Barriers and Obstacles: Into the Breach of a New Era in Play-By-Mail Gaming

[tstone]

I am a PBM player from the old days, and was willing to throw money at these games back then. I am just now getting back on the horse. I am very happy to play Far Horizons for free. But I am very tentative about picking which position to play in Hyborian Wars -- $5, $7, or $9 a turn. Yikes! It would be worth it if this game is all its cracked up to be, but as a newbie I don't know that, do I?

I can tell you this. I've played tons of Mafia Wars for free. I've played lots of Hyborean war for the above.

I would much, MUCH rather play Hyborean War. It's presentation and method of play captured my imagination of a world brought to life far more than Mafia Wars did.

And that is ultimately how a game, any game, succeeds with me. Does it engage my imagination and take on a life of it's own in my mind?

MW got lots of play out of me, but never captured me in that way.

[Valetemoria]

As said previously, an interesting thread. It has covered all the genres that I have played:

- the freeplay - usually a dedicated individual that cracks after time due to life changes (marriage, children, job). this included King Of Kings, Known World (see posts on that wonderful campaign). War or Wizards has been in this stage for several years of playtest, with Chris & Harry trying to get back to the commercial set-up of a few years ago - a great game idea but crippled by a text syntax order system and screaming for a GUI. Time will tell.

- the fixed cost game such as Isle Crowns (simple 20 turn game that used to be under KJC Games, but they sold it off, and it died AFAIK)

- the free start/pay for enhanced, which works as a model if the free players still have a chance to win, or at least be part of a winning coalition. I suggest that AGEgames (declare here my interest as the GM of the relaunched system) manages this aspiration well, but the big hurdle is the commitment to the game, as free players can sometimes drop out at a whim, suddenly leaving the other players in an unbalanced game. It is a tenet that "having paid increases commitment to stay the course".

- the small(ish) fee/top-up model, which is extensively used by KJC games to prompt additional orders (5 for small or zero fee, 15 if extra paid), it is also to trick which real-time on-line games like Travian use to drive a "need to spend" culture - the danger here being the value you get i.e. a normal player logging in twice a day thinks that he is getting good value, but finds himself way behind in development because players who stay on-line, or have teams playing under one account 24/7, outpace him.

- the "pay ad infinitum" model, where the game has no end, such as Quest and Phoenix, which have many stalwarts, but personally I find that the lack of an end is demotivating after time, especially if there is a lot of dormant time i.e spend to sit and wait.