Wow, Renaissance, what a great game and I mean a GREAT game (and I've played a bunch in my time). I played it for about 4 years in the mid 80's and it was good enough that I dropped out of BSE to spend all my time emersing myself in it and BSE was a great game, which I was progressing well in.
At it's height I'd guess there was maybe ~ 150 players + and most playing 3 families (positions). There was a monthly newsletter of about 20 + pages rountinely and a ranking system of some sort that ranked persona based on their notoriety (good or bad on their 'presence or effect' in the world). You didn't get anything for being ranked high, just satisfaction.
It was an extremely detailed game with respect to market, combat and skills. All the number crunching was computerized but the game had a real rolepalying feel and lots of player interaction. Literally tons of it and it oozed in character gaming. I eventually left the game after about 4 1/2 - 5 years as most of us usually do. I picked the game back up a few years later in 91 only to find that Constantine had computerized just about everything and it just didn't have the feel it did before. Even the newsletter was rather bland, so after abut 6 months I had to let it go. But when it first came out and for the several years that followed, it was maybe one of the best I ever played.
I believe Constantine was a CPA, but certainly was a math whiz. The last contact info I have for him, and its old is Constantine Xanthos, 7080 NW 75th street, Pompano Beach, Fl. 33067 phone: 1-954-753-8002 email: 71360.1316@compuserve.com (man old email, do they have those kind anymore?)
naz
(08-25-2011, 12:51 AM)GrimFinger Wrote: Flipping through an old issue of Paper Mayhem magazine (Issue # 50, September.October 1991), I happened upon a full-page all-text add for the PBM game, Renaissance, by Constantine Xanthos, operating out of Hillsboro Beach, Florida.
A quick web search turned up the RenSim.Org website, but the sign-up link for the game takes one to a ERROR 404 - PAGE NOT FOUND message.
