Of Mice and Neanderthal in the Sistine Chapel of Play By Mail

Of Mice and Neanderthal in the Sistine Chapel of Play By Mail - Printable Version

+- PlayByMail Forums (https://forums.playbymail.dev)
+-- Forum: Suspense & Decision (https://forums.playbymail.dev/forumdisplay.php?fid=37)
+--- Forum: Editorials (https://forums.playbymail.dev/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Thread: Of Mice and Neanderthal in the Sistine Chapel of Play By Mail (/showthread.php?tid=771)

Of Mice and Neanderthal in the Sistine Chapel of Play By Mail - GrimFinger - 09-14-2013

For a genre of gaming that supposedly passed its heyday long ago, there sure are one heck of a lot of PBM-related links for me to try and group and organize on the front page of this site. And that doesn't even count all of the links that are contained on the PBM Wiki extension of this site.

How best to organize them all, and how best to present them to the public at large for the consumption and usage of individuals who possess an interest in the subject matter that this site caters to?

Currently, if I had to characterize how well that we are doing in working towards that end, I would likely characterize our efforts as having achieved a rather Neanderthal degree of success.

This is no Sistine Chapel of PBM that one enters here. No, sir! Rather, it is an ugly brute of a site. It clubs the site visitor over the head with link after link after link.

Granted, it serves its purpose - sort of. Or, at least, I like to think so.

But, come on! You know as well as I do that there is so much more that could be done to get this place in order and squared away.

We proceed at a snail's pace, plodding along. We content ourselves with the equivalent of picking berries, grubbing around, just scrounging for morsels to stuff our gut with. A die-hard fan of play by mail could easily starve to death, here on this God-forsaken excuse for a website dedicated to the postal genre of gaming.

Did I mention that I love PBM gaming?

Not nearly as much as I love my son, of course, but some things go without saying.

In a world that is being accelerated along by the Internet, a world awash in social networking and information delivery systems of every sort, this site is a mere hodgepodge - a crude attempt to do something, though at times, it's hard to tell what. The site is a clunker, run by a guy who lacks the technical expertise to do what needs to be done.

Ideally, this site would be sporting a dedicated forum, blog, photo gallery, and wiki all rolled up into one, and geared towards using the most currently popular social media to simultaneously disseminate information that we specialize in, even as we grow a following.

But, sheesh guys! Now, that's a lot of work. Who's going to manage to pull that one off? Not me, certainly.

We take a more Steampunk type approach to the modern Internet world. In case you hadn't noticed, we're not exactly sporting the cutting edge, here.

If we had real traffic flow here, with PBM gamers coming and going like a PBM equivalent of Grand Central Station, the site would likely collapse from the sheer weight of its techno-hybrid shortcomings.

Did I mention that I am working on a MyBB/Media Wiki bridge?

I am - to try and make it quicker and easier for me to allow registered forum users to become wiki workers for the PBM Wiki, so that it might begin to grow a bit faster. Assimilation, anyone? The last thing that we need is a spam bot with access to the PBM Wiki, though. I have no time to play Rollback Tag with a robot.

Eventually, the PBM Wiki will begin to take on a life all its own. Assuming, of course, that I don't die anytime soon, AND that I manage to succeed in keeping the site online. In due time, it will likely dwarf any existing PBM-related site on the entirety of the Internet. That's the view from this end of the Seer Spectrum, anyway.

One of this site's biggest failures to date has been with its ongoing failure to persuade Old Guard PBM companies and their moderators that it is relevant. PBM"s Old Guard may be guilty of many things, but fault for this systemic failure lies solely and only with myself.

Other priorities intervene.

How to build a better mousetrap remains a valid consideration. Apparently, lack of effort on my part does not qualify as proper bait.

Thus far, our site here has risen, at most, to the level of being a mere PBM curiosity. That is not to say that the site has enjoyed no success, whatsoever, in attracting the attention of PBM companies and PBM game moderators. There have been several, in fact, that have registered on the site.

They each have their own set of priorities, though. They pursue what they pursue, and we pursue what we pursue. Our interests, at times, overlap. Indeed, this is the natural order of things.

Interaction and interactivity with established PBM companies and PBM game moderators has been - and remains - a true weak spot of iceberg size. All things, each in their own time, however.

Thus far, there have been few skirmishes in this Great PBM War to Come.

Harlequin Games was definitely not the first of the Old Guard to find their way here. Yet, they may well yet prove to be the very first of PBM's Old Guard to rouse themselves from slumber.

To quote Patrick Henry, it is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace, but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have?

Irony is a harsh master. It exacts its toll, whether war screams or peace grants men the indulgence of a snore.

And irony will have its toll.

As we proceed forward with the launch of a new PBM magazine, it is reassuring to receive word that Harlequin Games will endeavor to support us mightily in this task.

The irony lies in quoting Patrick Henry, even as an Old Guard PBM company with such stout and deep British roots becomes the first to pledge staunch support for this new PBM-related undertaking.

A new Fellowship forms, perhaps?

Perhaps I can persuade Ixnay to be the ring bearer in this undertaking.

Me? I hate jewelry.

Nonetheless, my appreciation goes out to Harlequin Games and their minion, Dean Johnson, for perceiving potential merit in this new PBM magazine project.

Who will be the next to join this Fellowship of the modern PBM era?

What else?

Oh, a logo. I've got to get a PBM one designed and drawn. It's for decorative purposes, more than anything else. I've got a couple of artists in mind for the task. I just don't know exactly what I want.

If I get it done in time, then maybe I can slap it on the front cover of the first issue of the new PBM magazine that's coming, and which should begin to take form in the coming weeks. The earliest that I will publish issue # 1 will be October 31st, 2013, to coincide with Halloween. If that proves to be pushing things a bit much, then I am pondering a publishing date of November 23rd, to coincide with my daddy's birthday.

My daddy and I

It's one way for me to attach more personal significance to the magazine, thereby helping me to ensure, to the degree possible, that I will see this venture through to fruition.

If I don't soon get writing, though, then issue # 1 may yet remain in jeopardy.

I suspect, though, that by the end of the current month, September, issue # 1's content will already begin to take shape.