I think I'm going to write intros for everyone but me. You can't tell me what to do.
Here's a little bit about why I'm excited to play with these players (in the order from PW's post):
peterwiggin:
PW is our current #1 (as ranked by GhostRating), and one of webdiplomacy's most effective soloists. Look at
gameID=159213, which he soloed in 1910 by crossing all meaningful stalemate lines without having built any fleets. We've never played together before - although we have discussed games we're both watching quite a bit. I'm looking forward to playing him for the first time. He has a win percentage of 22%.
Daximus:
Daximus is the #2 seed in the Online Diplomacy Championship (which I understand is because of his high rating on PlayDiplomacy). I'm looking forward to playing against Daximus, because I expect that the different fashions of play between webdip and playdip will shake things up - certainly the ODC is benefitting from this shake up already.
uclabb:
Uclabb is easily one of the top players on webdip, and comes in at #6 by GR. He's been a very insightful commentator on more than one SoW, and I have a great deal of respect for his play. This kind of "reverse-SoW" game is something we discussed a bit during the two-players-per-country game, so of course he had to be invited. I'm looking forward to playing him again. He's another high win percentage player, with 21% wins.
Balki Bartokomous:
Another playdipper and ODC soloist, Balki has come out of the gate swinging. Balki has a 100% W/D percentage (ok, ok, from only two games). I've heard Balki has an effective press style, so I'm looking forward to playing together. The same things I said about playdip and Daximus apply here too. Here's Balki's ODC solo for those playing at home:
gameID=159211Chumbles:
I'm not going to out his identity (although I think he has de-cloaked in the forum before), but Chumbles is a contender for the player on the site with the longest relationship with Diplomacy. He can confirm this, but I think he said he used to play with Richard Sharp around the time he was writing The Game of Diplomacy. Chumbles has a high win percentage of 21%, and I'm looking forward to playing with some of the old guard of Diplomacy (I think we've played together before, but only in gunboat).
Yaleunc:
Speaking of gunboat, Yaleunc is a terrifyingly good gunboater, and easily one of the best on the site. I think all strong Diplomacy players need a good grasp of grand strategy - but it is *essential* in gunboat, where you can't hide yourself behind effective press. Having played a few gunboat games with Yaleunc recently, I'm looking forward to seeing the press that accompanies the terrifying moves.
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Help me buy a scientific computing desktop
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