How to begin?

[kyonshi]

I have never actually played a proper pbm game. What would be the best
way to start nowadays?

[Charles Mosteller]

On Tuesday, November 29, 2022 at 1:21:12 PM UTC-5, gmk...@gmail.com wrote:
> I have never actually played a proper pbm game. What would be the best
> way to start nowadays?

That would probably depend upon what kind of setting that you prefer.

I currently play Hyborian War, and I receive my turn results via the postal service. It's a grand feeling, when your turns arrive in your mailbox.\

You can find all of the player kingdom set-up reports here:
https://grimfinger.net/HyborianWar.html

You can find the Internet's largest gathering of Hyborian War players here:
https://www.warbarron.com/rok/index.php

You can find some more info about Hyborian War here:
https://www.warbarron.com/rok/index.php?threads/grimfingers-implements-of-war-for-hyborian-war.5718/

You can find an index of PBM games here:
https://suspense-and-decision.com/index/

You can find back issues of PBM Unearthed, a play by mail newsletter in PDF format here:
https://playbymail.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=1

You can subscribe to the new Suspense & Decision magazine, a PBM and Turn Based Distance Gaming magazine, here:
https://suspense-and-decision.com/plans/subscriptions/

There aren't a lot of old school receive-your-turn-results-in-paper-format-via-the-postal-service format, anymore - but there are still some.

Give it a try. I first began playing Hyborian War back in the 1980s. It's not likely going anywhere, anytime soon. You don't have to rush and join a game, no matter which PBM game you think appeals to you.

If you decided to give Hyborian War a try, the fastest ways to get into a game of it are:
(1) Join a game of Hyborian War that is already under way as a standby player (take over a position vacated by a player that has dropped out).

(2) Join an organized game of Hyborian War. Typically, organized games of Hyborian War form over at the warbarron.com (The Road of Kings) forum site.

(3) Don't send off for or call for RSI to mail you a kingdom set-up report. They are all free for downloading (and printing out, if you want) from the grimfinger.net site. You can cut down on mail time, which will be part of your wait time, otherwise, by accessing the ones that are already on the Internet for free (which is exactly what they're there for in the first place).

(4) VERY IMPORTANT - The company that runs Hyborian War (Reality Simulations, Inc. or RSI fort short) will have to assign a a player account number, BEFORE you can get placed in a game of Hyborian War. Therefore, call RSI at: (480) 967-7979 or write to them at c...@reality.com, and ask them to create a new player account number for you.

[kyonshi]

On 30/11/2022 15:47, Charles Mosteller wrote:
> On Tuesday, November 29, 2022 at 1:21:12 PM UTC-5, gmk...@gmail.com wrote:
>> I have never actually played a proper pbm game. What would be the best
>> way to start nowadays?
>
> That would probably depend upon what kind of setting that you prefer.
>
> I currently play Hyborian War, and I receive my turn results via the postal service. It's a grand feeling, when your turns arrive in your mailbox.\
>

Now here's a question I can't find the answer to on these pages: how
much does all of this actually cost? I can't seem to find a price list
of how much those turns cost, the website of RSI just tells me that
setup for first time users is free, but no fixed prices.

[Charles Mosteller]

On Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 12:51:43 PM UTC-5, gmk...@gmail.com wrote:
> Now here's a question I can't find the answer to on these pages: how
> much does all of this actually cost? I can't seem to find a price list
> of how much those turns cost, the website of RSI just tells me that
> setup for first time users is free, but no fixed prices.

Different companies charge different prices to play their PBM games, and prices from PBM game to PBM game within a given PBM company's PBM offerings can vary, as well.

This link will provide you RSI's prices to play the different PBM games that they run.

http://reality.com/houserul.htm

The price to play Hyborian War has not went up in all of the time that I have been playing it. It's actually a much better bargain, today, than when I first began playing it back in the 1980s.

If you join an organized game of Hyborian War, RSI will also give you a 10% discount for each turn that you play. I look at things from the perspective of entertainment value. I enjoy receiving turn results in the mail much more than I enjoy going to see most movies. Plus, these days, movie tickets tend to cost more than the turn fees that I pay to play Hyborian War. Once you get the hang of the game, it isn't hard to play. It can be challenging, though, since you can be playing with and against up to 35 other players in the same game.

[kyonshi]

I totally did not see that the prices were there. And would most likely
never have thought that the houserules page contained the prices.

Anyway. Maybe this would be a nice little diversion.
And I do think I might enjoy receiving some letters for once.

[Charles Mosteller]

Yeah, it's not the best of location choices for RSI to place the price list for its PBM games on its website. It's a prime candidate for the restructuring of PBM that needs to transpire across many PBM websites.

[kyonshi]

On 02/12/2022 15:32, Charles Mosteller wrote:
> Yeah, it's not the best of location choices for RSI to place the price list for its PBM games on its website. It's a prime candidate for the restructuring of PBM that needs to transpire across many PBM websites.

What are Kingdoms in Exile actually? they are referenced in the fees,
but I couldn't find them in the rules yet. I assume players that lost
their lands?