What is Play-By-Mail? What does PBM stand for? PBM is an abbreviation for "Play By Mail". Since we are on the Internet, it is used to mean both ordinary postal mail and electronic mail. It is also sometimes referred to as PBEM or "Play By Electronic Mail" The Origins of Play By Mail Play-By-Mail games have been around for many years. Probably the first PBM game was the playing of Chess by mail. One player would send a letter containing his opening move, and the other would reply with his next move, and so on. The moves were often tacked onto the end of other correspondence and gave people, who could not afford the time or were unable to meet because of great distances, the chance to play against one another. When multi-player board games like Monopoly and Diplomacy were released, they introduced a revolutionary concept in gaming. Players could interact and make deals with one another. The winner needed not only sound tactics, luck and knowledge of the rules, but also the ability to negotiate effectively. Diplomacy became a popular game to be played by PBM, having been played via postal mail since the 1960's! With the advent of the PC, Games designed solely for Play by Mail started being developed and run in all the major western countries from 1972 onwards. Working as an extension of the Chess or Diplomacy by Mail concept, where each player has a copy of the game and moves are submitted by letters. Play-By-Mail games combined these concepts and took them further, for the first time making it possible for many players from vastly different locations to play in the same game! Some PBM games can accommodate 100 or more players in the same game. Most of them are considerably more complicated than chess or diplomacy, and players are often not aware of the state of the game beyond their immediate position in the game. Information becomes a crucial asset and mis-information a powerful tool. New forces came into play that were never part of a 2 player game, diplomacy and alliance! PBM's expanded to include all forms of games from Ancient battles to modern Science Fiction space empires. Depending on the type of game, you might be the ruler of a nation, the commander of warrior bands or dictator of a galactic empire. Alliances may be made and broken, bribes offered and as a final resort, war declared, all at your commands. With time, player reputations become established and known both locally and world wide for their victories, betrayals and playing style. The age of personal computer and laser printers have greatly enhanced the quality of PBM games on today's market. The latest generation of games come with VGA help programs than enable you to play the game by Disk (through the mail), modem or by the Internet, providing ease of play, speed and reliability. How PBM Works All players send their instructions to a central Moderator, often referred to as the GM (Game Master), who acts as an umpire. The moderator uses a computer and the game programs to determine the results of all the players order's, which are mailed back to each player. This process continues for a period of time depending on the game being played. Some games last for only a small number of turns, some go on forever. The average game will last from one to two years, with a turn held every two weeks. As mentioned above, each game can have anything from two to hundreds of players, the most usual is somewhere in the range of 10 to 50. Players need rulebooks to play. Every player receives a set-up describing the resources and characters he/she controls at the start of the game. These set-ups may be different for every player, and the players sees only his/her own. Players generally customise or design their set-ups with the parameters for this covered in the games rules. In PBM games Players are given deadlines or turnaround times when they can send in orders for the next move. In some other games, the turnaround time determines the amount of time that must have passed since the last turn, before your next turn can be processed. For example 14 day turnaround would mean that you could only play a turn once every 2 weeks. You can submit orders at anytime for processing even after the turnaround time if you wish. All orders submitted for that day are processed, with processing of the game done every day. In many other games however all orders for all players must be in by the deadline date or you will miss out and have to wait until the next deadline. In this type of game, processing is done on only one set day, the deadline day, with all the orders for the game processed together. The computer then uses all submitted orders and "runs" them. Depending on the actions of the players, it calculates and reports what happens within each turn, resolves battle and the like. When turns have all been run, the computer prepares individual reports for each player. These are mostly personalised. You will normally learn only the headlines of what has happened to your rivals, while getting full details and results of your own actions and those directed by others against you. You also get a full and updated reports of the current state of your Empire, Kingdom etc. In some games, players are told the names and addresses of all the other players at the start, in others you only get to learn about other players when you run into them in the game, when they can tell you who they are if they want to, or remain anonymous. You can send messages to players who you encounter, usually by sending a note through the GM, or by an option on your move sheet. The electronic age adds other options such as mailing lists and bulletin boards to aid player contact. You don't have to enjoy writing mail to have fun in PBM, but if you do it makes sense to look for a game with intense diplomatic activity of this kind. PBM games run by Electronic media -- those conducted via email -- generally require special software on your home computer; if so, it will be mentioned in the game description, this can generally be download from the games hosting site. Traditionally, this process was carried out through the postal services of the various countries involved. With the popularity of the Internet, the emphasis has shifted to electronic means (EMail and the World Wide Web) to transmit turns back and forth between the GM and the players. Why play Games By Mail? Play-By-Mail games are played by people from a wide range of ages, backgrounds and occupations. There are many advantages that PBM can provide which other games cannot: Are you tired of playing games by yourself or with the same people again and again? For competitive people, PBMs provide the opportunity to match wits and Test your skills against hundreds of opponents from all over the world. If you are tired of playing strategy games against the computer, this may be the challenge you've been looking for. Most computer games you can enjoy playing for a few games, but it's not long before they become predictable and somewhat monotonous. Because PBM games involve real opponents, each game is completely different and creates a whole new scenario. No 2 human players ever play exactly the same! Ever tried to get 200 people to play a game at the same time? Playing board games or computer games at home limits you to your circle of game playing friends and the number of people who can sit in your living room (whichever is fewer) with PBM games the sky's the limit. PBM enables you to take part in ambitious scenarios, rich in colour and detail and populated with numerous players and non-player characters. Many PBM games are very sophisticated and very challenging. PBMs can occupy as much or as little of your time as you like. Normally a turn takes a few hours of thought and a half hour to fill the turn orders out, but some players like to spend many hours planning their moves many turns ahead, or talking with other players and coordinating alliances. PBM players have always got something to think about, especially just before and after that critical turn arrives. It could be just the thing to fill in the time while commuting to and from work. As turns are due only once every week or or two, depending on the game, you can play PBM in your own time, filling in the otherwise boring moments in life or when it is most convenient, fitting it into a hectic lifestyles. If you have a few spare minutes here and there, you can always take out the latest turn report and spend a few minutes brooding on your plans to become King or conquer the galaxy! PBM is the only way to play, with professional games masters devoted to your enjoyment. Boring administrative details in other games are handled by them and their computers, leaving you free to enjoy the game and not the book keeping and umpiring. When you consider the many hours of enjoyment you will receive from a PBM game, the overall cost (no more than a few dollars per fortnight) is very inexpensive. With the latest technology you don't have to wait for the Postman to deliver your results. Most PBM companies now provide full Internet service and excellent graphic player assist programs enabling you to download and view your results the same day. Last but not least, PBM is a great way to make new friends and meet many new people with similar interests, from across the country and even overseas. 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