03-18-2011, 05:56 PM
(03-18-2011, 03:06 PM)vanollefen Wrote: I'm gonna get an ego if you keep it up. I was a one man operation that just really enjoyed the whole genre, very much like many others back then.
Oh, I know and understand that many, many PBM companies were one man operations back then. I was, too, except that I didn't advertise and I didn't go the commercial route. I didn't even form or declare myself to be a PBM company. I finally had to start charging my players for the postage to send their turn results to them, due to player growth, but I can certainly relate to the enjoyment part of it. I didn't attend any conventions, though. I wanted to, but I just couldn't see driving so far, and asking for time off of work, in order to attend.
The thing about you, Rich, for myself (and probably for people like me) is that what distinguishes you from the bulk of PBM moderators is that you are memorable. Heck, I never even played any of your company's games, but recall wondering about this Rich Van Ollefen fellow. He's the Flying Dutchman. Even Rick Loomis isn't the Flying Buffalo.
You were, or became in my mind, your company's moniker, it's fabled character, it's namesake. Granted, to others involved in PBM's moderator herd back then, your stature may not have been what it was with me. But, while I can name some PBM moderators from the old days, most of them I wouldn't probably know, now, even if you named them for me.
You may view your role in the overall PBM scheme of things to be rather modest, Rich, and that's understandable. The facts would probably even bear that out. But, nonetheless, yours is one of the most recognizable names in all of PBM, even all these many years later.
A one man operation, indeed! You were - and are - the Flying Dutchman.
The only down side to it is that we who gather here want to dissect your brain. Relax, though - it's only your PBM memories that we're after.
At least, for now...