While it seems unlikely that Flagship will continue, PlayByMail.Net readers/ members might find the original URL useful:

• http://www.flagshipmagazine.co.uk/
  

Here is an index of Diplomacy zines of yore, reviewed by Stephen Agar and John Piggott:

• http://www.diplomacy-archive.com/resources/zines.htm
  

Paul Evans's 'zine covers PBM, SF, and ... AFAICT, whatever he feels like.  

URL for the index is here: http://www.pevans.co.uk/TWJO/

More information about the contents and games at: http://www.pevans.co.uk/TWJO/#Games

Hi folks,

I'm interested in find out more about this game but, unfortunately, the email address listed on the home page for Marcus Taylor (the GM) bounces my emails. I've emailed both Harlequin support and the owner of the Exile Yahoo Group / list (which does still seem to be active) but haven't had replies from either.

Anyone know what the status of this game is or how to get in touch with the GM? It's a game that I read a lot about as I grew up in the 1980s, so I'd love the opportunity to give it a try.

Normally, editorials by me in this section tend to only appear every so often. This one, however, comes quick on the heels of the last one, The Man in the Mirror of Play By Mail.

But, it is in keeping with the objective of transitioning this forum site into a destination of interest in its own right. In order to accomplish that, I am going to have to become a man in the watchtower of my own site. I'll need to post regularly - and frequently!

Others will, as well - but I believe that we can start out slow and build to a crescendo that denotes and gives evidence of a site that is not just existing in the backwater of PBMers' thoughts, but a full-fledged head-on flurry of activity.

In other words, if PBM is in a Hell of a shape, and if all that we have labored towards, PBM-wise, is in a Hell of a bad position, then it seems to me that the only clear choice at this juncture in time is for us to bust out of this Hell of our own creation.

We can do that by building a staircase to a new PBM Heaven, a new era in PBM gaming, made out of the skulls of the doubting Thomases that populate the planescape of the gaming universe. Out of the ashes of doubt, we'll make concrete - concrete action!

Feel free to join me. I'll already be there, when you arrive!

I sent another mailing out, this morning, and I've been responding to some recently arrived e-mails from PBM personalities.

And what have you done for PBM, this morning?

Don't tell me in a PM! Don't tell me in an e-mail! Tell me in a forum posting, right here on PlayByMail.Net.

It has been said that all good things must end.

When you ponder the end of life, itself, then the end of play by mail gaming seems to draw the short straw of interest. As I grow older and older and older (still not old, technically, yet), my thoughts and my gaze shift. Not that play by mail gaming ever suffered from a shortage of distractions. Hell, distractions were the one area that PBM gaming always managed to log a net surplus.

No matter what, I always seem to manage to lose my way. Perhaps that is my true destiny, my ultimate calling - to ever remain lost, to ever personify the concept. Just when the footing seems true, I slip and fall again into the abyss.

All progress halted. All hope abandoned.

Theories have been advanced. Theories have been tested. Yet, all has been for naught - or so it seems. With all light extinguished - the light of desire, a desire to continue on, I have flailed about in what some whisper to themselves in their moments of quietest solitude as "the real world." Even still, I manage to find my way back here.

Not just to this website. not just to this forum. But, to this section, even to the very button which allows me to archive this moment of thought.

Through it all, from beneath the ashes of all that lies in ruin, one things is certain - and that is that of all things that I bring to this contest that is play by mail gaming, the one thing that I do not bear and bring forth is certainty.

One minute, everything is going fine. The next, and all momentum has collapsed. Far from a blessing to play by mail gaming, I am a curse. No doubt, even now, many are they that rise in applause of this one statement.

Just join some games, I told myself. Go on, just give it a try. Invariably, sickness followed. In days gone by, games were a reprieve from the miseries that occasional bouts with sickness would bring. They could even destroy monotony. Boredom dared not go toe to toe with PBM games, for fear it would be swiftly vanquished!

Not so, now.

Publishing a magazine becomes a chore.

Or does it?

Suspense & Decision only works, when there is decision to go long with the suspense. Publication of nothing generates no enthusiasm. It inspires nothing! Yet, what is a fellow to do? What does one do, when that man in the mirror simply won't cooperate?

And, so, now you know. I am lost in my own mirror of thought, a mirror universe where play by mail is no more. Has it ever even existed there, at all? Honestly, I'm just not sure.

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what we've tried, what we've given a go at. It doesn't matter who has said what, who has thought what, nor even who has done what. The Rubicon materializes, anew.

Taunting me.

Daring me to cross it, once more. Whispering to me that before was only an illusion. Screaming at me that all was for naught!

So much to do. So much that needs to be done. Yet, here I sit, writing. Just jotting down thoughts as they come to me.

Saying nothing. Thinking nothing. Doing nothing.

Like I said, all good things must end.

I'm done.

I no longer care.

I don't care about what we tried, about what succeeded or what failed. I don't care what anyone wanted. I don't even care about what I wanted.

Hell, for that matter, I don't even know what I wanted.

What was I thinking? What was I hoping? What was I reaching for?

I am in a funk from which there is no escape. I should be ashamed of myself, for even polluting this forum with this sorry excuse for a posting. What a wretched excuse for a thread about play by mail gaming!

This is babble, not gaming!

For you, though, it is probably akin to a message in a bottle. You had hoped for a life pod, some sign that I escaped, and that the magazine could go on, anew. Either that or you had hoped - fervently hoped - that I would not be heard from, again.

Or something else.

So much time spent, so much effort expended.

Really?!

Surely, I didn't just say that. Surely, I didn't just post that.

It doesn't even amount to a mere drop in a bucket.

Who am I trying to kid?

When I stare in a mirror, I get no answers. The mirror that I stare the most frequently into, the mirror that I stare the deepest into, is the one located in my own mind's eye.

After all, you don't need a real mirror, just to stare into one.

Just like you don't need a real game, to be entertained by one.

Honestly, I just sit here with my face in my hands, when I ponder what to do about it all. I can't save PBM. Hell, people, I can't even save myself!

Melodrama. False crisis. Much ado about nothing!

So, I am going to step out of this pile of manure of my own creation, and I am going to go on a journey. Know, that I do sincerely appreciate the time that you have given me, the interest that you have shown, both in this website and in the magazine and in this shared interest that is our hobby of play by mail gaming.

But, the time has come to move on. The time has come for me to head down a new path, for me to take a new route. Destination? Nowhere.

Suspense & Decision is dead.

It always has been.

It was still born.

All this time, we were all simply pretending.

I miss Paper Mayhem. I still miss Flagship. I can't really say that I miss Suspense & Decision.

My thumb began twitching, when I wrote that, just now. Life remains full of irony, it seems, even at this late date, even at this late hour of the night.

By the way, did I mention that we have a solar eclipse coming up? From what little that I understand, it will probably be the best one in my lifetime that remains.

Not sure if I will participate. You might want to check it out, though. I hear that it will be quite the show.

Me? I'll be here, accomplishing nothing. Who knows? If we're lucky, maybe I can get the final issue of Suspense & Decision out the door by then. If so, then it will give you something to read, when the sun goes out.

The final issue.

If you have something that you would like to be included in this issue, then send it to me at my new e-mail address of: charlesmosteller@protonmail.com

There is no publication date. Just whenever I get around to it.

Take care!

God bless you, one and all!

After handing over the running of my main game, fleeing to the other side of the world and keeping quiet for a few decades, you'd think you'd be safe from your ex-players. But abuse a group of people for sufficiently long and some of them will persist.

And so I was t tracked down in Indianapolis by some determined gamers in Australia to hear that the Tribe Net had been running for some time in its latest guise and was in expansion mode. I was a little surprised, thinking several decades of game development and the emphasis on immediacy in the world of online multiplayer games had surely seen the demise of PBM/PBEM. I wasn't even sure how well 2 week turnaround would stand up these days, but decided to give it a try and ended up happily involved as a player this time.

Well, mostly. Old habits die hard and there was a feeling that there was room for a little something else in the game, nothing that shook things up too much but which provided a chance for those who wanted to get a bit more involved and fill in the time between turn submission and turn report.  So now I'm running cultural/sporting events largely based on tribal skills within the game and bringing small rewards. So far this game year we've held the Tribal Games and a Song Contest which most people entered at the simpler end of the spectrum but which did include some actual songs submitted by players as well as a music video from one. Next up is the World Cup for the local ball game and an art competition is going to round out the year.

A long way from running the original Tribe Vibes as it was, a longer lasting cricket game on a smaller scale and various more military based games along with some Diplomacy zines. But, if I ever decide to run something major full time, just have me committed to an institution. Please.

Hi there,

here are the english rules (scenario) of our second game
http://www.pbem-spiele.de/index.php?id=246

And here is the signup to the game:
http://www.pbem-spiele.de/index.php?id=238

You need to choose a priority in nations, because we try to start the game with minimum of 2-3 players per nation.

Blood Tides Rising 3

Blood Tides Rising 3 Explorer game is now open for accepting player pledges to play!

New to Legends? 

Legends is the most in-depth fantasy world character/army-level action turn based PEBM on the market!

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Here are ten great reasons why you should play Blood Tides Rising

1. Explore the Newest Legends Module
This Explorer game gives you a chance to discover the hidden depths of Legends newest game world!
 
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Brand new adventures, with greater depth than any previous Legends module, and which have a real impact on the game.
 
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Many modules contain everything there is to know about the world. Not this one! Will you be the first to uncover its many secrets?
 
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Think you know how to win Legends? Think again! New factions mean new styles of play, and that means new ways to achieve victory, or to have it snatched from you. From Merchants to Monsters to Mad God worshippers, each have their own strengths and weaknesses, requiring fresh tactics. Are you up the challenge?
 
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Tired of the existing Legends religions? Then create your own, as the Mad God looks to his followers for direction.
 
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Summon Medusa, conjure Cockatrices, and even unleash the Dragons!
 
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As below, so above. And as the gods war among themselves, the bravest heroes might snatch immortality from their grasp, or even take their place among the pantheon!
 
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Can't decide between the arcane might of a mage, or a priest's miraculous powers? Well, now you don't have to! All starting characters can be skilled in both the priestly and arcane arts, with new items, plots and adventures designed especially for them to discover.
 
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And did we mention that you can become a god?!


So visit our website today, and download the Blood Tides Rising module for free.
Or, if you have any questions, please get in touch at pbm@harlequingames.com - we would love to hear from you.
 
The Blood Tide Rises. Will you Sink or Swim?

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