03-24-2011, 12:44 AM
As I sit here in front of the computer, tonight, I ponder what the future holds for our site, here. I assess and re-assess what to display, and how to display it, and where exactly to display it on the site. The great objective, I suppose, is to continually refine the site to transform it into a first rate PBM resource - into a true portal for site visitors to the postal genre of gaming.
That's not to say that only pure postal games will make the cut for display or discussion on this site. For nothing could be further from the truth. However, it is my fervent desire and guiding light that the postal genre ever and always be the primary focus of my efforts here. Play by mail, of the correspondence kind, doesn't exist in a vacuum apart from all other gaming. To the contrary, the postal genre of gaming is inextricably linked to other genres and formats of gaming. Gamers, after all, tend to have overlapping interests, when it comes to entertainment in the form of gaming.
Some things that I eventually want to incorporate into the site here are tasks that I sort of dread to undertake. They aren't insurmountable obstacles, by any means, but rather, they will likely turn out to be time consuming undertakings - worthwhile, but time consuming.
One of these tasks that await my eventual attention is for me to compile a list, of some sort, of articles on play by mail games and PBM gaming that have appeared in various notable magazine publications over the years. I am talking about magazines such as Space Gamer, Fantasy Gamer, Dragon, White Dwarf, etc.. Perhaps something similar to this list, except with hyperlinks that will enable site visitors to this site to find more detailed information on the specific PBM articles and PBM reviews in question, or even enable them to be but a mere step or two away from purchasing PDF or other format versions of what are, in many if not most instances, very dated publications.
I suffer under no delusion that it might be possible to track down all articles and reviews in magazines that relate to PBM gaming. However, I do believe that the equivalent of a central repository of hyperlinks to these vital archives from play by mail gaming's past would be of enormous value to the PBM community of players scattered across the landscape of the modern Internet.
Recent discussions here on our site at PlayByMail.Net lead me to conclude that it might also be viable, for us to establish a similar repository of programming code, other software, and various informative resources that would be geared toward revitalizing the PBM gamer community, with the eventual goal being to empower average and ordinary play by mail gamers to craft a new era of PBM games. Not necessarily one that focuses purely and only upon empowering players to create games playable through the postal service, but which does include at least some resources and empowering devices in this area. Facilitating interested parties connecting with such tools of empowerment could and would be a win-win situation for the PBM industry.
Over at the PBM Gamer website, their motto is, "The new PBM revolution starts here." I cannot help but to wonder where the weapons - the tools of empowerment - are, with which this new PBM revolution is to be waged. It's a good motto, to be sure, but is the motto sufficient to accomplish the objective?
I leave it to each of you to ponder that thought.
That's not to say that only pure postal games will make the cut for display or discussion on this site. For nothing could be further from the truth. However, it is my fervent desire and guiding light that the postal genre ever and always be the primary focus of my efforts here. Play by mail, of the correspondence kind, doesn't exist in a vacuum apart from all other gaming. To the contrary, the postal genre of gaming is inextricably linked to other genres and formats of gaming. Gamers, after all, tend to have overlapping interests, when it comes to entertainment in the form of gaming.
Some things that I eventually want to incorporate into the site here are tasks that I sort of dread to undertake. They aren't insurmountable obstacles, by any means, but rather, they will likely turn out to be time consuming undertakings - worthwhile, but time consuming.
One of these tasks that await my eventual attention is for me to compile a list, of some sort, of articles on play by mail games and PBM gaming that have appeared in various notable magazine publications over the years. I am talking about magazines such as Space Gamer, Fantasy Gamer, Dragon, White Dwarf, etc.. Perhaps something similar to this list, except with hyperlinks that will enable site visitors to this site to find more detailed information on the specific PBM articles and PBM reviews in question, or even enable them to be but a mere step or two away from purchasing PDF or other format versions of what are, in many if not most instances, very dated publications.
I suffer under no delusion that it might be possible to track down all articles and reviews in magazines that relate to PBM gaming. However, I do believe that the equivalent of a central repository of hyperlinks to these vital archives from play by mail gaming's past would be of enormous value to the PBM community of players scattered across the landscape of the modern Internet.
Recent discussions here on our site at PlayByMail.Net lead me to conclude that it might also be viable, for us to establish a similar repository of programming code, other software, and various informative resources that would be geared toward revitalizing the PBM gamer community, with the eventual goal being to empower average and ordinary play by mail gamers to craft a new era of PBM games. Not necessarily one that focuses purely and only upon empowering players to create games playable through the postal service, but which does include at least some resources and empowering devices in this area. Facilitating interested parties connecting with such tools of empowerment could and would be a win-win situation for the PBM industry.
Over at the PBM Gamer website, their motto is, "The new PBM revolution starts here." I cannot help but to wonder where the weapons - the tools of empowerment - are, with which this new PBM revolution is to be waged. It's a good motto, to be sure, but is the motto sufficient to accomplish the objective?
I leave it to each of you to ponder that thought.