One of the things that was always publicised when I played PBM in Australia was to "play against people you wouldn't normally play against". The payoff being that you encounter new strategies, get pushed by people who approach the game differently and get tested by people outside your normal gaming group. That was the biggest drawcard of PBM to me.
Also you could put in whatever effort you wanted to. Want to roleplay your character when communicating with other in game? Go for it. When I got beautifully backstabbed in a game of Spiral Arm years ago I invented a "liquidation" company called Kiss My Ass Inc, devised a letterhead, and typed up a letter of negotiation of terms to my vanquishers. Didn't help me in the game since I was as good as dead, but made me slightly infamous amongst the players in that game and got me a bit of cred when playing against those guys in other games later on. Made me a couple of friends who I knew I could rely on in the heat of battle in future games too. But if you don't want to roleplay, then that is fine too.
Final point would be the advantage now of instant communication with fellow players via email. Playing Olympia G3, and now Steve Baillie's test game, running a DAILY turnaround if anyone is interested ( http://shadowlandgames.com/olympia/ ), the opportunity to organise group actions/alliances with players across the world with vastly different gaming experience behind them is a HUGE attractor for me to the game.
So summary time:
* play against new adversaries
* put as much, or as little, effort in as you want
* network with players globally for maximum enjoyment
Also you could put in whatever effort you wanted to. Want to roleplay your character when communicating with other in game? Go for it. When I got beautifully backstabbed in a game of Spiral Arm years ago I invented a "liquidation" company called Kiss My Ass Inc, devised a letterhead, and typed up a letter of negotiation of terms to my vanquishers. Didn't help me in the game since I was as good as dead, but made me slightly infamous amongst the players in that game and got me a bit of cred when playing against those guys in other games later on. Made me a couple of friends who I knew I could rely on in the heat of battle in future games too. But if you don't want to roleplay, then that is fine too.
Final point would be the advantage now of instant communication with fellow players via email. Playing Olympia G3, and now Steve Baillie's test game, running a DAILY turnaround if anyone is interested ( http://shadowlandgames.com/olympia/ ), the opportunity to organise group actions/alliances with players across the world with vastly different gaming experience behind them is a HUGE attractor for me to the game.
So summary time:
* play against new adversaries
* put as much, or as little, effort in as you want
* network with players globally for maximum enjoyment