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Conclusion

PBBGs are the next step in the play-by-post evolution, drawing on the tradition of MMORPGs and interactive fiction. Where CRPGs are in an endless race to take advantage of faster processors with more advanced graphics, PBBGs have simple, static graphics. Where MMORPGs fashion hugely complex worlds, PBBGs create easily accessible miniature worlds with minimal narrative. Like massive multiplayer games, PBBGs embrace the power of large social groups. In Castle Age, your friends are literally the source of your power.

Dungeons & Dragons Tiny Adventures, on the other hand, is a solitary activity, with opportunities for other players to occasionally lend a hand. It’s ironic that the tabletop game that inextricably linked social groups to fantasy role-playing has an application on Facebook that has very little social interaction.

Tiny Adventures and Castle Age’s difficulties are not unique. PBBGs are as much an art as they are a science. As Alexander Hinkley, creator of one of the longest-running Dragon Ball Z BBGs, explained:

Because of the nature of PBBGs, they are simple to create but hard to maintain and balance. Anybody can create a website or a forum and describe a unique fantasy world that will draw players into signing up, but creating well-balanced game mechanics like a battle system is very difficult. Although creating a PBBG may seem easy to some, it actually takes a lot of time, hard work, and dedication [Hinkley 2010].

Deceptively simple, PBBGs have a lot to teach us about the next generation of fantasy gaming. With PBBGs the hot new trend might not be better graphics or more players. It might simply be a matter of convenience.

FIVE

GAMEBOOKS AND INTERACTIVE FICTION

Introduction

The origin of interactive fiction (IF) has it roots in hypertext, in which a player reads text and then is given multiple choices to continue the plot. Each link takes the player to another installment, which in turn has its own paths, creating a web-like narrative. Although the term “hypertext” is now indelibly linked to the World Wide Web, this was not always the case—hypertext predated the Web (Costikyan 2007:7).

Gamebooks, an early form of hypertext fiction, laid the foundation for solo play that would be later explored in computer role-playing games (CRPGs). Gamebooks are usually written in second person. In gamebooks the interaction is one way, with the player determining the pace of the interaction but not the actual results. As the player makes choices that affect the course of the narrative he pursues a branched path, with each decision further changing the story, all through the use of numbered pages. Perilous results often lurk at the conclusion of the wrong decision, ending the story (2007:7).

There are three different types of gamebooks. The first are in narrative format, where the decisions are determined by the player flipping to the appropriate page, proceeding to the next branch in the story. The second type, exemplified by the Fighting Fantasy line, involves simple rules similar to tabletop role-playing games to resolve conflicts. The third type is really a role-playing game variant that is played without a game master, involving a separate set of rules with the gamebook serving as an adventure.

Interactive fiction, also known as adventure games, represents more object-oriented forms of hypertext conducted via computer. Interactive fiction has some level of permanency and spatial presence. Players can move from room to room, pick up items, and even permanently change the game universe in a way previous forms of hypertext fiction never could (2007:8).

The term “interactive fiction” was first coined by Robert Lafore, who produced BASIC programs for the TSR-80 (Montfort 2003:125). It was later used widely by Infocom to designate its canonical works (2003:7). IF places more emphasis on puzzle resolution, prioritizing deductive and qualitative thinking over inductive and quantitative