So what if the list changed to alpha?

Good point by the way, I find myself struggling scrolling back up to see what is where making sure I did it right.

It could be implemented not as a regular type of Diplomacy but something akin to blitz chess, i.e. a variant where the time pressure is an essential part of the game. 5 min game is supposed to allow a player to went through a whole game in one session but the underlying idea is the same as in longer-phase variants.

I'm not arguing that something along the line of blitz diplomacy should be created, just expanding on the idea.

you can also try to change the time only on the retreat/build phases. I think that would limit a lot of irritation

That might be good, blitz diplomacy on a time.

would be an interesting environment for gunboat

We should have it, just for a test run. I'll shoot the mod's an email. If you are interested please respond with, "sounds like a good idea" or something and we'll make a dip list of interest. maybe test it out or something :)

Gunboat is definitely better for such variant, studying the moves is a better diploming tool than reading laconic messages like "Jug?" anyway.

The time limit would be fixed and there would be a variable byoyomi depending on the number of SCs one controls (say, 2 seconds per supply center). Therefore, a country near solo would be able to actually get the solo.

byoyomi = increment

I never actually played blitz chess, only blitz go, so excuse my language :)

would be great for gunboat but probably unwieldy for diplomacy. perhaps after a certain year diplomacy phases could increase in time while retreats/builds stay at 3 mins. this would definitely be interesting considering committing to a live game can take hours, especially when people make sure the full 5 or 10 mins is used every time.

3 minutes would probably put undue stress on someone with 15 units to command. After the time drops down to so low, you begin to lose certain elements of the game, and adequate planning is boiled down into frantic unit movement while diplomacy is thrown out the window after you have anything more than 6 units. The original game is scripted for 15 minute phases in FTF play, and cutting that by 1/3 for 5 min phases cuts out some of that element already, but not to the point that it's not manageable. dropping that down to three minutes is a bit ridiculous. most games would end draws, and working with someone in-game to produce strategic holds along stalemate lines involving two or more parties would be impossible.

We could certainly drop builds and retreats down to 2 or 3 minutes, no problem. And I like the idea of starting with 3 minutes and incrementing based on the highest number of SCs of any player, up to a maximum of 5 minutes. That way the first few turns go a lot faster than the last few, builds and retreats stay fast, and nobody's too pressed for time.

i see one big problem with this, and that is someone needing a break. suppose someone needed to use the bathroom and could not wait, a 3 minute phase would not allow them enough time to do their business...

It's like my dad always said "You should have gone before we left"

haha, thats funny. but when games last a while it is innevitable

That's why you have a cup near by. Haven't you seen TV shows where the gamers go in water bottles or wear depends. This is Diplomacy! Not a game for people who can't figure out a waste disposal system.

Smartphones! Make you last move then log into the site from your smartphone and you can do the next move while sitting on the john.

But realistically, I think the turn processing engine only runs on 5 minutes cycles and cutting this to nearly twice as many (20 per hour instead of 12) might be a bit much on the server considering it isn't dedicated to us, but a shared server.

Hek, I'm not even certain it could complete in 3 minutes.

Draugnar, if you're spending long times in the bathroom, I'm not going in after you're done.

Trust me, after I'm through doing number 2, you *don't* want to go in for several hours. And even then, you might consider calling in a hazmat team. I'm an old(er) geezer and I know how to kill a bathroom.

+1 to Draugnar From the Old Geezer Society.

*Makes Draugnar an Honorary Officer for the Old Geezer Society.

How in the hell do you negotiate with six other states in 3 minutes? That's 30 seconds a power -- dock 30 seconds from that 3 minutes to consider orders and turn them in (which is probably too SHORT in a lot of cases) and it's down to 25 apiece.

I mean... I have no objection to implementing it so that it's an option. But I'm not touching that, and if you want a remotely high-quality game, you won't, either.

The boardgame gave something like 15 or 20 minutes a phase. So the shortest full press game I think I'd consider is 15 minute phases. We just need an option to turn off press and reduce the phase length for retreats and adjustments.

How about 15 three minute phases followed by a fifteen minute break for the geezers? You won't catch me playing that though.

I don't think we'd need 15 minute live phases. The 15/20 minutes per phase setup is done so that one-to-one communication can be done with all powers in a reasonable amount of time (given that one cannot simultask one-to-one conversations in real life, barring cloning advancements far beyond our time and scope). Here we can simultask that so it's not necessary.

@Pres: the 15 minute phase is a facetious suggestion allowing for bathroom visits, not diplomacy. Come to think of it there are a lot of similarities between the two :-)