can you have some people with permission to post blog entries about the tournament on a site? or will there be a twitter stream/live video stream of some kind?

That's not a bad idea. We'll chat with Ghost and see what we can set up.

well it is possible to create another site, and then embed some of the content (without having to share posting privileges with other players...

Yeah, but if Ghost doesn't mind, it would be nice to keep everything in one place.

My same comment from another thread 5 minutes ago---LOL I attended one FTF and the pace was frenetically fast! You want notes on "how each country moved in the first two seasons and who owned what locations at the end of the game (eliminations, survivals, draws, # centers etc) and what units each country had on the board at the game's end " I don't think any player could pull that off, even the geniuses in this crowd. THe only way to do it would be if they were not actual players in the game.

Same comment here. The players and Tournament Director (who also might be playing) will be completely frantically busy,unless they are defeated. Imagine diploming with several people, plus waiting your turn to talk to those people, plus writing down your moves, all in about 12 minutes, then the timer rings, you read the orders and move the pieces and do it again! And again and again for about 6 hours. Exhilirating and exhausting, yes. Time for taking notes or hooking up live feeds for a blog, no.

ab, do you think it would be a good idea to note in your "draw" section that it's perfectly valid to propose a draw and draw vote that does not include everyone currently in the game?

Up in Seattle, it was getting late and one guy said he would not accept a draw with Austria, there were four of us left in the game, then all four of us agreed to / voted for a three-way draw, even Austria.

I know you said "an Austria" could vote himself out of a draw, but if I were the guy casting a vote draw and was adamant Austria should not be included, no way I vote draw and "hope" Austria follows through with putting both a fleet and an army into the hat...

In Seattle, at the end of each year it was noted how many supply centers each great power had.

@MM

Good point. I'll change the way people can get out of a draw.

@abge, you can easily include a google doc on that site, and then give out permission for palyers to edit the google doc (from their own account) without them needing permission to edit the website...

or perhaps one doc per game or round, whatever suits best.

an advantage of the doc is being able to include pictures, links to other websites, having a group edit the document and collaborate on the document (aswell as having space for discussion and having a record of previous revisions...)

and google sites makes it really easy to embed!

The draw vote worked well in Seattle, you could propose any kind of draw you wanted, and if Austria didn't want to get voted out of the draw he just would have said no and we would not have taken a draw vote, but since Austria agreed to vote on a three-way draw that did not include Austria, then that's the draw we could vote for or against that time around.

ab, under "Tournament Info (Tentative):" on the Boston website, it says games start at 9:30am, but in the viewable document of the rules, it says 9am.

In Seattle, they gave us complimentary yachts.

In Seattle, there was valet parking.

In Seattle...

I'm just kidding - hey I don't see the rules... am I an idiot?

Oh yes apparently so. Found them.

@Thucy - Yes. Yes you are. You asked. :-)

well... very nice. i'm pumped

i think the rules are fair and good.

Also what do you mean vote yourself out of a draw? Also, how do you know someone didn't say, put in two fleets or two armies?

Oh yeah and how much cash should we bring for the food

Or are we eating out somewhere else (i.e. not delivered)

Hey, Thucy, ab asked especially of those that have F2F experience, so I'm just trying to add a little weight to my comments, so it's not so much like they're coming from some wingnut off the streets... though I do have just that one F2F experience... Plus, "Pod Cast Nathan" was tournament director in Seattle, that's got to add a little weight as well! :-P

Lol I have no problem with it MM I was just making fun... I'm kind of a court jester sometimes. Wasn't meant to mean anything really

"Also what do you mean vote yourself out of a draw?"

Well, if the writing is on the wall, and a fourth player will be eliminated in due time, everyone can save a bit of time by jus agreeing that fourth player won't be part of the draw and place a vote. I think that person still gets points for their supply centers though, as I understand it, and those three in the draw could have gotten more points for centers owned if they did go through with eliminating the fourth person.

I know, I thought it was funny, and felt a bit... "off" by bringing up Seattle repeatedly, but there you have it...

Yes, MM is right about how voting yourself out of a draw will work and I'll change it so that it's clearer.

As to the time, I suspect we'll start the game at 930, but I want people there by 9.

I honestly have no idea how food will work. Crazy will be working on that.

@MM

How do you feel about the phase length? Too long or OK?

Ab, if you want to start at 9:30 you absolutely don't want to say to get there by 9:30, please put 9am everywhere!

I have no idea how long our phases were, that part is a total blur, but I'm sure Babak or someone else with extensive F2F experience can comment on phase length.

have not had a chance to read the doc yet. will try to do so tomorrow.

as for the draw vote... the way I've seen it done in various ftf settings is a draw is proposed (could include all remaining players, or any other proposed combination of remaining players. you could even propose a solo). if no one is willing to publicly vote 'no', then a tournament director comes over.

each person is given an 'army' and a 'fleet' of their own color. they then cast their 'vote' by putting either the army or the fleet into a hat (anonymously) (for eg. army=yes, fleet=no). then the tournament director looks in the hat, if there are no fleets, then the vote passes. the only person who ever knows which player voted no is the director - and it remains anonymous forever.

I have seen (or heard about) plenty of cases where a particular player proposes a certain draw, then votes 'no' themselves... then goes talking to other players trying to insinuate that another player is the one staying in the way of the game finishing etc etc... so it CAN and IS used for diplomatic advantage. but the key point is that the voting is anonymous and that any proposed draw has to be unanimous.

keep in mind, a VAST majority (maybe 75%) of FtF games end in this manner with some sort of proposed draw. so it is very common for smaller players to vote themselves OUT of the draw just to finish off the game because the ending is obvious to all. in some, but very rare, instances, even a solo can be voted on when the remaining players realize that it is inevitable, but will take hours to play out etc.

just my two cents.

We also have to consider that we have a time limit. What happens when a game 'times out'. I would suggest that we use a 0.5 per SC when the time limit has been reached and no draw could be agreed upon.

oh yeah i meant to ask what joey1 said what happens if you run out of time.

also advance warning that my flight is a 5:10 sunday and thusly i may have to leave just before the last game finished assuming im still alive.

Comments on the above questions:
1. Ab is a saint! Remember people he has a life! (besides being TD for us) Please do not pepper him with too many detailed questions or complicated requests.
2. Be there at 9,to meet everyone, get breakfast, and learn/argue about all the rules. game starts at 930
3. Food/ times/meal breaks should be posted on the web site. Breakfast both days is included in your fee. Snacks are included. We'll break for a quick lunch on your own , to get some fresh air. Dinner will be take-out and will cost maybe $10 or so per person, maybe less
4. Joey is another saint! Bringing coffee, soda and other supplies. Yippee!

@joey

The more prizes the merrier. I have a couple, but if you want to find some, go for it. Just remember to keep it cheap, cheap, cheap, so we can reimburse you.

to answer joey and Thuc... the tournaments I have played do not 'punish' playes whose games have not finished in time. they usually just end in a DIAS (draw includes all sides) or a vote is taken excluding the small powers that will inevitably be eliminated... there is an 'honor code' of sorts which basically prompts smaller and soon-to-be-eliminated players to vote for draws that do not include them... but I don't think its a hard-and-fast rule so if a small 2 center power wants to be an ass (say france in por/spa) they can be.

Let me explain (briefly) the thought process I had behind my scoring system, which should help clarify somethings:

If you get a solo in either game on Saturday, you will make it to the finals on sunday.
The PPSC bonus servers two purposes: 1) It makes it unlikely any two people will have the exact same score, because I don't want to deal with ties. 2) It will give small countries incentive to vote themselves out of a draw while they still have some centers, so that games don't drag on forever.

Yes thank you joey coffee is my drug of choice. I am as excited about the coffee as I am about the diplomacy.

Coffee goes well with everything.

Coffee and guacamole.
Coffee and diplomacy.
Coffee and beer
Coffee and wood-paneled rooms
Coffee and fluorescent lighting
Coffee and textbooks
Coffee and tournament planning

Much love.

Also yeah don't bust your ass too much guys I for one am happy with whatever you come up with

Neither my wife nor I are coffee drinkers so I can bring our coffee pot. Around here the standard coffee is Tim Hortons. Should I bring some to let my Canadian background show or are there other standard American preferences?

I will get some prizes at the dollar stores on my way. I have a couple of ideas that could be fun, I'll see if I can find the stuff that I need (no promises) and I will keep it to less then $15

Will order pads be provided to participants for consistency or should we each bring our own?

Joey and I are bringing the pads and pens

can it possibly be pencils? if its not trouble. because erasure is almost like a strategy of its own

and there is a local austin coffee brand that i like so i'm down with whatever you bring. i had tim hortons when i visited my ex girlfriend in ohio last winter... i don't think its only canada that does that.

can we call this the international webdip tournament since youre from canada?

If you are the coffee expert, I welcome you to bring whatever you like. That would be better then a non coffee drinker being responsible for coffee. I will still bring the coffee maker. I'll pick up something as a backup.

I guess so, Am I the only one from Canada?

@Thucy-You have just volunteered to bring the coffee both days. Cool Bring whatever you want within reason and you will be reimbursed.

The rules say there should be 30 minutes for diplomacy before spring 1901 orders are due, do experienced F2F players think our 20 minutes will be enough?

If you want to host information on my site, just contact me saying who will be providing it/ what needs to happen to the site etc. google chat and email are good methods of contacting me in general.

dont worry about reimbursing me.

do you have a coffee bean grinder or should i get ground coffee

No, It is a simple household drip unit. You can bring a coffee grinder if you like.

This is wonderful. My biggest fear was worrying how I would get there in time with all this coffee, now I can breathe easy

lol crazy are you making fun of me.

No seriously Thucy I hate getting up early, I live in the burbs and have a 30-45 minute drive into Cambridge depending on traffic, so now I am going to buy everything the day before, and just hop in my car and fly in

alas so my fave brand cometh not in ground form but i got the second best

lol

@ thucy

yes, I am German, we can call it international :)