Nostalgia

[Ry Vor]

Ever look back to the early days of PBM?  Does it bring you back to what else was going on in your life at the time?  So, if the mood strikes you, you can post a fond memory of back in the day.

I'll start it with the Dragon Magazine review of Alamaze.  The review doubled the Alamaze player base and brought us to 1000 positions, almost certainly the largest in PBM.  I was living in Ft. Lauderdale at a singles complex called Set Point.  I met my wife there, was #1 on the tennis ladder, was the honorific "Mayor of Set Point" and remember all my old friends.  After the review and the flood of new players, I rented another apartment that was set up as the Alamaze office.  For a while, we had five employees, getting mail from the PO box, a game master (Steve), staff manually entering turns from the order input sheets, sorting input into game files, setup requests into their files, stuffing envelopes, sorting 3x5 index cards, doing payroll, managing postage, other tasks.  Alamaze I started working on when the first IBM PC's came out.  It couldn't be completed until the next gen "AT" came out due to memory constraints.  Back then it took about 2 hours to run a game, and another two hours to print on a dot matrix printer.  We had four computers and printers.  Each generation of PC then was about $6000 a piece.

The review in Dragon preceded the Origins Awards and led to Alamaze winning that award; about the first time an outsider and first time designer had won Game of the Year.  I met Michael Gray, the designer of the outstanding Shogun "big box" game from Milton Bradley, the successor to Axis & Allies, and the author of the Dragon review there, we had dinner together with Paul Brown, the head of RSI.  That led to a license of Alamaze to RSI and the invite to design their next game, Forgotten Realms, which never got coded because the programmers were baffled, despite more than 200 pages of documentation.  The exercise did give me exposure to Ed Greenwood, the D&D designer of Forgotten Realms and long time Gary Gygax associate.

Here's a link to the Dragon Magazine issue if you are interested: http://annarchive.com/files/Drmg131.pdf
The review starts on page 18.  Here is an excerpt:

As a game designer myself, I'd have to say that this is one of the finest designs I've seen. Its roots are in Earthwood,
a fine fantasy game by GSI, but it is much more complex and sophisticated. Though I've had some problems with the processing of
my orders, the wrinkles are being ironed out on an ongoing basis. The designer,Rick McDowell, is a very conscientious
game master, quick to fix errors and always ready to improve his game. He doesn't leak secret information, even to
reviewers like me.

[Calidor]

The Dragon Review is what brought Alamaze to my attention many years ago!!!

[Ohman the heartless]

I still have a 3 ringbinder with original setup's and spell lists. 2 or 3 original maps. I played for several years, and only won 1 game as the Troll. The competition was furious, and the anticipation of receiving that manila envelope in the mail almost painful. Especially when you opened the mailbox, and it wasn't there. That extra wait was tortuous! My son's had just outgrown their interest in D & D, so this game filled that whole in my need for fantacy gaming.

[Acererak]

I'm pretty sure that's when I started playing. I was a young lad of 16 and just waiting for the turn to show up in the mailbox was arduous. But when it finally showed up it was so great. I would sit down with my original map and just read it over and over.

[Rogal]

Reading that old Dragon magazine article got me into Alamaze.  I could finally play as a king and run a kingdom.  The first packet came in the mail, 2 books, a map and a turn explaining your kingdom, very cool.  The true fun of the game came with exploring the game.  Coming from a role playing background, I had no clue about military games back then, so off exploring I went.  You would make contact with others by 3x5 card and there was where the fun began.  I had no clue playing a caster kingdom what the spells were in the game, so I found the role play element here, the quest for spells.  This also made the game interesting for I had no clue other kingdoms spells were, could they be totally different from mine?  Everyone in my first game were playing for the first time, so it was almost a role play game. Not in character per say, but diplomacy, lies, ect. occurred.   It was a true fun game for this military game was "being played wrong" for the players were in D&D mode, not conquest mode and knowing how the game was even to be played.  The concept of grabbing a region in 4 turns or less never occurred to really anyone. 

Things like Unusual encounters were really a tough decision, I could lose a wizard or let loose a deadly plague on the land, but maybe get a magic item.  Ignorance was truly bliss then.  One day I got to a point where I could summon skeletons, holy crap, that was just way too cool.  Turns passed by and players communicated more and more, and alliances would be formed.  This was due to one or two players who wanted to control the world and the fear of the Witchlord made me think, I might need to get my head out of the clouds and start taking ruling a kingdom more serious.  Oh hell, whats this, summon ghouls?  A unit of undead that might paralyze my enemy in combat, they must be summoned now.  The true spell was Bell Telephone charging you per minute back then, you think your cell phone bills are high now, yea right.  

The magic of the first game would never be repeated for after months passed, we all began to read the rules and got a copy of the Oracle. Some very inspiring articles were in there and best of all, status points.  Now players like me had a goal, to get on that list.  Now came game 2, a few of us went in on a team game, and we brought war.  Having my new kingdom of Barbarians run wild was great.  Sacking Viperhead, constantly recruiting and then burning Oakendel was too cool. The final battle would come in Amberland, the barbarian hoard vs. the Paladins with there Flaming sword of the North.  I decimated the Paladins and captured Evanon in one fell swoop and my team declared a victory.   My Army was over 200,000 points strong with almost no artifacts and maybe one Warlord?  I was so happy to be able to get the final battle written in the Oracle, and did get to see it again when I could access the old database.  

The 2nd age came, and I tried the Underworld and Demon Princes and did not like them at all.  I kind of wanted more 1st cycle games since the DE was just too confusing to me.

[admin]

This is a great thread. I shared it over on the PlayByMail.Net Facebook page.

[Hawk_]

I remember reading this intro and I was hooked:

You are the awesome Sorcerer-King. You have steadily increased your arcane might through decades of research and discovery. Now your mastery of magic and other esoteric matters is indisputable. During this time you have also accumulated wealth, political power, and an army of followers. Within your realm, you are unchallenged. Now is the time of great, decisive conflict: the struggle for dominion over all of ALAMAZE. You are interlocked in a swelling struggle for ultimate victory with fourteen powerful kings, each unique in personality and in the powers under their command.
Your ingenious deception has fragmented the diplomatic overtures which would have resulted in a dangerous alliance between Braddock, the Paladin King, and your arch-rival, the Warlock Casnor. Strategic economic dealings with the clever Darkelves and the elusive Swampmen have provided your armies with more than adequate supplies with which to carry out the military assault. The plan you have masterminded involves much more, however. In order to undo the seemingly entrenched Elven King, you and a secret ally will launch devastating strikes on military, political, economic, and covert levels simultaneously. Even the Elven king's greatest hero, Kel-Kalon, Wielder of the Northern Flame, cannot hope to prevent your triumph.
Now, from this green hilltop you survey your assembled legions, ready to do battle with the outnumbered but well led Elven force. As you prepare to give your generals the command to begin the assault your mind replays everything that has brought you to this moment - the brink of victory. All is accounted for - except knowing what the Dragons will do. Your aide approaches. What's this? An anonymous message indicating your secret ally is concocting a double cross??

[Ry Vor]

I was looking for an article I wrote for Flagship on game design, but came across these snippets for Fall of Rome we captured a ways back:
http://www.fallofromegame.com/reviews.asp.  Here's one, from probably the main hobby magazine of the time, Wargamer:

The most recent is from Wargamer.  William Trotter has written strategy game and war game reviews for PC Gamer and Wargamer for more than 20 years. He is also an excellent novelist with fourteen books written. Find him at www.trotterbooks.com as well as at Wargamer. He is known as a particularly critical reviewer. A few of his impressions from his Fall of Rome review are shown first, below:

WARGAMER
Fall of Rome is hands-down one of the top-rated online strategy games to emerge in many a year. It’s incredibly rich, colorful, and nuanced; addictive as crank, and designed with a care and attention to detail that is rare in any gaming genre.

[Ry Vor]

Was still looking for my Flagship article on game design from more than 20 years ago and came across this Flagship review by the infamous, notorious Bob McLain.  Fall of Rome also had the cover on this issue (#113) of Flagship.  Some excerpts.  url: http://playbymail.net/Flagship/BackIssues/issue113.pdf

FOR OVER 20 years, I’ve sought the perfect turn-based game. (Back then,
junior, we called ‘em play-by-mail games, and we liked it!) I’ve not yet
found the perfect turn-based game. I never will find it.
But every so often, I find a game that I like enough to play more than
once. It’s rare, very rare, to find such games. When I do find one, I run
through the house yelling ‘Huzzah!’ until my kids call the cops.
Huzzah!
I just found another one.

Obviously, the site didn’t change just because I complained, but I bet
others complained, too. And doesn’t it make you feel good when the owner
listens? Gee, I wonder if that means he also cares about making his game
work.
Let’s find out...
Local boy makes good
In the 1980s, Rick McDowell designed a popular play-by-mail game called
Alamaze
. Unlike most play-by-mail games from the 1980s, you can still
play Alamaze today, and it inspired many other game designers who
borrowed from its ground-breaking concepts.
After Alamaze, Rick took a step down and became Treasurer and Senior
Vice President for Blockbuster Video. But you can’t keep a gamer from his
games for long. Two years ago, Rick left Blockbuster, gathered a team of
developers, including well-known Playstation/Xbox programmer Fletcher
Dunn, and identified a big hole in the on-line gaming market: the near
complete lack of multi-player, turn-based strategy games.
To fill that hole, Rick made an interesting choice: an historical wargame
set after the fall of the Roman Empire. In 2004, the game went live, and
today it has hundreds of players, convincing proof that a sizeable audience
exists for turn-based strategy. Of course, it helps that the game-play is
pretty darn good.
Of GUIs, orders, and opportunity cost
You play Fall of Rome on a map of Dark Ages Europe....


Tactical smorgasbord
Forget about economic and politics.
We’re talking combat now. Serious
stuff. Harumph!
Each kingdom in Fall of Rome has
different military units available.
The Teutons, for example, have lots of heavy infantry, perfect for battering
down walls, but the Huns have just the opposite: horse archers, terrible
at battering down walls, but when used correctly, unstoppable in the field.
Other kingdoms fall between these extremes.
The game designer spent many, many hours researching the actual
troops and tactics prevalent in 5th century Europe. Within those historical
parameters, the combat system gives players much room for tactical
flexibility, including many different offensive and defensive tactics that
players can choose based upon the terrain, the composition of the armies
involved, the strengths or weaknesses of their native troops, the skill of
their leaders, what they think the other guy will do, and so forth. It’s never
an easy choice. The right tactic can win a lopsided battle.
You learn the results of battles through well-organized....

[Ry Vor]

Still haven't found the article I was looking for, but Flagship 115 (Fall of Rome licensed art from Frank Frazetta adorns the cover) interviewed me starting on page 40:
http://www.flagshipmagazine.co.uk/downlo...sue115.pdf. 

Only of interest if you want to get some of my influences and thoughts on game design and the PBEM buisness.  Probably boring, but I haven't really changed my thinking here a decade+ later.