Ideas - Submit Ideas Here!

[GrimFinger]

Just precede each idea with a number, and keep the numbering sequence going, from person to person, as more and more ideas get submitted by more and more people as time progresses.

1. PBM Yearbook - Not sure if there would be any actual interest in this idea, in light of the fact that so many PBM gamers and Suspense & Decision contributors and readers seem to be apprehensive about sending in photos of themselves. I thought of the PBM Yearbook concept a few days ago, and I didn't want to get sidetracked and simply forget to mention it, which had the side benefit of causing me to create this forum thread for the collective sharing of ideas that could hold positive potential for growing the overall PBM player base and for promoting play by mail gaming as a hobby and form of entertainment for the public masses.
- Submitted by: GrimFinger - 08/11/2017

2. PBM Report Cards - I have mentioned this idea in the past, and it's something that I still think has merit. It's all in the implementation of the concept, I suppose, as is the case with most other things, and I seriously doubt that a "perfect" incarnation of such a concept is possible. Suspense & Decision isn't a perfect PBM magazine, but I think that it still legitimately qualifies as one. Historically and traditionally, PBM moderators and PBM companies haven't always enjoyed having their games or their service offerings criticized by the public, but a report card for PBM games or PBM companies doesn't have to be something with only negative connotations. PBM report cards might make for useful memes for sharing on social media, for example, and if done at set intervals, they could possibly build a sense of anticipation across the PBM industry.
- Submitted by: GrimFinger - 08/11/2017

3. PBM Tournament & PBM Champion - Players would compete in special games organized by PlayByMail.Net. PBM champions in various PBM games could be declared in those games. Some type of prize or special award or recognition to game winners.
- Submitted by: GrimFinger - 08/12/2017

4. PBM News - where GMs can post any news related to their games. New features, new games, special events, tournaments, etc.
- Submitted by: Angerak - 08/13/2017

5. Perhaps save reviews, interviews, and article-length stuff for Suspense & Decision?  - I guess my concern is that stuff that appears on those sub forums takes good content away from the 'zine. (YMMV, yadda yadda yadda.)
- Submitted by: Participant-Observer - 08/17/2017

[GrimFinger]

4. PBM News - where GMs can post any news related to their games.  New features, new games, special events, tournaments, etc.

What I'll try to do is to continually update the first posting in this thread, with anything after that reserved for new idea submissions and discussion of the ideas submitted.

So, with regard to PBM News, I've tried different approaches in the past. Even when offered free ad space or free column space in Suspense & Decisions, most PBM moderators don't seem to bother with getting the news out, these days. They are busy doing other things, or perhaps they don't view the submission of news to that venue to be worth their time.

Over on the Advanced Gaming Enterprises website, there is a news feature called Industry News. See link at: http://www.ageforfun.com/INDUSTRY_NEWS.htm

Apparently, though, if one goes by that news site's account, there's been no news in PBM gaming worthy of reporting since November 28th, 2001 - some sixteen years ago!

Obviously, they've just quit updating that page of their website, not that there's been no news, at all, pertaining to PBM gaming that is newsworthy to some degree.

News, as a commodity, has a certain air of immediacy about it. Getting the word out, where PBM gaming is concerned, currently suffers from a rather stunted approach. Some might say, "Hey, that's what a PBM magazine like Suspense & Decision should be doing," and to a degree, they would be right. It has been my experience to date, however, that the PBM industry suffers from a lack of any real sense of urgency, where news related elements of the PBM hobby and industry are concerned. PBM websites often go without updates. Where's the build-up of excitement by various PBM companies? Not that there is never any, but when looked at as a whole, how would you rate the effort that you encounter with various PBM companies and game moderators?

Maybe part of the problem is that there is no fixed mechanism for reporting news. Take PlayByMail.Net's and Suspense & Decision magazine's various attempts at doing things PBM news related, over the last few years. We have tried this or that or what not, but maybe that variety in approach contributes to the underlying, pre-existing problem. If PBM companies and game moderators are not exciting about their games on offer, then how does Suspense & Decision and/or PlayByMail.Net compensate for that?

I think that it is safe to say that the desire is clearly out there, even among PBM companies and game moderators, for PBM to flourish, again, as it did in days of old. Yet, desire alone clearly hasn't demonstrated itself to be a stand-alone solution, either to the PBM news issue or to the PBM popularity issue.

My approach certainly hasn't been perfect. far from it, in fact! Inconsistency and lack of reliability hampers efforts. I will be the very first to acknowledge such. Yet, how do my own efforts or attempts at efforts stack up against PBM companies' and game moderators' efforts in that same span of time? All things considered, I have probably put as much effort into promoting the hobby of PBM gaming and in trying to raise awareness of PBM gaming's continued existence as virtually any PBM company or PBM game moderator. I could be wrong about that, but even if I'm right, that only underscores that a problem does, indeed, exist.

In the days of Paper Mayhem, PBM companies and game moderators would actively seek out David Webber. They were very dynamic and active in their approach to getting the news out there, where it could be published. These days, there are no PBM conventions, per se. At most, there are some small scale pub meets and casual get-togethers by relatively small groups of like-minded gamers. Not that PBM conventions were the primary source of PBM related news, even back then.

The flip side of the coin are the intended recipients of such PBM news, themselves. PBM gamers are scattered, and the have "evolved" into fairly isolated stand-alone communities of players. Many of then have neither the time to try or play other games by other companies (which is not a phenomena of recent or unique origin), and many simply couldn't care less about other games, or about PBM news in general. So, the "problem" is a multi-faceted one, one that is challenging to try and overcome.

I look at the spiel put out by various PBM companies and game moderators about their games, and I also compare that to what I actually see and encounter on the Internet and in discussions. A rather mixed message is being sent, would be a mild way of putting it, I think. Also, from a business perspective, there may well be other things that provide a larger revenue stream to some PBM companies, these days. What's their incentive to invest time, energy, and resources in the PBM market that has manifested itself in its current shape, size, and form? How do you solve that end of the equation?

A news portal might make sense, but what if PBM companies and game moderators then don't bother to use it? They frequently do not submit any news, already. How do you persuade them to change their chosen approach that they currently embrace?

Also, how do you control spambots from overtaking such a portal? Spam-related problems, particularly of the automated spambot variety, have already driven various PBM-related player communities "underground" and "off the map." It may well be that there is no singular way to solve those aspects of the equation/problem.

I would like to hear what yourself and others have to say on the subject.

[GrimFinger]

Thread Updated!

[GrimFinger]

5. Perhaps save reviews, interviews, and article-length stuff for Suspense & Decision?  - I guess my concern is that stuff that appears on those sub forums takes good content away from the 'zine. (YMMV, yadda yadda yadda.)
- Submitted by: Participant-Observer - 08/17/2017

What actually qualifies as "good" content, though? One man's junk is another man's treasure. Personal taste runs the gamut, from person to person.

Posting stuff in the forum, whether by myself or from others, helps to keep the forum alive. From my perspective, words are free. I can always write more.

[GrimFinger]

3. PBM Tournament & PBM Champion - Players would compete in special games organized by PlayByMail.Net. PBM champions in various PBM games could be declared in those games. Some type of prize or special award or recognition to game winners.
- Submitted by: GrimFinger - 08/12/2017

What I was thinking, where this is concerned, is something akin to a Triple Crown for PBM. PBM games tend to take a long time to play, though, so is a PBM Triple Crown equivalent winner even possible, every year?

How do you determine which games should be included, in order to have such an event? Which particular games should be included, and which should be excluded? How do you make it all manageable? Or should there even be an attempt at such a thing? Perhaps just single game champions, instead? What if people can't afford to be in three or more for-pay PBM games, simultaneously? What if they simply don't have the time to participate in such a grand affair?

[Greybeard]

Some good comments, GrimFinger!

[Davin]

Something that we did back in the golden days of Galac-Tac was count up how many opponents you directly eliminated from your game.  With 10-15 players in each game and only one winner, there was plenty of opportunity there.  Anyone who killed off 5 or more others in their game was awarded the recognition of being an "Ace" (and well publicized in the newsletter of the day).

I don't know how that could possibly translate to a cross-PBM environment, though.