grasp how the interface works (give yourself six turns or so for it to start dawning on you, using myself as an example), that’s when you really start having fun playing Alamaze. It’s hard to have fun, if you don’t know what the hell that you’re doing. And nobody wants to read a bunch of documentation, in order to learn how to play a new game. I sure don’t, anyway. That’s why I decided to chart my own path forward into Alamaze, and so far, I think that my approach is the best - and easiest - way to learn Alamaze.
NOTE: Be sure to check out this checklist, of sorts, that I made for myself, to help me to keep track of what all that I’ve tried to do in Alamaze, thus far. It lists things that I’ve tried, as well as things that I haven’t tried. Right now, there’s still a lot of both on this list.
[Create Alamaze Player Account] [Sign In to Join a Game]
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| Issue # 4 - PBM Editorial - Charles Mosteller |
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Posted by: GrimFinger - 01-06-2024, 06:14 PM - Forum: Articles that appeared in issues of PBM Chaos
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Compared to the original Suspense & Decision magazine years ago, and to the PBM Unearthed newsletter, more recently, these PBM Chaos e-mail mailings are more akin to PBM stuff in microdoses. Less stuff, but a more frequent pace. It’s not a set pace, but at the moment, it’s looking like a couple of times a week. I don’t know exactly where I’m going with the PBM Chaos series, so nothing about it is set in stone, yet.
I, myself, am a source of PBM chaos. The natural instinct is to crave order. Order allows one to make better sense of life, and all that goes with it. Just look at Carol Mulholland’s long and unchallenged reign as editor of the old PBM magazine, Flagship. Yet, if she were here, today, Carol could tell you, herself, that publishing and editing a PBM magazine is anything but an exercise in never-ending order. Missed deadlines, having to continuously nudge people for articles or other input, trying to round up advertising - I can’t help but to laugh, as I sit here writing this, the day after Chaos Issue 3 was sent out.
On the one hand, it’s important (I guess - you tell me what you think) for PBM gaming to have some kind of PBM-oriented “media.” Ideally, there would be several different ones, from several different sources. If you ever want to create your own PBM-oriented magazine, newsletter, podcast, vlog, mailing, etc., just keep in mind that there are no guaranteed sources that will go out of their way to provide to you material for inclusion. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. None.
People are busy. They’re focused upon their thing, and not upon your thing. Which probably a large chunk of what drives within me to just do my own thing, regardless of what the status quo is, or what PBM gamers and GMs grew accustomed to in the old days. By doing my own thing, I am free to do whatever I want, whenever I want, and as much or as little as I want. Yep! Chaos.
If these PlayByMail.Net mailings ever get to be too much for you, you can always unsubscribe (there’s always a link at the bottom to do that), or you can just not open the e-mails, or just open and read these mailings whenever you take a notion or get around to it. There’s certainly no obligation on your part to read all of it, nor even any of it - unless you want to, of course, but always at your schedule and convenience, not mine.
I like PBM gaming, and I like to write, so I kind of merge the two interests, and you and others with a shared interest in PBM gaming end up getting to be witness to my PBM parade of horribles. David Webber had Paper Mayhem, and Carol Mulholland had Flagship, and Rick Loomis had Flying Buffalo, and I have first one thing and then another, it seems. You know, nothing requires any of us to love PBM gaming, forever. Nothing compels us to participate in any aspect of PBM any longer than we really and truly want to. You can’t force anyone to love PBM. No one should ever feel a burden to be a part of play by mail gaming any longer than they actually prefer to.
Me? I just prefer to, I guess. Be a part of PBM, that is. Trying to cover PBM, and in today’s environment and with prevailing attitudes, is a goad-awful thankless task with no real hope of succeeding. Me? I much prefer to just talk about PBM, than trying to cover it and bring the so-called “PBM news” your way. Sometimes, the “P” in PBM feels an awful lot like “pulling teeth.”
At various points in time, I’ve considered going the audio route, and if I did, then the “P” in PBM would likely stand for podcast. What happened to David Oliver Kling’s Combat Conditional: A Turn Based Podcast, though? It’s still stuck at just four episodes released, with the last of those four episodes being published (is that the right word?) almost a year ago. But who am I, of all people, to complain, huh?
Even at just four episodes, I consider David’s podcast to have been a seminal event in PBM gaming’s history. Is it completely dead, though? That, I just don’t know - which is why I am asking that question here and now. I invite David to drop me a note, and give us all an update.
I’ve even considered going the video route with my PBM interests, but were such a curse to ever strike the whole of PBMdom, I suspect that the “P” on PBM might end up standing for “profanity.” And who needs that, right? Guilty as charged, but to me, words are words, and while there are things that I do view to be profane, words aren’t one of them. Feel free to feel otherwise, though. To each their own, where the words that comprise human languages are concerned.
Al things considered, the “P” in PBM has long been viewed by myself to possibly stand for “promote.” Promoting PBM has nothing to do with just endlessly singing the praises (another “P” word) of play by mail gaming. Even criticism of PBM helps to promote it. Not everyone may realize that, of course, though. What’s far, far worse is for no one to be talking about PBM, at all. That’s what I think, anyway.
Wat about you, though? What do you think? Be sure to write in and let us all know. The e-mail address to write to is right below.
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| Issue #3 - PBM Editorial - Charles Mosteller |
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Posted by: GrimFinger - 01-06-2024, 06:13 PM - Forum: Articles that appeared in issues of PBM Chaos
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Contrary to what you might be tempted to think, trying to track down and to keep up with all manner of things PBM in nature has gotten harder, not easier, as time has trekked onward. Yet another form of chaos manifesting itself in and across the play by mail gaming realm!
In an act that can only be considered blatant defiance, PBM gaming refuses to die. It’s just a fact. The digital star killed PBM gaming, my ass! Didn’t Bob McLain also say, “Now almost everyone owns a PC equipped with plenty of memory and plenty of speed.” Plenty of memory and plenty of speed, eh? Then why do we always crave more of both, where our computers and computerized phones are concerned?
What we do have plenty of is chaos! Boy, we have it in spades, huh? And then some.
Pure PBM, I guess, is what old school play-only-via-paper-format-and-the-postal-service PBM gaming is. Is it on life support? Maybe. Is it growing? Maybe. Talk about a PBM paradox.
Nonetheless, as near as I can tell, it’s the truth.
People are always tinkering with stuff. That’s how we got a great many of our play by mail games, way back in the old days, back when a postage stamp would kick your ass. Not all of you are old enough to remember that.
It was rough back then. Now, life is so much easier. Or is it? Gotta be real careful, whenever people try to sell you a bill of goods. That’s equally true, where PBM games are concerned.
Are there a lot? Are there hardly any? Well, part of the answer lies in how you choose to look at things. What do you count as a PBM game? Is it just and only a game played in paper format with turn orders and turn results sent back and forth via the postal service? Or does it include games where you can send turn orders in via e-mail, but still receive turn results back in paper format via the postal service? These days, all kinds of games seem to get categorized and classified as PBM games. But are they? Are they, really?
Way back when it was theorized by Bob McLain that digital killed the PBM star, could it possibly be that his prediction could fail to have taken into account that PBM just might choose to reinvent itself, along with so many other things in life?
Actually, he did predict it - in his own way, of course. He clearly said, “Play-by-mail, play-by-modem; it's all the same - so PBM doesn't have to die. Maybe it can change its spots to avoid the new predators. Dare we say it: play-by-mail is dead, but PBM lives on.”
Part of the problem is, I think, that we want to see progress happen in play by mail gaming very quickly, almost overnight. Yet, PBM gaming has been going through a transition that doesn’t happen in the blink of an eye. Consider, if you will, the chaos that has torn through other sectors of the entertainment industry. Beta. VHS. Heck, let’s just toss the whole Blockbuster cow onto the fire, while we’re at it. HOW the public chooses to receive its entertainment, along with advances in technology, allows entertainment and the gaming sector of entertainment to reinvent itself, continuously. PBM gaming doesn’t in a void separate and apart from technological advances.
Why should PBM be any different?
Advances in technology bring chaos with them. Changes in mediums of delivery for entertainment also visits chaos right on top of our heads. If it weren’t for technological advances, you wouldn’t be reading this, today. All advances in technology don’t always strike us as “progress,” though.
If you’re working on a new PBM game, or just trying to rework an old one, be sure to send me an e-mail about it, and tell me how your are progressing (or not). Even if I have heard from you before, write to me, again, so that I might provide an update to our readers.
Until next time, try to not let the chaos of everyday life get to you!
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| Entering the New Year of 2024 with PBM Resolutions in Hand |
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Posted by: GrimFinger - 01-01-2024, 09:05 PM - Forum: Editorials
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Happy new year!
In Issue #29 of PBM Chaos, I listed 10 PBM resolutions for the new year, and no comes my attempt to place them into some kind of order, as I speculate aloud which of the bunch that I think will be the most likely to pull off, versus the ones that will likely prove to be the greatest challenges to accomplish. Rather than think small, though, I decided to put myself out onto a limb (out onto ten different limbs, actually), and not just craft a list of easy-peasey resolutions, just to say that I wrote an article.
Now, without further ado, here is my attempt to place them into order, from most likely to be accomplished at the, extending all of the way to what I think will be the least likely or hardest to accomplish. In suspect that more than one of them will likely yield some success, but perhaps not end up being 100% successful.
Resolution #9
To continue publishing PBM Chaos.
Resolution #6
To play a multiplayer game of Galac-Tac.
Resolution #1
To give TribeNet a try.
Resolution #8
To breathe life into the old PBM forum.
Resolution #2
To complete the PBM Rulebook Library.
Resolution #3
To revamp The Hyborian Tome website.
Resolution #4
To create a PBM Gateway.
Resolution #7
To create a PBM Network to better facilitate growth of the overall PBM player base.
Resolution #10
To establish a cadre or corps of die-hard PBM gamers, in order to act as a force multiplier in and across the PBM sphere.
Resolution #5
To double the size of the Play By Mail subscriber base.
I'm already publishing PBM Chaos, so continuing to publish more issues of PBM Chaos shouldn't prove to be unduly difficult, though the frequency at which issues of it publish will likely vary - but that's always since its beginning been chalked up as part of the chaos that inheres in PBM Chaos. Publishing issues of PBM Chaos can - and does - get time-consuming, at times, but it's not actually hard or difficult, per se. Chances of Resolution #9 proving to be a success are likely 100%, barring health issues, death, or real world issues imposing themselves upon me.
Resolutions #6 and #1 are already in progress, though certainly still at the beginning of the process to make them turn into reality. I've already signed up for both TribeNet and Galac-Tac. I still have yet to issued my first set of turn orders for each. I have, however, played dozens of turns of Galac-Tac in solo games against computer-controlled opponents, but I've already fiddled with Galac-Tac's game interface and issuing orders a pretty good bit. TribeNet, I'm really just at the very start of trying to learn and get going in that game. Of the two, Galac-Tac will likely prove to be a much smoother start for me than TribeNet. My understanding of TribeNet's interface and orders is well ahead of where I am with TribeNet. Nonetheless, I feel that I can make some progress in both games, but the TribeNet path is definitely going to be bumpier of the two.
Trying to breathe life back into the old PBM forum (this forum) is already underway, though I'm still very early into that process. The whole reason why this article is being written and posted here, at all, is to give me something to link to over on the Play By Mail Facebook page and in future issues of PBM Chaos. People have to have reasons to begin visiting and hanging out in this forum, again, and the primary way to accomplish that is by posting stuff here, so that if they want to read it, they have to visit it. Resolution #8 will simply require persistence and the ongoing generation of content - neither of which are hard, per se, but both can be time-consuming.
Completing the PBM Rulebook Library will be tedious and time-consuming. Yet, even at the very beginning of that project, there will (and has been) light at the end of that tunnel. Thus, Resolution #2 is definitely achievable, and certainly to a very large degree, for PBM games in existence, currently. It's basically going to take the form of a list of links. Thus, simple, yet tedious and time-consuming, because it involves tracking thing down, manually.
The remaining resolutions, #3, #4, #7, #10, and #5 are not minor undertakings. All of them require either lots of time and effort to bring to fruition, and some also require cooperation from other people, which is never a guaranteed thing, upfront.
Resolutions #3 and #4 are items that I can accomplish on my own, without really me being dependent upon others to aid me in carrying them out and making them become a reality. Revamping The Hyborian Tome website will likely be much quicker to accomplish than creating a PBM Gateway, such as I envision.
Resolution #7, creating a PBM Network to better facilitate growth of the overall PBM player base, will require participation from PBM companies and PBM GMs. I am not so foolish as to believe that I will gain 100% cooperation from all PBM, companies and PBM GMs, but I certainly think and believe that I can gain participation from some of them. The only question is, how many, and how fast
To establish a cadre or corps of die-hard PBM gamers, in order to act as a force multiplier in and across the PBM sphere, which is what PBM Resolution #10 is, is dependent upon cooperation and persistence and commitment from PBM gamers. My gut feeling is that this one will be a huge mountain to climb. By and large, cooperation on the part of PBM gamers tends to be scattered and sparse. I think that it will actually prove to be more likely that PBM companies and PBM GMs will be more likely to cooperate than PBM gamers, where resolutions #7 and #10 are concerned. There's just a lot less PBM companies and PBM GMs than there are PBM gamers, but the greater numbers of PBM gamers is anything but a guarantee.
And last but certainly not least, Resolution #5 is a monumental task, from where I find myself, right now. Doubling the size of the subscriber base for PlayByMail.Net's e-mail mailings translates into an increase of almost 200 new subscribers in the coming year of 2024. OUCH! That's a big chunk to bite off, as PBM resolutions and being realistic are concerned, but I think that it can be done - or at a minimum, that a large portion of it can be accomplished before the end of 2024. Obviously, if PBM Chaos readers and readers of the Play By Mail Facebook page were to start sharing PBM stuff that I generate or facilitate others generating, then that would be a tremendous help and increases our chances of accomplishing PBM Resolution #5 on schedule. At worst, I fail, and failure is always a risk anytime one undertakes to strive to accomplish anything of note.
Thank you for your interest! Be sure to lend your support to make these new year's PBM resolutions a grand success!
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| Issue #2 - Nazareth Speaks! - Tony (aka Nazareth) |
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Posted by: GrimFinger - 01-01-2024, 07:11 PM - Forum: Articles that appeared in issues of PBM Chaos
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Nazareth Speaks!
Tony (aka Nazareth)
Several things I like about PBM, many have already been mentioned, but here’s my three.
1) Politics. Yep, having played many games, but especially open ended power games, the political game within the game just took the game and enjoyment to another level for me. I love the politics of the game, regardless of game design.
2) Meet and Greets. Loved to get together on a weekend, unfortunately not often, at a local hotel and talk gaming, have dinner, do some sight-seeing with a few gaming friends. Perhaps 5 or 6 of us and some coming from Texas to Nashville. Also I’d have the opportunity to meet several at gaming conventions. Loved putting a face to my gaming friends, allies and adversaries.
3) Special actions. First experience with SA’s was with Tribes of Crane back in 1977. I was hooked. It adds so much more depth and further personalizes your position within the game regardless of outcome. I believe games that allow SA’s, where they are appropriate, probably do better in holding their player base over time. Of course, many games by their design aren’t set-up for that. To each their own.
While I’ve push my dementia temporarily aside, a few other thoughts come to mind.
One, I really like opened ended power games among others, but I have a soft spot for historical games such as Paths to Glory and Renaissance.
Of course Steve Jackson’s comment about the death of PBM made in 1985 was a little premature. IMO, it was just hitting its peak and would still be strong for at least for another 10 years or so before starting to see the beginnings of a decline. Just like the man on the corner holding the sign, ‘the end is near’, eventually he’ll get it right, but for now we’re still waiting for Jackson’s prophecy. If it’s dying, it’s a slow death, admitting that the old man isn’t as healthy as he once was.
With respect to Terry Cale’s comment on the lack of visibility being the reason for underestimating PBM. I’m not sure what more could have been done during those years considering the budgets of PBM companies. I picked up a flyer off the counter at Brookhurst Hobbies in 1977 advertising S&S’s Tribes of Crane. First time I was exposed to PBM and wasn’t sure I wanted to continually pay for turns week after week when I had a board game I only paid for once and could play as often as I liked.
However, once started, it was like a bag of Lays, couldn’t do just one. I’m drifting here. The point is I first saw a flyer, then several PBM magazines came and went and a couple hung around. Then I saw PBM booths at conventions and the ‘Industry’ even organized a PBM Association in an effort stimulate growth. So if there was a lack of visibility, it wasn’t for the lack of effort. Not sure how much more could have been done. We can argue with the results, but not the effort.
PBM like historical miniature war gaming (HMG) is a niche. HMG is also seeing a decline and at HMG conventions you will see a predominance of older players and occasionally a few younger players brought into the hobby by dad or granddad.
Unlike HMG, I’m guessing very few older PBMer’s are bringing younger players into the hobby. Soon, we may not even qualify as a niche, but what a run, huh!
Tony aka Nazareth
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