Beyond the Stellar Empire

{{Infobox game

| name = Beyond the Stellar Empire

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| publisher = Adventures by Mail, KJC Games

| years = {{Start date and age|df=38|1982}}

| genre = Space fantasy

| language = English

| system = Computer moderated with human assistance

| players = Unlimited

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| playing_time = Open-ended

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| materials = Instructions, order sheets, turn results, paper, pencil

| media_type = Play-by-mail, play-by-email, web-based

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Beyond the Stellar Empire (or BSE) is a play-by-email (PBM) game. Originally published by Adventures By Mail, BSE was an open-ended "space opera" with a single available game that began in playtesting in 1981. According to Stephen Marte, during the mid-1980s, like "Tribes of Crane and Midgard, BSE [was] the stomping ground of many of PBM's best power gamers".Marte 1987. p. 6., Marte bolded Tribes of Crane, Midgard, and BSE in the original text. The game had two variants, one monitored by Game Masters who imposed artificial constraints, and another without constraints. Gameplay took place on a vast space stage where mega-corporations formed the dominant organizing framework, alongside various other groups that players could join to pursue tasks to advance, collaborate with other players, and progress to more senior positions such as space colony governors. Beyond the Stellar Empire placed #5 and #11 for Best PBM Game of the Year in 1987 and 1988, respectively, in Paper Mayhem, a magazine for play-by-mail games. In subsequent years, the game did not score well in Paper Mayhem reader ratings for playability, use, and product understanding. Beyond the Stellar Empire: The New System won the Origins Award for Best New Play-By-Mail Game of 1989.

The original game as run by Adventures by Mail in the United States was discontinued in the late 1990s. In the United Kingdom, a separate PBM game of Beyond the Stellar Empire ran until 2002 when the entire game was upgraded to a 21st-century version, Phoenix: Beyond the Stellar Empire (see KJC Games below). While still a PBM game, Phoenix enables players to input orders via web browser while receiving email turn results.Razavi 2017. p. 27.

Development

In the Spring 1985 issue of Flagship, John Muir stated that the game had been operating for three years, putting its initial publication at 1982.{{Cite magazine |last= Muir|first= John|date= Spring 1985 |title= Beyond the Stellar Empire: An Overview|magazine= Flagship |number= 6|pages= 13–14}} In the January 1983 issue of The Space Gamer, Adventures By Mail stated that they had processed more than 20,000 turns of BSE.{{Cite magazine |author= |date=November 1983 |title= Adventures By Mail: Warboid World [Advertisement]|magazine= The Space Gamer |number= 59|page= 46}} Muir stated that, in 1985, BSE was human moderated with computer assistance. This continued to 1990.{{cite magazine |author= |title= Adventures By Mail, Inc.|magazine= The Journal of the PBM Gamer |edition=4th|page= 9 |publisher= Paper Mayhem|date= 1990}}

Reviewer Stephen Marte stated in 1987 that he had contact information for 150 PBM players but speculated that as many as 450 actually played the game.Muir 2013. p. 14.

In the January/February 1990 issue of Paper Mayhem, a magazine for play-by-mail games, Mike Popolizio, Liz Leblanc, and Marti Popolizio described a redesign conducted on BSE.Popolizio, Leblanc, and Popolizio1990. p. 8–10. The overhaul included faster turnaround times for turns, additional options for diplomacy, increased ability to implement player suggestions, introduction of black-markets, and other changes.

In a 1992 issue of Paper Mayhem, Wayne Alexander identified two variants of Beyond the Stellar Empire: the Capellan Periphery and the Draconian Variant.Alexander 1992. p. 31. Alexander noted that the Capellan Periphery was the initial variant and was open-ended in the sense that it had no victory conditions–players could continue to progress through work and expenditures, requesting and completing assignments, acquiring larger ships and colonies, etc. However, he lamented that the Capellan Periphery was not truly open-ended in that the Game Masters (GMs) eventually would impose an artificial constraint on play that he called "The Wall". This didn't prevent the players from having an enjoyable playing experience, but it limited "power players". In other words, according to Alexander, "The Capellan Periphery has a lot of sizzle, but the steak is just dog meat." The Draconian Variant, while nascent in 1992, and saddled with some minor gameplay challenges, put players on the "ground floor" of a truly open-ended game, causing Alexander to describe it as one "with very little sizzle at this point, but the steak is filet mignon in potential".

Gameplay

Diplomacy played a part in gameplay. A player in 1987 stated that he received an average of 47 letters weekly while playing.Marte 1987. p. 7.

=Setting=

The game took place on a vast space stage. Stephen Marte stated the following about the field of play in 1987:

The playing field consists of 80 systems. Each system is 30X30 hexes and each hex is 46,000 square miles. Five hundred planets, moons, and gas giants have been found in the 52 systems of the Capellan Periphery and it is estimated there are another 500 worlds in the 38 systems of the less explored Transhole Region. Planets and moons may be mapped, scanned, and geologically proved down to a 10 square mile sector. For all intents and purposes the scope of the playing field is as large as your imagination.Marte 1987. p. 6.

The central element of the game was its thirteen mega-corporations. Most of these were directed by a Game Master employed by Adventures by Mail, but run by a board of coordinators made up of players which managed a large hierarchy of players. These corporations provided frameworks that enabled players to choose, pursue, and accomplish tasks, but also generated interesting competition dynamics between corporations as well as internal competition struggles that sometimes caused cleavages serious enough to cause banishments or voluntary departures. Players did not have to join a mega-corporation: other possible groups included "seven alien races, a religious sect, and a small piratical band know[n] as the Raiders of the Imperial Periphery (RIP)".

Players were limited to two starcaptains at the outset, but had significant variety among the 16 ship types and great room for game progression. For example, by 1987, there were 250 players acting as space colony governors of varying sizes. Powerful players in mature roles could shift to a research focus to keep gameplay from getting stale.

Reception and legacy

Adventures by Mail stated in 1984 that BSE was the only PBM game selected by Games Magazine in its list of top 100 games of 1983.The Space Gamer 1984. p. 51. Reviewer Stephen Marte observed in 1987 that Beyond the Stellar Empire was in some ways "the "ultimate PBM game". In the November/December 1987 issue of Paper Mayhem, Beyond the Stellar Empire tied for the #5 spot on the list of Best PBM Games of 1987 with Beyond the Quadra Zone.Paper Mayhem 1987. p. 2. In 1988, the game tied for 11th place in the list of Best PBM Games of 1988 along with Rimworlds.Paper Mayhem 1988. p. 2. However, the game did not perform well in reader ratings in Paper Mayhem during the following years. In the May/June 1989 issue, the game scored 43 of 44 rated games.Paper Mayhem 1989. p. 2. In the July/August 1990 issue, it placed #63 of #68.Paper Mayhem 1990. p. 64. In July/August 1993 it was #81 of #81.Paper Mayhem 1993. p. 44–45. And in Nov/Dec 1994 it again placed last at #72 of #72.Paper Mayhem 1994. p. 44–45.

Beyond the Stellar Empire: The New System was awarded the Origins Award for "Best New Play-by-Mail Game of 1989".Game Manufacturer's Association 1989.

The original Beyond the Stellar Empire by Adventures by Mail was discontinued at some point around the year 2000.

Reviews

1983 Games 100{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/games-45-1983-november/page/44/mode/2up | title=GAMES Magazine #45 | date=November 1983 }}
1984 Games 100{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/games-57-1984-november/page/n49/mode/2up | title=GAMES Magazine #57 | date=November 1984 }}

Phoenix is still active today.

References

Bibliography

{{cite magazine |author= |title= Adventures By Mail, Inc.|magazine= The Journal of the PBM Gamer |edition=4th|page= 9 |publisher= Paper Mayhem|date= 1990}}
{{Cite magazine |last= Alexander|first= Rob|date= January 2004 |title= Phoenix: A Major Advance| url= http://www.flagshipmagazine.co.uk/downloads/issue105.pdf|magazine= Flagship |number=105|pages= 10–11 |access-date= October 22, 2020|ref= Ale03}}. Magazine date: December—January 2003/2004.
{{cite magazine |last= Alexander|first= Wayne J.|date= September–October 1992|title= Beyond the Stellar Empire: Capellan Periphery versus Draconian Variant; The Poison and the Antidote? |magazine= Paper Mayhem |number= 56|page= 31|ref=Way92}}
{{Cite magazine |last= ((Editors))|date=March–April 1984 |title= PBM Update: Adventures by Mail|magazine= The Space Gamer |number= 68|page= 51 |ref= Edi84}}
{{Cite magazine |last= Goldstone|first= Micah|date=August–September 2002 |title= Phoenix: Beyond the Stellar Empire| url= http://www.flagshipmagazine.co.uk/downloads/issue98.pdf|magazine= Flagship |number=97|page= 9 |access-date= October 10, 2020|ref= Mic02}} Describes updating of BSE into Phoenix: BSE.
{{cite web| url = http://www.gama.org/OriginsAwards/OriginsAwardsWinnersThe1980s/The1989OriginsAwards/tabid/3232/Default.aspx| title = The 1989 Origins Awards| publisher = The Game Manufacturers Association| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121216052421/http://www.gama.org/OriginsAwards/OriginsAwardsWinnersThe1980s/The1989OriginsAwards/tabid/3232/Default.aspx| url-status = dead| archive-date = 2012-12-16|ref=Gam12}}
{{cite magazine |last= Lloyd|first= Vickie|date= September–October 1992|title= BSE: The Good Times are Over |magazine= Paper Mayhem |number= 56|pages= 28–31|ref=Llo92}}
{{cite magazine |last= Marte|first= Stephen|date= March–April 1987|title= Beyond the Stellar Empire |magazine= Paper Mayhem |number= 23|pages= 6–8|ref=Mar87}}
{{Cite magazine|last= Marte|first= Stephen |date= November–December 1987 |title= Midgard |magazine= Paper Mayhem|number= 27|pages= 6–7|ref=Mar87d}}
{{cite magazine |last= Marte|first= Stephen|date= November–December 1988|title= Stellar Politics: Part II |magazine= Paper Mayhem |number= 33|pages= 18–20|ref=Mar88}}
{{cite magazine |first= Mike|last= McCourt|title= Beyond the Stellar Empire (BSE)|magazine=Paper Mayhem|date= September–October 1997|issue= 86|pages= 12–13}}
{{Cite magazine |last= Muir|first= John|date= Spring 1985 |title= Beyond the Stellar Empire: An Overview|magazine= Flagship |number= 6|pages= 13–14}}
{{Cite magazine |last= Muir|first= John|date= Spring 1985 |title= Freighter Firepower: Self-Defense in BSE|magazine= Flagship |number= 6|page= 15}}
{{Cite magazine |last= Muir|first= John|date= Spring 1985 |title= The Starfleets of BSE|magazine= Flagship |number= 6|page= 16}}
{{cite magazine |last= Paper Mayhem|date= November–December 1987|title= Best PBM Game of 1987 |magazine= Paper Mayhem |number= 27|page= 2|ref=Maa87}}
{{cite magazine |last= Paper Mayhem|date= November–December 1988|title= Best PBM Game of 1988 |magazine= Paper Mayhem |number= 33|page= 2|ref=Maa88}}
{{cite magazine |last= Paper Mayhem|date= May–June 1989|title= PBM Game Ratings: As of 3/30/89 |magazine= Paper Mayhem |number= 36|page= 3|ref=May89}}
{{cite magazine |last= Paper Mayhem|date= July–August 1990|title= PBM Game Ratings: As of 5-26-90 |magazine= Paper Mayhem |number= 43|page= 64|ref=May90}}
{{cite magazine |last= Paper Mayhem|date= July–August 1993|title= PBM Game Ratings: As of 06/06/93 |magazine= Paper Mayhem |number= 61|pages= 44–45|ref=May93}}
{{cite magazine |last= Paper Mayhem|date= November–December 1994|title= PBM Game Ratings: As of 9/12/94 |magazine= Paper Mayhem |number= 69|pages= 44–45|ref=May94}}
{{cite magazine |last1= Popolizio|first1= Mike |last2= LeBlanc|first2= Liz |last3= Popolizio|first3= Marti |date= 1990|title= Revamping a Classic! The Redesign of BSE|magazine= Paper Mayhem|pages= 8–10|ref=Pop90}}
{{cite magazine|last= Razavi|first=Sid |date= March 2016 |url=http://suspense-and-decision.com/Issue-16-Suspense&Decision-PBM-Magazine.pdf |title= Deep Dive into Phoenix: Beyond the Stellar Empire Part I - Getting Started |magazine= Suspense and Decision |pages=26–33 |number=16 |publisher= PlayByMail.net|accessdate= April 15, 2020|ref=Raz15a}}
{{cite magazine|last= Razavi|first=Sid |date= September 2017 |url=http://suspense-and-decision.com/Issue-16-Suspense&Decision-PBM-Magazine.pdf |title= Deep Dive into Phoenix: Beyond the Stellar Empire Part II: An Explorer's Guide |magazine= Suspense and Decision |pages=11–25 |number=17 |publisher= PlayByMail.net|accessdate= April 15, 2020|ref=Raz15b}}
{{Cite magazine |last= Redman|first= Kieron|date=April–May 2003 |title= Phoenix: First Impressions| url= http://www.flagshipmagazine.co.uk/downloads/issue102.pdf|magazine= Flagship|number=102|pages= 10–11 |access-date= October 22, 2020|ref= Red03}} Describes first impressions after updating BSE into Phoenix: BSE.