08-18-2011, 05:16 AM
While flipping through a back issue of Paper Mayhem magazine (Issue # 52 - Jan/Fed 1992), I came across an old ad from Cyborg Games for its PBM game called The Next Empire. In big bold letters in the upper left corner of that ad, it boldly declares: WE ARE THE FUTURE OF PBM GAMING!
If that was truly the case, then why isn't that game still up and running? Quite clearly, The Next Empire was not truly the future of PBM gaming. Either that, or it actually was - along with every other play by mail game that has gone belly up over the years. Translation? That would mean that PBM is dead, after all.
When I write on the subject of PBM gaming, I tend to cover some of the same ground, over and over and over, ad nauseum. Why? Because my thoughts on the subject tend to change and grow and reformulate themselves, with the passage of time.
I cannot help but to wonder how many hours of sleep that David Webber, the former editor of Paper Mayhem magazine, lost during his extended run as editor of that publication. His goal was basically to publish one issue every other month, a grand total of six times per year. That magazine had an editorial titled, "Where we're heading" that would appear in each issue. That article was invariably a look by David into the future of PBM gaming.
Having a PBM related website is similar to running a PBM magazine, in some ways, I suppose. They both require PBM related content. They both share a common need for content to be continually generated with a degree of freshness. They both cater to a very similar audience.
Then, too, there are notable differences between having a PBM related website and running a PBM magazine. David Webber always seemed to think that he had it hard, getting people to send him written material to print. As it turned out, David actually had it pretty easy, compared to how infrequently that site visitors, site users, and site subscribers post PBM related news or information, these days.
I never knew David on a personal level, and if he were still alive, today, then this site probably wouldn't even exist. I would just visit his website, since I have no doubt that he would have transitioned to the online environment, were he still with us, today.
He would be on Facebook. He would probably be on Twitter, too. He would likely be using some type of content management software. I think that he would be generating more content, more frequently, than he ever did in the past.
But, with David passing from the PBM scene several years back, the established PBM order seems to have passed away with him. There are still commercial play by mail companies in business, even today - but how many of them are advertising, in a traditional sense?
Elaine Webber, David's widow, is silent on things PBM related, these days. I'll bet that she has tons of quips and tales that she could tell us about David and about Paper Mayhem and about PBM gaming and its attendant industry, if she were inclined to do so. But, Elaine probably just went on with life, after David passed away. I don't know that, of course. It's just what I suspect, in the same way that many PBM company game moderators just went on with their respective lives, also.
For those who wonder what David Webber looked like, there's a photo of him on page # 1 of the 50th issue of Paper Mayhem magazine.
Paper Mayhem had a lot of interesting articles in it, over the years of its duration in the publishing industry. My personal favorite articles, however, were the "Where were heading" editorials penned by David, himself. They still make for good reading, all these years later.
If David Webber was here, today, and if he wondered where PlayByMail.Net was heading, I would probably be at a loss to tell him. David covered PBM from the perspective of going forward with the PBM industry. How is it possible, I wonder, to maintain that kind of perspective, when the PBM industry, itself, has mostly taken itself out of the loop?
Over time, David probably came to know - and to befriend - many in the PBM industry. He was, in essence, one of the very few de facto voices for the industry as whole. He wasn't the only one, of course, since other PBM publications did exist at various points over the years. But, I dare say that David Webber was arguably the most influential people within the industry, during his time spent covering the industry through Paper Mayhem.
As far as I am concerned, I will be the very first to concede that I'm no David Webber - nor do I want to be. I have no interest, per se, in befriending the captains of the modern day PBM industry. On a purely personal level, it matters little to me if a given PBM game thrives or dies. As history more than amply attests, death is a natural part of things PBM. Both games and companies come and go, in the universe of play by mail existence. I have no control over such things, and at most, I can but render an opinion. But, that's no different than anyone else, really.
The fate of most PBM companies and most PBM games was already carved in proverbial stone, long before anyone ever heard of me and this website. There's little point, I think, in investing much of oneself in an industry that doesn't even bother to invest in itself.
Of late, I think more and more of trying my hand at a PBM magazine. Much like David Webber, though, I suspect, I have no idea where the additional time will come from, in order to pull off such a feat.
I don't have copies of the earliest issues of Paper Mayhem magazine, so I'm not really in a position to look to David Webber's earliest writings on play by mail for inspiration and guidance.
What is there to write about, where a PBM industry that suffers largely from a self-induced comatose state is concerned?
What, indeed! Then again, maybe that's where we're heading, after all, David Webber.
If that was truly the case, then why isn't that game still up and running? Quite clearly, The Next Empire was not truly the future of PBM gaming. Either that, or it actually was - along with every other play by mail game that has gone belly up over the years. Translation? That would mean that PBM is dead, after all.
When I write on the subject of PBM gaming, I tend to cover some of the same ground, over and over and over, ad nauseum. Why? Because my thoughts on the subject tend to change and grow and reformulate themselves, with the passage of time.
I cannot help but to wonder how many hours of sleep that David Webber, the former editor of Paper Mayhem magazine, lost during his extended run as editor of that publication. His goal was basically to publish one issue every other month, a grand total of six times per year. That magazine had an editorial titled, "Where we're heading" that would appear in each issue. That article was invariably a look by David into the future of PBM gaming.
Having a PBM related website is similar to running a PBM magazine, in some ways, I suppose. They both require PBM related content. They both share a common need for content to be continually generated with a degree of freshness. They both cater to a very similar audience.
Then, too, there are notable differences between having a PBM related website and running a PBM magazine. David Webber always seemed to think that he had it hard, getting people to send him written material to print. As it turned out, David actually had it pretty easy, compared to how infrequently that site visitors, site users, and site subscribers post PBM related news or information, these days.
I never knew David on a personal level, and if he were still alive, today, then this site probably wouldn't even exist. I would just visit his website, since I have no doubt that he would have transitioned to the online environment, were he still with us, today.
He would be on Facebook. He would probably be on Twitter, too. He would likely be using some type of content management software. I think that he would be generating more content, more frequently, than he ever did in the past.
But, with David passing from the PBM scene several years back, the established PBM order seems to have passed away with him. There are still commercial play by mail companies in business, even today - but how many of them are advertising, in a traditional sense?
Elaine Webber, David's widow, is silent on things PBM related, these days. I'll bet that she has tons of quips and tales that she could tell us about David and about Paper Mayhem and about PBM gaming and its attendant industry, if she were inclined to do so. But, Elaine probably just went on with life, after David passed away. I don't know that, of course. It's just what I suspect, in the same way that many PBM company game moderators just went on with their respective lives, also.
For those who wonder what David Webber looked like, there's a photo of him on page # 1 of the 50th issue of Paper Mayhem magazine.
Paper Mayhem had a lot of interesting articles in it, over the years of its duration in the publishing industry. My personal favorite articles, however, were the "Where were heading" editorials penned by David, himself. They still make for good reading, all these years later.
If David Webber was here, today, and if he wondered where PlayByMail.Net was heading, I would probably be at a loss to tell him. David covered PBM from the perspective of going forward with the PBM industry. How is it possible, I wonder, to maintain that kind of perspective, when the PBM industry, itself, has mostly taken itself out of the loop?
Over time, David probably came to know - and to befriend - many in the PBM industry. He was, in essence, one of the very few de facto voices for the industry as whole. He wasn't the only one, of course, since other PBM publications did exist at various points over the years. But, I dare say that David Webber was arguably the most influential people within the industry, during his time spent covering the industry through Paper Mayhem.
As far as I am concerned, I will be the very first to concede that I'm no David Webber - nor do I want to be. I have no interest, per se, in befriending the captains of the modern day PBM industry. On a purely personal level, it matters little to me if a given PBM game thrives or dies. As history more than amply attests, death is a natural part of things PBM. Both games and companies come and go, in the universe of play by mail existence. I have no control over such things, and at most, I can but render an opinion. But, that's no different than anyone else, really.
The fate of most PBM companies and most PBM games was already carved in proverbial stone, long before anyone ever heard of me and this website. There's little point, I think, in investing much of oneself in an industry that doesn't even bother to invest in itself.
Of late, I think more and more of trying my hand at a PBM magazine. Much like David Webber, though, I suspect, I have no idea where the additional time will come from, in order to pull off such a feat.
I don't have copies of the earliest issues of Paper Mayhem magazine, so I'm not really in a position to look to David Webber's earliest writings on play by mail for inspiration and guidance.
What is there to write about, where a PBM industry that suffers largely from a self-induced comatose state is concerned?
What, indeed! Then again, maybe that's where we're heading, after all, David Webber.
