09-14-2017, 06:45 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-14-2017, 06:45 PM by GrimFinger.)
As we head into Issue #18 of Suspense & Decision magazine, I would like to pause long enough to highlight a couple of developments:
1. https://www.facebook.com/Buffalorick/pos...0728663470
2. https://twitter.com/buffalorick/status/9...3161660416
Both were postings by Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo, Inc. fame. Rick has a sizable following, and so these two postings by him, which were done of his own initiative, are especially appreciated by me. Getting the word out is at least half the challenge, and it is also a central pillar of any real hope of substance to breathe vibrant life back into the play by mail gaming scene. I received not one, but two e-mails from Rick Loomis, today. I wasn't expecting them, but I do know that he is a man who values his time, whatever else might be said about him by anyone. So, for him, in particular, to spread the word about an issue which hung on the precipice of a question mark for so many months heartens me. I think that it bodes well for the magazine, and I consider it to be a good omen. Now, if I can only just not stumble over my own clumsy self, and actually get Issue #18 out the door in a relatively short amount of time, maybe we can begin to build upon the momentum of the moment.
The magazine, itself, is always ripe for improvement. I can change a lot of things about Suspense & Decision, and I can try a lot of different things, but one thing that I have no real direct control over is whether the Old Ones of PBM, notably those who comprise the commercial sector of the play by mail gaming industry, come aboard or engage to any degree, at all, on the subject of play by mail, much less over whether any of them, individually, bother to take it upon themselves to spread the word.
One of the things that distinguishes Rick Loom in the PBM sector and as one of PBM's Old Guard is that he enjoys the benefit of being well-networked, both with games and game company figures, and with a number of former and current play by mail gamers. If the object is to get the word out to people who used to play games by mail, but who may no longer do so, then Rick Loomis can probably reach a number of individuals that the magazine might otherwise never even make contact with.
The death of PBM gaming is a subject that has probably had enough written about it to last a lifetime. That said, I don't look at the Internet so much as having killed play by mail gaming, as I look at it as a tide which went out, but which could also come right in, again. After all, many digitally-connected individuals suffer from burn out from being online so much. I challenge anyone to explain to me why old school play by mail gaming couldn't connect with a new audience. I'm not talking about probabilities and likelihoods, rather, just about why it couldn't be possible, in this day and age? Books, in paper form, remain popular in the modern era, after all. And much like books, turn results in paper form are a form of escapism, a form of entertainment, something that requires you to think, engaging players of PBM games on both an intellectual level and an emotional level. Ever get pissed off because someone attacked you or because you botched your turn orders or missed a turn?
So, thanks, Rick Loomis, for the shout outs about Suspense & Decision on social media!
1. https://www.facebook.com/Buffalorick/pos...0728663470
2. https://twitter.com/buffalorick/status/9...3161660416
Both were postings by Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo, Inc. fame. Rick has a sizable following, and so these two postings by him, which were done of his own initiative, are especially appreciated by me. Getting the word out is at least half the challenge, and it is also a central pillar of any real hope of substance to breathe vibrant life back into the play by mail gaming scene. I received not one, but two e-mails from Rick Loomis, today. I wasn't expecting them, but I do know that he is a man who values his time, whatever else might be said about him by anyone. So, for him, in particular, to spread the word about an issue which hung on the precipice of a question mark for so many months heartens me. I think that it bodes well for the magazine, and I consider it to be a good omen. Now, if I can only just not stumble over my own clumsy self, and actually get Issue #18 out the door in a relatively short amount of time, maybe we can begin to build upon the momentum of the moment.
The magazine, itself, is always ripe for improvement. I can change a lot of things about Suspense & Decision, and I can try a lot of different things, but one thing that I have no real direct control over is whether the Old Ones of PBM, notably those who comprise the commercial sector of the play by mail gaming industry, come aboard or engage to any degree, at all, on the subject of play by mail, much less over whether any of them, individually, bother to take it upon themselves to spread the word.
One of the things that distinguishes Rick Loom in the PBM sector and as one of PBM's Old Guard is that he enjoys the benefit of being well-networked, both with games and game company figures, and with a number of former and current play by mail gamers. If the object is to get the word out to people who used to play games by mail, but who may no longer do so, then Rick Loomis can probably reach a number of individuals that the magazine might otherwise never even make contact with.
The death of PBM gaming is a subject that has probably had enough written about it to last a lifetime. That said, I don't look at the Internet so much as having killed play by mail gaming, as I look at it as a tide which went out, but which could also come right in, again. After all, many digitally-connected individuals suffer from burn out from being online so much. I challenge anyone to explain to me why old school play by mail gaming couldn't connect with a new audience. I'm not talking about probabilities and likelihoods, rather, just about why it couldn't be possible, in this day and age? Books, in paper form, remain popular in the modern era, after all. And much like books, turn results in paper form are a form of escapism, a form of entertainment, something that requires you to think, engaging players of PBM games on both an intellectual level and an emotional level. Ever get pissed off because someone attacked you or because you botched your turn orders or missed a turn?
So, thanks, Rick Loomis, for the shout outs about Suspense & Decision on social media!