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Does Anyone Still Play-by-Mail?

Posted by Cliff on from the turn-based-internet-gameplay dept.

manganese4 asks: "With the ever increasing complexity of games and the desire to buy the bleeding edge of hardware, does anyone still participate in games in the old-time 'Play by (e)Mail' format? Remember the anticipation of wondering if the snow storm was going to delay the post and prevent you from executing a crushing blow with your rook or pacing your emails to give your opponent time to become distracted by something else on the Usenet groups!"

20 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. No by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, no one does anymore. And I would have had the first post had the damn snowstorm not delayed my message.

    1. Re:No by Stripe7 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I stopped playing PBM games almost 10 years ago. The one that I really enjoyed the most was LEGENDS by midnight games. (http://www.mgames.com/) It was awsome. Had a character go from being the mayor of a small town with a bunch of aides to ruling flying cities with hundreds of thousands of troops. Ended up with a Dragon as one of the 40 characters I had to play with. I tried some 20 or so other PBM games and nothing ever came close to LEGENDS.

  2. Tic-Tac-Toe by MyLongNickName · · Score: 4, Funny

    I like tic-tac-toe by e-mail. With the extra time between moves, I only lose 1/3 of my games now. Downside: I think my opponent is using a computer.

    --
    See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
  3. KJC Games by Xaviar21 · · Score: 4, Informative

    KJC Games
    All their games are PBM. I particularly like Phoenix.

  4. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  5. Laser squad nemesis? by Zutroy+Of+Earth · · Score: 5, Interesting

    www.lasersquadnemesis.com

    It just has to be one of the most addictive games out there :) It's by the creators of XCOM and is basically XCOM with internet play (only much better). Sadly enough, it was so addictive I had to cancel my subscribtion. I wasn't strong enough not to look at my emails every half hour or so :)

    I never paced my emails though. I always found it frustating when the other players stopped for a day or for the weekend. When that happened, I just started other games and concentrated on those. I'd rather win or lose against an opponent that is giving me his/her 100% :)

  6. This guy might. by hal2814 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Derek Whipple, former Nintendo Power game counselor, might.

  7. YES! by netfool · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Yes, people still do this. See the Combat Mission series on Battlefront.

    This game is prefectly designed for PBM and it still plays well directly connected.
    The grahics are a bit dated compared todays standards, but it's got the best gameplay and realistic ballistics I've ever seen in a game.

    If you want a true WWII wargaming experience, check this game out, it's great.

    --
    Left 4 Dead Gaming Group - http://www.l4dgg.com
  8. You betcha by emiddlec · · Score: 5, Informative
    You betcha. One place to play is itsyourturn.com, which will send you an email when it's your turn to move, etc. They currently have the following games (and variations) available:

    • Backgammon, Pro Backgammon (BP), Anti-Backgammon (BA), Nackgammon (BN), and Backgammon Race (BR)
    • Battleboats, Battleboats Plus, Dark Battleboats Plus (TD)
    • Checkers: American (aka British Draughts (KX)), Pro Checkers (KP), Anti-Checkers (KA), Sparse Checkers (KS), and Crowded Checkers (KC).
    • Checkers: International (aka International Draughts), Italian Checkers (KT), Polish Checkers (KL), and Russian Checkers (KR).
    • Chess, King's Corner (CK), King's Fortress (CF), Horde (CH), Extinction (CE), Anti (CA), Dark (CD), Screen (CS), and Crazy Screen (CZ).
    • Chinese Chess (Xiangqi)
    • Go - 19x19 size board, 9x9 (G9) and 13x13 (G3)
    • Go-Moku and Pente, Keryo-Pente (MK), Pro Go-Moku (MM), and Pro-Pente (MQ).
    • Halma (Chinese Checkers) - 8x8 board, and 10x10
    • Jamble
    • Reversi, Reversi 10x10 (R1), Blackhole Reversi (RH), Anti-Reversi (RA), Blackhole Reversi 10x10 (RI), Anti-Reversi 10x10 (RB), Reversi 6x6 (R6), and Anti-Reversi 6x6 (RC)
    • Sabotage (aka Stratego(TM)), Mini Sabotage (SM), Sabotage Rush (SR), and Sabotage Open Rush (SO). (Stratego(TM) is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc.)
    • Stack4, Connectris (4C), Stack 4X4 (44), and Anti-Stack4 (4A)
  9. PBEM the only way to go for strategy games by dtolman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've been in active PBEM (or PBIM) games of:

    Warlords 3
    Empire Deluxe
    VGA Planets

    All classic (old) games - but there just isn't the same amount of good PBEM coming out nowadays - most are realtime oriented.

    In my humble opinion though, for strategy oriented games, PBEM is the only way to go - otherwise all you are ultimately testing is your reflexes and mental quickness. Problem with PBEM is that you need dedicated opponents - and the more you have, the tougher it is to get them all to submit turns...

  10. There is a new game, the whole world is playing... by Alpha27 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's called '419', the Nigerian Email Scam.

    It's easy to play.

    You just pay upfront and wait for the money to come in. If you've heard of other players complaining that the game takes too long to play, it's part of the game to see if you have what it takes to last the longest.

    Go ahead, give it a try. ;=)

  11. Half Life 2 by DavidLeblond · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm currently playing Half Life 2 via email. I've take 5 steps so far, this game rocks!

    I've been playing Quake via snail mail for a few years now, I think I just killed my first monster...

  12. XCOM Email by ledow · · Score: 2, Informative

    Whatever happened to X-COM PBEM? I remember there being a range of PBEM game being available in my local software outfit including X-Com (Called UFO in the UK) but they seem to have disappeared.

    I don't know if they relied on a central server or something but I couldn't even see any copies going on eBay last I looked.

  13. not email based, but in a similar spirit... by bongoras · · Score: 3, Informative
    Is Battlemaster. It's a turn based, reasonably slow paced MMRPG. To quote from the intro page:

    BattleMaster is a web-based, team-oriented blend of strategy and roleplaying. You can play it as a strategy game with roleplaying elements, or as a roleplaying game with a strategy wargame background, whichever aspect suits you better.

    BattleMaster is designed to be a light-weight game. Most online games require that you spend hours every day if you want to achieve anything, and reward only the most dedicated players, which usually means those with nothing else to do with their day.
    BattleMaster is meant to be played alongside your other activities, and you will not gain much advantage from spending more than the few minutes a normal turn takes.
    BattleMaster is also a game under active development. New features are being added and gameplay and balance are constantly tweaked to improve the game further.


  14. PBM and PBEM alive and well by Greg+Lindahl · · Score: 3, Informative


    I track more than 2,000 play by mail and play by email games in my pbm list.

  15. Many people do this, even celebrities... by rubberbando · · Score: 5, Funny

    Average Joe Somebody sends playfull letter to Hot Actress and she responds by playfully sending him a restraining order.
    It's plenty of fun, you should try it sometime. :-P

    --
    DEAD DEAD DEAD DELETE ME
  16. I was BRNG56D... I remember it well... by b00m3rang · · Score: 3, Funny

    My first online service. I had the pimp setup with my luggable NEC Powermate Portable that I could dial up Prodigy from whichever friend's house I was at to get video game help or cheat codes.

    I remember one stupid prank that got a surprising number of people all worked up. I said that I had a trick to turn 'N's into 'Z's in any video game... and that I would post the trick once 50 people had replied. So 50 anxious replies later, I told them to turn their TV sideways. I couldn't believe how many people first got so excited about such a stupid code, and second got so upset and felt they'd been cheated.

    Remember those crappy vector graphic maze games they had? Good times.

  17. Chess Variants by pdboddy · · Score: 2, Informative

    ChessVariants.com has a play by email system for Chess, and a whole whack of chess variants (Xiang Qi, Shogi, Shatranj, etc). So I'd say, yes, play by email is alive and kicking.

    --
    Julie Moult is an idiot.
  18. IECG by thelenm · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sure, check out the International Email Chess Group. I haven't played there much recently, but they have a good system for playing email games, with time limits and everything. They also run thematic tournaments every so often.

    --
    Use Ctrl-C instead of ESC in Vim!
  19. Stars! by mseeger · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Hi,

    we just started with another game of Stars! by PBEM. It's a game from 1997 (at least the copy i have is) and still a lot of people are playing it. It has a lot of strategic depth and requires a lot of planning. If you're interested, you may find the Strategy Guide there. I think there must be a FAQ around and there is a freeware trial version out.

    Regards, Martin