PBeM Games
I am a member!
Does anyone have any interest in PBeM (Play by E-Mail) games? I used to play games like chess or diplomacy by mail back in the day and recently thought about playing via email.
I like being able to take a turn, send it off, and play again whenever it happens to come back. No rushing around, just something casual to play throughout the work week.
If you are interested I've also been developing my own PBeM strategy game and it severely needs some play testing and re-writing.
I like PBeM games!
I've only played chess, though.
I'd love to test your game. ^_^
I am a member!
The site of my project for anyone interested: www.nightshiftz.com
The game and site are licensed CC BY-SA so it's all libre. I know I'm not the most creative person or the most skilled writer/designer so I'd love to see other people re-write and improve the game.
Also in reference to the original post if anyone knows of any PBeM games in progress or any they'd like to start up let me know.
Hello.
I used to play Go (see Sensei's Library). It is a game with very simple rules but has an amazing complexity of strategy and elegance (in a sense similar to those by which theorems or pieces of computer code may be described as elegant, which chess lacks). You may find some turn-based sites to play Go in the aforesaid Sensei's Library.
In the terminology of abstract strategy games (including Go, Chess, and similar), time settings may be divided into “turn-based” and “real time”. Time settings are called “real time” if they allow the game to be completed in a single session, and “turn-based” otherwise. Play by e-mail is a specific type of turn-based play.
I played Go because I find the system interesting and worth studying and practicing, not for its entertainment value; secondarily, I appreciate the competitive aspect. Taking this into account, I find turn-based play inadequate. Here are some reasons, but not the only ones:
- I find it to be competitively unsatisfying: in a real time game, players dedicate roughly the same thinking time; in a turn-based game, thinking time is not limited by time settings but rather by how much time of day each player is willing to spend in the game; this factor that is not directly related to skill has a significant impact on the outcome of the game; I find that to be a shortcoming.
- I do not get feedback on my moves in the time I am most interested in them, which is just after I played them; so emotionally, watching the opponent's response is more like examining a finished game than competing.
- The context switching inherent to turn-based play isn't good intellectually: it is harder to focus on the game because it is played in short sessions after interrupting other activities, instead of a dedicated longer playing session. In addition, a turn-based game that is ongoing may distract the players while they are not playing, lowering productivity.
Then PBeM games aren't for you.
I am a member!
I can appreciate playing games real time also, but I do enjoy turn based games mostly because waiting for an opponent to submit their turn gives me something to look forward to. Also because a turn based game (especially in a PBM or PBeM sense) doesn't interrupt anything important you may have going on.
Plus PBeM games can be played on most any device with email capabilities so I can submit a turn at the bus stop or standing in line at the grocery store. I also enjoy playing games just for fun though because life is too serious by default so why not take a minute and play?