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darkon
01-23-2006, 04:19 PM
Ok guys, just to put a few flames in the discussions:

What is the best pbem you have ever played in?

Please do not mention pbems you have DMed. It is not noble enough to be considered BR attitude!

I will post the results once the topic has been thoroughly discussed

Arjan
01-25-2006, 12:57 PM
One of the first i ever played in was ItSod (in the shadows of deismaar)
I had alot of fun playng Tuarhievel since turn 3 or so. I learned alot about domain rules because of that game.
Damn we (the elves) were so close to taking over the whole northern marches *evil grin* and almost none of the other rulers were aware.
Unfortunate Patrick (the last DM we played under) tried to cut down our income by letting us loose battles that costed us hundreds and hundreds of gold so we couldnt take over the total goblin provinces. (total income was over 200GB per turn of tuarhievel and The Elven Guilds of Tuarhievel & the Sielwode AND Kingdom of Cruaiddruinn (ruled by ruandice (and rhoubhe) but seperated to let the other rulers believe that we didnt take part in the human anihilation)

i think quite some peeps from BRnet played in it.

If my memory is correct it was started by Andy 'rulebook' Olesen, but later had more DM's for each region.

funny to see some of the old pages in the way-back-machine
http://web.archive.org/web/20010510230933/www.geocities.com/randomvariant/northernmarches/holdings.html

bluntaxe
01-27-2006, 02:39 PM
It would have to be
http://www.ruinsofempire.twilightpeaks.net/

Ok, I said it! Now can I have all my holdings back please?

j/k

It really is a good game, and if you see any openings advertised, it is still going and you can join.

darchon45
01-27-2006, 05:43 PM
Ruins of Empire - agreed. The DMs are reamarkable in their ability to keep up with all the players, the game has been going on for over FIVE YEARS, the style is easily the closest to what I imagined Birthright could become that I've ever seen (I'm shamelessly borrowing rules and numbers for my own tabletop game) and, thanks largely to DM guidance and example, the in-character behavior and communication is exceptional. I'd given up on finding a game this good.

ShadowMoon
01-27-2006, 06:06 PM
Yeah Ruins of Empire is best BR PBeM I ever played, and most probably one of best BPeMs in general. DMs are so dedicated that it borders insanity, players are real elite, and it makes me go crazy waiting my Domain Report from turn to turn, like its my first.
Stop by to our website or our forum, so you'll get better understanding of our living and breathing BR campaign.


Under the Veil...

SS/EOM

harvs2
01-27-2006, 06:56 PM
Hand-down of every game I have ever played, RoE has been the greatest. I have played the IHH since about turn 19 and honestly it has been one of the greatest stories I have ever been a part of, and easily the best representation of BR I have ever seen.

Rugor
01-28-2006, 03:12 PM
Ruins of Empire goes above and beyond what all other PBeMs have ever succeeded at... it has come alive!

The domains, realms and rulers have taken unusual turns and twists down the roads of fate, and over the course of many years of game play... giving it, its own history and uniqueness.

The reason for the games success is no secret however, it falls to one of the most dedicated and devoted DMs I have ever come across.

The game is not overrun by egocentric players, it is not populated by board-game conquerors, the DM has proven strong enough to keep the game pure, even if that means alienating some players in the proccess.

Green Knight
01-28-2006, 07:16 PM
I've only played in one BR PBeM.

It took place in 2005, and was called Embers of the Empire. I think it was run by Fearless Leader.

The game looked quite promising, and I ended up as the IHH. Not a bad domain. Spent quite some time detailing the regent and various minor characters.

I got a bit frustrated because the game quickly started to look at lot like pre WW1 Europe, with a couple of Grand Alliances. As soon as someone did anything, or even hinted that they were doing something, the other side threatened with massive retaliation.

The game folded after only a few turns. I quite right before it folded, after trying to find some other players to work with, but sadly none of the domains in my neighborhood managed to get some stable and committed players. And the DM didn't have the capacity to run them as NPC domains either, so I was left in a vacuum.

All in all it was a nice game I think, which had potential, but that got squashed by the sad phenomenon that seems to kile so many BR games early on. But then again I don't have much to compare my exerience with.

Michael Romes
01-29-2006, 12:15 PM
"Ruins of Empire"

It combines two important points:
- it runs on and on and on and on (compared to other PBEMs which last only a few turns)
- the DM´s try to bring the game world alive, e.g. even NPC regents or NPCs among a PC regents followers have a mind of their own and act according to their own agendas - this is far more enjoyable for me than to e.g. see in a game players ally with players despite their realms being bitter enemies since centuries to gang up on NPCs where none cares if their realms are plundered and divided

Question
01-29-2006, 03:05 PM
I havent been playing long enough....ive been in quiet a few PBEMs that just died off before it went anywhere.DMs just cutting and running without any explanation whatsoever disgust me.

The first, and by virtue of that, PBEM that i have been playing the longest would be RoE.Its survived for quite a while.......impressingly. Its got its own very detailed game rules and it breaks realms up into a series of small realms ruled by the other nobles of the realm. While this is more realistic.....it has the unfornate side effect of creating more book keeping and of cutting down the resources available directly to the original realm ruler. In fact thats another point......turn processing takes quite a few weeks usually because of the amount of NPC realms that need full DOs.We are talking dozens here.

One part i dont like is that the game is very concentrated into a rather small area. Most of the openings left(infact all if im not mistaken) are small, minor domains......a bit limited in choices.

The other PBEMs im in havent progressed far enough for me to make a decision.

Swordhelm
02-09-2006, 02:49 PM
RoE stands as the best thus far i've ever played, and probably ever will. THe game has lasted, the players are dedicated and there is no easy course. Everyone plays their characters to the hilt, and the DM's keep a careful eye on the details. Because of this, i think its the first game where even when a grand alliance was being promoted, players resisted it, even when the cause seemed great. That is something i had never seen accomplished before. Kudos to the DM;'s

Vallariel
02-11-2006, 03:08 AM
After giving the matter some thought since I've played in quite a few pbem's now, I would have to say I loved Night of Fire most in its nearly four turns of life. Who can forget the Bloodfest in Rooks Roost? I will never at least, and I wasn't even involved in it. It was one of the darkest, most exciting pbem's I have ever played in! Eosin was an excellent DM.

After that I would have to give an honorable mention to Tim's Crown of Glory which in its 3 turns (or was it only two) gave me a love of pbem's that has me devoting 90% of my spare time to running one. :)

graham anderson
02-11-2006, 02:06 PM
I have played in quite a few games some of them great fun but they have all been riddled with problems except for the games run by derek and karen which are well run and last more than a few turns.

Any derek and karen game, the current one being patriots and tyrants.

ShiroAmada
02-11-2006, 09:19 PM
I would say Night of Fire and Crown of Glory: Innocence Lost. Both lasted about 3 or so turns and were two of the earliest games I participated in. Both DMs answered hundreds of post game questions from me giving me a good feeling for what works and what does not in terms of longevity for a pbem.

Crossfell
02-14-2006, 02:11 AM
Greetings,

I've played in several excellent games. Some have lasted several years, some just a turn or two.

Regents of Cerilia, probably the longest running PBEM ever (a few years at least), was one of my first and best experiences. Cyrus Hawkwood of Aerenwe was a great experience for me.

I forget the name of the game where I ran Belgo of Middlemarch, halfling Ranger/Cleric regent of Aerenwe, but it was great fun! It was my first game ever and I owe the DM many apologies for the multiple errors in my turns!! DM was fantastic in teaching a novice BR.

In the Shadows of Deismaar was an exceptional campaign with brilliant DM's. Wish that the original crew could've continued it because it was incomparable. Playing the Holy Order of Haelyn's Aegis was an incredible experience. It also generated my first ever webpage (ever so humble though it was). Unfortunately disputes with the OIT (I accept full blame Tommy, would love to hear from you) detracted from the game. Player, not DM, fault! Just wish that the second edition of ITSoD didn't use my character's name for HA!

I joined the second incarnation of Morg's "Crown of Glory" and enjoyed it imensely despite it's premature end.

Great fun was had in all the other games not mentioned! Wish I could remember the name of the campaign that I had the SRT. Communicating with the Eyeless One (player character) was extremely fun. You wouldn't believe what messages a player could convey in a crow's actions!

Cheers,

Steve

Patrucio
03-14-2006, 04:52 AM
I've always been fond of Solmyr's Enothril games, myself. Though most games I've played in over the years have been well GM-ed. Birthright, in my opinion, generally attracts a high quality gamer community.

And, truthfully Arjan, I'm impressed that you even remember that I GM'd in ItSoD. The one thing I do remember about your particular predictament was that those Haelynite goblins basically sold themselves to the Talienese and the Eyeless One to help slow you down. If I recall correctly, they kept using wards to trap your armies and keep them divided. The fact that they had more and more varieties of spell-casters to call upon that the elves (two source and two temple regents) was all that was keeping you elves from completely running them over.

I do remember being amused by the fact that the human players generally saw the goblins as the "good" humanoids resisiting the "evil" elves in that game. A little role reversal is always nice.

graham anderson
03-15-2006, 03:41 PM
Solmyrs games are always good its a pitty that his last one didn't last very long.

We can only hope that he will run a new one soon.

darkon
03-15-2006, 05:07 PM
Ok, it seems to me that RoE is considered the best pbem ever, up until now. It seems that its longevity and functionality has been valued above anything else.

Jason

graham anderson
03-15-2006, 11:34 PM
I think it depends on who posts here most Birthright players I know don’t.

I personally found RoE a horrendous mess but to each there own. Do the DM's of RoE have sensible email addresses that work now there was a lot of trouble I and some others had with their email addresses and emails not getting through.

There also seems to have been a lot of people who have no preferance or who dont play pbems.

ausrick
03-16-2006, 10:30 PM
Are we talking about the same RoE??? :confused: I've had no problems, the DM's system seems pretty tight on the Administration and Organization fronts. And their House rules seem well designed, functional, and thought out. Then again, I've only been playing for the last two months, and I understand the game began back in 2000, so that is a 5 to 6 year spread.

graham anderson
03-16-2006, 11:32 PM
Yes its the same ROE but you cant please everyone the biggest problem and it did become a major problem was that the DM's had terrible email addresses that didn't seam able to get emails from anything. They insist that others change their email addresses but still cant get the emails and do nothing about what was a problem with their email adresses to begin with.

Nor am I the only one that has had trouble there. With the emails and the organisation. They were having some problems themselves when I played so maybe my view is a little skewed and when they are firing on all cilinders they might be better. They still realy realy need to get half decent email accounts though if they havn't already.

I felt that I should point out that not everyone thinks it is the best game.

They still get a lot of respect for keeping it running for so long though.

Benjamin
03-17-2006, 10:51 PM
Having been lurking in RoE for a while, I'll toss my 12.387 cents in.

The rules are complicated. The rulebook for RoE is 255 pages long (give or take a couple depending on formatting).

There are additional holdings: manors, trade. These add a variety of realism to the game.

Each realm has goals, a major one and several minor ones. Ignoring these goals causes bad things to happen. Succeeding in a goal has good things happen. You don't have to work only towards your goals.

If you expect to muster up massive armies and go a conquering real fast, as in some other games, forget it. It won't happen.

The game is more focused on people interacting. Slow, steady forces of change are more likely to succeed than sudden, powerful ones. I think it's a lot more like real world geopolitical/economics in this regard.

The game is about long term planning, not short term returns. The game is in turn 47, and most of the original realms are still there. Don't expect to join up and forge an empire very fast. If you are burning too bright, everyone will join forces against you.

I think RoE is a pretty realistic simulation of a fantasy world. My only, short attempt to actually play in it was disastrously aborted, and so I am still a lurker. It isn't for everyone, that is for sure.

My personal favorite game was run by Ian Hoskins (not his last one, the one before, that lasted a long time), the name of which I can't remember.

graham anderson
03-17-2006, 11:14 PM
Hoskins is a good Gm I can agree their,

I mgiht be a little unfair to ROE as I said they seem to have some good idea's and real dedication but there was a lot of problems when I was their, they were trying to decide what direction to take the game they were busy in real life, I was busy in real life and it was near impossible to play with there bad email addresses so it could take ages to get through to them if you did. You couldn't plan anything , didn't know if they had your emails or if it had been filtered into spam.

Does anyone know if their email addresses are OK now or still the ones they used to have.

It just wasn't workable for me unless they got new emails which they didn't seem to want to do even though I was certainly not the only one to have trouble with their accounts.

If they had things sorted and I had more time I might be even be willing to give it another go but they need to get a few things sorted from the last time I played (THE EMAIL ACCOUNTS).

ausrick
03-20-2006, 02:50 PM
Co DM Even is a gmail account currently, and DM Bjorn is at the webserver that hosts the RoE Website, so depending on the dependability of their mail server. . . He hasn't seemed to lose any of my messages since I've been playing. But you are 100% right Graham in that it would be frustrating if not impossible to play a PBEM game if you EM didn't work right. Because then its just a PB?? :p

graham anderson
03-20-2006, 05:35 PM
I dont think they had a G mail account before but it sounds like the other email might be the same.

ausrick
03-20-2006, 07:12 PM
twilightpeaks.net

Green Knight
03-20-2006, 07:57 PM
Graham is correct in that there were some issues back then.

The real problem was that mine/Even's c2i (Local ISP) account didn't work well with Yahoo!. But that is very old news now. Even is a gmail, and I have a new one at the webserver.

graham anderson
03-20-2006, 09:31 PM
Ok thats good to hear but you had some trouble with my G mail account too.

Good to know that there are new emails.