It is 12:28 AM, as I begin to write this column for Issue #40. Just after midnight, as some might say, or close enough to the Witching Hour for government work.
This issue is probably longer than it should be, even though it probably doesn't contain a lot, or nearly enough, of stuff that you actually like and want and prefer. Feel free to complain to my staff - if you can find them. Which probably won't be easy, since they don't exist.
Since it is technically Monday, now, here where I am, this issue should publish sometime later on, today. Issue #39 ended up with more typos in it than even I can justify, with several in the Editorial, alone, and the worst offender being that repeat of "Through the eyes is Captain of the Ship Starfire, Harry," which should not have appeared, at all, in the text below the link for Dungeons & Dragons at a Distance: Early Play-by-Mail D&D. I've pondered that error a bit, ever since I discovered it, post-publication. I'm not sure, exactly, how it happened, since I added those one by one, writing in the text below those links in The Great Eye of PBM section, before going to the next one.
Yes, I did do a simple duplication of the previous link block in Sender, but maybe I somehow inadvertently did a CTRL-Z operation, or did one just one time too many. I invariably end up kicking myself in the ass, whenever something like that happens, but I can't pull the e-mails back, once I hit that send button to publish the issue. Granted, it's a first world problem, and not a crisis, but it is damned annoying, and attempts to proofread each issue typically prove to be spotty and imperfect. What else is new, right?
Things run together, sometimes. Especially words. The human mind routinely succeeds at reading right past all kinds of errors. Mine does, anyway, even if yours doesn't.
But let's not dwell on it, even if I do, perhaps more than I should.
This month of August 2025 is a third of the way gone, already. Earlier on Sunday, I was thinking that I really do need to start laying the keel for the issue of the PBM magazine that is supposed to publish on either September 1st or October 1st. I gave myself that flexibility for this first issue of an actual PBM magazine named and designated as such in quite a while. I'm not sure, yet, what all it will include. It doesn't appear as if anybody out there is going to take pity on me, and send me some articles to include. That, in and of itself, won't stop the issue from publishing, though. I'll just hammer right through it.
That list of mine, the one that I designated as PBM Reminder List - Things To Not Forget, it now contains a total of 143 different items. This is as good of a time and opportunity, as any, for me to share another item from that list. So, here you go.
Item #81 - Call this list Thor's Hammer.
An appropriate name, I think, since this list, itself, already helps me to hammer things out. It has become my trusty sidekick. Longtime PBMer Richard Lockwood has Hans, his trusty sidekick, and now I have one of my own - Thor's Hammer, which I carry around with me a lot, lately. It has become a powerful tool and weapon in my arsenal to drive this latest PBM Initiative forward.
Hopefully, between now and when I actually publish this issue later on, today, I won't forget to include a link to a PBM Poll specifically focused upon this issue, Issue #40. If I do flub it and forget to include it, the world won't end. I could also send out another e-mail with the link to that PBM Poll in it. In fact, that might actually be the best way to do it, as more people would probably participate in it, if I went that route. In the future, I might test doing PBM Polls for various issues of PBM Chaos different ways, to conclusively determine which way is the best way, all speculation aside.
As late as Sunday, individuals were still finding Issue #39 in their e-mail in-boxes. Of course, most likely weren't even expecting it, and as such, probably weren't on the lookout for it. And anytime there are extended gaps between me publishing any PBM publication that I have ever launched, you always end up losing some people. Their attention simply shifts to other things that they've got going in their respective lives. Sure, maybe some become frustrated and just eventually give up on me and whatever PBM publication I am involved with, never to be seen, again. But as PBM gaming remains a hobby interest of mine, and not a business pursuit, there's not really ever likely going to be ay 100% total retention of readership. For better or for worse, that's just reality.
Some particular PBM games, in some instances, have PBM-related newsletters of their own, and at least some of them probably have proven themselves to be more reliable in their publication frequency over the long run, compared to my own humble efforts at crafting and publishing PBM magazines and newsletters and mailings. But their focus tends to be much more narrow than the focus of the original Suspense & Decision, PBM Unearthed, and PBM Chaos have been.
And in case you might be wondering, the answer is yes, I do know what Thor's hammer is actually called - Mjölnir. I was a fan of Thor comic books long before I ever became a fan of play by mail games. When I was a young kid, my Mama worked in a textile mill, and one day, she brought me home this spool thing that was damaged and no longer any good. My imagination being what it was back then, that spool soon transitioned into Mjölnir, and I would sling it at all kinds of thing. Ah, to be both young and the God of Thunder! Such pleasant little memories.
With age, there comes a propensity for repeating one's self and the telling, again (and again), of stories. Apparently, an affinity for play by mail gaming does not provide one with immunity from such. So, bear with me, if you will, in those moments when my age gets the better of me.
And speaking of age, I wonder how my Duelmasters (er. . .Duel2) buddy, Wayne Smith, is doing? Just knowing him is a fountain of youth all its very own. He has a few years on me, but he's definitely a much better storyteller than I am. Or maybe he just has much better stories to tell than I do. If only he could learn to play golf.
The great bonding agent for play by mail games, more than any other, is nostalgia. A very simple concept, one that has unlimited tendrils that can latch onto us and dig down deep into our PBM memories. Nostalgia is probably the most desirable quality that I can imbue any PBM publication with, yet how to actually do it poses a right considerable challenge for me. All that I can really do is take stabs at it.
With every death or departure of a PBM gamer or a PBM GM, the play by mail community as a whole loses an irreplaceable and unique commodity - specific PBM memories! Yet, PBMers hoard their memories of play by mail gaming far more than they ever share them. Entire PBM legacies are lost, this way. Yet, it repeats itself, over and over and over. Lost and gone forever. So sad, so tragic, such a terrible damned shame.
Me? I'd love to have them, so that I can share them, but there's nobody lined up to send their PBM memories to me. Which is why you don't get to read them. Remember that, the next time that you wonder or feel that PBM is either dead or dying. People just don't take action to make it happen. It's just not a priority. Besides, they can always just do it later, right? Maybe, but the truth be told, there's not always a later. Just ask any PBM player or PBM GM who has died, already.
No sense of urgency. Just plodding along. Is that what the "P" in PBM stands for? Plodding?
There's more truth in that, than any of us would probably care to admit. But what if we can't remember our PBM memories? I know that feeling. Most of mine have already long since evaporated into the mists of time. Add them all up for everyone in PBM who can't remember most of their PBM memories of their actual, first-hand PBM experiences, and see what your final tally looks like, when you get them all accounted for.
Do you reckon that anybody will send me anything to include in Issue #41? It's right around the corner, you know. Next Monday - August 18th, 2025. Dare to be different from the rest of them. Send me something. It doesn't have to be long-winded, like me. Somebody out there will be glad that you did. And if you do, who knows? Maybe one or more of them will then write in, and tell us one and all how much that they liked reading what you had to say. It really can be like pulling teeth, at times, to try and persuade and convince others to send something in. It gets old. It grows tiring. It becomes monotonous.
But none of that will stop Issue #41 from publishing. Come Hell or high water, it will publish.
There's lots of links in this issue. I hope that you'll find something among them that interest you enough to check it out. That's one way to make an issue of PBM Chaos bigger than it at first appears to be. Bringing you PBM-related stuff from afar, PBM stuff that lies elsewhere, but which I try to make it handy and convenient for you to find and experience. I even included a number of links to PBM stuff on the PBM Patreon site.
I do encourage you to visit that PBM site, and to become a free member, there. As always, though, the choice to do so or to not do so lies solidly with you. It's part of my overall PBM efforts, now, and in fact, it is a central pillar to this current broader PBM initiative of mine. By becoming a free member there, you support my PBM efforts. Not that you have to, of course, but from my perspective, it would be both nice and helpful.
Until next issue, send me an e-mail, if you get a chance, and let me know that you're still alive, and that you're still interested in PBM gaming!!
