Editing Play-by-mail game (section)

==Advantages and disadvantages of PBM gaming==
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| quote  = "PBM games blow the doors off of anything in the face-to-face or computer game market."
| source = Jim Townsend, [[White Wolf (magazine)|''White Wolf'']] No. 9. 1988.<ref>[[#Tow88a|Townsend 1988]]. p. 47.</ref>
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Judith Proctor noted that play-by-mail games have a number of advantages. These include (1) plenty of time—potentially days—to plan a move, (2) never lacking players to face who have "new tactics and ideas", (3) the ability to play an "incredibly complex" game against live opponents, (4) meeting diverse gamers from far-away locations, and (5) relatively low costs.<ref name="Procter 1993. p. 51">[[#Pro93a|Procter 1993]]. p. 51.</ref> In 2019, Rick McDowell, designer of ''[[Alamaze]]'', compared PBM costs favorably with the high cost of [[board games]] at [[Barnes & Noble]], with many of the latter going for about $70, and a top-rated game, ''[[Nemesis (board game)|Nemesis]]'', costing $189.<ref>[[#McD19|McDowell 2019]]. p. 42.</ref> Andrew Greenberg pointed to the high number of players possible in a PBM game, comparing it to his past failure at attempting once to host a live eleven-player ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' Game.<ref name=Green93>[[#Gre93|Greenberg 1993]]. p. 8–9.</ref>{{efn|Jim Townsend stated in 1990 that PBM game participation at the high end could involve more than a thousand players.<ref name=Tow1990y/>}} ''Flagship'' noted in 2005 that "It's normal to play these ... games with international firms and a global player base. Games have been designed that can involve large numbers of players – much larger than can gather for face-to-face gaming."<ref name="Flagship 2005. p. 5"/> Finally, some PBM games can be played for years, if desired.<ref name="Procter 1993. p. 51"/>

Greenberg identified a number of drawbacks for play-by-mail games. He stated that the clearest was the cost, because most games require a setup cost and a fee per turn, and some games can become expensive.<ref name=Green93/> Another drawback is the lack of face-to-face interaction inherent in play-by-mail games.<ref name=Green93/> Finally, game complexity in some cases and occasional turn processing delays can be negatives in the genre.<ref name=Green93/>