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+--- Thread: Roll Call of the Ancients (/showthread.php?tid=776)
Roll Call of the Ancients - GrimFinger - 10-04-2013
To call the roll is to entertain the possibility of silence. Unlike with water, where silence is concerned, one can drown an infinite number of times.
Gjallarhorn sounds! The roll call of the ancients has begun. The Old Guard of PBM, names that populate our minds and our memories stretching back across the last few decades, stirs in our midst once more. Can this be the dawning of a new age in turn based gaming? Or has the Ragnarok of play by mail gaming now begun?
Of late, great champions of turn-based gaming have entered our gates here on the PlayByMail.Net forum. Like boom tubes opening, our e-mail inbox has sounded the arrival of others who have taken notice - and interest - in the launching of a new magazine that orbits around the twin stars of play by mail and turn-based gaming.
The last several weeks have been a blessing. The actual submissions, of either articles or advertisements, has only been a slow trickle, to date. But, with each new commitment to submitting something, the chances of the new magazine being still born are diminishing. I feel good about its prospects for getting off to a good start, in fact.
Of course, if submissions do not actually materialize, then ultimately, we may fall yet fall short. But, if not, then maybe we are all laying the groundwork, together, for something special, for something actually worthwhile.
But, to be certain, we walk in the footprints of giants! Other magazines have tread the same ground that we intend to plow. I do not know that we can improve upon their respective contributions to the legacy that is play by mail gaming. But, perhaps we can bring our own contributions to the table.
Whether we feast upon sweetness of success, or whether we dine on the disaster of failure, let none say that we dared not chart a course, at all.
For far too long, the cupboard has been bare of PBM magazines. No less an authority on the genre of postal gaming than Steve Tierny, himself, whose name has long been synonymous with Madhouse, has recently asserted within these very electronic halls, "We don't call what we do "PBM" anymore though. The only snail mail players we have are in prison. We call it Turn-Based Gaming."
More so than a mere coincidental occurrence taking place, I firmly believe that forces within the PBM community are converging. The moment draws near. Something is happening.
Can you feel it? Are you ready for it?
There is no grand parade - but, there is a gathering. Whether you see it or not. Whether you sense it or not. Whether some of you are even aware of it or not.
Interest increases. Support grows. It all boils down to whether individuals will follow through.
It is more than just a little encouraging to hear back from Rick McDowell (of Alamaze fame) and Lee Kline (of Reality Simulations fame) in the last couple of days. I know that they're both busy persons - but that's what makes the fact that they did take time out to respond such a good sign.
Mica Goldstone is ahead of the pack, having already submitted something. Will there be more from Mica? I don't know. Time will tell.
It's especially good to have Mark Wardell back wandering in our midst. He's an old school PBM gamer, for sure, and his interest in contributing to the success of the magazine is both reassuring and exciting for me, personally.
The point of this article is not to name every name, but rather, to touch upon a few individuals who many old school PBM gamers can relate to, as you think back upon your years in the hobby of turn-based gaming, postal-style.
Lest my own relative silence, of late, be mistaken for nothing happening, let me dispel any semblance of a rumor that nothing is progressing forward on the magazine front.
Not that I have heard such a rumor, which I really haven't. Rather, let me head off any possible chance of any rumor to that effect from getting the jump on us.
It's going forward, people. Things are progressing. None of us are promised tomorrow, but if the good LORD is willing, this project is going to reach fruition.
And that, to me, is a good thing. Good for PBM gaming. Good for turn-based gamers. Good for the hobby. Good for the industry.