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Introduction

Gaming has always had a social element that binds like-minded players together, so it’s natural that as communication channels expanded, gaming followed. Harking back as far as chess, players have conducted games through postal mail. As technology advanced, so too did play-by-post gaming, evolving from postal to email, from email to web, from web to persistent browser-based games (PBBGs).

Of particular interest are play-by-mail games that go beyond the typical two-player format to encompass a larger group. These browser-based games are large, network-based, and public, meeting Warren Sack’s definition of very large-scale conversations (VLSC) (2004:239).

Part of the appeal of any fan community is drawing on the common language and interests to create new, interesting stories. Role-playing games of any type facilitate this kind of shared storytelling. The Internet made social role-playing more accessible. Why go through all the effort of finding a player with interest in a niche hobby when you can tap into millions of like-minded individuals?

The challenge in tapping those millions is making the gameplay still feel relevant. Researchers have posited that human beings are simply not wired to keep track of relationships or individuals in excess of 150. Dunbar’s Number, as popularized in Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, is the theoretical limit of stable social relationships that a person can maintain. Gaming, which requires so many interrelated agreements, negotiations, and cooperation, may make that number even smaller. Take into account that the 150 includes all relationships, including family, friends, and coworkers that aren’t playing the same game, and the network shrinks even smaller (Vesna 2004:259).

A large part of the appeal of MMORPGs is their social networks. Persistent browser-based games (PBBGs) strip away the graphics and interactive environments of MMORPGs to focus solely on that social aspect. PBBGs are all about social networking, encouraging pyramid structures to form. Existing players recruit new players into their network, who in turn recruit additional players to the benefit of all. The larger the number of players, the more powerful all of the characters become.

PBBGs have a very low barrier to entry, with cross-platform compatibility on a variety of web browsers. Unlike MUDs and MMORPGs, there is no sense of immediacy; PBBGs rely on asynchronous communication to provide a gaming experience. These games are meant to be revisited several times throughout the day, the players accumulating points and performing actions in short bursts.

History

The first asynchronous multiplayer games originated with play-by-mail games. Players sent their decisions or turns via postal mail to an opponent, who in turn would send his response. This form of gaming has existed as long as people have been sending messages and playing chess. Notably, John Boardman was running play-by-mail games of Diplomacy for a fee before 1970.

Rick Loomis, founder of Flying Buffalo Games, led the way in 1970 in asynchronous gaming with a play-by-mail game called Nuclear Destruction. He contacted wargamers through Avalon Hill’s The Wargamer magazine and charged them ten cents a turn. In 1972, Flying Buffalo was incorporated to take advantage of the transition of the play-by-mail’s format to email (Loomis 2009). Flying Buffalo’s Tunnels & Trolls debated as a play-by-mail game titled Heroic Fantasy that was later digitized on a commercial network called TheSource (Barton 2008:41) and then Crusaders of Khazan.

BBS door games were the direct descendants of play-by-e-mail games. Like MUDs, they were run on computers connected via modem or bulletin board systems (BBSs). Other players dialed into the BBS, where they were connected in real time, usually at considerable cost in phone charges to the person making the call. With the timer clicking away, it was up to the host to cram in as much content as possible. BBS door games were one means of attracting these players. Similar to interactive fiction,