The Coconut Council, Inc., has announced the acquisition of Darkness of Silverfall from Ark Royal Games. Readers of Paper Mayhem may recall that there were some player complaints regarding Darkness, and it will be interesting to see if the new moderators can alleviate those complaints without creating any new ones.

IronDragon Enterprises has announced its return. After almost nine months of silence, Nexus of Mystery players reported receiving turn results and an updated rulebook, out of the blue. Also included in the package was a one-page newsletter, in which IronDragon apologized for the delay. No detailed explanations were given for the lapse in service. Many customers were very unhappy because the reported some problems in attempting to get their money refunded. IronDragon was very lax in responding to player communications.

Two-time AndCon award-winner Portinium is now defunct. After the loss of its financial backer, Enchanted Horizons was force to cease operations. The final shutdown occurred in the middle of January. True to his word, owner John James is not only refunding all funds help "on account," but he is also refunding all turn fees for games that were not completed. Even in closure, Enchanted Horizons remains a prime example of excellent customer service. While this is certainly unhappy news for gamers, enterprising companies stand to benefit from this incident. Enchanted Horizons plans to license the game in the U.S., Canade, U.K., and other countries. Over $1,000,000 was invested in the Portinium project, generating a truly amazing finished product. Individuals or companies interested in licensing Portinium, or players with questions or problems, amy contact Enchanted Horizons at PO Box 28250, Spokane WA 99228-8250.

Twin Engine Games has announced that it plans to temporarily discontinue new games of Space Combat, which put players in the role of corporate executives, controlling sentient alien creatures as they battle over legal disputes in deep space. A new space game will be forthcoming.

Inner Dimension Games has announced that they are not beginning any new games of the popular play-by-mail game, Sirius Command, until further notice. Sirius Command was well-rated in Paper Mayhem and Flagship, and received a glowing review in Issue #9 of SHADIS.

Stand & Deliver, the industry's leading western PBM, experienced a processing "hiccup", due to a legal conflict. Much of the work behind S&D took place at the home of the moderator, Frank Pompillio. However, his lease enjoins him from :operating a business" from his apartment, and a sour-grapes complaint from a neighbor has brought pressure from the building owner to close the game. The several-week delay occurred as Pompillio struggled to move the necessary equipment to another location. Processing was expected to resume as we were going to press.

At this time, I would like to clarify part of SHADIS' policy on review articles. Our submission guidelines state that we cannot accept review articles from individuals who presently own, or are employed by, an active game company, even if they have the permission of the moderator of the game in question.

Industry-savvy readers may have noticed an article in the last Post Marquecolumn, written by a PBM moderator, Jeff Spain of the Coconut Council, Inc. Jeff's article was put into the issue before I was aware that he was a moderator. I wish to point out that this was my mistake, not Jeff's, and that both the SHADIS staff, and the moderators of the game Jeff reviewed, found the article to be fair and accurate. While we welcome strategy articles, design notes, etc., we regret that we cannot accept review articles written by the aforementioned people.

As stated in the last issue, we will be publishing a directory of Internet addresses for PBM Moderators in the next Post Marque. If you are a company with an Internet address, or if you play a game with a company who has an Internet address, please pass the information along to us. I can be reached on Internet at Shadiseast@aol.com.

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