In the "New Game" page, does the default bet size change based on how many points you have available? I've noticed that the default setting for me is now 50 , which is more than it was before.

Does the game always end right after the autumn moves (and before the retreats), once a player has taken his 18th center? What if another player has a possible retreat that could take an SC from the leader bringing him back down to 17?

1st question: don't know the answer

2nd question: ATM it ends before the retreat phase; this bug has been mentioned before in the forum and I think it is to be changed someday.

yes, the bet size always changes depending on how many points you have.
the game will end in autumn if there is no possible retreats to bring the winner down, but if there is, it will go to retreats first

what Justin said

Justin, are you sure? Troodonte is saying the contrary.

I find it a little unlikely that the website would have a conditional retreat phase. Auto-disbands aren't even implemented.

I believe... this is because the adjudicator does not bother generating a list of possible legal moves for players. The drop down menus for orders are actually generated client-side with javascript, so the website (server-side) doesn't actually know whether or not any retreats are possible.

Troodonte, are you sure? I didn't find a mention of this bug in the developer forum (forum.webdiplomacy.net). So maybe Justin is right and it never was a bug in the first place.

Can someone post an example of a game where an autumn retreat was processed in order to take the leader back down to 17? Or an example of a game ending right before autumn retreats, but where an autumn retreat could have prevented the win?

Here is an example of a game ending before retreats, but where there was no retreat to prevent the win.
gameID=33531

I know that ending before retreats was a known bug at some point. It may have been fixed, but I never heard about the fix.

I bet it is not fixed.

Fixing the bug would require code for the servers to be able to generate a list of possible retreats and then evaluate those possibilities to see if it is possible for a retreat to prevent the win. If this bug was fixed, I don't see why auto-disbands (for retreats and adjustments where it is the only option) haven't been implemented as well.

I don't think it would be a huge deal if the bug existed though. It's really just a different interpretation of the rules.

Here is the dev forum post regarding this bug:
http://forum.webdiplomacy.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=448

As far as I know, it has not yet been resolved.

It is not a different interpretation of the rules. The rules say: "After a Fall Turn, if one Great Power controls 18 or more supply centers, the game ends and that player is declared the winner."

And the rules also specify the "Fall Turn" includes:
1. Diplomatic Phase
2. Order Writing Phase
3. Order Resolution Phase
4. Retreat and Disbanding Phase
5. Gaining and Losing Units Phase

So the game should not end until after retreats.

The quick fix would be to not end the game until the build/disband phase has been adjudicated. But that would extend every game in which someone wins (as opposed to a draw). Personally I'd be fine with that as it gives you a chance to have some End of Game discussion while still getting the message notification that you don't get on games that are marked as being over.

What Alderian said :)

yebellz
Are dure that in the game example you mentioned, the retreat would prevent the win?
I don't see how...

*sure

yebellz said that there was no retreat that could prevent the win. It was just an example that the game ended before the retreats were processed.

You are correct....
I thought he said that if there were a retreat it could prevent the win. Nevermind :)

is there any way to set up a game where you can build on any SC such as if I am russia and I have captured Rumania and when it comes to my build stage I can build an army or fleet, I could build one in Rumania instead of my original 4?

On olidip (a sister site with experimental variations) but not on here. Kestas wants this site to be as stable as possible so it takes longer for variants to make it here.

ah I see, I really like how this site has the map set up and shows clear movement patterns but like every site I've seen, they can get a bit obscured like when you move into tight places like italy

Click on the little "maximize" icon right under the map and a bigger map will open up that is easier to read and includes all moves, including cut supports.

yeah I've seen that, and use it quite frequently. thanks for the answer

@Alderian: Thanks, I guess the rules are quite explicit about it. I actually just checked it myself this afternoon and saw that as well. However, I wouldn't really mind it too much as a "House Rule". This website has at least a couple of those, namely, discussion is allowed during retreats and builds.