All right... if Game 2 is to begin this week (which seems a bit fast since we're still missing a few TAs), I'll find a sub (I need one for a few other games anyways). The person I have in mind is of equal experience (maybe a touch more experienced) and can be trusted. I don't want to add to his burden by asking him to play the "school" part of the game though, so if he's not that participatory (which I'm guessing he'll be regardless; he's an enthusiast!) I apologize and will pick it up upon my return.

BABAK: Interesting take on the game. Having little exp., I thought PPSC was actually the basic way to play it. I'll certainly concentrate more on WTA in the future.

Win if you can, draw if you must, survive at all costs.

I'm with Tru Ninja re: PPSC here. It's good for newer players for the purpose of bumping up their points, but they should still play it like it's WTA so they learn the WTA style.

I'm assuming this is now the game 2 thread and that I don't need to be watching the previous thread to know when game 2 starts right?

@Whoever needs to know:

I'm happy to TA any country, but my preferences would be toward England, Turkey, and Italy.

So what's up with game 2?

Yes, this is now the active thread, so the other one can drop off. Here's the lastest list for the setup.

Professors - game 1

rdrivera2005 - 9
President Eden - 28

TA's - game 1

uclabb - 29 - france
Tru Ninja - 63 - italy
basvanopheusden - 80 - russia
MadMarx - 1 - england
Triumvir - 104 - germany
abgemacht - 105 - turkey
goldfinger0303 - 124 - austria

Students

Riphen - 406
Rhinoceros - 654
fabiobaq - 754
EmperorMaximus - 774
NinjaIntervention - 3112
quebeclove - n/a
Leif_Syverson - 328

Professors - game 2

Ivo_ivanov - 8
Tru Ninja - 63 (double)

TA's - game 2

jmo1121109 -?-E/R/I/T
Bonotow - 286 - E/R/T
Pete U - 474 - F/T/I
goldfinger0303 - 124 - E/G/A (double)
Triumvir - 104 - F/G/R (double)
abgemacht -105 - not G (double)
smiley - ? - E/T/I


Students - game 2

Cachimbo - 327
scmoo472 - 1399
acmac10 - 807
Yonni - 1939
Vordemu - n/a
Pepijn - ?
BenGuin - ?

I kicked ThisTakesGumption from game one and put Leif Syverson in there. We have just enough for game two. At Cachimbo's request, I will start game 2 next week, but I'll put up the game right now. Professors for game 1 should start thinking of opening statements for the thread that will be put up tomorrow.

I am shamelessly copying what Tru Ninja said in the other thread, but its the best guide to roles that we have.

Just to list some appropriate rules, I would urge any professors to seer clear of giving any comments that might sway future seasonal moves, like "x is in a tough spot going into the next season. He needs to be talking to Y and forming an alliance if he's going to pull out" or "Y should really ally with X in the next season so that he can accomplish his goal".

If the comments are based only on the things that have already occurred, it gives the students the ability to learn from both the TA and the professor in the forum for future games and doesn't influence the events in the current game.

Alternatively, TA's should find a means of giving the student the control over what to do with the TA giving advice on various ways to proceed. Get the student to come up with their own goals based on your suggestions. This might include things like "at this point in the game, you need to begin thinking about how to seal up the stalemate line to prevent a loss at the hands of X." If a student asks for advice on movement, help him to double-check his moves to ensure that the enemy can't retreat into his backfield. Using questions to answer questions promotes thought and allows the student to transfer learning to future games whereas a straight out answer only applies to this particular game.

@ Draugnar, its hard to let you go but thank you for letting us know now and not later.

@ MM, the games are two day phases, and as a TA you'll be PM'ing guidance and advice to your player (whoever is england) throughout the game.

Game 2 is up. gameID=63029 PW's are going out now. At long last it seems that, with some of us pulling double shifts, we have enough TA's and professors for game 2!

Thank you for organising this school!

I seem to have made a little mistake and never added ButcherChin to the list, though I PM'd him the password. Here's what the game setups are.

Professors - game 1

rdrivera2005 - 9
President Eden - 28

TA's - game 1

uclabb - 29 - france
Tru Ninja - 63 - italy
basvanopheusden - 80 - russia
MadMarx - 1 - england
Triumvir - 104 - germany
abgemacht - 105 - turkey
goldfinger0303 - 124 - austria

Students

Riphen - 406
Rhinoceros - 654
fabiobaq - 754
EmperorMaximus - 774
NinjaIntervention - 3112
quebeclove - n/a
Leif_Syverson - 328

Professors - game 2

Ivo_ivanov - 8
Tru Ninja - 63 (double)

TA's - game 2

jmo1121109 -?-E/R/I/T
Bonotow - 286 - E/R/T
Pete U - 474 - F/T/I
goldfinger0303 - 124 - E/G/A (double)
Triumvir - 104 - F/G/R (double)
abgemacht -105 - not G (double)
smiley - ? - E/T/I


Students - game 2

Cachimbo - 327
scmoo472 - 1399
acmac10 - 807
Yonni - 1939
Pepijn - ?
BenGuin - ?
ButcherChin -?

subs

Vordemu - n/a

Yeah thanks Goldfinger! Just please let me know which country I should "mentor" as TA, or send me the player's ID if you would be so kind.
Curious to see "the other side" of SoW!

Thank everyone for organizing and participating in this :D

If Tru Ninja could assign them that would be great. I'm garbage at that sort of thing. Thanks Ninja :)

I won't be joining until the 7th, because I am going to a family gathering for a 4th of July celebration, As soon as I get back I will jump in the game.
I will be back sometime the 7th.
See you guys when I get back, hope to have a fun celebration and then get to do some diplomacy. :)

Thanks for setting all of this up.
I'll be gone from the 14th-19th so maybe I can get a sub for then.

I am sorry, I have not had power the past 3 days, I'll be back up and running tomorrow though and I'll read through all this then.

Students, this is a reminder that I will be very hesitant to allow sitters and subs in these games. That's a huge hassle. Pauses are allowed and all players should honor any pause requests.

Hey, goldfinger, did you note I'm unavailable for TA duties until Wednesday? I've PM'd the last two that have yet to join game one and asked them to hold off, hope that's okay, I'd hate for whoever draws England to have silence during one of the most critical times of the game.

I can leave the game if you want MM. In case they join with out reading or something.

then i will re join Wednesday

Why did I get bumped down to a sub in the second game? Was it chance or something else?

That would be great, Riphen, I hope you draw England, I like people that go the extra mile for the greater good! ;-)

No, no don't worry about it MM. NinjaIntervention has already been told not to join until Wednesday the 6th, and its two days phases, so even if the game starts Tuesday, you shold be fine. But thank you Riphen for volunteering to help out.

vordemu, I apologize, but it was just completely by chance that you didn't get the slot. Its very possible though that we will need you, so please keep note of the threads and I will PM you if a player cannot continue or drops out

Ah, well. Somebody had to get left out. I'll keep an eye on the threads, but until then I look forward to participating in the next SoW!

vordemu, I may even need you for game one because Leif hasn't joined it yet. I'll check game one in 24 hours or so and if Leif hasn't joined by then, I'll send you the password for it

Okay. I'll be sure to check my private messages regularly.

Just double checking - as soon as game 1 is up and going, each TA should contact their respective countries to get things started?

Also, we'll need to decide what TA is doing what country for game 2. I would rather not TA for the same nation in both, but can if it comes down to it.

As per goldfinger's request, here are the TA assignments for GAME 2. Any TA in both Game 1 and Game 2 should have a different country for each game (double check this, of course).

The Game 2 TA's will be as follows:

Austria: Abgemacht
England: jmo1121109
France: Triumvir
Germany: Goldfinger0303
Italy: Smiley
Russia: Bonotow
Turkey: Pete U

As soon as the game starts, it's up to the TA to notify their player to let them know that they will be TA'ing with them and to guide the conversations. Players are also encouraged to find their TA and send a PM to them to get things started as well. If the TA's have not contacted their players within the first 24 hours of the game, notify goldfinger0303 at that time (please give a full day). This will give him time to try to contact an alternate and give the alternate a heads up of a day or two in case one should drop out.

I also recommend that TA's have some opening remarks for the country. Some of the students may have only rudimentary knowledge of the country or maybe even just the mechanics of how to move pieces and not know the strengths and weaknesses of each country. That's a good place to begin and it assumes nothing. I have my Italian opening already set up and ready to go. It includes an introduction about my successes when playing Italy, some of the strengths and weaknesses of the country, what the player needs to do by the end of the first full year, things to talk about with the other countries on the map, opening moves available to them (the reasonable ones) and also includes sample conversations I've had in S01 when playing Italy to give them some guidance about how to open up to the other countries on the map. This gives the player the ability to read through what you have, process it and come up with some ideas about how to start. It also gives more control to the player and not merely you telling them what to do and say. The suggestions are pretty broad so that they can be applied to games where they play Italy and not just this SoW.

Hope that helps. Also, at the game's end, I'll post my Italian comments in a new thread and I invite the other TA's to do the same thing whether they won, drew, survived or were eliminated.

Uh oh, I'm making a mess of things, goldfinger, sorry. Personally, I think it would be very unfair for a game to start Tuesday and not have a TA available until Wednesday, even if it were 10 day phases, and I did state that I wouldn't TA unless the game did not start before Wednesday. Regardless, I did send Leif a PM asking him not to join until Wednesday, since I was being assigned a spot as a TA (so I assumed my condition would be met). SOOO, please don't give Leif the boot in 24 hours, and sorry again for me messing things up a bit, but I am unavailable (consistently) until Wednesday. If someone else can take over TAing England sooner, feel free to drop me from game one.