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I'd like to get a new classic/full press/WTA game going. Game turns would be 36 hours and I'd want the bet size to be somewhere around 30-110, but am flexible. Anyone interested?
Whose Line Is It Anyway? Public press Diplomacy game
So I recently just had inspiration for a public press Diplomacy game based on the amazing show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and thought it would be worth trying.
everyone knows it's all about the live winner-take-all gunboat games on the standard map. how do ghost ratings work? is there some way of pulling stats out of the database for this analysis? i want LWTAGBCV ratings!
At most, how many subsets can you find of the set A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13} such that any two intersect in exactly one element? What about |A| = 10? Show a proof along with the answer.
Gunboat is more true to board Diplomacy than press
In the Diplomacy rulebook, it is explicitly stated that no diplomacy or discussion may take place during what we call "retreats" and "builds" phases. Let's see what it means for legitimacy of press games.
At webDip, each year has 5 phases at most: spring diplomacy, spring retreats, autumn diplomacy, autumn retreats, autumn builds. In press games, you can diplome during each of them; in gunboat, during none of them. In board Diplomacy, you can diplome only during 2 of those 5 and 2 is obviously closer to 0 than to 5. Since a wise man once said "be simple, no math", I won't delve into not so simple waters of statistical analysis to see what's the average number of phases per year in games on webDip to back my theoretical assertion with some facts. Gunboat violates the rules of board Diplomacy less than press and so it is undoubtedly paramount to henceforth regard it as the standard game variant instead of press. Such is the power of logic.
Yeah, the legitimacy of press Diplomacy games seems completely untenable now. Get rid of them and make this site gunboat only. After all, it was Calhamer who said gunboat was the 'only true form left' (2004).
I'm just going to post something that Octavious once said, and it is one of my most favorite things said about gunboats:
"Gunboat is a truly dire varient of the game that takes the soul of Diplomacy and pisses all over it. The moves are painfully formulaic, the style of play is so different from the true game that most of what you learn in one form is useless or, even worse, highly misleading when applied to the other, and at the end of the day almost every game is decided by someone who doesn't know a damned thing about gunboat doing something really stupid. The Gunboat varient is only one step more enjoyable that the infamous Pacifist varient, in which speaking is allowed but moving units is forbidden and the winner is the last player to lose the will to live."
I'm guessing that talking wasn't restricted at all, Tom... it was probably an oversight or deemed not that vital. To implement it would require that restriction be created and applied. I don't see it as being that important to the game. Does it change the game of diplomacy? Yes, slightly. Will it severely affect the outcome of the game? Doubtful. Is it worth the time to add in talking restriction during this time? Probably not. Are gunboaters struggling to make any type of argument to try to prove to themselves that the terrible variant of the game they play is worthwhile? Most definitely.
I have the power of logic on my side, yet you call me silly, YJ. Of course, I cannot blame you since the power of logic cannot be on both sides at the same time. One day, I'll lend you the power of logic so that you can see my assertion was not silly. Such is the power of logic.
^Hahaha I loved the beginning of this text where you end something bizarre with "Such is the power of logic." I'll introduce that into my own comical repertoir. Just like the word "repertoir" I like that too. Repertoir.
Of course you could ask *why* is that rule there in the original game. If it's just to speed up play, then that's just not an issue for an online game (I doubt that Calhamer ever expected to see games played over a period of weeks or months). If it's to help make stabs more effective (a lot of the time, retreats are due to stabs, and not being able to consult with others at that time does lead to some very interesting, and sometimes game-changing decisions), then that might lead to a different conclusion.
On the other hand, the game is called *Diplomacy*. Taking the negotiation (aka "diplomacy") out of the game completely could easily be argued to be a much greater change than allowing some extra negotiation that isn't allowed in the original game.
Of course you can certainly communicate stuff to other players with your retreat/build *orders* in any form of the game.
Ultimately, I think most people agree that the online game (gunboat or regular) is just different to a FTF game. Some people enjoy one or the other more. Why argue about which is "purer" or "better" ? Just play whatever you prefer.
/me goes off to reminisce about his Turkish FTF solo that resulted from a misjudged retreat off the board....
WebDip Trials! This Time: "God Is Not Great"/"Religion Poisons Everything"--Y/N?
Forget IF God exists or not...supposing he did, would it be a good thing? Would it be, as Dante describes, an unparalleled Paradisio that makes a journey through Life, Hell, and everything else worth it? Or would it be the "Celestial North Korea" Hitchens spoke out against? Benevolent Father or Horrible Slave Master--God, you're on Web Dip Trial!
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Who started this game?
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