Messages - webDiplomacy

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29 Apr 10 UTC	Spring, 1: Hey Carthage, Just a friendly greeting at the beginning of the game. Any arrangements you would like to make?
30 Apr 10 UTC	Spring, 1: Huh, I just noticed this posted on global instead of the Carthage tab. Strange, It was supposed to go there. Whatever.
02 May 10 UTC	Autumn, 2: Game's over, Rome wins.
07 May 10 UTC	Autumn, 4: Welcome to the game, Egypt
08 May 10 UTC	Autumn, 4: Thank you!
09 May 10 UTC	Autumn, 4: ...why would you take over the game midway and then vote to cancel it?
12 May 10 UTC	Autumn, 5: You guys know what happens to people who form ironclad alliances, wipe out everyone else in the game, and declare a two-way draw right? ...the Diplomacy gods damn you to spend an eternity in hell, where they shove tiny little red-hot plastic armies and fleets up your ass while lecturing you on the purity of the game... But really, it's pathetic - what's the point? There's no Diplomacy involved and very little strategy, only the boring tactics of dismantling a helpless foe bit by bit. There's absolutely no reason for the rest of us to continue playing at this point the way you two are playing. How does one surrender in this game? I don't want to Civil Disorder, just flat-out surrender. Is this fun for you? Do you actually value these silly "diplomacy points" this website gives you? The only way I can see to fix this horrible perversion of the game is if "winner take all" actually dismantled the "draw" function, with exceptions possible if there's an actual stalemate... not sure how to work that... oh well.
12 May 10 UTC	Autumn, 5: I have made the suggestion that a draw can be proposed but for a select few, i.e. Rome can propose a draw between Rome and Greece. If all players accept the draw then points are split evenly amongst those in the draw. With the current system the only way to get a two way draw is by eliminating all other players, if you are not one of the two your only option is to roll over and die or fight and hope one of the two dominate players stabs the other and you survive. As for this game, since there are only five players there will likely be a situation of two ganging up on the rest. The two against the world doesn't look as bad when there is a full game of seven.
12 May 10 UTC	Autumn, 5: Well, I can agree with the winner take all flaw but as for diplomacy, there was diplomacy involved. Rome: "greece, let's me allies" Greece: "OK" DIPLOMACY!!! It made perfect sence for us to team up. As for a stabbing situation, I could stab him right now if i wanted to however I am not that big of a back stabber. I make alliances and hold them, for the most part. that is diplomacy as well... If you guys would have made alliances and did not try to take the map all by your lonesome then maybe you would have been in a situation like Greece and I...
12 May 10 UTC	Spring, 6: and no, the points are not that big of a deal, I just like winning, with or with out an ally
13 May 10 UTC	Spring, 6: But that's part of the point; on this board, Greece is so easily stabbed by Rome that it doesn't make sense for him to completely devote himself East - it's part of what balances the game. I guess part of the reason it was so easy for you two to trust each other in this game was Carthage's focusing on Egypt (which I urged him to do, originally planning to turn South in the second year while supporting Greece against a strong Rome, before being stabbed by you buggers) and leaving so much room for Rome to expand West. I just feel like every game I've played on this site, in addition to being plagued by dropouts/CD (which ruins the game), people tend to take the easy road; "lets just be allies and fuck everybody else, regardless of our own long-term strategic interest in WINNING THE GAME." Maybe it's the culture of the site more than the rules, but it doesn't feel like Diplomacy. Face-to-face is great, Postal Diplomacy is another thing (the impracticality and slow pace makes every season mean so much), and Online Diplomacy is logistically practical but often disappointingly lazy. Maybe the answer is only play with people you know online? In games with longer than 24hr seasons? Winner take all with the added agreement of only declaring a draw with two or three countries and even then only when there's a clear stalemate?
13 May 10 UTC	Spring, 6: I'm relatively new to this game - does it ever really turn out the way you're describing? Every game I've seen has always been two people winning together in the end usually without ever stabbing each other, so that's the strategy I've adopted. I've only played this specific map once, I was Persia, and Greece and Rome dominated. I just mirrored the moves that I saw last game that worked, and it turns out it's working OK for me too.
13 May 10 UTC	Spring, 6: The way to get "stabbing" is the winner take all approach as described earlier. On another website you can have as many as four players involved in a draw so each gets 25% of the points and so a solo person gets 100%. Here a person can gain a solo victory and the second place person still earns more points than their original wager - I have personally be involved in a game where the second place person helped get the solo their incentive was the fact that they had 11 supply centers so they earned points.
13 May 10 UTC	Spring, 6: That's not the way the game is supposed to be - if two countries know they MUST fight eventually, they may ally for long enough to defeat a neighbor, but strategically they can't allow their ally to gain too many more SCs than them or gain a significant advantage in position. Because everyone's thinking about the next war it balances out the game and allows even countries who fare poorly in the beginning to continue to influence the outcome of the game. But really I'd say try playing face-to-face, it's a lot more fun (though it's often difficult to get seven people together for 4+ hours).
13 May 10 UTC	Spring, 6: the whole thing is a flaw in the rules. if a game was set so that a draw could not be an option then there would be no problem, as you have said before. however a draw is an option in this game as well as in every other game. 2 super powers could battle it out for way too long of a time so the draw is there. however i understand your frustration. What you want needs to be a separate game from the standard play that webdiplomacy offers