There was a very interesting article posted to The Simming League website yesterday, about how that club coped with the death of their beloved founder and leader. What problems they were facing when suddenly left without a strong leader, and how they managed to pull through and stay together.
I think it should serve as an eye-opener to many role playing, simming or pbem organizations out there as it tells the story of how such a tragic event can transform a club into a self-governing, almost democratic, body where people work together for the good of the organization.
I have seen far too many examples of how a group is built around one person, some times a strong leader like in the article but too often also a power hungry, despotic ruler. We have to remember that we are all into this because of the fun we get out of it. It should not be about politics or power. It should be about having fun!
I am starting to run out of screen space with the theme I am using for pbemplayers.com so I need to start thinking about making a new theme for it. I would like to make a liquid layout that stretches along with the webbrowser window. I would also like to maintain pretty much the same color scheme, at least the green color!
If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know!
A visitor commented on my “Interesting game concepts” post a few days back, I only noticed it today since the comment had been caught in the spam filter - I’m sorry! The visitor provided two very interesting links to forum posts listing all such games “known to man” . Check them out and thank you for the comment!
Chas of simmingleague.com emailed me about a new section on their webpage: Essays! They have collected some articles about simming and pbem games. I have also given them permission to post some of my articles there, if they want.
At the time I write this, there are nine articles on that site, most of them well worth reading. They are mostly centered around setting up and running you own club, but there are also articles about posting and such.
I welcome all efforts to improve the PBEM community, even if it is a website with basicly the same purpose as pbemplayers. I just hope the readers will find them both!
I came across a very interesting game concept today. There was an ad for a “Congressional simulator” game in the rec.games.pbm discussion group. While I did not go on to look at the game itself since the ad lacked a link to it, I found the idea very interesting. It is just too bad I do not know enough about politics to actually join, even though I have slowly made my way through the first 4 seasons of “The West Wing” boxed dvd sets. And I am not sure if any political party I would have voted for would be represented in the congress in 2010, the year the game was set in.
In general, I am intrigued by games that are outside the common sci-fi or fantasy settings. Games that are unique, games that go out into uncharted territory. I really would like to see more of those around!
Today is the Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day! There are a lot of roleplaying events going on in stores and other locations all around the nation, even all around the world!
I recieve a lot more link directory suggestions than the ones I have published. There are a couple of reasons why not all of the suggestions are put online. Most of these are so obvious to me, I never even thought about having to write them down on the link page. I almost can’t believe how ignorant some poeple are!
First, it helps to actually have a webpage to show. One of the submissions I recieved was for an almost empty page with link to two pdf docs. I have no idea what value it would provide my visitors!
Another thing that can be quite good to remember is to have a website that is available to all visitors! I have recieved link suggestions pointing to forums. Sure, I suppose the definition of a website includes forums, and role playing games can take place on forums. However, why would I link to a forum that locks out unregistered readers like myself?
Yet another thing some people have problems with is to recognize the difference between a link directory and a reqruitment site! I have recieved link descriptions filling almost a full page! Before submitting a link, it is often a good idea to first see how the link already there are formatted! If you want to submit a reqruitment ad, go to pbem2.com or something!
My webpage is in english, all the links are to english websites. English is the main language of the web. I will not publish a link to a webpage I have no idea what it says. If your page isn’t in english, don’t bother adding it!
In the end, you will perhaps have an easier time if you also link to me… but it is by no means a requirement or even something I actively check. But if I happen to stumble on the link while checking your webpage, of course I will like it more!