I got an e-mail earlier this week from Flying Buffalo.  They have sold all of the Face to Face games (RPG, Card, etc.) they own to another company along with the domain name Flying Buffalo.  They have set up a new site for the PBM games at RickLoomisPBM.com.  Nothing there yet really but the e-mail address to contact them but it states they will be announcing something soon.

So far, Riftlords is all about trading.  Later in the game, there are more rules regarding claiming planets, building troops, etc. but for the time being, it's all about trading.  I have signed up for three ships and I'm about to send in orders for turn 6.  I chose the slow game so turn around time is 1 month.

I'm in Riftlords game 1 and it is turn #305.  I guess that means that this particular game has been running for 25 years.

Here is what my 3 ships will be doing for turn 6.

Hawk
Current Ranking: 376 out of 434 ships

This ship has not found a really good price on items to make much money up to this point.  To make up for this, he has spent a turn prospecting.  Alkso, the very first turn you receive at set up, your ship just prospected.  As a result, I have a cargo hold of Titanium and Platinum.  I also have 5 Computer Chips I had bought on a whim on turn 2.  This pilot fancies himself to be a smuggler.  If you get caught, it sets you back financially quite a bit.  The captain of Hawk will be selling off the 5 computer chips for only a 7 credit profit for each.  That is to clear off some space on my way to selling the metals taking up most of my hold.  I am doing this because if I take a small side trip to pick up 5 recreational stimulants and then pass through planet Compaq on my way to sell the metals, I'll pick up 1,500 credits of profit.  Recreational Stimulants are illegal on Compaq.  Not an astronomical profit and not a great risk to my pocketbook if it get caught but a good 1st attempt at some smuggling.

Falcon
Current Ranking: 374 out of 434 ships

This ship just found items to sell at two planets w/ prices that make a decent profit.  Nothing too exciting happening with him for the next 2 or 3 turns.  I plan on turning these items over until the profit drops so much its not worth it.  I made about $2,000 credits on him last turn.

Eagle
Current Ranking: 393 out of 434 ships

This ship has had the worst luck but everything is about to turn around for him.  I'm filling up the hold with gold and heading to the planet Revelation for a decent profit.  There was also a special that appears at the bottom of the turn.  Most of these specials are not available to me because my range is so short and the specials don't last very long.  They have a minimum length of 3 turns.  This special is the planet Lyrae needs artwork for 2 competing museums that are opening up and the planet is 3 turns away.  They will pay 4,300 credits for artwork.  I can pick them up for 657 each at planet Revelation.  He is about to clean up.

Hello everyone,

I would like to see if other people are as interested in this as I am and to see if some of you wonderful PBM game masters might run one.  I have been craving a closed ended simple game.  I look at all of the games that are still running and, of course, the most popular huge games with incredible depth are the ones that have survived.  Is there any interest out there for the short game w/ a few commands, lots or no diplomacy, quick action, high stakes and short turn sheets.  Flying Buffalo has several of these game offered.  I am on the waiting list for one, Nuclear Destruction, but a game hasn't been played in a long time.  There is little hope that game will ever start.  I am also on the waiting list for It's a Crime with KJC Games.  I haven't heard from them in about 3 months.  In PBM games, 3 months is just a blink.  I could be waiting a while.

Is there anyone out there that are interested in these games?

Marc Hochler is rebooting the game and has a web interface for looking at colonies and ships available.

Quote:I am actually working on a real-time web based version of the game.  Some functionality now, but will have some time this weekend to work on more.

Please go to https://empyreanchallenge.herokuapp.com/

When you try to access Ships/Colonies you will be denied but it will let you authenticate an email address.  Once you authenticate I can assign you as a ruler.

After that, feel free to share your thoughts and ideas.

Regards -
Marc

I'm trying to understand the advantages of starbases vs the a sub-light warship with the same tonnage.

1. A 20,000t sublight warship (CTS Slowvette) costs 150eu.
   
2. It ages and would require 4eu (150/4 rounded up) per turn to keep at Age 1.
   
3. Maintenance is 40eu (20,000/500) per turn. Sublight reduces that to 30 (a 25% discount).
   

1. A 20,000t starbase (BAS Stinger) costs 200eu.
   
2. It would require 5eu (200/4), per turn to keep at Age 1.
   
3. Maintenance is 20eu (20,000/1,000) per turn.
   

We're running a test run of Far Horizons. For the most part, everyone's orders have processed as intended. There were some surprises (looking at you, "TR1 Ted               100"), but mostly no harm done.

This round, though, a player type "END" instead of "ZZZ" to end a message. The result was that all the remaining commands were skipped. Fortunately, the GM caught that during a test run and the player was able to correct it. But the correction introduced another error - it left out the "END" for the section. If we were running this through the post, pretty much the whole turn would have been lost. In a competitive game, that could be the end for the player.

It seems like the order processor should make corrections where the intent is clear. For example, "RESEARCH 200 ML" and "RESEARCH ML 200" should both apply 200 points of research towards the military tech level. The manual says that the command format is

  | RESEARCH n tech ;; Spend "n" on research in technology "tech"

But the code accepts both.

The order processor can't fix the missing ZZZ because it can never be smart enough to tell whether a line is text or a command. Or, as mentioned in a comment:

  /* Skip MESSAGE text. It may contain a line that starts with "start". */

This comes up because I'm porting that code base to another programming language. I'm trying my darndest not to change the game, but I did add a check for a missing "END" statement. If it finds "START xxxx" and "xxxx" is a valid section name (JUMPS, STRIKES, etc), then it inserts an "END" and continues.

Is that common in other games? Do other games give players who submit their orders early a chance to fix them? I think that in an article in Suspense, one of the Buffalo guys said that part of the fun of PBM was the pressure of getting orders exactly right all the time.

Continuing with my ongoing plan to improve the graphic content of The Isles, I've completed mapping of the major and minor settlements in the Ilanthor region of the game, and I'm now starting to do plan-view representations of places of interest, such as static encounters and places of interest. Attached is an image showing what the Ravine passing through the main town of Ilanthor looks in relation to the houses and other buildings that overlook it. There's going to be about 120 plan views which I'll probably process as players get close to these locations - so forty have been created NOW and the rest will be created over the next six months or so.

Also attached is an image of Dead Mans Fort to show the two differences in scale - the Fort shows the entire settlement while the Ravine image shows a POI within a larger Town.

R

Attached Files

  Ilan River Ravine.jpg (Size: 2.08 MB / Downloads: 11)
  hillfort SML.png (Size: 1.3 MB / Downloads: 6)

Species name: Annelos
Government name: The Annelos Fellowship
Government type: Theocracy

CommTurn010

"All shall be cast asunder, not a soul will be retained from my might power, bitter will be your final breath...."
"Derek!! Get off the WormComm, you don't know who'll be listening! Come and finish your salad you silly old man."
[click]

This is a bit off-topic, but I'm looking for opinions on the "right" level of detail for a rule book.

One extreme would be documenting the formulas used to determine outcomes. The other extreme, "if you spend points on research, some things may happen."

An example (from Far Horizons) is conducting research to increase technology levels. The manual casually mentions that you need to spend points equal to the new level squared to increase one level. That's not exactly how it works, though.

Does shining a light on the sausage making apparatus make the game more enjoyable? (Even if it it opens it up to gaming the system.)

Does hiding that and leaving players wondering what they did wrong to gain no levels from research somehow increase the intrigue and interest?

Imagine a game where players can participate for literally decades, building up a Clan of tribes in a barbarian fantasy world.

These clans can hunt, build, trade, fight and grow. They can farm, sail, mine, ambush other traders and show off artistic skills at the biannual fair. They can explore, scout, spy, brew ale and develop large alliances with other clans. They can build up towns and ports. They can lay siege to their enemy's towns and ports in order to claim the spoils within. They can choose to run or fight the roaming cannibal tribes, or perhaps descend into madness by joining with them and going on to terrorise the land.

TribeNet is that game.

Once a fortnight, players submit orders via email to the GM and receive their results a few days later to learn how they fared. Did the new goldmine produce? Did the enemy overrun our scouting party? Did the attack go our way? Did we lose thousands of goats because we forgot to herd them? Did we discover vast new areas of land to expand and trade? Did the new research complete successfully, opening up new avenues of production and wealth? Did the ship building complete, allowing us to cross the ocean to the new trading opportunities available? Did the harvest come in? Did the refineries produce the metals we needed to build the swords to counter the imminent invasion? Did the hospital get built to reduce the casualties if not? How are the stone wall defences coming along? Will the allies get here in time?

TribeNet is a 4x (explore, exploit, expand, exterminate) open-ended Play By Email (PBeM) game which began in the late 1980s, following in the footsteps of the Play By Mail (PBM) game boom of that decade. The game and its rulebook have been in continual development since the start, supporting new players and old alike. Players may even submit ideas for game enhancements in the form of ‘research’, ensuring the game can continually offer new skills, avenues to explore and other ways to keep the game fresh for long time players.

New players are always welcome and are thoroughly supported by the existing player base. They are given safe spaces to learn and grow and make their way in the land.

Emphasis in the game is on the management of the clan and its constituent tribes. Where to go, what to do, which skills to develop, whether to fight or trade or build, or all of the above. Because you share the world with other players, diplomacy is a part of the game, and this provides some limited opportunity for role-play (but overall, role-play is not a major part of the game).

I have been playing the game for a year now, and have thoroughly enjoyed myself, developing the clan and its capabilities, exploring the terrain and resources and locating nearby tribes to trade with.

Many players use the TribeNet Discord to discuss the finer points of the rules (and hurl insults) and I found this a great forum to learn the ropes in the early days. It has a great community spirit and is often very entertaining. The players also produce a magazine published every two weeks providing further opportunities to share stories, rumours, jokes, tips, and of course, hurl abuse.


TribeNet is a great introduction to Play By Mail, and has managed to attract and keep players entertained for decades! Come and join in the fun! I can completely recommend this game.