Ok I am thinking of reviving or should I say refloating this game. Looking for any one who might want to be the GM or main moderator, we have a webmaster(me) and some good script/editorial writers, just need some one to crunch those numbers for us.

Any one interested contact me at webmaster@brinyengarde.co.uk

Thanks

So, what do I think about play by mail gaming, and how things panned out for the hobby?

Oh, like most anyone else who has an opinion on the subject, I tend to be of many minds. I have many different opinions about it, all simultaneously. From time to time, I like to share a particular thought or three on the subject with others who, while they may or may not share my opinion being voiced at the time, nonetheless retain at least an interest in the subject matter being discussed.

Sometimes, I talk about what I label the Old Guard of PBM. Sometimes, they catch Hell. At other times, they still catch Hell. But, such should not be wrongly equated with me hating the Old Guard. Heck, many times, no one more so than myself would enjoy hearing from them sharing tidbits and morsels about the good old days, or hearing them expounding upon their companies' respective role on the hobby. Even hearing why they seem to have lost interest in the hobby to which they are linked would be a nice change of pace from the omnipresent silence that seems to emanate without end from numerous Old Guard PBM companies and moderators.

My role in the whole not-so-sordid affair is pretty much whatever I choose for it to be, I suppose. Of late, I am inclined to think that the role for this website to play is that of a facilitator. If people want to discuss the hobby of play by mail gaming, then that's fine. If, however, they don't want to discuss it, preferring silence to participation, then you know what? That's fine, too. I can still carve out a niche for this website, I believe, no matter what course that others - either singularly or collectively - may chart.

It's ironic, I think, how much that things are still pretty much the same, as they were back in the days when David Webber was still the editor of Paper Mayhem magazine. He had trouble getting people to contribute and write about the hobby. It's no different now, in that regard.

David couldn't save the hobby from itself, as things turned out. He did put forth effort. He tried different things. He made a positive difference, overall, I think. Even still, look at how things turned out.

So, as David Webber did his thing, likewise, I'm going to continue doing my thing. What that "thing" is may evolve over time, or it may even dissipate in a wisp of smoke, but I'm not going to worry about any of that.

If you want to contribute, then contribute. If you don't, then don't. Sure, I would like to hear from you, as others would, also, no doubt. But, regardless, I am going to take things at a pace that is leisurely to myself.

The site is PlayByMail.Net - and we're here to stay.

For a while.

At least.

Unless I'm wrong, of course.

I vaguely remember doing this before...

Have more nicknames than I care to remember but the most infamous have been Axe, Thor, Midnight, The Adelaide Assassin and Qadir. I've been in PBM since 1984 in Australia with Kevin Flynn's Australian Wizard. Peter Catling's Roma Games and Peter Read's Dynamic Games mostly. Now I'm reduced to online cricket management games, Olympia Game 3 and I'm still planning on running Roma Games' excellent Dino Wars in house for my wife and kids to play (whenever I find the time).

I produced the Medokh Murmurs newsletter for Keys of Medokh in Australia, wrote articles for Oz PBM newsletters, Breakout magazine and was for a short period of time Associate Ed of Australian Flagship. I still have my PBM Bastard of the Year trophy from 1995's Flagship Awards ceremony in Canberra (which a certain John Tindall was at I should add) on my computer desk as well as trophies for win at face-to-face Trolls Bottom - much more fun than via the post or email.

Played lots and lots of different PBM's - that's for another time perhaps.

Okay, thanks to Grim playbymail has a new forum. Thanks for that!

I am Walter, 38 years old, living in Leidschendam, The Netherlands with my wife and daughter.
Started my first pbm game in 1986 with a Dutch firm called Fantasia Arena. The game was named Vorcon Wars. Played two turns of Vorcon Wars but the game folded due to I was the only one playing the game!!!

Then I started playing with the Pbm Express:
I played games like Knights of Avalon, Gladius et Pilum, Legends, Continental Rails, Supernova II.

I liked playbymail because of the diplomacy there was in that time. People were calling me with name like "Harige Harrie" or "Haddock" :-)
I had a phonebill, well, I can imagine my parents where angry...

Currently playing in a Legends Game, Harlequin games.. Not playing that many pbm games anymore.

I keep dreaming of my own game called Gliese 5. Not sure if it will ever finish but it is fun to prepare a game like this. Completely handmoderated of course because I dont have ANY programming skills at all.

Enough for now.
Again thanks for this website Grim.

I decided, this morning, that I would try to join the Yahoo group for London en Garde! Oh, what a simple undertaking.

Wrong! The problem, of course, lies with Yahoo, and not with that particular group on Yahoo. Being on a slow dial-up account to access the Internet with only exacerbates the problem.

Yahoo likes to create a primary e-mail address for people who sign up for their discussion groups, and they like for it to be a Yahoo e-mail address. Except, I have no intention of using the new e-mail address in question.

I go into the account settings to change it, and Yahoo further complicates things by requiring that I verify my alternate e-mail address that I listed, when I signed up, before I can make the change to use my alternate e-mail address as the contact address. Clicking the Verify Now button does nothing.

Of course. Much time wasted trying to sort through Yahoo's self-inflicted headache. I only wanted to check that discussion group out. They have it set up to not display messages in that group to non-members of the group. That's not a Yahoo issue. That's a group issue.

And people wonder why more people don't play their favored game of choice.

Last night, I tried to sift through an old corrupted database file, to try and recover at least a few of the site's former users' e-mail addresses. I managed to find about a dozen, although one or two I wasn't sure if they were registered users e-mail addresses, or e-mail addresses that were perhaps posted in a forum forum posting, such as one for Agema.

Regardless, I went ahead and sent out an invitation, of sorts, to try and invite people back. I noticed that we got a couple of them back, already. I don't know if we will get back a few of those who posted at length in a few former forum postings or not. It's a lot like looking for needles in a haystack, trying to sort through the mountain of gibberish that is the corrupted database file.

But, I thought that it was at least worth a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

In order for there to be a resurgence in play by mail gaming, I really do think that it is going to require the infusion of a new generation of PBM game moderators. I have grave doubts that the remaining members of PBM's Old Guard are motivated enough or interested enough to get the hobby back on track.

Now, if interest in play by mail gaming just suddenly exploded overnight, I certainly do think that Old Guard PBM companies would be well situated to take advantage of such a surge in interest. But, I just don't think that those Old Guard companies, themselves, will be the spark behind such a resurgence.

It may well be that the play by mail genre of gaming will not ever experience a significant resurgence of players, PBM companies, and play by mail games. If that is what is to be, then that is what is to be. Period. Of course, there is no way to know, for absolute certain, that that is the case. If you are a betting man, then the safe money is that it won't happen.

But, the beauty of people becoming involved in a given situation is that, although not always, quite often they can make a considerable difference. In order for gamers to play PBM games, then there has to exist PBM games for them to play.

A number of avid players from the old days of PBM have probably passed on, by now. Fortunately, I am not one of them. Not yet, anyway. There's still quite a few people form the old days when PBM was at its apex, and they are still involved in playing PBM games. Hyborian War is an example of an old school PBM game where, if you want to play, at all, then you still must play it via the postal service.

And, there are also people who are still joining the ranks of play by mail gaming for the first time. Once such fellow created an account on another website of mine, just today, in fact. He remembered seeing the old Hyborian War ads in some of the old black and white Conan magazines, and he somehow or other ended up came back into contact with info about Hyborian War, and is now looking to join a game of Hyborian war for the very first time.

Flagship magazine has been around a long time. Carol Mulholland, the current editor of Flagship magazine, tries to keep covering things, and as far as I know, she has never become disinterested in covering play by mail games and play by mail company news. Often times, there's simply no news, or no one bothers to share what little news that there is with her.

But, also, Flagship magazine is oriented more towards the PBM gaming scene in Great Britain and Europe, than the PBM gaming scene in the United States. When a new domain name was chosen for a new website for Flagship magazine, the domain name selected was FlagshipMagazine.Co.Uk. Note the end designation of that URL address, which are the letters UK.

In all fairness, when Paper Mayhem was being published, its primary coverage was the American PBM gaming scene, with some coverage of the Canadian PBM gaming scene. The United Kingdom and European PBM scenes received far less coverage, which worked well for Flagship magazine, I'm certain. But, those two magazines were largely a reflection of geographic realities and fund limitations.

Then-editor David Webber of Paper Mayhem sought input in the form of letters from his magazine's readership on more than one occasion. This is a lot like the situation that Carol Mulholland faces now. But, one simple reality of life is that most people who read or subscribe to a given magazine will likely never write a letter to said magazine.

There are Old Guard PBM companies that would, I suspect, embrace a new paper format PBM magazine that focused primarily upon the American and Canadian PBM gaming scenes. But, just as most American PBM companies have transitioned to the electronic medium to effectuate cost savings, a new PBM magazine would benefit from the advantages that the electronic medium conveys.

Much of what David Webber and Paper Mayhem published in the old days has transitioned to the electronic medium, since that magazine's passing from publication. Having ceased publication, Paper's Mayhem's subscriber base and its readership base (not necessarily one and the same thing) filled the void in other ways. Those who had lost interest in play by mail while Paper Mayhem was still in publication, and who returned after Paper Mayhem's shut down, had little choice but to pursue other options.

One of the core functions that Paper Mayhem served, back in the old days when PBM was king to a large number of gamers, when new PBM companies and new PBM games regularly appeared on the PBM gaming scene, was that of facilitator. Paper Mayhem facilitated getting the prospective PBM player connected with the PBM game moderators and PBM companies that had the PBM games that needed players to fill their ranks.

In this day and age, who is investing in the play by mail genre of gaming? Is anyone? Or has all of the investment, what relatively little that there is, shifted to the electronic medium?

Because there is no real investment in PBM going on, right now (at least, not that I am aware of), and because no major company, PBM or otherwise, is taking the lead on revitalizing the PBM industry, I think that any real resurgence of PBM gaming will require individual innovators to make things happen to any notable degree.

By and large, the Old Guard PBM companies still know how to program and to run play by mail games, but realistically speaking, they have all but abandoned postal gaming as a viable medium of gaming for their respective companies' business models.

Can new play by mail companies come into existence, in the current day and age, and be sustainable operations that generate a profit? I think so, but the real problem lies more with connecting potential players with such company and its games. I think that there must - of necessity - be something there to fill that void, a new facilitator, if you will.

In PBM's glory days of old, one thing that prospective PBM players had was a lot of PBM games and a lot of PBM companies to choose from. If you don't have that range of choice, then common sense dictates that your likely player base will be much smaller than might be the case, if there is a large body of PBM games and PBM companies filling the PBM genre with vitality and energy and presence. After all, who wants crappy choices, either for gaming or for anything else in life?

One of the greatest challenges facing any new PBM gaming focused magazine is what to print. In order to exist - and to thrive, such a new PBM magazine will have to address that challenge. As an example to help illustrate the point, what would such a magazine provide to a new PBM readership that those very same readers couldn't find elsewhere, where play by mail news and happenings is concerned. Are magazines such as Paper Mayhem and Flagship still relevant to PBM gamers?

I think that they are. Or, perhaps I should say, I think that they should be, and that they could be. Paper Mayhem currently lies dormant, and Flagship has a whole host of problems that I think that it needs to sort through, in order to be a viable facilitator for the play by mail industry and PBM gaming community of players.

Flagship hasn't sunk. Not yet, anyway. But, it is listing terribly. Granted, that's just my opinion of one, but it is my opinion, nonetheless. Continually missing publication deadlines, regardless of why, only worsens things - both for Flagship's readership and for Flagship, itself.

Realistically speaking, though, how are Carol and Flagship supposed to resuscitate a play by mail industry which has emaciated itself, and which won't even invest in itself, anymore? Such an industry is more in need of hospice, than a facilitator, wouldn't you say?

The primary reason that I can think of for someone - anyone - to invest in the play by mail genre of gaming is that it can be a lot of fun. Whether you are a PBM player, a PBM moderator, a PBM company, or a PBM magazine personality, shouldn't your primary, over-arching interest in it all be to have fun?

Recognizing that key fact is fundamental, I think, to reinvigorating the PBM industry - no matter what angle or perspective that you approach it from.

NOTE: Originally posted in 2010 on the old PlayByMail.Net forums.

It's a thankless task, but somebody's got to do it, I suppose. Then again, maybe somebody's already done it, but they are hoarding the details - guarding them steadfastly and with vigilance that would make the Omega Dark Guards of the famed Krulang Krang of Galaxy:Alpha proud.

In issue # 77 of Paper Mayhem magazine, Marguerite Dias of the PBM company of the same name stated, "We personally would greatly fear for the survival of PBM gaming if Paper Mayhem was not around to trumpet its presence." Sage words, indeed!

The gravity of the situation demands action! With PBM fans scattered to the furthermost reaches of time and space, the Internet has acted as a fundamental law of the new PBM universe - exerting its decentralizing force with great effect. In brooding tones, the PBM seers of yesteryear prophesied the coming of Postal Ragnarok - the Doom of the Internet was bearing down on them with ever-increasing speed, its fury a splendid thing to behold. The devastation was great.

The great prophesy fulfilled, or so it seemed, play by mail's prophets suddenly found themselves unemployed. With the Golden Era of play by mail behind them, they began to labor anew to exploit the technological mother lode that the Internet had delivered into the palms of their hands.

Fast forward to the present day.

In hindsight, play by mail has survived its appointment with Ragnarok. Bob McLain was last seen holed up in his Fortress of Solitude, a PBM-proof bunker constructed from the souls of the PBM damned. All attempts to lure him out have failed. It is eerily reminiscent of the Hell Gate, for those of you who played Galaxy: Alpha in years gone by.

My voodoo doll of humor of old, Bob McLain, aside, it is pretty evident and intuitively obvious to any who are willing to explore the PBM landscape for themselves that play by mail is still with us. As Jerry Clower might say, we had a rat killin', but the genre of play by mail gaming is not graveyard dead. Incredible as it might seem, both play by mail and the Internet now co-exist side-by-side.

Welcome to the Promised Land, people.

The Internet assimilated some. It scattered others. Some, it anointed. Others were simply overwhelmed by the technological assault en masse on every fiber of their existence.

With the commercial sector of play by mail leading the way, the postal genre was eroded - bit by bit and piece by piece. The technological revolution underway was too tempting to resist. The Bane of Postage had met its match, and the Sword of Internet would slay this foul beast, freeing PBM of its never-ending curse.

Just as humanity embraced the aliens in the old V miniseries, PBM's commercial sector embraced the Internet. They intended to exploit this alien Internet technology in full. They could discern the advantages that technological domination would confer upon their respective companies. Rather than riding the wave to prosperity, the scene was more akin to watching someone stand on the beach, preparing to catch a tidal wave with a baseball glove. The ensuing "progress" of play by mail's commercial sector was not a pretty sight to watch.

Before sampling the lotus of the World Wide Web, in some cases, PBM's game moderators experimented with computer bulletin board systems, or BBSs as they became commonly known. The transition to html and php only worsened the addiction. Technology was the Savior. It would save them all.

The carcasses of many PBM company websites now litter the Internet landscape, the actual casualty count unknown.

With each advance in technology, the commercial PBM companies led their players by the hand into the future of PBM. Somewhere along the way, most of the former thousands upon thousands of PBM players let go of their game moderators' hands, opting to explore the Internet landscape for themselves. Most of them haven't been seen since.

An industry Hell bent on dismantling itself, and focused on remaking itself for the dawn of a new technological era, should not feign surprise nor indignation at the eroded landscape of what was once a very promising commercial play by mail habitat.

Nonetheless, the search by the commercial sector for PBM's mystical El Dorado of Technology continues to this very day.

It's really not too difficult to find the last vestiges of play by mail's commercial sector, if you look for it. Just use the Internet. Unfortunately, this Jurassic Park doesn't feature a lot of dinosaurs. Most dinosaurs of PBM's commercial sector went extinct years ago. What remains of them are only a few fossilized remains. You might even be able to find some of those old highly-touted PBM games that are no longer on the market, if you search the Tar Pit of Time long enough. Good luck on that.

Of vastly greater significance than PBM's commercial sector, PBM's player sector survived Ragnarok relatively unscathed. There were games aplenty for them in PBM's Promised Land, aka the Internet. There was just one eensy weensy problem - most of these new games were not postal genre games. Thus began the Exodus.

Marguerite Dias was very prescient, it seems.

Once upon a time ago, both Paper Mayhem and its arch-competitor for PBM audience share, Flagship, illuminated the play by mail landscape with the unmarred light of postal genre purity. Silmarils, were they.

Paper Mayhem's light was abruptly extinguished, with the passing of editor David Webber. The fate of Flagship's light was a different tale. Its light was lost gradually. At most, the postal genre of gaming has endured under a pallor, ever-diminishing light - and its fauna and its flora have withered until now, we are left with a landscape sore with desolation.

We are lost in the wilderness, anew. In this much reduced light, the Death Globes of competition resemble Picts, savages who war for the sake of war. If there is to be a flourishing commercial PBM sector, then it will have to be rebuilt. In the meantime, we of the PBM Clan have this world virtually to ourselves. One man's world of desolation is another man's world of adventure.

In David Webber, one can see glimpses of Gil-Galad. David was play by mail's Star of Radiance, and he fought the good fight for our genre of gaming. He was truly the last High King of Play By Mail.

In Carol Mulholland, one can glimpse Galadriel. Carol is the Lady of Light of the genre, but the realm of play by mail suffers under a growing darkness of the technological Sauron that we call Internet.

But, what of that thing that I refer to as the Hivemind of Play by Mail? It is scattered, with part of it seeking sanctuary in fortresses of forum sites and arks of discussion groups, and the remainder still wandering and exploring as individuals in the new wilderness of Internet gaming.

Can the pieces of the PBM Hivemind be made whole? Or is it a task impossible?

Prepare yourself for the arduous journey to come.

NOTE: Originally posted in 2010 on the old PlayByMail.Net forums.