04-01-2011, 12:25 PM
From high atop his lofty perch at the very rim of the PBM universe, Mark Wardell of both Wy'East Games and PBM Gamer fame is no doubt cooking up some nefarious scheme to bring the remaining forces of the Play-By-Mail world to their knees, as he prepares to reassert himself as a force to be contended with in the PBM affairs of both mice and men.
Do not be fooled! For strange though it may at first seem, rest assured that Wardell is in a frenzy, working himself to the bone, authoring great and malevolent tomes of Play-By-Mail wisdom. Whatever dire works that he unfolds, sooner more likely than later, do not be fooled into selling your soul for an early peek at these relics of PBM's future. The mad scientist always cracks, after all. Just bide your time, and Mark will be begging you to read his wild meanderings, before all is said and done.
The simple fact of the matter is that the world just doesn't have enough sites dedicated to the Play-By-Mail genre. The only way to remedy that shortcoming is for people such as you or I or Mark Wardell to create such sites. Granted, no one or not very many may end up using such sites, relatively speaking, but so what? Is that, alone, sufficient reason to do nothing? I think not. Better to be an obelisk raised to record PBM's existence than to allow its existence to fade unnoticed into the shadows of history.
I think that it is time for some new Play-By-Mail games to be born. One of the things that branded the PBM era of old with its own unique distinctiveness was that there were so many games that spontaneously combusted into existence from so many different individuals, each looking to get in on the action. Virtually anyone could do it, then. Virtually anyone could do it, now. So, what, if every new PBM game or even most new PBM games don't survive? The vast majority of the PBM games from the golden heyday of Play-By-Mail gaming didn't survive, either. Yet, even those failed games form part of the collective memory of PBM's golden era.
If the Internet and e-mail had been as readily accessible to the Founders of PBM gaming back then, as they are to us, today, then those Founders would have taken advantage of those tools, just as many take advantage of them, today. The postal format is its own worst enemy, beset by monopolies and besieged by postal rates - it simply can't compete with e-mail, as a medium of delivery, from a cost-perspective. Nonetheless, getting that turn results envelope in one's mailbox was part of Play-By-Mail's experience enhancers.
The opiate of PBM lay beyond the cost aspect of the trade. Play-By-Mail, you see, was about more than just playing a game or games. It was about a particular type of experience - an experience that still has as much relevance in today's world as it ever did. But, the genre isn't exactly churning out new Play-By-Mail games at an alarming rate. Accordingly, the PBM industry reaps what it is not sowing. There are more profitable ventures than creating new Play-By-Mail games, it seems. Well, that one's a no-brainer. But, many who created PBM games in the years now past weren't in it for the money, anyway. They simply wanted a piece of the action.
As I prepare to resurrect, once more, a Play-By-Mail game that I created many years ago, one that I ran for the pleasure of a relative handful of individuals at the time, I would like to go on record as always saying that I would like to also create at least one additional new PBM game in the coming months. In a nutshell, I want to bring something to the light of day. If it fails, it fails. If I fall flat on my ass, then I fall flat on my ass. But, at least an attempt will have been made to breathe a little life back into the hobby of Play-By-Mail.
In all likelihood, it will be a hand-moderated piece of imperfection. The grand object will not be to turn a profit of coin - but to turn a profit of fun. Be on the lookout for it. Coming soon to a galaxy near you!
NOTE: Originally posted in 2010 on the old PlayByMail.Net forums.
Do not be fooled! For strange though it may at first seem, rest assured that Wardell is in a frenzy, working himself to the bone, authoring great and malevolent tomes of Play-By-Mail wisdom. Whatever dire works that he unfolds, sooner more likely than later, do not be fooled into selling your soul for an early peek at these relics of PBM's future. The mad scientist always cracks, after all. Just bide your time, and Mark will be begging you to read his wild meanderings, before all is said and done.
The simple fact of the matter is that the world just doesn't have enough sites dedicated to the Play-By-Mail genre. The only way to remedy that shortcoming is for people such as you or I or Mark Wardell to create such sites. Granted, no one or not very many may end up using such sites, relatively speaking, but so what? Is that, alone, sufficient reason to do nothing? I think not. Better to be an obelisk raised to record PBM's existence than to allow its existence to fade unnoticed into the shadows of history.
I think that it is time for some new Play-By-Mail games to be born. One of the things that branded the PBM era of old with its own unique distinctiveness was that there were so many games that spontaneously combusted into existence from so many different individuals, each looking to get in on the action. Virtually anyone could do it, then. Virtually anyone could do it, now. So, what, if every new PBM game or even most new PBM games don't survive? The vast majority of the PBM games from the golden heyday of Play-By-Mail gaming didn't survive, either. Yet, even those failed games form part of the collective memory of PBM's golden era.
If the Internet and e-mail had been as readily accessible to the Founders of PBM gaming back then, as they are to us, today, then those Founders would have taken advantage of those tools, just as many take advantage of them, today. The postal format is its own worst enemy, beset by monopolies and besieged by postal rates - it simply can't compete with e-mail, as a medium of delivery, from a cost-perspective. Nonetheless, getting that turn results envelope in one's mailbox was part of Play-By-Mail's experience enhancers.
The opiate of PBM lay beyond the cost aspect of the trade. Play-By-Mail, you see, was about more than just playing a game or games. It was about a particular type of experience - an experience that still has as much relevance in today's world as it ever did. But, the genre isn't exactly churning out new Play-By-Mail games at an alarming rate. Accordingly, the PBM industry reaps what it is not sowing. There are more profitable ventures than creating new Play-By-Mail games, it seems. Well, that one's a no-brainer. But, many who created PBM games in the years now past weren't in it for the money, anyway. They simply wanted a piece of the action.
As I prepare to resurrect, once more, a Play-By-Mail game that I created many years ago, one that I ran for the pleasure of a relative handful of individuals at the time, I would like to go on record as always saying that I would like to also create at least one additional new PBM game in the coming months. In a nutshell, I want to bring something to the light of day. If it fails, it fails. If I fall flat on my ass, then I fall flat on my ass. But, at least an attempt will have been made to breathe a little life back into the hobby of Play-By-Mail.
In all likelihood, it will be a hand-moderated piece of imperfection. The grand object will not be to turn a profit of coin - but to turn a profit of fun. Be on the lookout for it. Coming soon to a galaxy near you!
NOTE: Originally posted in 2010 on the old PlayByMail.Net forums.