Paper Mayhem
 | |
| Editor | David Webber |
|---|---|
| Assistant editor | Elaine Webber |
| Staff editor | Bud Link |
| Staff editor | Chris Derbacher, Jr. |
| Categories | Play-by-mail game magazine |
| Frequency | Bi-monthly (every two months) |
| Publisher | The Paper Mayhem Association |
| Founder | David Webber |
| First issue | July/August 1983 |
| Final issue | January/February 1998 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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Paper Mayhem is an out-of-print magazine that was published in Ottawa, Illinois. The staff published the initial issue in July 1983, and the magazine ran until early 1998. Its format was 40 pages published six times per year.[1] The magazine was the most well-known of the play-by-mail (PBM) periodicals of the period, providing articles and reviews of play-by-mail games, as well as reader-informed ratings of play-by-mail companies, game masters (GMs), and games, both intermittently and on an annual basis. The magazine, along with its founder and editor-in-chief, David Webber, was influential in the play-by-mail community, even echoing into 21st-century play-by-mail activities. The publication ceased suddenly in early 1998 following the unexpected death of Webber.
History
Rick Loomis of the game company Flying Buffalo, Inc. stated that, after the early 1970s, the play-by-mail community had sufficient interest to support only two magazines, Paper Mayhem and Flagship (UK-based).[2] In 1985—the second year of publication for Paper Mayhem—Loomis observed that the first run of Gaming Universal magazine had ceased publication, leaving Paper Mayhem as the single US PBM publication, which had started small but was improving every issue.[3] In 1998, Dragon Magazine editor Roger E. Moore, stated that Paper Mayhem was the "best established and ... most informative" of the various play-by-mail magazines available at the time, providing "game reviews, playtesting notes, announcements, new releases, playing hints, and more" in every issue.[1] In 1988, Frank Green of the Copley News Service noted that journals like Paper Mayhem and Flagship were the only way during the period that potential gamers could hear about play-by-mail games besides word of mouth.[4] In 1993 in the New York Times, Sally Paduch called Paper Mayhem one of the [play-by-mail] gaming industry's two preeminent magazines" along with Flagship.[5] Mark Wardell, in the modern play-by-mail journal, Suspense and Decision, pointed to Paper Mayhem along with Flagship Magazine and The PBM Report as "publications who blazed the trail" before Suspense and Decision, providing their editorial staff inspiration.[6]
The longtime editor of the magazine, David Webber, wrote an editorial on the future of play-by-mail gaming in each issue.[7] The editor of the modern play-by-mail web-based magazine Suspense and Decision argued that Webber was one of the most influential people in the play-by-mail industry during his time as editor of Paper Mayhem.[7] The magazine ceased publication unexpectedly in early 1998 after Webber's death.[8]
Coverage
Paper Mayhem solely covered play-by-mail games.[10] Besides articles and reviews on play-by-mail games, the magazine published recurring "best of" lists for the play-by-mail community, including annual "Best Play-By-Mail Game", "Best Game Master", and "Best Play-By-Mail Company", based on reader votes.[11] Paper Mayhem also published periodic ratings of play-by-mail games and best play-by-mail companies using averaged reader ratings from 1 to 10 which also provided a canvass for the play-by-mail community of existing play-by-mail companies and games.[12]
The magazine provided additional coverage of the play-by-mail community as well. For example, issues featured a "Gameline" section for play-by-mail companies to inform the community on updates to their games.[13] Issues also contained a section called "PBM Activity Corner" which provided a short summary of key events in ongoing games for companies that wished to publish them for the gaming community.[14] PBM Bulletin Boards were available in each issue for readers or companies to list notices to solicit playtesters, form clubs, etc.[15] Issues contained a section called the "PBM Capsule" which featured authors commenting on the state of various aspects of play-by-mail gaming, for example the current status of other play-by-mail gaming magazines like Flagship and Gaming Universal, as well as Questbusters which was a gaming newsletter but had PBM articles.[16] And advertising by play-by-mail companies was significant.[17]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Moore, Roger E. (1988). "Other Guys" (PDF). Dragon Magazine. XII, No. 12; May, 1987 (#133): 4. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
- ↑ Rick Loomis (December 2013). "Letter from Rick Loomis to the Play By Mail/Email/Web/Turn Based Games Community" (PDF). Suspense and Decision, Vol #2. PlayByMail.net. p. 38. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
- ↑ Loomis, Rick (1985). "Rick Loomis on Play-By-Mail". Space Gamer: The Magazine of Adventure Gaming. July/August 1985 (#75): 36.
- ↑ Green, Frank (February 1, 1988). "Beyond the Worlds of the Monopoly Players". Hazleton-Standard Speaker. p. 33. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- ↑ Paduch, Sally (June 27, 1993). "Email Brings Immediacy to Play-By-Mail Games". New York Times. p. RC21.
- ↑ Mark Wardell (November 2013). "Chronicles of the Mad Scientist" (PDF). Suspense and Decision, Vol #1. PlayByMail.net. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Grimfinger (August 17, 2011). "The Future of PBM Gaming". PlayByMail.net. PlayByMail.net. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
- ↑ Shannon Muir (December 2013). "Using Play By Mail in a Novel's Plot: The Story Behind for the Love of Airagos" (PDF). Suspense and Decision, Vol #5. PlayByMail.net. p. 14. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
- ↑ Suspense and Decision (February 2014). "Where We're Going" (PDF). Suspense and Decision, Vol #4. PlayByMail.net. p. 110. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
- ↑ Styles, Squire Jim G. (1987-10-02). "Where's the PBM?" (PDF). Dragon Magazine. XII, No. 5; October, 1987 (#126): 3. Retrieved February 15, 2020.CS1 maint: Date and year (link)
- ↑ Paper Mayhem (1990). "In This Issue/Where We're Heading". Paper Mayhem: The Informative Play by Mail Magazine. Jan/Feb (#40): 1, 2.
- ↑ Paper Mayhem (1990). "PBM Game Ratings". Paper Mayhem: The Informative Play by Mail Magazine. Jan/Feb (#40): 22–23.
- ↑ Paper Mayhem (1989). "Gameline". Paper Mayhem: The Informative Play by Mail Magazine. May/June 1989 (#36): 20–26.
- ↑ Paper Mayhem (1989). "Gameline". Paper Mayhem: The Informative Play by Mail Magazine. May/June 1989 (#36): 36–38.
- ↑ Paper Mayhem (1989). "Gameline". Paper Mayhem: The Informative Play by Mail Magazine. May/June 1989 (#36): 39.
- ↑ Webber, David (1987). "Flagship". Paper Mayhem: The Informative Play by Mail Magazine. March/April 1987 (#23): 36.
- ↑ Paper Mayhem (1989). "Advertisers Index". Paper Mayhem: The Informative Play by Mail Magazine. May/June 1989 (#39): 1–40, inside back cover.
External links
- "Suspense and Decision Magazine: A PBM magazine for the 21st Century!". www.playbymail.net. 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
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