been lurking, decided to register ;)

[NotQuiteANewbie]

Hello all.

I played a few PBMs back in the 1990s, but never really got very far in any of them.

Galactic Overlord by GEM Games was my first game, then I think a few games of CTF 2187 by Advanced Gaming Enterprises, a couple turns of Samurai Warlords (run by an Aussie GM), a few turns of The Bloody Blade by Damien Games, a few months of Supernova II by Rolling Thunder Games, and lastly a bit of Monster Island by Adventures By Mail about the end of the 1990s or maybe early 2000s? (There was one other game I don't remember the name or GM, but the game I think folded after about 2 turns or so. Was a fantasy wargame about an evil horde about to overrun the land, and players had to design & build castles to protect their villages.)

I had a subscription to Paper Mayhem for about 3 years or so I think.

I became aware of the idea of PBM from Dragon Magazine, as was and am primarily a D&D / RPG gamer.

I have played a bunch of computer strategy games such as Master of Orion (still play it, lots of old games available from GOG.com), Civilization IV, etc.

Anyway I came across a plug for Suspense & Decision via Greyhawk Grognard's RPG blog a while back, and have been lurking and reading posts for a while now. (Read all 3 available issues of S&D.)

My schedule doesn't match up with anybody to play face-to-face tabletop games anymore, so I'm thinking of giving PBM another go.

Thinking about maybe Olympia G4 before it gets too far into the game, or maybe DungeonWorld? Maybe Riftlords as I never played a Flying Buffalo PBM?

My budget for any kind of entertainment is kinda low due to cut hours at work (but more time), so something I can try for free or low cost is best at this point.

[GrimFinger]

Very nice introductory post!

Allow me to formally welcome you aboard the site, and in from the cold of being a lurker (although site visitors are certainly free to just lurk and read, if they prefer that route to enjoying the hobby).

Everyone's perspective differs, on what qualifies as "low cost." But, if it's something free that you want to sate your PBM-esque appetite with, then you still have numerous options.

Olympia is free, as is Clash of Legends. You can run a free position in Phoenix: BSE (starships are free to run there). I believe that Lords of Conquest is free. I looked up DungeonWorld, just now, and it is free, for a single character. Riftlords offers some free turns, I think, but I don't believe that it is free. Interstellar Cluster Wars is free. I think that Midnight/Mu is free. Briny en Garde! is free, if memory serves me correctly. I'm not sure about Lands of Nevron, but I sent Ian an e-mail, just now, to ask him.

StarCluster is free, I'm pretty sure. Diplomacy is free (I think, although you may need the game). Atlantis is free, as is Eressa. To Boldly Go is free. You can also go to http://www.pbem-spiele.de, which if you use the following link (courtesy of Google Translate), you can probably sign up for more than one game. I think that they may be free, as well.

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl...2F&act=url

I hope that you enjoyed the first three issues of Suspense & Decision. Issue # 4 is due out one day later this week.

[swift2plunder]

Hi! I run Diplomacy for free and publish the game maps on the site so you don't need to buy a board. Diplomacy rules are available as a free PDF.

I am also a player in Olympia G4, working out of the Falconlake safe haven. Whether you join my alliance or the other alliance working out of Falconlake, I'd be glad to help you out.

I also have a single point of view SciFi game in public beta. There's just 14 turns left in the beta, but the production game will be free too.

Last, I'll be running a beta for Olympia: The Age of Gods in a couple months. The beta will be free and subsequent game will have a $12 setup fee. I've been running Diplomacy since 2008, so I'm not going anywhere. If you'd like more info on any of these games, let me know.

[Harlequin]

Thinking about maybe Olympia G4 before it gets too far into the game, or maybe DungeonWorld? Maybe Riftlords as I never played a Flying Buffalo PBM?

My budget for any kind of entertainment is kinda low due to cut hours at work (but more time), so something I can try for free or low cost is best at this point.

Hi There,

We are the owners of CTF2187. Sadly we don't run it anymore, which is a shame, I loved its tactics and strategy.

We do run probably the most complex fantasy & magic TBG going, which is Legends.

http://www.harlequingames.com/leg.html

And great character/army/magic based battles set in the world of LOTR/Middleearth

http://middleearthgames.com/

Neither of these games are free but if you want the porduct to be good and the Gm to eat, they cant be......!

Whatever you do, have fun!

Feel free to drop us a PM if you want to know more.

Harlequin

[BuffaloRick]

Riftlords gives you three free turns to try it out. But it sounds like you MIGHT be more interested in Heroic Fantasy. It is not free, but it's only $3.00 per turn and if you play in a two-week game that's only $7 per month. As someone else pointed out, if you want a well-run game that lasts, you need a paid game. Flying Buffalo has been running pbm games since 1970, continuously, and no one else can say that! take a look at flyingbuffalo.com
Rick Loomis

[swift2plunder]

I think that it's easy to confuse price and value. Free games are are often worth the price. While allowing free play in most games, so that there is a lower barrier to entry, but I do collect freewill donations. These donations do not come with any perks, but allow players to participate in the value of the game. This, I hope, provides the potential to have the best aspects of both free and paid games.

[John M]

Well, I might be partial, but Clash of Legends is a free game that runs regularly since 2006 with quality standards that are as high as any company. I dare say, even better than most.
I can even say the same for Lords of Conquest, which I also play constantly.

But I agree that’s not the average expectation.


--
GM Team
Join new games at: http://clashlegends.com/PbmSite/
http://www.facebook.com/clash.legends
http://sites.google.com/site/clashlegends/

[GrimFinger]

Free versus paid versus donation.

Price versus value.

If only things were really quite so simple.

The truth of the matter is that it is the end experience which is the sum of all things. Indeed, it is the experience, itself, which ultimately enables one to assess, for their own self, the value of a game relative to price.

If you enjoy a game and have fun playing it, it will invariably end up being a better value for that very reason. Fun tends to have its own way of mitigating the sticker shock of seeing the price of something. An entertaining movie, for example, is likely to be viewed as a much better expenditure of one's money than watching a movie that sucked, for the same ticket price.

And, also, part of the overall experience is determined, not by which company or moderator that you choose, nor even by which game that you choose, but rather, by the other players that you end up gaming with.

The respective merits and demerits of free versus pay versus donation are certainly all worth debating. However, regardless of where one falls on whichever side of that fence, I believe that it is clear that prospective players have quite a bit to choose from, in trying to decide what game or games that they should try.

If I may, I would suggest that you try more than one, either simultaneously or in succession. If you do, then you will find that you will invariably be drawn to some more than to others. It's the experience that you are after, after all. Isn't it?

Where the commercial/paid games are concerned, you might want to look and compare the pricing structures of the respective games that you are interested in possibly giving a go. Are you paying by the turn? By the game? By a certain amount of time? Are there any set-up fees? Do they charge for rulebooks, maps, newsletters, and other materials needed to play the game?

For games played electronically/digitally, there's also the software to consider. Some will invariably prove to be more intuitive than others, to use. How you interface with the game will impact your gaming experience. In hindsight, many old school PBM games that you played through the postal service actually were more easy for players to interface with, than is the case with some modern day electronic variants.

Even on the role playing and complexity end of things, Phoenix: BSE is often touted as being a complex game, and a lot of what at least some players love about that game is what they refer to as the role playing associated with it - even though it is technically a space game.

[NotQuiteANewbie]

Hi There,

We are the owners of CTF2187. Sadly we don't run it anymore, which is a shame, I loved its tactics and strategy.

We do run probably the most complex fantasy & magic TBG going, which is Legends.

http://www.harlequingames.com/leg.html

And great character/army/magic based battles set in the world of LOTR/Middleearth

http://middleearthgames.com/

Neither of these games are free but if you want the porduct to be good and the Gm to eat, they cant be......!

Whatever you do, have fun!

Feel free to drop us a PM if you want to know more.

Harlequin

I remember reading a review of North Island Campaign back in one of those Paper Mayhem issues all those years ago. Seemed an awesome experience from the review. Maybe someday..

As for CTF 2187, I played maybe 3 games with Advanced Gaming Enterprises. It was very similar to the tabletop miniatures game BattleTech. Sadly their website has not been updated since the middle of 2006. Always regretted never trying their Crack of Doom game.

---

Well, I might be partial, but Clash of Legends is a free game that runs regularly since 2006 with quality standards that are as high as any company. I dare say, even better than most.
I can even say the same for Lords of Conquest, which I also play constantly.

But I agree that’s not the average expectation.


--
GM Team
Join new games at: http://clashlegends.com/PbmSite/
http://www.facebook.com/clash.legends
http://sites.google.com/site/clashlegends/

I did go check your site and Facebook out after hearing of it from GrimFinger.

I played a few of those old Avalon Hill hex wargames back in the day as well.

I'd think about it if you are still starting the Greek scenario games, as I need to ease back into things before getting tossed in amongst a large number of opponents. So I can learn the mechanics before having to dive so deeply into the diplomacy.

[GrimFinger]

As for CTF 2187, I played maybe 3 games with Advanced Gaming Enterprises. It was very similar to the tabletop miniatures game BattleTech. Sadly their website has not been updated since the middle of 2006. Always regretted never trying their Crack of Doom game.

Just as an FYI, I received an e-mail from Duane Wilcoxson of Advanced Gaming Enterprises on January 24, 2014 (a little more than a month ago), and in it he told me that they are still running games, in response to an inquiry from me.