Well, I was just completely violated in the World Masters 2000 tournament. My game was rocky, and there have been player NMRs all over the place. Probably the worst game I have ever played in my entire life.
So when LNO suggested that we should get together some SDMB people for a game, I couldn’t resist. I’d much rather dip with the luminaries of the SDMB than with some freaks of nature in the WM2K.
So who’s interested? I’d be happy to moderate (unless someone else wants to). Please post your interest on the thread so we can assemble a pool of players. If your email is not accessible, then make sure you email it to me.
The first five people to respond will play in the first game. If there is enough interest, we might even be able to organize a round robin.
It’s been a while since I played but I would love to join.
I was just thinking yesterday how you could play this game on the net. (I didn’t know people did!)
This is the Risk-like game that has no dice or chance involved just Diplomacy…Right?
I’m so interested I even started a thread about this same thing several hours ago- but as I got one response compared to Maeglin’s three, I’ll let that one die a quiet death.
To recap: I wanna play, I wanna play! But not Austria - the country the bleeds red.
(Also, for people interested in playing this game on the net, I recommend checking out http://www.diplom.org, the premier site for online Diplomacy.)
Your ignorance, rare as it is, may always be forgiven.
Diplomacy is a boardgame by Avalon Hill, adapted several years ago for postal and email games. The rules are simple and elegant, the tactics and technique are complex. Seven players vie for control of Europe in 1901. No player can accomplish such a task alone: he must enlist the aid of allies, gained by in-game negotiation. Alliances, however, inevitably lead to deception and betrayal. It is the timing of betrayal that is the key to success in Diplomacy.
We would be happy to accept newbies. The rules are simple, but are still copyrighted by Avalon Hill. A clear, concise, and thorough discussion of them can be found here. Much of the technical material can be skipped or skimmed by a beginning player. Please post any questions here!
It’s been freakin’ AGES since I played Diplomacy, and that was back in high school before I learned how to be devious. My e-mail’s available right here on the boards so put me on the list. Please!!!
Sorry, haven’t got the time to get involved in international intrigues right now - but for any newcomers or doubtfuls: Highly recommended. Good, clean, doublecrossing, backstabbing fun! Playing against SDMBers would be something to remember.
Will you post the intermediate results ? I’d love to follow developments and intersperse with snide comments…
Results will be posted in a website along with press. So yes, Spiny Norman, you may add snide remarks if you like.
Green Bean, it is a great game. Lurk the first one if you like, and pop back in if you are interested when it is over. They tend to take several weeks to play to completion.
Four people in only a few hours is a promising start indeed.
Diplomacy was first manufactured by Games Research, Inc. Avalon Hill acquired it many years later. My friends and I used to spend many happy hours stabbing each other in the back over the Diplomacy board. (The original GRI board was prettier than the AH board, IMHO).
I really haven’t got the time now, with Xmas upon us, but I’d love to play sometime. It’s been ages.
This does depend on the length of time given for diplomacy each round. If the decision is to have one game-round each day, then a game can usually end within two weeks, but it is very intensive and tends to require constant attention. Conversely, the longer the round, the longer the game – I played in an email game that had one round every two weeks that went for nearly a year.
LNO, I’m not a big fan of intensive games. I don’t have internet access when I am not at work, which precludes me from contributing on evenings and weekends.
However, two weeks per turn is excessive in the extreme.
I usually give the Spring and Fall of 1901 7 or eight days. The first year is often the most intense, especially since all of the players will actually be alive. Winter and Summer are usually 1 day apiece.
After the first year, I like to shrink the turns down to four or five days, with conditional builds and retreats submitted if possible to keep the game moving.
This sound acceptable?
If 8 people are interested in playing in the first game, I would be happy to moderate only and give up my spot.
Maeglin - that sounds fine to me. I’m way rusty at this so I’ll need a couple days to orient myself and find a couple suckers [sub]errrr…[/sub] potential allies for whatever plans seem viable at the outset. I vote 7 days each for Spring & Fall 1901, then 5 days or all moves submitted (whichever comes first) for all subsequent seasons.
I looked at the Diplomacy site LNO posted and it looks pretty cool. Which editable map D/L do you guys recommend? I’m thinking of putting it on my comp at home so I don’t have to scribble over a bunch of copies.
The Diplomacy Pouch is great. If you are a little rusty, definitely check out some of the articles on openings.
The turn length suggestions work perfectly with me. There will, of course, be a final vote and ruling on that later.
As far as maps…this will be standard diplomacy. We can play some variants later if anyone is interested.
Any of the Hasbro maps will do. Pick one that you have an easy time interpreting. A decent example is located here. I haven’t decided which map I will use to adjudicate yet.
For those interested in more rules sites, Hastur kindly pointed out that the rules are paraphrased (in part) here.
Please don’t hesitate to ask me any rules related questions.
