Fleet Maneuvers (or 3D Fleet Maneuvers ) is a closed-end , space-based play-by-mail (PBM) wargame.
104-533: Fleet Maneuvers was a computer-moderated , closed end, space-based play-by-mail game published by Fantastic Simulations. The game's purpose was to score the most points from ship-to-ship combat. Games could end at 700 or 900 points, which took 10–20 turns. Players could choose from four races or factions: the Alliance, the Confederacy, the diminutive Donnz, and the warlike Krell. Fantastic Simulations also introduced
208-494: A legal monopoly . The worldwide postal system constituting the individual national postal systems of the world's self-governing states is coordinated by the Universal Postal Union , which among other things sets international postage rates, defines standards for postage stamps and operates the system of international reply coupons . In most countries a system of codes has been created (referred to as ZIP codes in
312-471: A 1982 article in The Space Gamer magazine warning those thinking of entering the professional PBM field of the importance of playtesting games to mitigate the risk of failure. By the late 1980s, of the more than one hundred play-by-mail companies operating, the majority were hobbies, not run as businesses to make money. Townsend estimated that, in 1988, there were about a dozen profitable PBM companies in
416-550: A 3D variant called The Next Dimension . Reviewer Keith Mercer, in the July–August 1987 issue of Paper Mayhem magazine stated that the game was challenging. Play-by-mail game#Computer versus human moderated A play-by-mail game (also known as a PBM game , PBEM game , turn-based game , turn based distance game , or an interactive strategy game . ) is a game played through postal mail , email , or other digital media . Correspondence chess and Go were among
520-626: A block of dots as a two-dimensional barcode . The "block of dots" method allows for the encoding of proof of payment of postage, exact routing for delivery, and other features. The ordinary mail service was improved in the 20th century with the use of planes for a quicker delivery. The world's first scheduled airmail post service took place in the United Kingdom between the London suburbs of Hendon and Windsor, Berkshire , on 9 September 1911. Some methods of airmail proved ineffective, however, including
624-423: A day or less—even hourly. Other games structure multiple days or weeks for players to consider moves or turns and players never run out of opponents to face. If desired, some PBM games can be played for years. Additionally, the complexity of PBM games can be far beyond that allowed by a board game in an afternoon, and pit players against live opponents in these conditions—a challenge some players enjoy. PBM games allow
728-502: A diverse array of roles, such as characters in fantasy or medieval settings, space opera , inner city gangs, or more unusual ones such as assuming the role of a microorganism or a monster. The earliest play-by-mail games developed as a way for geographically separated gamers to compete with each other using postal mail . Chess and Go are among the oldest examples of this. In these two-player games, players sent moves directly to each other. Multi-player games emerged later: Diplomacy
832-573: A fee on the article prepaid. Proof of payment is usually in the form of an adhesive postage stamp , but a postage meter is also used for bulk mailing. Postal authorities often have functions aside from transporting letters. In some countries, a postal, telegraph and telephone (PTT) service oversees the postal system, in addition to telephone and telegraph systems. Some countries' postal systems allow for savings accounts and handle applications for passports . The Universal Postal Union (UPU), established in 1874, includes 192 member countries and sets
936-615: A form of meter label and thus do not need to be cancelled.) Documents should generally not be read by anyone other than the addressee; for example, in the United States of America it is a violation of federal law for anyone other than the addressee and the government to open mail. There are exceptions however: executives often assign secretaries or assistants the task of handling their mail; and postcards do not require opening and can be read by anyone. For mail contained within an envelope, there are legal provisions in some jurisdictions allowing
1040-433: A global player base. Games have been designed that can involve large numbers of players – much larger than can gather for face-to-face gaming." Finally, some PBM games can be played for years, if desired. Greenberg identified a number of drawbacks for play-by-mail games. He stated that the clearest was the cost, because most games require a setup cost and a fee per turn, and some games can become expensive. Another drawback
1144-507: A negative. Play-by-mail games are multifaceted. In their earliest form they involved two players mailing each other directly by postal mail, such as in correspondence chess. Multi-player games, such as Diplomacy or more complex games available today, involve a game master who receives and processes orders and adjudicates turn results for players. These games also introduced the element of diplomacy in which participants can discuss gameplay with each other, strategize, and form alliances . In
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#17330861643761248-411: A number of multi-player play-by-mail games; these included games such as Nuclear Destruction , which launched in 1970. This began the professional PBM industry in the United States. Professional game moderation started in 1971 at Flying Buffalo which added games such as Battleplan , Heroic Fantasy , Starweb , and others, which by the late 1980s were all computer moderated . " Rick Loomis
1352-733: A postal system in the Empire, appointing Franz von Taxis to run it. This system, originally the Kaiserliche Reichspost , is often considered the first modern postal service in the world, which initiated a revolution in communication in Europe. The system combined contemporary technical and organization means to create a stable transcontinental service which was also the first to offer (fee-based) public access. The Thurn und Taxis family, then known as Tassis, had operated postal services between Italian city-states from 1290 onward. For 500 years
1456-619: A private mail service. Notably, the Cistercians had one which connected more than 6,000 abbeys , monasteries , and churches. The best organization, however, was created by the Knights Templar . In 1716, Correos y Telégrafos was established in Spain as public mail service, available to all citizens. Delivery postmen were first employed in 1756 and post boxes were installed firstly in 1762. In 1505, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I established
1560-433: A rapid diffusion throughout continental Europe where now there are now thousands of players". In 1992, Jon Tindall stated that the number of Australian players was growing, but limited by a relatively small market base. In a 2002 listing of 182 primarily European PBM game publishers and Zines , Flagship listed ten non- UK entries, to include one each from Austria and France, six from Germany, one from Greece, and one from
1664-1182: A reputation for honesty is useful in the long-term. Chapman notes that "everything is negotiable" and advises players to "Keep your plans flexible, your options open – don't commit yourself, or your forces, to any long term strategy". Eric Stehle, owner and operator of Empire Games in 1997, stated that some games cannot be won alone and require diplomacy. He suggested considering the following diplomatic points during gameplay: (1) "Know Your Neighbors", (2) "Make Sure Potential Allies Share Your Goals", (3) "Be A Good Ally", (4) "Coordinate Carefully With Your Allies", (5) "Be A Vicious Enemy", and (6) "Fight One Enemy At A Time". Jim Townsend noted in 1990 that hundreds of PBM games were available, ranging from "all science fiction and fantasy themes to such exotics as war simulations (generally more complex world war games than those which wargamers play), duelling games, humorous games, sports simulations, etc". In 1993, Steve Pritchard described PBM game types as ancient wargames, diplomacy games, fantasy wargames, power games, roleplaying games, and sports games. Some PBM games defy easy categorization, such as Firebreather , which Joey Browning,
1768-575: A small Telephone Boutique next to a historic Postal mansion his ancestors used to go to centuries earlier. Several European Post Carriers like Deutsche Post or Österreichische Post continue to use the Thurn & Taxis Post Horn in their company logo just like the global Phone Book of the World based in the old Postal mansion of King Louis XIV in Paris. In the United Kingdom, prior to 1840 letters were paid for by
1872-754: A survey of 167 of its players in 1984. It indicated that 96% of its players were male with most in their 20s and 30s. Nearly half were white collar workers, 28% were students, and the remainder engineers and military. The 1990s brought changes to the PBM world. In the early 1990s, trending PBM games increased in complexity. In this period, email also became an option to transmit turn orders and results. These are called play-by-email (PBEM) games. Flagship reported in 1992 that they knew of 40 PBM gamemasters on Compuserve . One publisher in 2002 called PBM games "Interactive Strategy Games". Turn around time ranges for modern PBM games are wide enough that PBM magazine editors now use
1976-408: Is an early example of this type, emerging in 1963, in which a central game master manages the game, receiving moves and publishing adjudications. According to Shannon Appelcline, there was some PBM play in the 1960s, but not much. For example, some wargamers began playing Stalingrad by mail in this period. In the early 1970s, in the United States, Rick Loomis , of Flying Buffalo Inc. , began
2080-432: Is an easy industry to get into, staying in business is another thing entirely. Literally hundreds of PBM companies have come and gone, most of them taking the money of would-be-customers with them. Townsend emphasized the risks for the PBM industry in that "The new PBM company has such a small chance of surviving that no insurance company would write a policy to cover them. Skydivers are a better risk." W.G. Armintrout wrote
2184-589: Is derived from Old French poste , which ultimately stems from the past participle of the Latin verb ponere 'to lay down or place'. So in the U.K., the Royal Mail delivers the post , while in North America both the U.S. Postal Service and Canada Post deliver the mail . The term email , short for "electronic mail", first appeared in the 1970s. The term snail mail is a retronym to distinguish it from
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#17330861643762288-562: Is far from dead". "PBM games blow the doors off of anything in the face-to-face or computer game market." Judith Proctor noted that play-by-mail games have a number of advantages. These include (1) plenty of time—potentially days—to plan a move, (2) never lacking players to face who have "new tactics and ideas", (3) the ability to play an "incredibly complex" game against live opponents, (4) meeting diverse gamers from far-away locations, and (5) relatively low costs. In 2019, Rick McDowell, designer of Alamaze , compared PBM costs favorably with
2392-458: Is generally recognized as the founder of the PBM industry." For approximately five years, Flying Buffalo was the single dominant company in the US PBM industry until Schubel & Son entered the field in roughly 1976 with the human-moderated Tribes of Crane . Schubel & Son introduced fee structure innovations which allowed players to pay for additional options or special actions outside of
2496-910: Is in Egypt , where Pharaohs used couriers to send out decrees throughout the territory of the state (2400 BCE). The earliest surviving piece of mail is also Egyptian, dating to 255 BCE. The first credible claim for the development of a real postal system comes from Ancient Persia . The best-documented claim ( Xenophon ) attributes the invention to the Persian King Cyrus the Great (550 BCE), who mandated that every province in his kingdom would organize reception and delivery of post to each of its citizens. Other writers credit his successor Darius I of Persia (521 BCE). Other sources claim much earlier dates for an Assyrian postal system, with credit given to Hammurabi (1700 BCE) and Sargon II (722 BCE). Mail may not have been
2600-480: Is no final objective or way to win the game. Jim Townsend adds that, "players come and go, powers grow and diminish, alliances form and dissolve and so forth". Since surviving, rather than winning, is primary, this type of game tends to attract players more interested in role-playing, and Townsend echoes that open-ended games are similar to long-term RPG campaigns. A drawback of this type is that mature games have powerful groups that can pose an unmanageable problem for
2704-625: Is the diplomacy. If you don't communicate with the other players you will be labeled a 'loner', 'mute', or just plain 'dead meat'. You must talk with the others to survive". The editors of Paper Mayhem add that "The interaction with other players is what makes PBM enjoyable." Commentator Rob Chapman in a 1983 Flagship article echoed this advice, recommending that players get to know their opponents. He also recommended asking direct questions of opponents on their future intentions, as their responses, true or false, provide useful information. However, he advises players to be truthful in PBM diplomacy, as
2808-421: Is the lack of face-to-face interaction inherent in play-by-mail games. Finally, game complexity in some cases and occasional turn processing delays can be negatives in the genre. PBM games can include Combat, Diplomacy, Politics, Exploration, Economics, and Role-Playing, with combat a usual feature and open-ended games typically the most comprehensive. Jim Townsend identifies the two key figures in PBM games as
2912-423: Is the length of time it takes to get your turn back from a company. ... Some games never end. They can go on virtually forever or until you decide to drop. Many games have victory conditions that can be achieved within a year or two. Prices vary for the different PBM games, but the average price per turn is about $ 5.00. The earliest PBM games were played using the postal services of the respective countries. In 1990,
3016-568: The Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), who had relay stations every 30 li (about 15km) along major routes. The Tang dynasty (618 to 907 AD) operated a recorded 1,639 posthouses, including maritime offices, employing around 20,000 people. The system was administered by the Ministry of War and private correspondence was forbidden from the network. The Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644) sought a postal system to deliver mail quickly, securely, and cheaply. Adequate speed
3120-470: The U.S. Postal Service authorised the first tests of a secure system of sending digital franks via the Internet to be printed out on a PC printer, obviating the necessity to license a dedicated franking machine and allowing companies with smaller mail programs to make use of the option; this was later expanded to test the use of personalized postage. The service provided by the U.S. Postal Service in 2003 allows
3224-524: The United Kingdom with a company called ICBM. After Harvey played Flying Buffalo's Nuclear Destruction game in the United States in approximately 1971, Rick Loomis suggested that he run the game in the UK with Flying Buffalo providing the computer moderation. ICBM Games led the industry in the UK as a result of this proxy method of publishing Flying Buffalo's PBM games, along with KJC games and Mitregames. In
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3328-628: The Wodeyar dynasty (1399–1947) of the Kingdom of Mysore used mail service for espionage purposes thereby acquiring knowledge related to matters that took place at great distances. By the end of the 18th century, a postal system in India was in operation. Later this system underwent complete modernization when the British Raj established its control over most of India. The Post Office Act XVII of 1837 provided that
3432-486: The 17th century, the word mail began to appear as a reference for a bag that contained letters: "bag full of letter" (1654). Over the next hundred years the word mail began to be applied strictly to the letters themselves and the sack as the mailbag . In the 19th century, the British typically used mail to refer to letters being sent abroad (i.e. on a ship) and post to refer to letters for domestic delivery. The word Post
3536-440: The 1970s and 1980s, some games involved turn results adjudicated completely by humans. Over time, partial or complete turn adjudication by computer became the norm. Games also involve open- and closed-end variants. Open-ended games do not normally end and players can develop their positions to the fullest extent possible; in closed-end games, players pursue victory conditions until a game conclusion. PBM games enable players to explore
3640-439: The 1980s supported the publication of a number of newsletters from individual play-by-mail companies as well as independent publications which focused solely on the play-by-mail gaming industry. As of 1983, The Nuts & Bolts of PBM was the primary magazine in this market. In July 1983, the first issue of Paper Mayhem was published. The first issue was a newsletter with a print run of 100. Flagship began publication in
3744-483: The 1980s, including The Nuts & Bolts of PBM , Gaming Universal , Paper Mayhem and Flagship . These magazines eventually went out of print, replaced in the 21st century by the online PBM journal Suspense and Decision . Play-by-mail games (which became known as "turn-based games" in the digital age) have a number of advantages and disadvantages compared to other kinds of gaming. PBM games have wide ranges for turn lengths. Some games allow turnaround times of
3848-517: The 1990s, players had more options for online play-by-mail games. For example, in 1995, World Conquest was available to play with hourly turns. In the 21st century, many games of this genre are called turn-based games and are played via the Internet . Game turns can be processed simultaneously or serially. In simultaneously processed games, the publisher processes turns from all players together according to an established sequence. In serial-processed games, turns are processed when received within
3952-589: The 1990s, the largest PBM games were licensed globally, with "each country having its own licensee". By the 2000s, a few major PBM firms began operating globally, bringing about "The Globalisation of PBM" according to Sam Roads of Harlequin Games . By 2014 the PBM community had shrunk compared to previous decades. A single PBM magazine exists— Suspense and Decision —which began publication in November 2013. The PBM genre has also morphed from its original postal mail format with
4056-607: The August Revolution, the Post and Wireless Office was renamed the Post Office under the Ministry of Transportation. In 1955, the Post Office was upgraded to the Ministry of Post. Some Chinese sources claim mail or postal systems dating back to the Xia or Shang dynasties , which would be the oldest mailing service in the world. The earliest credible system of couriers was initiated by
4160-655: The Governor-General of India in Council had the exclusive right of conveying letters by post for hire within the territories of the East India Company. The mails were available to certain officials without charge, which became a controversial privilege as the years passed. On this basis the Indian Post Office was established on October 1, 1837. The first well-documented postal service was that of Rome . Organized at
4264-460: The Netherlands. PBM games up to the 1980s came from multiple sources: some were adapted from existing games and others were designed solely for postal play. In 1985, Pete Tamlyn stated that most popular games had already been attempted in postal play, noting that none had succeeded as well as Diplomacy . Tamlyn added that there was significant experimentation in adapting games to postal play at
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4368-527: The PBM world in various ways. Rick Loomis stated in 1999 that, "With the growth of the Internet, [PBM] seems to have shrunk and a lot of companies dropped out of the business in the last 4 or 5 years." Shannon Appelcline agreed, noting in 2014 that, "The advent of the Internet knocked most PBM publishers out of business." The Internet also enabled PBM to globalize between the 1990s and 2000s. Early PBM professional gaming typically occurred within single countries. In
4472-614: The Quadra Zone and Earthwood as popular computer-moderated examples in 1986 and Silverdawn and Sword Lords as one hundred percent human-moderated examples of the period. Borderlands of Khataj is an example of a game where the company transitioned from human- to computer-moderated to mitigate issues related to a growing player base. In 1984, there was a shift toward mixed moderation—human moderated games with computer-moderated aspects such as combat. Examples included Delenda est Carthago , Star Empires , and Starglobe . In 1990,
4576-698: The UK. Also in 1983, PBM games were featured in magazines like Games and Analog in 1984 as well as Australia's gaming magazine Breakout in 1992. By 1985, Nuts & Bolts of Gaming and Gaming Universal in the U.S. were out of print. John Kevin Loth identified that, in 1986, the "three major information sources in PBM" were Paper Mayhem , Flagship , and the Play By Mail Association . These sources were solely focused on play-by-mail gaming. Additional PBM information sources included company-specific publications, although Rick Loomis stated that interest
4680-627: The United Kingdom in October 1983, the month before Gaming Universal's first issue was published in the United States. In the mid-1980s, general gaming magazines also began carrying articles on PBM and ran PBM advertisements. PBM games were featured in magazines like Games and Analog in 1984. In the early 1990s, Martin Popp also began publishing a quarterly PBM magazine in Sulzberg , Germany called Postspielbote . The PBM genre's two preeminent magazines of
4784-477: The United States Postal Service's experiment with rocket mail . Receipt services were made available in order to grant the sender a confirmation of effective delivery. Before about the mid-nineteenth century, in regions where postal systems existed, the payment models varied, but most mail was sent unpaid requiring the recipient to pay the postage fee. In some regions a partial payment was made by
4888-529: The United States had over 300 PBM games. And in 1993, the Journal of the PBM Gamer stated that "For the past several years, PBM gaming has increased in popularity." That year, there were a few hundred PBM games available for play globally. However, in 1994, David Webber, Paper Mayhem's editor in chief expressed concern about disappointing growth in the PBM community and a reduction in play by established gamers. At
4992-485: The United States, postcodes in the United Kingdom and Australia, eircodes in Ireland and postal codes in most other countries) in order to facilitate the automation of operations. This also includes placing additional marks on the address portion of the letter or mailed object, called "bar coding". Bar coding of mail for delivery is usually expressed either by a series of vertical bars, usually called POSTNET coding or
5096-568: The United States—with an additional few in the United Kingdom and the same in Australia . Sam Roads of Harlequin Games similarly assessed the state of the PBM industry in its early days while also noting the existence of few non-English companies. By the 1980s, interest in PBM gaming in Europe increased. The first UK PBM convention was in 1986. In 1993, the founder of Flagship magazine, Nick Palmer , stated that "recently there has been
5200-455: The agent usually indicates by means of a cancellation that it is no longer valid for pre-payment of postage. The exceptions are when the agent forgets or neglects to cancel the mailpiece, for stamps that are pre-cancelled and thus do not require cancellation and for, in most cases, metered mail. (The "personalized stamps" authorized by the USPS and manufactured by Zazzle and other companies are in fact
5304-428: The average turn processing time in 1987 was two weeks, and Loth noted that this was also the most common. Some companies offered longer turnaround times for overseas players or other reasons. In 1985, the publisher for Angrelmar: The Court of Kings scheduled three month turn processing times after a break in operations. In 1986, play-by-email was a nascent service only being offered by the largest PBM companies. By
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#17330861643765408-458: The average turn-around time for a turn was 2–3 weeks. However, in the 1990s, email was introduced to PBM games. This was known as play-by-email (PBEM). Some games used email solely, while others, such as Hyborian War , used email as options for a portion of turn transmittal, with postal service for the remainder. Other games use digital media or web applications to allow players to make turns at speeds faster than postal mail. Given these changes,
5512-756: The average. He noted that PBM games at the extreme high end can have a thousand or more players as well as thousands of units to manage, while turn printouts can range from a simple one-page result to hundreds of pages (with three to seven as the average). According to John Kevin Loth, "Novices should appreciate that some games are best played by veterans." In 1986, he highlighted the complexity of Midgard with its 100-page instruction manual and 255 possible orders. A.D. Young stated in 1982 that computers could assist PBM gamers in various ways including accounting for records, player interactions, and movements, as well as computation or analysis specific to individual games. Reviewer Jim Townsend asserted that Empyrean Challenge
5616-482: The beginner – although some may see this situation as a challenge of sorts. Examples of open ended games are Heroic Fantasy , Monster Island , and SuperNova: Rise of the Empire . Townsend noted in 1990 that some open-ended games had been in play for up to a decade. Townsend states that "closed-ended games are like Risk or Monopoly – once they're over, they're over". Loth notes that most players in closed end games start equally and
5720-418: The company informs players on the results of the last turn. Next players conduct diplomatic activities, if desired. Then, they send their next turns to the gamemaster (GM). Finally, the turns are processed and the cycle is repeated. This continues until the game or a player is done. Jim Townsend stated in a 1990 issue of White Wolf Magazine that the complexity of PBM games is much higher than other types on
5824-512: The conditions for physical mail. Email (and in recent years social networking sites) became a fierce competitor to physical mail systems, but online auctions and Internet shopping opened new business opportunities as people often get items bought online through the mail. Modern mail is organized by national and privatized services, which are reciprocally connected by international regulations, organizations and international agreements. Paper letters and parcels can be sent to almost any country in
5928-479: The determined turn processing window. Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo Games stated in 1985 that the Nuts & Bolts of PBM (first called Nuts & Bolts of Starweb ) was the first PBM magazine not published by a PBM company. The name changed to Nuts & Bolts of Gaming and it eventually went out of print. In 1983, the U.S. PBM magazines Paper Mayhem and Gaming Universal began publication as well as Flagship in
6032-478: The early 1980s, the field of PBM players was growing. Individual PBM game moderators were plentiful in 1980. However, the PBM industry in 1980 was still nascent: there were still only two sizable commercial PBM companies, and only a few small ones. The most popular PBM games of 1980 were Starweb and Tribes of Crane . Some players, unhappy with their experiences with Schubel & Son and Superior Simulations, launched their own company— Adventures by Mail —with
6136-400: The early 1990s also offered games with both open- and closed-ended versions. Additionally, games could have elements of both versions; for example, in Kingdom , an open-ended PBM game published by Graaf Simulations, a player could win by accumulating 50,000 points. In the 1980s, PBM companies began using computers to moderate games. This was in part for economic reasons, as computers allowed
6240-414: The editor of the U.S. Flagship described as a "Fantasy Exploration" game. Play-by-mail games also provide a wide array of possible roles to play . These include "trader, fighter, explorer, [and] diplomat". Roles range from pirates to space characters to "previously unknown creatures". In the game Monster Island , players assume the role of a monster which explores a massive island (see image). And
6344-431: The editors of Paper Mayhem noted that there were games with a mix of computer and hand moderation, where games "would have the numbers run by the computer and special actions in the game would receive attention from the game master". Loth noted that, in 1986, $ 3–5 per turn was the most prevalent cost. At the time, some games were free, while others cost as much as $ 100 per turn. PBM magazine Paper Mayhem stated that
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#17330861643766448-496: The enormous funding necessary to rapidly industrialize Japan in the late 19th century. The postal service was one of Korea's first attempts at modernization. The Joseon Post Office was established in 1884. Another important postal service was created in the Islamic world by the caliph Mu'awiyya; the service was called barid , for the name of the towers built to protect the roads by which couriers travelled. By 3000 BC, Egypt
6552-500: The first PBM games. Diplomacy has been played by mail since 1963, introducing a multi-player aspect to PBM games. Flying Buffalo Inc. pioneered the first commercially available PBM game in 1970. A small number of PBM companies followed in the 1970s, with an explosion of hundreds of startup PBM companies in the 1980s at the peak of PBM gaming popularity, many of them small hobby companies—more than 90 percent of which eventually folded. A number of independent PBM magazines also started in
6656-405: The franks to be printed out on special adhesive-backed labels. In 2004 the Royal Mail in the United Kingdom introduced its SmartStamp Internet-based system, allowing printing on ordinary adhesive labels or envelopes. Similar systems are being considered by postal administrations around the world. When the pre-paid envelope or package is accepted into the mail by an agent of the postal service,
6760-458: The game, Beyond the Stellar Empire , which became "immensely popular". In the same way, many people launched PBM companies, trying their hand at finding the right mix of action and strategy for the gaming audience of the period. According to Jim Townsend: In the late 70's and all of the 80's, many small PBM firms have opened their doors and better than 90% of them have failed. Although PBM
6864-419: The games are "faster paced, usually more intense... presenting frequent player confrontation; [and] the game terminates when a player or alliance of players has achieved specific conditions or eliminated all opposition". Townsend stated in 1990 that closed-end games can have as few as ten and as many as eighty turns. Examples of closed-end games are Hyborian War , It's a Crime , and Starweb . Companies in
6968-441: The high cost of board games at Barnes & Noble , with many of the latter going for about $ 70, and a top-rated game, Nemesis , costing $ 189. Andrew Greenberg pointed to the high number of players possible in a PBM game, comparing it to his past failure at attempting once to host a live eleven-player Dungeons & Dragons Game. Flagship noted in 2005 that "It's normal to play these ... games with international firms and
7072-400: The last postmaster, Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis , into real estate, most of it continuing to exist today. The Phone Book of the World has its roots in the long history of the avant-garde telecommunications family Thurn & Taxis. The directory is the result of Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn & Taxis transmitting PTT culture to a student and helping with the opening of
7176-421: The late 1980s in the UK included Thrust , and Warped Sense of Humour . Postal mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards , letters , and parcels . A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal systems have generally been established as a government monopoly , with
7280-428: The mail and packages often surveyed and their contents sometimes edited out (or even in). There have been cases over the millennia of governments opening and copying or photographing the contents of private mail. Subject to the laws in the relevant jurisdiction, correspondence may be openly or covertly opened, or the contents determined via some other method, by the police or other authorities in some cases relating to
7384-470: The mail service. Foreign observers, such as Marco Polo , have attested to the efficiency of this early postal system. Each station was maintained by up to twenty five families. Work for postal service counted as military service. The system was still operational in 18th century when 64 stations were required for a message to cross Mongolia from the Altai Mountains to China. The modern Japanese system
7488-603: The message carrier (called Chapar ) would ride to the next post, whereupon he would swap his horse with a fresh one for maximum performance and delivery speed. Herodotus described the system in this way: "It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day's journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed". The verse prominently features on New York's James Farley Post Office , although it uses
7592-483: The number of opponents or teams in the dozens—with some previous examples over a thousand players. PBM games also allow gamers to interact with others globally. Games with low turn costs compare well with expensive board or video games. Drawbacks include the price for some PBM games with high setup and/or turn costs, and the lack of the ability for face-to-face roleplaying. Additionally, for some players, certain games can be overly complex, and delays in turn processing can be
7696-549: The onset of the digital age . In 2010, Carol Mulholland—the editor of Flagship —stated that "most turn-based games are now available by email and online". The online Suspense & Decision Games Index, as of June 2021, listed 72 active PBM, PBEM, and turn-based games. In a multiple-article examination of various online turn-based games in 2004 titled "Turning Digital", Colin Forbes concluded that "the number and diversity of these games has been enough to convince me that turn-based gaming
7800-558: The period were Flagship and Paper Mayhem . In 1984, the PBM industry created a Play-by-Mail Association. This organization had multiple charter members by early 1985 and was holding elections for key positions. One of its proposed functions was to reimburse players who lost money after a PBM business failed. Paul Brown, the president of Reality Simulations, Inc., estimated in 1988 that there were about 20,000 steady play-by-mail gamers, with potentially another 10–20,000 who tried PBM gaming but did not stay. Flying Buffalo Inc. conducted
7904-448: The players and the moderators, the latter of which are companies that charge "turn fees" to players—the cost for each game turn. In 1993, Paper Mayhem —a magazine for play-by-mail gamers—described play-by-mail games thusly: PBM Games vary in the size of the games, turn around time, length of time a game lasts, and prices. An average PBM game has 10–20 players in it, but there are also games that have hundreds of players. Turn around time
8008-692: The postal business based in Brussels and in Frankfurt was passed from one generation to another. Following the abolition of the Empire in 1806, the Thurn-und-Taxis Post system continued as a private organization into the postage stamp era before being absorbed into the postal system of the new German Empire after 1871. 1867 July 1 the State of Prussia had to make a compensation payment of 3.000.000 Thalers reinvested by Helene von Thurn & Taxis , daughter-in-law of
8112-454: The primary mission of this postal service, however. The role of the system as an intelligence gathering apparatus is well documented, and the service was (later) called angariae , a term that in time came to indicate a tax system. The Old Testament ( Esther , VIII) makes mention of this system: Ahasuerus , king of Medes , used couriers for communicating his decisions. The Persian system worked using stations (called Chapar-Khaneh ), whence
8216-488: The processing of more turns than humans, but with less of a human touch in the prose of a turn result. According to John Kevin Loth III, one hundred percent computer-moderated games would also kill a player's character or empire emotionlessly, regardless of the effort invested. Alternatively, Loth noted that those preferring exquisite pages of prose would gravitate toward one hundred percent human moderation. Loth provided Beyond
8320-411: The public. Common chariots called Dagana were sometimes used as mail chariots in ancient India. Couriers were used militarily by kings and local rulers to deliver information through runners and other carriers. The postmaster, the head of the intelligence service, was responsible for ensuring the maintenance of the courier system. Couriers were also used to deliver personal letters. In South India ,
8424-428: The quicker email. Various dates have been given for its first use. The practice of communication by written documents carried by an intermediary from one person or place to another almost certainly dates back nearly to the invention of writing . However, the development of formal postal systems occurred much later. The first documented use of an organized courier service for the dissemination of written documents
8528-417: The recipient and the cost was determined by the distance from sender to recipient and the number of sheets of paper rather than by a countrywide flat rate with weight restrictions. Sir Rowland Hill reformed the postal system based on the concepts of penny postage and prepayment. In his proposal, Hill also called for official pre-printed envelopes and adhesive postage stamps as alternative ways of getting
8632-623: The recording of identities of sender and recipient. The privacy of correspondence is guaranteed by the constitutions of Mexico , Colombia , Brazil and Venezuela , and is alluded to in the European Convention on Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . The control of the contents inside private citizens' mail is censorship and concerns social, political, and legal aspects of civil rights . International mail and packages are subject to customs control, with
8736-566: The rules for international mail exchanges as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations . The word mail comes from the Middle English word male , referring to a travelling bag or pack. It was spelled in that manner until the 17th century and is distinct from the word male . The French have a similar word, malle , for a trunk or large box, and mála is the Irish term for a bag. In
8840-402: The rules. For players with larger bankrolls, this provided advantages and the ability to game the system. The next big entrant was Superior Simulations with its game Empyrean Challenge in 1978. Reviewer Jim Townsend asserted that it was "the most complex game system on Earth" with some large position turn results 1,000 pages in length. Chris Harvey started the commercial PBM industry in
8944-625: The same time, he noted that his analysis indicated that more PBM gamers were playing less, giving the example of an average drop from 5–6 games per player to 2–3 games, suggesting it could be due to financial reasons. In early 1997, David Webber stated that multiple PBM game moderators had noted a drop in players over the previous year. By the end of the 1990s, the number of PBM publications had also declined. Gaming Universal's final publication run ended in 1988. Paper Mayhem ceased publication unexpectedly in 1998 after Webber's death. Flagship also later ceased publication. The Internet affected
9048-532: The sender to pay for the postage, at a time when prepayment was optional, which led to the invention of the postage stamp, the Penny Black . The postal system was important in the development of modern transportation. Railways carried railway post offices . During the 20th century, air mail became the transport of choice for inter-continental mail. Postmen started to use mail trucks . The handling of mail became increasingly automated. The Internet came to change
9152-435: The sender. Today, worldwide, the most common method of prepaying postage is by buying an adhesive postage stamp to be applied to the envelope before mailing; a much less common method is to use a postage-prepaid envelope . Franking is a method of creating postage-prepaid envelopes under licence using a special machine. They are used by companies with large mail programs, such as banks and direct mail companies. In 1998,
9256-425: The term "turn-based games" is now being used by some commentators. After the initial setup of a PBM game, players begin submitting turn orders. In general, players fill out an order sheet for a game and return it to the gaming company. The company processes the orders and sends back turn results to the players so they can make subsequent moves. R. Danard further separates a typical PBM turn into four parts. First,
9360-552: The term "turn-based games". Flagship stated in 2005 that "play-by-mail games are often called turn-based games now that most of them are played via the internet". In the 2023 issues of Suspense & Decision, the publisher used the term "Turn Based Distance Gaming". In the early 1990s, the PBM industry still maintained some of the player momentum from the 1980s. For example, in 1993, Flagship listed 185 active play-by-mail games. Patrick M. Rodgers also stated in Shadis magazine that
9464-459: The time and that most games could be played by mail. These adapted games were typically run by a gamemaster using a fanzine to publish turn results. The 1980s were also noteworthy in that PBM games designed and published in this decade were written specifically for the genre versus adapted from other existing games. Thus they tended to be more complicated and gravitated toward requiring computer assistance. The proliferation of PBM companies in
9568-433: The time of Augustus Caesar (62 BCE – 14 CE), the service was called cursus publicus and was provided with light carriages ( rhedæ ) pulled by fast horses. By the time of Diocletian , a parallel service was established with two-wheeled carts ( birotæ ) pulled by oxen . This service was reserved for government correspondence. Yet another service for citizens was later added. In 1802, the first Vietnamese postal service
9672-419: The title of the PBM game You're An Amoeba, GO! indicates an unusual role as players struggle "in a 3D pool of primordial ooze [directing] the evolution of a legion of micro-organisms". Loth advises that closer identification with a role increases enjoyment, but prioritizing this aspect requires more time searching for the right PBM game. According to John Kevin Loth III, open-ended games do not end and there
9776-473: The translation "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds". The economic growth and political stability under the Mauryan Empire (322–185 BCE) stimulated sustained development of civil infrastructure in ancient India . The Mauryans developed early Indian mail service as well as public wells, rest houses, and other facilities for
9880-483: The transport of foreign and domestic tribute specifically and the conduct of trade in general. By the end of Kublai Khan's rule, there were more than 1400 postal stations in China alone, which in turn had at their disposal about 50,000 horses, 1,400 oxen, 6,700 mules, 400 carts, 6,000 boats, more than 200 dogs, and 1,150 sheep. The stations were 25 to 65 km (16 to 40 mi) apart and had reliable attendants working for
9984-551: The whole territory of his empire the system used by Franks in northern Gaul and connected this service with that of missi dominici . In the mid-11th century, flax traders known as the Cairo Geniza Merchants from Fustat , Egypt wrote about using a postal service known as the kutubi. The kutubi system managed routes between the cities of Jerusalem, Ramla, Tyre, Ascalon, Damascus, Aleppo, and Fustat with year-round, regular mail delivery. Many religious orders had
10088-489: The world relatively easily and cheaply. The Internet has made the process of sending letter-like messages nearly instantaneous, and in many cases and situations correspondents use email where they previously would have used letters. The volume of paper mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service has declined by more than 15% since its peak at 213 billion pieces per annum in 2006. Some countries have organized their mail services as public limited liability corporations without
10192-493: Was "the most complex game system on Earth". Other games, like Galactic Prisoners began simply and gradually increased in complexity. As of August 2021, Rick Loomis PBM Games ' had four difficulty levels: easy, moderate, hard, and difficult, with games such as Nuclear Destruction and Heroic Fantasy on the easy end and Battleplan —a military strategy game—rated as difficult. According to Paper Mayhem assistant editor Jim Townsend, "The most important aspect of PBM games
10296-450: Was always a problem, because of the slow overland transportation system, and underfunding. Its network had 1,936 posthouses every 60 li along major routes, with fresh horses available every 10 li between them. The Qing operated 1,785 posthouses throughout their lands. More efficient, however, was the system linking the international settlements, centered around Shanghai and the Treaty ports. It
10400-473: Was developed in the mid-19th century, closely copying European models. Japan was highly innovative in developing the world's largest and most successful postal savings system and later a postal life insurance system as well. Postmasters play a key role in linking the Japanese political system to local politics. The postmasters are high prestige, and are often hereditary. To a large extent, the postal system generated
10504-497: Was established under the Nguyen dynasty , under the Ministry of Rites. During the Nguyen dynasty, official documents were transported by horse and other primitive means to stations built about 25-30 kilometers apart. In 1904, three wireless communication offices were established, and in early 1906 they were merged with the postal service to form the Post and Wireless Office. In 1945, after
10608-852: Was limited to individual companies". Finally, play-by-mail gamers could also draw from "alliances, associations, and senior players" for information. In the mid-1980s, other gaming magazines also began venturing into PBM. For example, White Wolf Magazine began a regular PBM column beginning in issue #11 as well as publishing an annual PBM issue beginning with issue #16. The Space Gamer also carried PBM articles and reviews. Additional minor information sources included gaming magazines such as " Different Worlds ... Game New , Imagine , and White Dwarf ". Dragon Publishing's Ares , Dragon , and Strategy and Tactics magazines provided PBM coverage along with Flying Buffalo's Sorcerer's Apprentice . Gaming magazine Micro Adventurer , which closed in 1985, also featured PBM games. Other PBM magazines in
10712-600: Was the main communication system for China's international trade. Genghis Khan installed an empire-wide messenger and postal station system named Örtöö within the Mongol Empire . During the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan , this system also covered the territory of China. Postal stations were used not only for the transmission and delivery of official mail but were also available for travelling officials, military men, and foreign dignitaries. These stations aided and facilitated
10816-438: Was using homing pigeons for pigeon post , taking advantage of a singular quality of this bird, which when taken far from its nest is able to find its way home due to a particularly developed sense of orientation. Messages were then tied around the legs of the pigeon, which was freed and could reach its original nest. By the 19th century, homing pigeons were used extensively for military communications. Charlemagne extended to
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