Those following the ongoing SDMB Diplomacy drama can find the straight dope on all three games at the following website. Players can post orders from the site, and lurkers can read press, see who’s stabbing whom, and contribute snide remarks. Game starts are TBA.
MR
Maeglin,
the link doesn’t work…
Dagnabit. The site is here.
Course, I could just use common sense…duh.
Wowsers, Ogre…you caught it just after I did. Quick work.
Well, I for one am impressed by the site! 
When do we pick countries? (knowing my luck, I’ll probably get Austria…)
Once we’ve established a start time, the country assignments will go out. It’s technically random, but if people have really strong preferences, I will try to honor them.
MR
Well, IMHO, in fairness to us newbies, preferences should be given no merit. I must assume that, much like Risk, certain positions on the map are easier to hold or attack from. Based on this I think it seems biased to allow players to influence which contries they are give to begin.
I vote to leave it entirely random. Of course I’ll listen to what the more skilled players have to say, but since the game is beginning, on’t think I’m gonna trust ya! [/diplo skeptic hat off]
Actually, it’s not like Risk in that respect at all. All countries are handled differently, but there is no consensus as to which are the most favorable in the beginning. It depends on the style of the player entirely. A player who claims that Italy or Turkey is a weak starter usually does not have a solid grasp of their openings and diplomatic strategies.
Complete randomness is fine with me. However, let me tell you what was on my mind. Given the timed nature of these games, there are only so many that one can play at once. So it’s unusual to play all of the countries regularly. If an experienced player has been stuck, say, in the east for the past three or four games, I would be willing to make sure he played a western nation this time around. I don’t want people coming to me saying “I wanna be Russia, I wanna be Russia.”
So, to clarify, I will honor strong and general preferences. But my preference, of course, is for randomness.
The sooner I hear from everyone regarding their upcoming schedules, the sooner we start.
MR
Very well done! My compliments!!
I’d agree with Omniscient, especially if there’s a game dominated (in terms of number of players) by newbies. Random assignment is usually best, though not because certain countries are better, but that certain countries are easier to play. Generally, but certainly not always, the more difficult to play countries offer better chances to win (also to get wiped out early).
(Though I can see Maeglin’s point as well.)
[sub]The above, of course, is intended to be spoken like a true diplomat[/sub]
This is so true, especially with Austria and Russia. They tend to win hard, but lose really hard, if you know what I mean.
One last note…press. I encourage the use of press by lurkers and players. There are two kinds of press: white and black. White press must be attributable. Lurkers may only submit white press. This can take the form of snide comments, strategy advice, warnings of betrayal and imminent doom, etc.
Players can post white press or black press. Black, of course, is anonymous. If you email me press at any time I shall add it to the Press Box on the website.
By the way, I must give credit where credit is due. Much of the design I stole from the diplo site maintained by my brother, ToiletDuck. He’s out of the country now, but I will pass on your compliments.
MR
Maeglin: I’m getting an “Access denied” message when I try to view the website. Is this a temporary thing, or is it personal? 
Great job, Maeglin!
Robin
Okay, it’s up now. Superlative!
Thanks for all the compliments! Game #2 is about ready to begin!
I don’t know why anyone should receive Access Denied messages. I played with the chmod in UNIX forever before I got the permissions straightened out. If I need to do it again, please let me know.
Yep. I think that the easiest countries to play are England and Turkey. But their chances of winning aren’t great. My personal opinion is that France has the optimal ease of play/winning chances ratio, while Italy has the worst.
Having said that, I want to emphasize that, in my opinion, the differences are certainly not huge: France doesn’t have a huge edge over Italy, or anything like that. Also, one’s personality or preferred strategies/modus operandae might very well make a difference re what country that person is best suited to playing.
**
Good. I’d intended to ask you about your take on press.
Well, this is Italy from Game 2 checking in, fully hoping to shove that losing ratio up someone’s arse