games can range from the relatively simple to the PBM game Empyrean Challenge, once described as "the most complex game system on Earth". Once a player has chosen a game and receives an initial game setup, gameplay begins. This generally involves players filling out order sheets for a game (see example image) and sending them to the gaming company. The company processes the turns and returns the results to the player, who completes a subsequent order sheet. Diplomacy is also frequently an important—sometimes indispensable—part of gameplay. The initial choice of a PBM game requires consideration as there is a wide array of possible roles to play, from pirates to space characters to "previously unknown creatures". Close identification with a role typically increases a player's game satisfaction. History Some games have long been played by mail between two players, such as chess and Go. PBM play of Diplomacy—a multiplayer game—began in 1963. The emergence of the professional PBM industry occurred less than a decade later. Rick Loomis, "generally recognized as the founder of the PBM industry", accomplished this by launching Flying Buffalo Inc. and his first PBM game, Nuclear Destruction, in 1970. Professional game moderation started in 1971 at Flying Buffalo. For approximately five years, Flying Buffalo was the single dominant company in the US PBM industry until Schubel & Son entered the field in about 1976 with the human-moderated Tribes of Crane. It was within this environment that Starweb entered the PBM field. Publication history In the mid-1970s, Flying Buffalo discovered significant demand for a space-based PBM game through survey. Consequently, Rick Loomis invented Starweb which Flying Buffalo released as its second PBM game in 1976. By 1979, the company had about 360 active Starweb games. Starweb was Flying Buffalo's most popular game in 1984. The original game instructions were in a "mimeographed" manual which eventually required a second edition to address player confusion. The instructions went through multiple additional revisions over the following decade. By 1992, the company had run more than 1,100 games of Starweb. Starweb has been featured in various gaming magazines. The Nuts & Bolts of Starweb was the first PBM magazine not published by a PBM company. Although it morphed over time, its publisher, Rick Buda, started it as a fanzine for Starweb in June 1980, especially to discuss how to play his favorite character, the Berserker. Starweb has also been reviewed in gaming magazines