The third issue of the play-by-mail e-zine “Suspense and Decision” is now available. I’ve got to say, for a subset of the gaming hobby which was supposedly defunct, there sure seems to be a lot of material to write about. This ‘zine is coming out at a prodigious pace, and even though I don’t play PBM games any more, I still find it fascinating.
In fact, even folks who never played PBM games will find something in here to enjoy, I think. There’s an article on “Five Tips To Make Your Play-By-Post D&D Game A Long-Lived Success” by Cayzle Alterio, and an article on girls in gaming, “You Go, Gamer Girl!” by “Amber.”
There is also a lot of material on the reboot of one of the classic games of the PBM heyday, “Phoenix: Beyond the Stellar Empire.” BSE was one of the really huge PBM games back in the day, and it’s now back. I might be tempted to start a ship again- that was one of the best ones out there.
I know a lot of OSR types are also big fans of REH’s Conan novels, and should seriously consider giving the PBM game “Hyborian Wars” a try. This is a game I played myself several times in the past, and enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s still being run, and it’s certainly worth at least a look for dedicated Howard fans. This issue of S&D has several articles dedicated to the game. I am again tempted to give it a go once more.
All in all, another great effort by Grimfinger, and I look forward to the next. One of these days I’m going to get off my butt and write those articles about “Starmaster” and “Sail the Solar Winds” I keep talking about…
I find this amazingly interesting. As you said, I thought PBM was defunct. It seems there still resides those who prefer delayed gratification and the slower pace that the postal service offers. It takes me back to those adds you found in the early issues of Dragon magazine. I personally never played any PBM games, but this zine has me considering giving it a go. It would be something to look forward to in the mail besides bills (:
The UK version of BSE never ended though. It is now in its 21st year of continuous open-ended existence. The live game was migrated to a new platform over a decade ago and is now largely online play though still has the benefits of this style of play – namely the ability to think long and hard about your actions before committing.