without naming any names.....................
"Okay, I had to do my Insanity workout, gave me some time to reflect... So, I'm going to try and talk conceptually with you, to give you a sense of how I feel about differnt styles of play in diplomacy... Hmmm, I'm not too good at this...
Maybe I should start with trying to take an objective view of our play in this game, a view I think a third party would share. In this game, I think it is fair to say you have played poorly. You have dislodged a unit and allowed it to retreat into one of your centers. You have left certain provinces vacant allowing dislodged units to retreat there. I've gotten more than one apology from you for your poor play.
My play, with regard to the north has been 100% in support of you. When I play, I like control over my area of the board, near my home centers, so I am adamant about giving my allies that same sort of ownership of game play/strategy. I can pretty much guarantee you that if I were Germany in this game, and I had a Russian play the way I have, that England would certainly be dead, France would either be dead or hiding out in Tunis or Italy somewhere, and Russia and I would be seriously discussing if we wanted to try a two-two way. Regardless, I, as Russia, have given you everything you could ever wish for, as far as support in taking control of the northwest and west, you have merely failed to do so with poor play.
So, how do you respond? Do you take ownership of your actions, or sentence another to your jail time? Are you appreciative of me being fully supportive, or are you merely only looking out for yourself? I equate your recent stab as an admission of what I view as the "entitlement" phenomenon in today's youth/world. I've had college graduates come work at my office and they think that since they breath, they deserve a pay check. They think nothing of being productive or doing work that the office can actually bill for, it's all about them, in the moment, right here and right now, 100% selfish. They have no sense for how they got to where they are, who paved the way for them, they have no loyalty to anyone other than themself. I equate your stab to LeBron James, unable to win a title in Cleveland, so he quit on his home team to make big money with other big stars for them to get him his championship. It's a shortcut. It's not taking ownership of your actions, it's not having any pride in your abilities and a willingness to use anyone and everyone for your own benefit. I equate your stab with the New York Yankees, and all that is wrong with baseball, the ownership is rich, they go out and buy the best players and attempt to buy a championship.
Again, to summarize your play in this game, relative incompetence for years on end, and since you could not advance your self in this game, even with a ton of help from me, you take short cut to success at the expense of someone that should have gained your respect in here. It's the Donald Trump approach, nothing personal it's only business, 100% self-serving, step on anyone in your way. My friend that I've been going to visit got divorced because of his acoholism. His best friend of over 20 years is now living with my friends ex-wife. I view that as the lowest of lows, something I would never ever consider as being an option. I relate to this game and your style of play. There's a "selfish/entitled" way to play, and there's a "selfless" way to play. I relate the selfish way to play to Jerry Sandusky, creating a charity for kids and then molesting those children. Doesn't matter who gets hurt, as long as Jerry gets what he wants. That's obviously an extreme example, and few people actually live at the extremes. If we say a 100% "selfless" style of play is zero, and 100% "selfish/entitled" style of play is 100, then, for arguments sake, I could say I am a 25 (three times more selfless than selfish), while I could say you are a 75 (three times more selfish than selfless). So, clearly Jerry Sandusky is at 100% selfish. Anyway, I think your stab in here, of me, is an absolute crime that I can't imagine ever committing, ever, under similar circumstances. To me, I relate your actions to LeBron James, the New York Yankees, Donald Trump. That's a nice list to be in, isn't it?! Impressive people/teams... Regardless, I feel like you robbed the bank and set me up to go to jail for your crime. I feel like we were best friends and you married my ex-wife. I feel like your actions are those of a spoiled rotten snot nosed little rich kid that thinks the world revolves around him and has no sense of anyone else. I feel your actions in here are pure evil, 100% self-serving, and representative of what is wrong with the direction this website is going.
Again, I just started exaggerating a *lot* in an attempt to make a point. I think there should be morals and ethics in a game of diplomacy. For example, I think old-school dilomacy players feel a solo is unacceptable, so they will gladly be killed by dumbasses if that's what it means to not give up a solo. I think that is ridiculous, so in that sense, my view is much more selfish than that view. The view of the game of diplomacy is relative and it changes. I think there should be more selfless play, like mine, and you clearly think that a self-serving approach that only considers yourself is the way to go. No emotion, just math. No sense of community or that the game is a social undertaking with a certain amount of respect for others and pride in your own play/actions being any part of it. I think that is wrong. So, in my view, this website, where ever it has been on the spectrum of "selfless" versus "selfish", it is clearly moving in the "selfish" direction, and you are clearly one of the trailblazers, leading the way.
To me, it's like cheating on a test and being proud of your score. How can you play so poorly, and then stab the one person that has kept you in the game at all, and be proud of your ability to play the game of diplomacy? Do you have no pride? If I were you, I'd gladly accept death for playing as you have, yet we were on our way to a three-way draw, and that's the real insult, after all of done for you, when you could do very little for yourself, you're going to throw me under the bus for a worse outcome than you could have had with me. We could have had a three-way draw, very likely, and now the odds of a small draw have diminished significantly, the odds of a large draw have increased. It's illogical, unless all you care about is yourself, which is clearly the case.
Another angle to look at this. It's delayed gratification versus instant gratification. There's no sense of process or the big picture in your play in here, it's all about you wanting something right now regardless of how you get it, you are willing to stoop to the lowest of levels to get what you want. I'm the sort to pay my dues, work hard to advance myself, and respect others that have done the same. Your play is that of screwing over anyone and anyone around you to get what you want.
Not sure if any of this is giving you a sense of why I think your play in here, specifically stabbing me after I've been nothing but good to you and you have failed to advance yourself, is why I think your play is all that is wrong with this site, but it's a conceptual sort of thing that is hard to explain. I think there is a right way to do things in life and in diplomacy, a way that involves a certain amount of respect for others and being accountable for your own actions... Perhaps it's a generational thing, or whatever, we clearly see it differently. I was raised to take pleasure in making others happy. Sort of the "it's better to give than receive" approach. I think of the greater good and I think success should relate to doing the right thing and being a good person, etc. etc. Perhaps it's an ancient way to view life, and it certainly gets me hurt, selfishness is the way of the world these days, so if you choose to participate in that sort of thing, it is your choice, but I can still tell you what I think about it.
I view your play in here as someone having troubles in life and turning to drugs and alcohol. It's a short cut. It's not dealing with the tough times, it's searching out an easy answer, with immediate satisfaction, never thinking about the long term affects, all about the moment and yourself. Life isn't easy, tough times present themself constantly, and I tend to take notice of how people deal with tough times, do they take on the challenge, buckle down and do the hard work required, or do they run and hide, steal and cheat, etc. etc. Clearly, I view your play in this game as worthless and have no respect for your play in here whatsoever, you are taking no ownership of what you've done, you are blaming me for your problems and making me pay the price of your incompetence. It pains me that that is the sort of player you are, and that sort of play makes me fear the future of this site, as I think it's rather contagious.
To be clear, I exaggerate constantly, so do take all of this with a grain of salt. My main point is this: I think my style of play is more selfless than selfish, I think your syle of play is more selfish than selfless, and I think webDip is shifting towards more selfish play. As far as this game specifically, your actions are unacceptable to me, and I would never have done what you are doing if the situations were reversed, it would not even be a consideration, kind of like how I would not ever consider dating my best friend's ex-wife. My views may be extreme to some, they may be extreme to you, but in the end, it is much more of a burden to me than to you, so feel free to get the last laugh on me, I willing open myself up to that sort of thing, and you won't be the last to take advantage, it's the way things are moving in life and on webDip."
Gunboat with 12 Hour Phases
Gunboat Series after which I welcome commentary and EOGs. Links to games are also inside.
)
)
)
)
)
