Would there be any interest in a "no draw" variant of the game? That is, a variant in which there was no "draw" button and therefore the players were forced to play until there was a winner?

That would be beyond annoying IMO

That actually wouldn't be too annoying...it would prevent boring games, for one. Every time a player got to 17 and was stalemated, he'd have to pull back, cede centers to the opposing alliance until someone else went for a solo run.

It'd actually be a fascinating game

I'd certainly play.

I wouldn't do that… if someone is approaching a stalemate in 1963, what are you to do? Why would I back off of a stalemate? I'd hold it for a hundred years till they decided to give me my last center. I'd wait till someone CDs or I'd wait till someone misorders. You know, that side of stalemates that everyone hates; the reason it can only go two years until it's force-drawn. Some people use a draw as a diplomatic tool and others could use a non-draw as a diplomatic tool all the same.

Does the system here apply the stalemate-force-draw rule?

No but the mods will after reviews and interviews.

What is the current reward for a draw in terms of rankings? Make draws the equivalent of a loss and you'd see sad draw games plummet, while still allowing for a way to end a neverending stalemate.

@bo - why would you do that and not retreat on a front until your enemies turn on each other due to your "weakness"? Then you simply reassert yourself and try again, this time maybe having narrowed the draw, should it come to that. To prevent the case that you're talking about, yeah we'll have to assume the force-draw rule would be in affect.

@Putin - what do you mean? In GR? I believe its an even split of the GR pot.

That's a damn fine idea Putin, especially for WTA games.

If it could be coded (rather than bothering the mods all the time) then award the current level of points for stalemate-line draws only and zero points for others. That would give 3 main point awarding options:- PPSC for the kids, WTA for inexperienced adults and NVD (No Voluntary Draw) for everybody else. I'm not suggesting that a Draw be forced in NVD, just that when a stalemate is detected the Draw button is enabled.

I know this idea wont be popular with some players, but they wouldn't be forced to play NVD any more than they're forced to play WTA.

@gf… "Then you simply reassert yourself and try again, this time maybe having narrowed the draw, should it come to that. To prevent the case that you're talking about, yeah we'll have to assume the force-draw rule would be in affect."

That only works assuming that there are two other powers, one having been larger than the other to the point that they are confident enough to take a shot at a solo. That rules out three six-center powers or whatever. It also more than likely rules out two nine center powers, or a ten-center power against an eight-center power, etc. etc. That only covers a certain amount of the games.

@Speaker - The problem is a 3 way draw may be a stalemate without being along the standard stalemate lines.

I love you bo, because you just gave me an opportunity to cite my favorite game on this site.

gameID=60765

This is what I'm thinking of. Making every game like this, where you go for solo shot and once you fail, wait for another member to take their solo shot. In a good game, this could go on infinitely. The game I mentioned didn't end due to boredom, but rather from miscommunication (which always seems to end my games).

I love you gf, because you just gave me an opportunity to cite that that is the exact thing my post points out. That's the only situation where it could work - three powers. Never four, never the occasional five, in which there's just be a line forever and ever. Nothing could be done about it.

I could post another game where its going on with 6 powers, but that would be talking about an ongoing game.

You're right though, with respect to the fact that it will almost always invariably whittle down to 3. That's just the nature of it. But given time, it will whittle down. Look at how long it took for us in that game to go from the stable, logical 4-way, to a 3-way. THM stabbed Crazyter in 1907, and it wasn't until 1928 that she died!

Exactly.. don't get me wrong, I get what you guys are talking about. For example, I don't know why this game drew, thought I pushed for it only because I was down and thought the whole time I'd be in on the final draw (http://www.vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=10156 --- vDip link, not webDip, don't press the hyperlink). However, there are just too many ways this can go wrong.