It appears that, while trying some different e-mail client software programs, I have managed to somehow or other delete all of the e-mails in my GrimFinger@GrimFinger.Net account.

ACK!!

I can still function, but for the moment, I've lost every e-mail that I've been saving for years on end that was of some value to me at PlayByMail.Net and Suspense & Decision magazine.

It was due to a setting to delete e-mails from server, after loading new messages. A setting error of some type.

- Charles -

So, as I mentioned in another thread, I'm in the Alpha Test stage of my new PBM game Cohorts : Veil of Entropy.

After several failed starts, working on various platforms, I've decided to launch the game as a Windows 10 app that will be able to be played on any Windows 10 device (other than a phone for logistics reasons), including Xbox One.

There are many arguments against developing a Windows 10 game, but for me, creating a game that uses a single set of code and is extremely fast, was key.

My previous attempt was developed in a Web/Server environment, but the logistics of maintaining two sets of code (one javascript and one c#) was more than I wanted to take on.  And yes, I could have developed the entire application in javascript ... but my I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I admit that javascript can be used to do some pretty amazing stuff, but at the end of the day, I like my programming languages to be strongly typed and fully object oriented.

If Cohorts is successful enough as a Windows 10 app, I'll consider hiring somebody to port it to the web.

Happy Gaming,

Paul

As a general announcement to the universe, I'm going to be releasing a whole new module-based PBM game system in the very near future. 

The game system and the first module, Veil of Entropy, is in early Alpha Testing right now and will likely stay in Alpha Test for about 3 months.  Once the system is stable enough and has enough content, I'll open it up to the general public for Beta testing.

PBM is not dead - at least I hope not.

Happy Gaming,

Paul

- updated and expanded interview with the two gents behind Cluster Wars

- gamelogs starting for tribenet and galac-tac

- fun limited-scope space trading game for forum posters

- my column in S&D

- a mini-zine companion/insert to complement S&D, scoping out to more "slow gaming" concepts...

Forget your avatar?

No problem - I'll begin choosing one for you.

Actually, I decided to change the default avatar, tonight. I may even turn it into an advertising opportunity.

Grimfinger wants to issue "PBM report cards" about play-by-mail games and moderators. I think that's a great idea, and worthy of support. I did something similar to it - called the "Gamealog" (clumsy name) - in PBM/Gaming Universal; it was always one of the most popular parts of the magazine.

OK, I'll put my head on the chopping block: I'm in the best test (game #200) of Quest of the Great Jewels. Anyone else?

So far, I've communicated with three other players and know of three more (one of whom uses a player name familiar to me from years past). That leaves another five unaccounted for.

Bob McLain

Tribenet: the Journey Begins

Formally, we are known as Tribe xxxx (number obscured for security purposes), but to the common people of the world, we are the Gorgoths -- herders extraordinaire.  Under our fearless leader, Gorgar, we have spread far and wide under the life-giving sun.  Well, not that far and not that wide.  Our initial scout reports extend 4-5 hexes in most directions (25 miles per hex).

The plains gave birth to our people, and more importantly to our herds.  While we boast several dozen cattle, horses, and even elephants, our greatest wealth (such as it is) is our teeming herd of goats.  Not only do we have them, our greatest skills lie in the sciences and arts of animal husbandry.  Oh, we dabble in other things, and possess small amounts of other rare and precious materials.  But in the main, our goat herd is paramount, our goat skills are superb, and our odor -- er, presence -- is palpable across the great prairie we call home.

* * *

I just signed up to play tribenet, prompted by Chris Stanifer's nice write-up in S&D 13.  The GM has been very responsive and communicative, and the terms for getting started are excellent.  You can play the first 6 months for free (playing a turn every couple of weeks.)  That sounds like a good deal to me.

On top of that, the resources available to new players are pretty solid.  The rules are apparently extensive, but the "beginner rules" aren't, and that's all you'll need to get up and running.  They come with commentary and recommendation on how to get things rolling.  New players are generally grouped in the same area as other new-ish players, so they won't be trounced by long-established empires.  And there's an early moratorium on violence to boot.

In addition, you get a basic set of orders pre-filled on the spreadsheet turn form.  These are recommendations, which you may customize as you see fit.  Basically, it has been recommended to me to send out as many scouting parties as I can, do a little culling of my goats, keep the herds tended, and otherwise employ everyone else in the task of hunting up food.

My starting map shows a few old scouting trails, so I know there's a river off to the south, and some jungle highlands to the east.  I am not in contact with anyone, and know of nothing else about the world.  A fresh, clean start.

The options open to me, beyond the basic orders, involve which directions to explore or migrate to, which skills to try to advance, and whether to tweak any economic settings -- for example, whether I should harvest more or less goats.

* * *

Gorgar has called forth his swift-riders.  They will spread out across the plains in search of other tribes and new opportunities.  Gorgar is new to his leadership of this humble clan.  He wants very much to dip his feet into the great southern river, so perhaps that is the best direction to start the wagons rolling.  Most of our 11 thousand some people will walk and hunt, as we await word from the swift-riders.  These riders will head off in pairs, for safety, bearing what few swords we possess.

It seems that for now we should focus our efforts on herding.  We are good at it, and we can multiply our bounty be perhaps learning how to best make use of what Storm Bull provides us.  Meat, sinew, hides, it is all important.  Perhaps we will work the very bones of our animals into new tools and weapons.  Indeed, there is little that would please Storm Bull more.

The summer is in full bloom before our herds. But the open prairie does not provide optimal hunting, and even if the fields abounded with game only a small portion of our warriors have even slings with which to hunt. We love our grassy home, but we must look to feed our children and to provide some harvest to ward against the coming winter.

Work on Issue #14 has already started. I haven't made a lot of progress on this next issue, yet, but I do have things under way, already.

Here's hoping that the magazine's readers found something in our last issue to enjoy, and I invite one and all to send me something to include in a future issue. Art, articles, photographs, and various other things such as thoughts, feedback, and memories from days of PBM gaming past all make for a more interesting magazine to read.

If you would like to be worked into a future front cover for Suspense & Decision, then be sure to send me a photograph of yourself that the cover artist can use as a visual reference. You could end up as a hero, as with Jim Gagliardi on the front cover of Issue #13 in the role of his Tom Krieger character (aka Baron Mazas) from the game Phoenix:BSE, which is run by KJC Games over in the United Kingdom, or you could end up as the victim of some strange beast from who knows what kind of setting. This concept is aimed at giving the magazine a more personal feel, one which plays on our sense of humor. I think that it's a good way to promote PBM gaming with one's friends.

You may not know it, yet, but Bernd is still out there. He may contact with me shortly after I published Issue #13, but before he knew that it had been published. I don't know, yet, in what capacity that he will be returning, but you are likely to begin reading something from Bernd, again, sometime soon. For those who may be new and not know who Bernd is, Bernd was Suspense & Decision's assistant editor, previously. He may be, again, but he's also been ruminating about possibly starting up his own game-related zine. Either way, it appears that the future will hold more of Bernd for you, rather than less of him. Rather than de-Bernd, there will be re-Bernd.

Though Suspense & Decision has had rough spots that it has endured (the delay in publishing Issue #11, and Issue #12 being completely lost to the sands of time, as I look back over the span of time since Issue #1 was published, the magazine has had its high points, also. I really do think that we get a few things right, even though I never seem to manage to do a good enough job of proof reading each issue before publishing them for your reading pleasure. Personally speaking, I like the fact that the magazine is free. I also like the fact that the magazine embraces some kind of free advertising model. I wish that more people took advantage of it, but so far, it hasn't proven to be unduly difficult to give ad space away, if I spend any time, at all, making game companies aware of the chance to advertise for free.

The forum here has died off, in recent months - again. It goes through phases of growth and death, it seems. If you would like to see this forum become a more thriving place, then contribute to the overall effort by posting a message or starting a new discussion thread, each time that you visit here. It's when site visitors notice that something new has been posted since their last visit here that the forum seems to enjoy its greatest spurts of growth.

One of the changes with the return of Suspense & Decision that I will be making an extra effort to focus upon is in the area of dialogue. That's the primary reason that the Down the Whirlpool section of Issue #13 was as long as it was. It wasn't just about beating poor Rick McDowell of Alamaze fame over the head. Rick feels that my writing style is almost as acerbic as his own, but he likes acerbic, so as the saying goes, all's well that ends well.

The big picture, which is what my increased focus upon dialogue is geared towards, isn't about any given individual, although from issue to issue it might very well seem that way, if you lose sight of the big picture. My core aim is to generate and to grow a sense of dialogue across the PBM community and PBM industry. It's about getting people talking, about getting people to participate in dialogue about things PBM related.

Think about it this way - when was the last time that various personalities in the PBM industry gathered at a PBM convention and discussed things related to PBM games in person, face to face? There aren't any PBM conventions, anymore. Paper Mayhem magazine is gone. Flagship magazine is gone. The various PBM magazines that Bob McLain was involved with in the past are all gone, now. I'm not saying that' its Bob McLain's fault, of course (even though we might could do an article on that possibility in a future issue). Rather, I think that a variety of different developments down through the years have harmed, negatively impacted, or taken their toll - both individually and collectively - on play by mail gaming, and some of those developments may get overshadowed by other things (like the advent and growth of the Internet).

Maybe I should save some of this discussion for future issues of Suspense & Decision magazine, though. If people don't send me anything to include in Issue #14, then I'm going to have to fill the pages with something, after all.

Anyway, give me some feedback on Issue #13, what you liked about it and what you didn't. Let me know if you're glad that it's back, or if you dreaded the day of its return.

Regardless, it has returned, and as I said in Issue #13, it's returned with a vengeance! To find out what that means, though, stay turned, and join us in the next issue - and in issues that will extend out on past Issue #14.

As always, happy reading!

This is an older article, but it just now occurs to me (and may have already occurred to others) that the appropriately slow rise of "slow gaming" - in particular, the recent success of "No Man's Sky" - is an opportunity for traditional play-by-mail gaming, which was and continues to be "slow":

https://killscreen.com/articles/rise-slo...ngry-birds

A nice hook, if ever there was one: Play-by-Mail - The Original Slow Gaming Experience.

-- Bob McLain