09-16-2013, 08:42 AM
I now live in a town of 400 people, 40km from the nearest town of any decent size. Getting opponents for a game means a long drive or the Internet nowadays. There were plenty of potential opponents when I grew up, but our gaming group consisted of less than a dozen people which shrank quickly once Uni, jobs, sport and girls took their toll. That's when I found out about PBM in Australia via an ad in the British GM magazine. We did have local coverage in a magazine called Breakout but the distribution of that was miniscule and without Kevin Flynn advertising in GM I would never have found PBM unless I went to games conventions - and it was PBM that got me interested in those anyway. I am, as of last week, mentoring an American player in TribeNet (run by Peter Rzechorzek in Melbourne now for many years) who literally posted this (I'm sure he won't mind):
"I am a long time gamer, but since moving to a new city seven years ago have not been able to find a regular group. I am hoping TribeNet gets me some of what I miss. Each major release of the Sid Meyer Civilization release keeps me entertained for a while, but of course it is years between releases."
PBeM to the rescue.
There is a definite future for turn based gaming via post or email. We just need to find out what is available out there, whether commercially run, like TribeNet, MiddleEarth and the offerings of Madhouse for example, or run by enthusiasts like Olympia, Atlantis and many others. Greg's list is awesome in scope but how many of them are still running? I have no idea whatsoever.
"I am a long time gamer, but since moving to a new city seven years ago have not been able to find a regular group. I am hoping TribeNet gets me some of what I miss. Each major release of the Sid Meyer Civilization release keeps me entertained for a while, but of course it is years between releases."
PBeM to the rescue.
There is a definite future for turn based gaming via post or email. We just need to find out what is available out there, whether commercially run, like TribeNet, MiddleEarth and the offerings of Madhouse for example, or run by enthusiasts like Olympia, Atlantis and many others. Greg's list is awesome in scope but how many of them are still running? I have no idea whatsoever.