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PBM Universal Returns - BobMcLain - 12-04-2011
As a few of you may recall, I published a magazine in the early 1980s about play-by-mail games called PBM Universal. It soon morphed into Gaming Universal, then I sold it to Advent Games (US) and Flagship (UK).
Selling that magazine was a decision I regret.
I've published other magazines, and I still make my living as a writer and editor. But I suppose it's true that you never forget your first one.
So I've decided to relaunch PBM Universal.
Obviously, the audience for PBM games now is far, far smaller than it was three decades ago. I expect the new PBM Universal not to blaze a trail but rather to fill a niche - a growing niche, since my definition of "PBM" is broad enough to encompass turn-based gaming in all its many forms.
In a sense, it's a vanity project, because I truly do miss the "old days". But it's also a serious project, and one for which I've spent substantial time over the past few months accumulating material, locking in contributors, devising a unique delivery system, and thinking hard about what will work and what won't work.
I've set March 1, 2012, as the launch date.
I'll provide further details here, as interest warrants, and soon on pbmuniversal.com, as well. (Don't bother going there now: the site won't be available until January.)
If anyone is interested in sharing their ideas, providing content, or perhaps becoming a regular contributor, please get in touch.
-- Bob McLain
RE: PBM Universal Returns - GrimFinger - 12-04-2011
This is great news, Bob! I'm glad to see that you are getting back in touch with your PBM roots.
RE: PBM Universal Returns - GrimFinger - 12-04-2011
Why do you regret selling that magazine, previously, Bob? Just curious.
RE: PBM Universal Returns - walter - 12-04-2011
Alright!
I am the first subscriber then Bob!
I still want to reply to your email, just have some family issues..
RE: PBM Universal Returns - BobMcLain - 12-04-2011
(12-04-2011, 07:30 PM)GrimFinger Wrote: Why do you regret selling that magazine, previously, Bob? Just curious.
Several reasons...
Remember, first, that I was very young, and that I was under a great deal of conventional pressure to attend college. I was supposed to do that by paying my own way, and in doing so, build "character" rather than debt.
I was offered a lot of money for the magazine. And I structured the deal to get two pay-offs: one from the US buyer, another from the UK buyer.
As part of those deals, I got to keep all of the existing subscriber and advertising revenue. Was it too good to pass up? It was.
But around that same time, I had been making quite a few connections with the "broader" gaming industry. I was brought in by Steve Jackson as one of the Contributing Editors for The Space Gamer. I was working on projects with Mike Gray at TSR, with Matt Costello (who later become a best-selling author), with Dana Lombardy, with the folks at MicroProse (remember them?), and with others, too.
Had I held onto the magazine, some of those projects certainly would have come to fruition. None did, partly because I no longer had a "power base" of my own, and partly because I focused foolishly on my courses at Penn State, instead of *doing* something with my life.
I regret those lost opportunities. I regret losing the pride that came with creation of a popular resource. I regret caving to the narrow-minded advice of "wiser" people who didn't understand what the hell I was doing with "those games". And I regret having rid myself of an occupation that brought me joy.
If that sounds like I'm on a nostalgia trip, well, maybe a little, but I also believe that I have a viable way to deliver a niche publication at minimal cost and with far less effort than it took me back in the 1980s.
Surprises in store, for sure.
-- Bob McLain
(12-04-2011, 07:56 PM)walter Wrote: Alright!
I am the first subscriber then Bob!
I still want to reply to your email, just have some family issues..
Thanks, Walter! I hope it meets your expectations.
By the way, the good thing about the revenue model is that subscribers won't have to take a leap of faith and plunk down in advance for unpublished issues. You'll be charged (via credit card, PayPal, or whatever) only for each issue as it is delivered. Cover price? $2.99. No ads.
-- Bob McLain
RE: PBM Universal Returns - GrimFinger - 12-05-2011
Yeah, I remember MicroProse. They published Command H.Q., a favorite wargame of mine.
RE: PBM Universal Returns - ixnay - 12-05-2011
Holy Moly! PBM Universal was awesome! A flash in the pan, but awesome! I am mightily impressed to learn that you did it as a teenager!
I wonder if you have any spare copies of issue 1 lying around? I never got a hold of that one, and I'm told it had an extensive review of Empyrean Challenge written by Wayne Lemmon, whom I served briefly as a "regent" in the venerable "game 1" of EC. I would love to read that.
I will definitely be subscribing to this new iteration...
RE: PBM Universal Returns - BobMcLain - 12-05-2011
(12-05-2011, 06:13 PM)ixnay Wrote: Holy Moly! PBM Universal was awesome! A flash in the pan, but awesome! I am mightily impressed to learn that you did it as a teenager!
I wonder if you have any spare copies of issue 1 lying around? I never got a hold of that one, and I'm told it had an extensive review of Empyrean Challenge written by Wayne Lemmon, whom I served briefly as a "regent" in the venerable "game 1" of EC. I would love to read that.
I will definitely be subscribing to this new iteration...
Yes, I do still have a few copies of issue #1, and that issue did indeed feature a long (as in several thousand words, at least) article by Wayne Lemmon about Empyrean Challenge entitled "Meeting the Challenge".
(Send me e-mail.)
I met Wayne in Beyond the Stellar Empire when he was the "Information Coordinator" for the GTT. Through means both fair and foul, I succeeded him in that illustrious position. Wayne was a smart, serious guy. I haven't heard from him in several years, and hope he's still doing well.
-- Bob McLain
RE: PBM Universal Returns - GrimFinger - 07-03-2012
So, Bob, how about an update on the previously announced relaunch of PBM Universal?
RE: PBM Universal Returns - BobMcLain - 07-03-2012
September 1.