PBM games phenomenon
Was reading some CRASH mags yesterday and came across the Play By Mail columns that I had skipped earlier.
Now I'd never heard of PBM before and am only vaguely familiar with the concept now.
Were they popular in UK and Europe? How did they actually work? Were any of you fans of PBM? Do they still exist?
Now I'd never heard of PBM before and am only vaguely familiar with the concept now.
Were they popular in UK and Europe? How did they actually work? Were any of you fans of PBM? Do they still exist?
Post edited by Arjun on
Comments
It's a crime is a fantastic game that I re-visit every couple of years. Its by KJC Games & they have loads of other types.
Worth a look - it'll cost around ?20-30 to play a full game.
I was introduced to PBM games through Crash. It became my biggest hobby after the Speccy.
PBM games had been around for years before Crash. They had a small but dedicated following - mostly RPG'ers and Tabletop Wargamers.
PBM'ing really took off in the UK after the Crash articles however.
The game to benefit most immediately was probably 'It's a Crime' - a gang warfare simulator with 100 or more players per game. It was low-cost, easy to get into, and the company that ran it (KJC games) was the most commercial of the PBM firms. At the time many other PBM games were run by individuals or small groups as a hobby - they weren?t really suited to handle a massive influx of new players.
Over time many players advanced onto the ?deeper? PBM games. I went on to play in Starglobe, World Conquest, El Mythico, CTF2187, VGA Planets PBM and quite a few others I forget the names of.
Diplomacy was often essential, usually by phone, letter or in-game message cards (called ?diplos?). It was great fun doing deals and working out strategies with your allies, deceiving your enemies, or even setting up the dreaded ?back-stab? where you suddenly turned on your ally in an attempt to win the game.
I found it a truly fantastic hobby. I attended several PBM / Wargame conventions and met some of my allies / foes and the Game Moderators face-to-face. I found all of them to be thoroughly nice people.
PBM gaming was very big in the US and had a good following in Europe. Personally I got to ?battle? with people from all over the UK, as-well as place as far away as Finland, Denmark and Germany.
Makes me laugh - all this Everquest / MMORG stuff that people think is so amazing these days. It was already being done 20 years ago, on paper!!
Nice to see another PBM'er!! :D
I wonder how many more are on here?
I was just trawling the Net and looking for info on this. Apparently, there are some free PBM companies as well as PBeM (email) games too. Thinking of checkin one of the free PBeM games out, for starters. Anyone played PBeM's before?
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
I used to play VGA Planets PBeM. Easy to get into but with quite a lot of hidden depth. You really need to know the strengths / weaknesses of the races inside out to do well.
Should be a lot more info on the Web. Plenty of free games around too I'd imagine (haven't played for a few years).
Fantasy PBM, it was brilliant.
Had a real good atmosphere between players.
Ahhh....Sindars Heroes may ride again
Nice idea mind.
Sports-management games were very popular back in the day, especially the football ones.
I remember playing Soccer Supremos for quite a few seasons. Quite mindless stuff really - put your players in position and post off - but it was a good laugh when other "managers" phoned up to try and arrange transfers.
I think it was run by GAD Games - wonder if anyone still has the original program for it - wouldn't mind getting hold of that!
Richard
Flagship magazine is still going at http://www.flagshipmagazine.com/ - founder Nicky palmer is now a Labour MP!
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