Discussion on Future PBEM Style Gaming

[Calidor]

I'm 48.  Most of my friends stopped playing boardgames a long, long time ago.  That is probably why I am here.

[Wookie Panz]

I love it that you young guys keep the games going. I remember when the turns would come late because the horse threw a shoe.

[Ry Vor]

I love it that you young guys keep the games going. I remember when the turns would come late because the horse threw a shoe.

 

That horse was named Steve, Wookie.  Back after the Dragon Magazine interview, we had over 1000 active positions, and the IBM AT that at $6000 a pop was being replaced by the new IBM 386 - a new processor that had more than 64K of RAM, it was amazing, also "only" about $6000.  It even had a hard drive with more than 10 megabytes, as if someone could ever use that much!   Now we could process a game of Alamaze in just under 2 hours, and about 2 hours to print, barring printer jams, and then an hour or so to separate, fold and mail.  Later, the 486 processor came out and we were jaw-dropped it could process a turn in less than 25 minutes.  We surely have reached the pinnacle of technology!

Steve was a buddy who was to run Alamaze while I kept my "real" job.  I rented Steve an apartment for the Alamaze office next to his apartment, bought four computers and printers, and Steve hired about four girls to get the mail from the PO Box, file the input forms in the file cabinet by game number, input orders in Lotus Symphony and Steve would eventually run the games, each of which was on its own floppy disk.  Steve was not especially fast, though I paid him well, and he averaged a turn getting out about once a month instead of the scheduled once every two weeks.  With 1000 positions and $7.50 a turn, even at two turns a month it should have been about $15k a month revenue, but I don't think Steve ever had more than a couple months over $10k, and all the expenses (postage per turn was about $1.50) were close to $9k.  Ah, those were the days!

[RELLGAR]

Calidor nailed it.

[Ry Vor]

Calidor nailed it.

Well, you guys might just mean the people you know stopped playing board games a long time ago, or you may be unaware of the major resurgence in board games that is about a decade old now.  Mostly European designs, Settlers of Catan a famous example, but many other ones.  Board games are hotter than ever and as in strategy games, and not so much the old style American games like Monopoly.  Most of these new generation board games have new mechanics and are strategy, as in making decisions each turn, generally playable in about 1 to 2 hours and not so directly competitive as in eliminating opponents like Risk or Axis and Allies.  There is a new style of cooperative board games, that the less competitive among us will play while they would es hue war games.   Your Barnes and Noble has a big section of these games, many running around $70. 

We've played with our kids when visiting, and they teach their friends.  I don't need to tell you guys, it beats sitting in front of the TV.  So I am hoping board game players might discover Alamaze and when just a few dozen find it and share it, it could take off again.   The price now, at again about the price of a movie once a month shouldn't deter most adults.

[DuPont]

I honestly don't know the answers and I do find it a bit frustrating. I had a hard enough time getting my friends to play board games with me back when I was a kid. When I was in boarding school, I discovered D&D (and loved it) and I was in college when I read the famous Dragon review of Alamaze and it's been my favorite game ever since. But there is only one friend of mine who I think would enjoy the game and he has is more into dressing up as Star Wars characters than playing games.
But I know there HAS to be lots of people like us who enjoy a complex, immersive game like this. I really don't know what to say about the price - I think it's more than fair, but I also had a decent amount of disposable income. Kids in their 20's might not, but I don't see dropping the price any more.
Stop me if I'm on the wrong track, but what about getting a few 'influencers' (God, I hate that term) to post about it? I don't mean Kim Kardashian, but people who are followed in geek culture - Wil Wheaton types. Well, he's probably a bad example because he's an actor, but people who this sort of person follow on twitter. Offer them a free game to play and see if they like it? What about doing a few youtube videos to promote it? See if you can get Stephen Colbert to give you a plug online? Obviously, you'll only keep a percentage of the people who would come from such a thing, but that would be enough to grow the game, I think.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. I plan to get DuPont V into the game, but so far he hasn't moved past Cutes and Ladders and he still gets upset when I win that. I can't imagine how he'd react if his king got assassinated!

[Wookie Panz]

When we look at the small player base we have now, I think it is safe to say we are mostly long time gamers who like a complex game and are willing to put a lot of time into it.  I wonder how many more folks like us are out there that don't know about Alamaze?   Or how much are we willing to see the game change to attract a different type of player base? 

When first learning the game it really is a lot to take in.  I have suggested before that the rules and orders need an index to make them more user friendly.  I still find myself occasionally scrolling through the rules or orders manuals trying to find something I seldom use and it is too time consuming.  I have mentioned it to several friends who just think it is too much to learn.

Pricing seems very fair to me.  When I look at the time I spend on games and what it cost it's probably something like a dollar an hour, which I consider a pretty good value.

Where do you go from here?  Space games can be fun and Si Fi is cool but I really don't have a feel for what the general gaming market is looking for.  Wide exposure on the internet for a fast playing easy to learn introductory game that can add layers later and be a bridge to what we have now might be a good start.

[unclemike]

I tried sending emails to gaming groups a while back but I don't think they got through due to spam filters so it may be better doing it in person than online. Rick, I know you want us to help out, and we've tried, but as the owner of the business, you really have to do more yourself and promote the product. We did as much as we could for the game.

I recommend getting in touch with gaming groups like: https://www.meetup.com/topics/scifi/

Search online for more fantasy/sci-fi gaming groups (to post bulletins): https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/876856/...rge-groups

Go to local conventions and pass out flyers like: http://www.scifivalleycon.com/gaming/

I think public libraries still have D&D tournaments where you can do the same.

If board games are popular now, create an Alamaze board game and get your foot in the door for potentially thousands of new players to try out the online PBeM version.

We can't do this because we've done as much as we could so I think you're gonna have to hit the pavement for this one...

[mwigdahl]

This is kind of a timely post for me, as I used to play Alamaze back in the late 80s and just rediscovered it a few days ago.  I'm highly motivated to pick it back up and play it, so I've persevered through (some of) the learning curve, but I must say that the new player experience is incredibly confusing.  I have not been able to figure out how to set up a service level yet, so I'm in the odd position of _wanting_ you to take my money, yet not knowing how to get it to you.

As far as how to get a wider audience, I think the questions you need to ask are:

What distinguishes Alamaze from other entertainment options, and what is the target demographic for what you're offering?  Beyond that, how can you package it so that it is accessible and appealing to the market you're going for?

Alamaze distinguishes itself by having:

1. More complex mechanics than most popular current games.
   
2. Detailed turn results that give a sense of immersion in the game.
   
3. The ability to play against other people asynchronously.
   
4. The ability to play a complex game without needing to devote long continuous stretches of time to it.
   

These are the strengths that could appeal to groups of players.  What groups might these be?

• Older gamers with kids that can't devote long stretches of time to a game.
  
• People who have grown up and moved away from their gaming buddies but would still like to play with them.
  
• People looking for a challenging game that stretches them and requires much thought and strategy.
  
• People who want more of a narrative, immersive, exploratory feel than they get from existing board games or strategy computer games.
  
• People in smaller living spaces who don't have the space for a complex board game / wargame setup but would play one online.
  

There are also some serious weaknesses:

1. The website is organized poorly.  All the resources needed as a starting player (map, rulebook, commands, link to the validator, link to the forums, etc.) should be easily available from one well-organized page.  The learning curve could be much, much more friendly than it is.
   
2. The web tools need to use HTTPS and there needs to be at least a modicum of security.  Not using HTTPS makes web browsers throw "NOT SECURE" fits and this will happen more and more often as time goes on.  Passwords should never be visible in plain text.
   
3. Maybe this is unique to the tutorial, but the map HTML returned in the email results looks crazy.  Giant images and misaligned rows make it a huge headache to interpret.  The HTML could be easily tuned to improve this without much work (I did this myself; will send what I have under separate cover).
   
4. Although the narrative aspects of the game are great, the amount of content and writing quality is spotty.  The is a major part of what distinguishes Alamaze over other game products -- it deserves a good level of polish and attention.
   

Do I think this game could attract a larger number of players?  Yes.  But I think it needs some modern affordances or it's going to turn away a modern audience that has a ton of options for their gaming dollar, including some stellar free-to-play options.  Calidor's original post suggesting enhancing the Order Checker and trying a Kickstarter, etc. is on point.

[unclemike]

Maybe this was missed but the account sign up page has links for what you were asking above...(see pic)