please. i always like how those guys talk even tho i kinda hate sports and don't really know anything about any of them.

Same here. I know nothing about sports, but I totally want that ability to draw little circles on the map!

:O That would be awesome!
There was for a short while back in around 1998 a kids TV program about a boy who put CCTV around his house and watched everyone. He would draw fake moustaches on them and stuff, and this was in the days before Big Bother etc came.

I so want to be able to draw those circles in real life. "Right, to get lunch, we'll manoever round behind this group here, and tag in here <back of queue>. We'll slipstream round to here <front>, present tokens to the assistant, dart round here and collect our food.". With circles

Sorry, kinda went off on one, but basically I want to draw those lines and circles in real life

@Onar - Madden retired this year.

We should totally have that ability on this site!

i think ppsc is a fine way to play diplomacy (it gives a civil and human dimension to the game)

but more over, DD's "friends-forever" strategy is very legitimate - his points a-test to that

laurence, can you stay on topic please? we're discussing the finer points of sports announcing here ;P

The real difficulty in turning Dip into a spectator sport is that everything important happens during the talking. Of course you could film the talking, but it is not long before someone tries to spy by accessing the footage.

Wouldn't the footage not be made available until the end of a game?

If you don't stop filming until the game is over, no problem!

but that's why the "meta-diplomacy" game should be fun (i hope) b/c it's a gunboat game as far as the players are concerned, but then there's the peanut gallery. still, it's a good point. public press games also have a bit more of the spectator fun to them.

It just needs to be done like the World Series of Poker. Film everything, but only show interesting things...

That wounds perfect, to me! Let's get someone to contact ESPN, ASAP!

Ok, this is ridiculous.

Any tactic is valid in diplomacy, including throwing an unwinnable game to Player A to piss off Player B (who is attacking you incessantly), if it allows you to meet your goals in the end.

If your 'goal' is 'solo victory whenever possible', stab away. If it is 'be trusted as a good ally, so those rare stabs are that much more effective when they come', then stick to your alliances.

Generally I stick to my alliances, it doesn't necessarily always work out. That doesn't mean I'm going postal on everyone every time I get stabbed, it means that *in general* I try to develop a rep of a person who keeps his word. This makes other people *much* more likely to work with me against Mr. Stabbypants than hope Mr. Stabbypants won't want into their unsecured rear areas on a whim.

If I *know* you're going to come for me sooner or later, I'm certainly not going to make it *easy* for you, which makes it harder to pound on someone else. Which usually means someone *else* wins, because I'm busy protecting against a stab instead of gaining SCs

@ stratagos
But if you have already got your alliance to the point where you are in reach of a solo victory, by definition you must have co-operated intensly with your ally. Therefore you have co-operated with them more than stabbed them.
I always play the game on the basis that you try to make "perfect play". If I am stabbed I know it is my own fault somewhere along the line. If we keep allying, and you keep stabbing me, does it mean that you are stab happy or that I am a sucker? Probably the latter since a stab for a solo is excusably unresistable. I would ally with the stabber again, since the alliance has shown its potential and I would hope that I have learned from my error enough to prevent another stab or even reverse it.

Actually, I was running from the commentary in the WSP. You know, poker, a man's game/sport, except when the gorgeous women get involved like Shannon Elizabeth. Mmmmm... American Pie...

not gonna lie, that would be AWESOME.

Strip Diplomacy with Shannon Elizabeth and Jennifer Tilly... Everytime you lose an SC you lose a piece of clothing. Might alter who you try to stab!

On the Playboy Channel or CineMAX late night.

Or a new channel... ESPN-X for eXplicit (not eXtreme).

Don't you think that allying together strongly can lead to your downfall ? E.g your teammate is dying, but won't let you claim their last center.

I find most allies will give you their last center provided you aren't the one brought them down.

The BEST thing about having a good draw record is you can easily convince a player to be your ally, and it sets up a sweet sweet stab. And every time they will quote your words: "Look at my record, I'm a faithful ally!". STAB -- oh the pain..!

ag7433, I will never trust you again. lol

Why not? My draw record is amazing. I have more of them than Survives. (This is my vampire approach)

@djbent i say what i wan,t when i want, damnit. now what's with all this peanut talk, i feel a snack coming on.

Entering a game with a prearranged alliance: wrong
Forming a game long aliance within a game: perfectly acceptable
It might not be the best strategy (in an some players eyes), but each player must play the game as they see fit within the boundaries of the rules.

Winning a game with a two-way draw and pissing off the 'purists': priceless.

I agree with spyman on the issue of entering the game with a pre-arranged alliance. That certainly feels as if it is against the spirit of the game to me.

Apart from that, however, I see no reason in making game-long alliances. Why not? I also see nothing wrong with playing for a draw, as long as you gain points from the draw. The fact is that a good draw can really boost your points, and must therefore be counted as a success. If I pay 50 points to enter a game, and draw 50/50 with the last remaining player, I pocket at least 175 points, a gain of 125. That's a good result in my book.