PBM is both dead and vibrantly alive, depending on how you look at it.
I played a number of classic PBM games back in the 80s -- Battle Plan, Its A Crime, Monster Island, Silverdawn, Out-Time Days, and a few others. And the grand-daddy of all close-ended computer-moderated space empire games -- Empyrean Challenge. I spent hundreds of dollars, obsessed over drafting orders, waited with extreme anticipation for the mail to come, collaborated and conspired often, and even ran a newsletter for my team on EC. At intervals I wanted to run my own PBM game.
The reason I dropped off had nothing to do with the internet. It had a fair amount to do with the *expense* of it all. And there was the perennial problem of having other players drop out -- usually well over 50%, even for games that held a deposit. And finally, some games were starting to become available to scratched that itch while playing them at home -- board games and computer games.
But if you are reading this, you are fan enough to know that there is nothing like a well-done PBM experience. The contact with other players, the laying of long-term plans, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, etc. Board games can't quite match it, because they're over in one night and you don't really have a chance to connive with fellow gamers much. Computer games can't come close unless they are multi-player, but ultimately fall short for the same reason - they are completed quickly and the pace allows for nothing other than action and grind.
So I miss PBM, big time. But even if the PBM community were as alive and vibrant as its heyday in the 80s, I still probably would not re-enter the fray. For the same reasons. It's too expensive, too many players drop out, and there are many other types of games out there.
I pine for it, as I sit with my Friday night buddies, playing Settlers of Catan and whatever else. I even showed them some of my old turn results, rulebooks, and newsletters (drawing blank stares).
BUT, PBM is still ALIVE, I say! Not just alive - it is booming! Just not in its present form. You need look no further than Facebook. That new genre of "casual games" has taken the web by storm. Games like Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc, have enormous player bases and draw revenue streams that would dwarf what Flying Buffalo took in at its peak, I daresay. Yet they bear many of the same hallmarks as PBM games -- periodic cycles of play, social interaction, excitement and addiction over each new round of play.
And now, lo and behold, one of the great computer games of all time -- Civilization -- is preparing a Facebook version called Civ World. THAT will be a PBM game in all ways except delivery.
So basically, "classic" PBM fans need to move our focus just a little bit and see the opportunities that the dreaded internet - slayer of postal gaming - has made available to us all.
Vern Holford (who ran Empyrean Challenge) is working up a re-release of EC. It is in Beta-testing now. But this time, you send in your turns via FTP, get your new turns emailed to you, and use an Access-based client to interact with the game -- inspecting your ships and space colonies, issuing orders, viewing star charts -- all far more easily than in the old days of paper and pencil. I don't know Vern's ultimate plans, but I suggested that he consider building a web-based version and serving it up for "free" (with revenue from banner ads and fees for "premium content").
I am so into this idea that I am back to considering my own PBM game. PBweb, to be more precise. Free to join, fun to play, casual internet play, persistent environment, with a base revenue from advertising to pay for hosting.
I had thought that the classic PBM genre was quite dead, and was very pleased to learn that many companies are still offering games along the same lines as in the 80s. I wish them all good luck! But I am not going to sink hundreds of dollars into their games. I urge them to move up to a new funding model, and unleash their epic talents on a ripe new audience of modern gamers.