vWDC Masterclass: Outguessing Opponents

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swordsman3003
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vWDC Masterclass: Outguessing Opponents

#1 Post by swordsman3003 » Sat Oct 30, 2021 4:27 pm

Yours truly hosted this Masterclass, on what is probably my favorite topic in all of GAMING, not just Diplomacy (although it is as relevant as it gets). I poured a lot of effort into this one, and the actual class is pretty long and thorough—truly a master class on the topic.

vWDC Masterclass: Outguessing Opponents

FYI, you can listen to this one the webpage, or on YouTube, or you can go to your podcast app and subscribe to BrotherBored’s Diplomacy Dojo.
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3xPlusGood
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Re: vWDC Masterclass: Outguessing Opponents

#2 Post by 3xPlusGood » Tue Nov 02, 2021 12:06 am

This was a fabulous master class. I am familiar with the concept of "yomi" in terms of fencing, my favorite sport, of which I am a coach. We call it "eyes open", meaning that as you are performing your actions (attack, defense, etc.) you keep yourself mentally nimble to anticipate and react to changes in the opponents strategy. I.e. you can tell AHEAD OF TIME when someone is luring you into an trap if you watch how they manage their distance from you, timing of their actions, and movements of the blade. This requires an immense amount of observational skill, as well as producing theory about your opponents intentions moment to moment.

The phrase I always hear is "he who commits LAST, wins". Meaning that if you commit to a CHANGE in strategy last, you will come out on top. This means countering the evolving counter, or Yomi level 2, as you called it. If you perform Yomi 1 with your "eyes closed", you give your opponent the option of choosing Yomi 2 in response. They committed last. You noted that Yomi 2 is beaten by Yomi 0, meaning that there is a cyclical nature to the tactical choices. In fencing, we have a 6 step cyclical "tactical wheel" that demonstrates how a counter to a counter is beaten by the simplest of attacks.

Fascinating stuff, friend, and well presented. I was thrilled to see how these same concepts apply to Diplomacy.
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swordsman3003
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Re: vWDC Masterclass: Outguessing Opponents

#3 Post by swordsman3003 » Mon Nov 08, 2021 4:13 am

I really appreciate the positive feedback, and your comparison to another activity. I often find myself educating others on general skills or general game concepts that are necessary to get really good at Diplomacy, but aren’t Diplomacy-specific skills.

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