I never would've guessed you were both Sandgoose and Sargmacher.

MardMarx == Krellin?

#MadMarxIsScarlettJohansson

damn it, ghug... you made me forget what I was going to say...

You were probably going to leak some nudes of yourself, if indeed you are Scarlett.

oh right, you were going to create a game so I can play with you gain

So, I'm nearly 40. My wife turned 40 in August. After 17+ years of marriage, we finally decided to try to have a kid, and we're almost through the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Now don't get me wrong, I've *really* enjoyed the game of diplomacy, mostly due to this amazing site Kestas and the rest have put together for us, but I just can't imagine teaching my child to play this godforsaken game. Is that wrong?

I have an opinion on this matter.

Good luck on that - you'll forget about Dipl for a while very soon.
Then you'll do thathave 5 more chuldren and you can play FTF. You'll enjoy that more (even if you'll have to let the kids win all the time)

MM, your children will someday become computer science majors, and on the day of your passing, they'll try and uncover their family history by doing the futuristic thing: searching your computer. They'll find out all about you. If you're not careful, they'll find out your password and ask for all of your points to be sent to Krellin, as they interpret he was your greatest friend on the site. Now we don't want that, do we? No, we don't.

So you'd better tell them before they find out for themselves.

Congratulations on the pregnancy.
Not sure how you'd teach diplomacy to a kid unless you guys pump out a small army of them and times a ticking for that. ; )

Don't worry. My dad is 40 years older than me. If that's any indication, your son will kick ass at Diplomacy as well

If it turns out to be quintuplets Diplomacy can be enjoyment for the entire family!

Yes, it's wrong. The only reason you would *not* want to teach your child (at an appropriate age) this excellent game is if you are carrying guilt that this is an evil and immoral game and that by playing and thriving, you are an evil and immoral person. Some people try out Diplomacy, decide it's not for them, and walk away. People who stick with it and succeed develop skill at managing expectations, multi-party negotiations, and strategic lying. The lying is part of the game. Breach of trust is part of the game. By teaching your kid Dip, you are not approving lying and betrayal in general.

Poor kid is never going to win an argument with his dad or get away with lying ;) jk, congratulations MM.

My opinion on this matter:
FTF Diplomacy is a fun way to get to know the inner workings of your friends and family. Online Diplomacy is a complete (but fun) waste of time. Ultimately though, time spent with family and friends is time better spent than time spent online with people you essentially don't know.

@redhouse, I disagree with that. Being convincing in your e-communication is an important skill these days. Emailing administration at schools, professors, co-workers, etc. I've found that I get my way far more often then I did before I started playing this game. And I'm pretty sure Draugnar would say it helps out with your poker game too.

F2F helps with poker cause it teaches you to read body language. Here, not as much.

Congrats. I am not sure about teaching my child diplomacy, mainly because most kids couldn't pay attention long enough to play. If they become interested teach them. If not, don't force it down their throat.

Ive always thought this game attracts an undue amount of sociopaths

Well to be fair every game you play has at least one.