08-05-2019, 04:15 PM
I agree with all of the above, of course. But I think one of the most salient points is the issue of time between turns.
First of all, you're not playing continuously like you typically would in a board game or arcade-style game or MMORPG. This gives you a chance for plenty of rest and other activities between turns, rather than having to allocate large blocks (often hours long) of uninterrupted time to play.
Secondly, while there are deadlines, the time you spend playing is not "scheduled" and you can do it any time that's convenient for you. For example, you don't have to have several people scattered across the world that you're playing with to all get on-line at the same absolute time (often the middle of the work day or the middle of the night for many of them) so that you can play together as a team or in real-time opposition.
Thirdly, the spacing between turns is worked out so that you have time to spend thinking about your results and planning your next turn in detail, usually including changing your mind when a better choice occurs to you. This allows for much more strategy and you rely less on being immediately reactionary -- using your mind rather than your "trigger finger". And given the time for your best choices leads to a well-played turn providing a great deal of emotional satisfaction and fun.
Fourthly, given the time to review and plan allows the games to be more richly detailed and complex, so there's more to enjoy than just racking up points. Picking up a new game you can expect to have lots of rules to learn, at least over time, and lots of possible paths you can take in your play style.
Fifthly, the time delay gives you that opportunity to interact with other players, either cooperatively or not. Most PBM games have ways to communicate with other players, either instantly or by sharing direct contact information via a slower link such as a mailed-out turn. PBM history is rife with players working together between turns to defeat a common enemy.
Sixthly, since turns are far apart that usually means that games last much, much longer. You may play a computer game for an entire weekend to get to the goal, or at least an interim goal, after which you often start looking for another new game to try. But PBM games can last for years (and some forever), playing in the same game and building continuously to form a large game-empire. Larger game positions, built over very long times, can provide an immense satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.
Seventhly, since games play for so long you end up with a great deal of personal investment in their positions. These are not games to be casually discarded when they become tiring - you've "come too far to give up now". You want to play on and on, continuing to build enjoyment on what you've done before. If you're killed out, you can't restart from a "save point" but instead must start over from scratch -- although that too enables you to make use of what you learned last time to do it better this time.
All in all, we're talking about long-term enjoyment and satisfaction with PBM games.
First of all, you're not playing continuously like you typically would in a board game or arcade-style game or MMORPG. This gives you a chance for plenty of rest and other activities between turns, rather than having to allocate large blocks (often hours long) of uninterrupted time to play.
Secondly, while there are deadlines, the time you spend playing is not "scheduled" and you can do it any time that's convenient for you. For example, you don't have to have several people scattered across the world that you're playing with to all get on-line at the same absolute time (often the middle of the work day or the middle of the night for many of them) so that you can play together as a team or in real-time opposition.
Thirdly, the spacing between turns is worked out so that you have time to spend thinking about your results and planning your next turn in detail, usually including changing your mind when a better choice occurs to you. This allows for much more strategy and you rely less on being immediately reactionary -- using your mind rather than your "trigger finger". And given the time for your best choices leads to a well-played turn providing a great deal of emotional satisfaction and fun.
Fourthly, given the time to review and plan allows the games to be more richly detailed and complex, so there's more to enjoy than just racking up points. Picking up a new game you can expect to have lots of rules to learn, at least over time, and lots of possible paths you can take in your play style.
Fifthly, the time delay gives you that opportunity to interact with other players, either cooperatively or not. Most PBM games have ways to communicate with other players, either instantly or by sharing direct contact information via a slower link such as a mailed-out turn. PBM history is rife with players working together between turns to defeat a common enemy.
Sixthly, since turns are far apart that usually means that games last much, much longer. You may play a computer game for an entire weekend to get to the goal, or at least an interim goal, after which you often start looking for another new game to try. But PBM games can last for years (and some forever), playing in the same game and building continuously to form a large game-empire. Larger game positions, built over very long times, can provide an immense satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.
Seventhly, since games play for so long you end up with a great deal of personal investment in their positions. These are not games to be casually discarded when they become tiring - you've "come too far to give up now". You want to play on and on, continuing to build enjoyment on what you've done before. If you're killed out, you can't restart from a "save point" but instead must start over from scratch -- although that too enables you to make use of what you learned last time to do it better this time.
All in all, we're talking about long-term enjoyment and satisfaction with PBM games.