I have this image of some opening the image and seeing dickbutt.

http://i.imgur.com/pL1RY6g.png

*cough* Typo in the screenshot, "yes" should be "no". But you get the point.

Please note that you must still follow other relevant rules of the site:

You cannot fake claim meta/multi, you or yourself
You cannot fake claim a bug with the site, especially related to orders

It would be too easy to fake a screen shot.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8zDl6Y-moiIYUFVcTRYSHJlSkk/view?usp=sharing

How does sharing message screenshot (fake or otherwise) violate those rules you quoted, Valis2501?

They're rules that apply to all communication, not just screenshots.

4. Do not use the software or moderators as a diplomacy tactic

Lying is fine in Diplomacy except when it gives mods/admins unnecessary work to do!

Falsely accusing someone of being a multi-accounter/meta-gaming to rally others against them in a game, or claiming that your orders didn't come out the way you entered them to cover up your motives, means mods/admins spend time looking for cheaters/bugs which were made up.

All accusations against other players must be made directly to the mod/admin team directly as specified below, in private, for this reason, and software bug claims must be genuine, even if only told to another player. Avoid making cheating accusations in game, via pm, or on the forum.

-http://webdiplomacy.net/rules.php

But faking a screenshort does not mean that you are accusing anyone of metagaming.

And it is not taking advantage of a bug in the software. Unless webdiplomacy has a more specific definition of "bug" that somehow addresses this issue.

Edi Birsan actually use this exact tactic in a play by mail game. He forged another players correspondence will alterations to what was actually written.

In this day and age you would have to be pretty damn naive to believe a screenshot. They're so easy to fake.

The rule about not using the software as a tactic actually stems from an incident where a player (Draugnar in fact) refused to unpause the game unless certain conditions were met. That is taking unfair advantage of the software.

Can we take a step back and ask why you think I claim it violates any rules by itself? Will you please read my post again?

I send about 10 screenshots a week, 6 unadultered and 4 doctored, on average.

The context? We're discussing screenshots. What has your comment go to do with screenshots. I assume there was some relevance?

I never trust screenshots that I didn't make.

A: Is [THING] against the rules?
B: No.
Me: Just make sure you don't break any general rules in doing so

If you can't understand I'm saying "Screenshots are allowed in general, but you still can't break Rule 4 with screenshots", I don't know how to get through to you. I was just reminding people of Rule 4 and that faking screenshots is fine, even though there are some things you're not allowed to fake in the screenshot (things that would violate Rule 4). This will be my last attempt to explain a very simple post.

Look its no big deal, but that is not what your first couple of posts implied. Sorry if I misunderstood. If did ask for clarification, but your next post still didn't make your point clear. I get what you are saying now.

It was clear. You made a dodgy inference, that's all.

It's not a dodgy inference. Valis2501's post was ambiguous. It so happens that it didn't mean what I thought he meant but it could have easily meant that. You could conceivably make a case that altering the HTML is taking advantage of the limitations software.

So the rude comments that followed were uncalled for.

First, *if* Valis' post was ambiguous, your inference was still dodgy, so you're not making a relevant claim. Second, Valis' post was not ambiguous--it was clearly a follow-on to ATC's answer, clarifying that just because posting screenshots is admissible per se doesn't mean you can't break the rules in the process. There was nothing about "taking advantage of the limitations software."

So, you were persistently misinterpreting someone and he was (eventually) brusque about correcting you. Welcome to the internet, enjoy your stay.

I assumed the Valis2510 first comment had some relevance to the topic. That he was addressing Jamiet99UK's question. Hence my first misunderstanding which is why I asked:

"How does sharing message screenshot (fake or otherwise) violate those rules you quoted, Valis2501?"

Valis2501 replies directly under me quoting the rules:

"Do not use the software or moderators as a diplomacy tactic."

Can you see the ambiguity now? As a reply to my question, it reads like an explanation of why taking screenshots might be a violation. That hardly "persistently misinterpreting someone".

Why not just say:
"Screenshots are fine. Just don't break other rules". (not sure why this needs to be reinforced, but anyway).

It was a trivial misunderstanding, so what's with the attitude?

Okay guys. Is this really something worth arguing about? Spyman inferred wrong, now it's clarified. Does this need to continue?

Back to the actual topic.

I've never actually seen someone use this strategy before. Do people actually do this?

Yes apparently so. This topic has come up many times over the years.

I have seen it used. I actually attempted it once for the sake of trying it. I wouldn't call it the best tactic; too much variable, I guess if someone demanded you send them a screenshot you could use an altered shot to appease them while still hiding your intentions. But still I used it and it wasn't worth it.

lol. CommanderByron, did you send a screenshot of the actual text, or did you send a doctored screenshot?

What was the response?

doctored. the recipient was not pleased and i was made when they confronted the 3rd party who's text i doctored. It wasn't hard; but I likely wouldn't do it again.

wasn't fun and was too uncontrollable.

I see. Too much chance of it backfiring then.
I don't think I have ever lied about what another player has said to me. I don't have enough courage for that. I feel bad enough when I stab someone.

Doctored screenshots are extremely useful in demonstrating to another player how easy it is to doctor a screenshot, and then implying that the person who used the screenshot first is almost certainly a lying bastard.

It has been known for a player to send a particularly outrageous message to one of his neighbours, essentially goading him into sending a screenshot to a third party, in the hope of generating just such a result :).

For the record I found Valis' first message almost totally incomprehensible ;).

Tl;dr: screenshots are fine, but you're an idiot of you trust them more than any other correspondence.