Answer to 1-4: it depends, this is a dynamic game that depends on who is playing each power and your interactions with them.

5. No, just takes time to learn Austria.

how about your usual no chat experience?

1. Should you hate the player or hate the game?

2. Who here has got game?

3. What is the generic form for mixed strategy Nash equilibrium in this game?

4. Is it legal to hunt for game on this site?

5. Where is the nearest outlet of Game? I'd like to rent a copy of the latest Skyrim.

@KingShem - as Gen. Lee said, its a case-by-case situation. BUT, if you want to see some success stories for each country, check out http://tournaments.webdiplomacy.net/home. Its our tournaments website, so you can go through the game history of games played by the best players on the site. You'll see success stories of every country, and by checking these out, you can see what decisions each country should (or should not) make in different scenarios.

And yeah, it just takes time to learn Austria, but once Austria masters the Balkans and gets to 7 SC's or so, he's hard to stop.

1. It all depends on the situation.
2. It all depends on the situation.
3. It all depends on the situation.
4. It all depends on the situation.
5. It all depends on the situation.
No seriously, #1 really does depend on the situation that you are in, and how closely you are allied with france/russia.
For #2, just send out messages to all of your neighbors, and open based on the responses you get from them. If you are looking for a list of openings (and this goes for your question about italy too), you can find them here:
http://www.diplom.org/Online/Openings/
3+4. That's a matter of personal opinion. In my experience, an all out attack against italy can work, but only if you pit Russia and turkey against each other so they don't make gains on austria too quickly while he is fighting you. If not, bide your time and once the time is right, go for the stab (this could be as early as autumn 1901 or when you are turn away from the solo.)
5. Austria's survival depends on the decisions of those around him. If italy tries to attack you, you're pretty much done. Thus, Austria is the country where its most vital to diplomacy with others to make sure that they ally with you. if you can get into an alliance with one of your neighbors and get a 2nd to ignore you or join in on the alliance, you should be set for early game. After you get past 6 centers, you are tough to stop due to your close proximity to so many centers.
I hope this answers all of your questions.

@ava - you should really try some of the DLC then. They're supposedly good, but small - a few extra hours of gameplay

so austria is at the hands of italy especially with no chats >.<

Pretty much. I mean, you can say the same of many other countries in Diplomacy though, such as, I dont know, Britain and France, but yes, it seems to me like the Italian move against Austria in 1901 has the greatest affect on the game play and Austria's chances.

Does anyone here use vdiplomacy?
it has cool maps but very less players.

who is zultar is he new?

In my opinion it is more than counter productive to attack Austria when you are Italy. The only viable method is a crusher, and even if you pull that one the risks involved for Italy don't usually outweigh the gains.
My best games, both with italy and austria, were when cooperating. Either you turn on turkey together or italy turns on france but those choices depend on what the board looks like. If turkey goes for russia and vice versa austria i usually go for france, when a juggernaut seems to be in the making i will turn on turkey with everything i have. Against austria and italy combined turkey usually just dies. Of course i always assume real cooperation which includes giving each other supports.

One of the things i hate the most is when italy performs a single unit stab at austria. I can't even describe how stupid that is. It usually destroys austria in the long run but every time, and i do mean EVERY TIME, that happens italy gets destroyed aswell.

Also in response to avas question #1: Always hate the player. The game is inocent.

why is there a system glitch in my ?gameID=115847