All Quiet on the PM Front - Diplomacy PBPM Game

[J_Muller]

((That was rather quick.

Charity's expressed interest in being a second. Perhaps he could come in to take on the task of ruling Russia?))

[Charity]

I would love to take asqwasqw's spot.

Tzar Zargabore is waiting in the wings for his call to arms.

[Moody the Wise]

I would love to take asqwasqw's spot.

Tzar Zargabore is waiting in the wings for his call to arms.

It's official then, Charity is taking over for asqwasqw. I'll change the original post to reflect this.

[Charity]

His Imperial magesty Tzar Zargabore would like to welcome all foreign devils diplomats to his inaugeration celibration.

[Charity]

Just a quicky Moody, do we get to see adjacent armies/navies?
Otherwise this will be impossible to play when fighting on two fronts.

[mdsoze]

He said no to that. I agree it makes fighting extremely difficult. Adjacent territory knowledge would make things a lot nicer.

[Moody the Wise]

He said no to that. I agree it makes fighting extremely difficult. Adjacent territory knowledge would make things a lot nicer.

Well, he haven't started yet, so if you all (that is, if at least four more people post agreeing with this sentiment) want to make the change, we can.

Yea or nay for always being aware of units adjacent to your own units?

[Ceridan]

My vote is yes. It would better reflect the reconnaissance assets attached to each army and navy.

[mdsoze]

I definitely vote Yay, don't know if I have to vote as I expressed that opinion above, but figured I'd submit for counting purposes.

Further: I would also vote Yay to a vote to see units directly adjacent to your SCs, even if you don't have units there.

[Maldiem]

I vote Nay. You may not be certain where the other fellow's units are, but unless you've NEVER spied on them, you should be able to make a decent guess. It forces people to think about strategic decisions more. Also, if you've got an ally, there's nothing stopping your from sharing spy reports. Plus, sharing spy reports adds another layer of intrigue, since you may not be entirely able to trust them.

[solgursky]

I'll abstain on that vote. Either way has it's advantages and disadvantages, and 10 votes could create a tie.

[J_Muller]

I vote Yea there. Even without spies, it's a bit odd that the presence of a large army group in a neighboring area would go unnoticed.

[GrandDukeJerot]

I vote yea. It's limiting enough with the spy power, so some freedoms should be allowed. It would be really annoying to be attacked out of nowhere.

[J_Muller]

((A thought occurs--people will have to be a lot more restrained with their news broadcasts lest they leak too much information. It's also going to be a bit odd being in Asia and not knowing what's happening in Europe save for what our spies can tell us.))

[GrandDukeJerot]

Well, I am not too sure about that, J Muller. The news is what the gov't allows leaked out as public information. It is what the player is willing to tell the outside world about their actions. In a game playing blind, it really depends on the person to control their newscasts. Some might just play it safe, and completely supress the local media. Others may be candid about their campaigns, not worrying about who knows their movements. Some may even use this blindness to lie about their moves in news reports, catching their prey completely by surprise. The news reports just have gained a new dimension from playing blind.

[Moody the Wise]

Well, I am not too sure about that, J Muller. The news is what the gov't allows leaked out as public information. It is what the player is willing to tell the outside world about their actions. In a game playing blind, it really depends on the person to control their newscasts. Some might just play it safe, and completely supress the local media. Others may be candid about their campaigns, not worrying about who knows their movements. Some may even use this blindness to lie about their moves in news reports, catching their prey completely by surprise. The news reports just have gained a new dimension from playing blind.

Exactly. And isn't it beautiful? I'm looking forward to the bullsh - I mean the absolutely true - news stories you guys write.

[Charity]

Well
I would rather be able to see a bit more than just one guys moves so I vote to see adjacent units.

Oh Moody, when are we due to start?

Oh and everyone else, sorry my PM box filled up over the weekend, while I was (horror of horrors) gardening, I have cleared a bit of space so it should be safe to resend anything you got a bounce message on.

[Moody the Wise]

Well
I would rather be able to see a bit more than just one guys moves so I vote to see adjacent units.

Oh Moody, when are we due to start?

Oh and everyone else, sorry my PM box filled up over the weekend, while I was (horror of horrors) gardening, I have cleared a bit of space so it should be safe to resend anything you got a bounce message on.

We start Wednesday, as is made clear in the original post.

[Moody the Wise]

A player asked me the following question, and I think the answer merits being given to all of the players:

"How nitpicky are you going to be on order syntax and misordering?"

"Not very. I'm a big fan of the clause in the rules that states that a poorly written order that can nonetheless have only one meaning must be followed. I'm meticulous about writing my own orders, but I'm relatively lenient about other people's orders. That said, the more accurate the better, obviously.

For convoys and support, each order should be written. If an order A Ser S A Gre-Bul is written but A Gre-Bul is not, I will not be able to infer A Gre-Bul; if no order is given for A Gre (even if another order mentions A Gre moving) then a hold order is assigned to A Gre. Likewise, F Nth C A Edi-Nwy will not move A Edi unless A Edi has the order A Edi-Nwy written for it."

And now I'm actually going to add a few things that I didn't say in my reply to this player (and hope he reads this post).

Things I will be lenient on, but will continually correct when sending back your season's report:

Once I had a player who used N instead of F, because he thought of sea units as Navies, not Fleets. This bugged me, but it was clear what he meant, so I let it slide.
cApItAlIzAtIoN. It will annoy me to no end if you take it to the extreme to which I just took it, but I won't count an order incorrect on account of capitalization; all caps or all lowercase is fine.
Not issuing hold orders. If you want to issue them explicitly (which is always a good idea, I think, so that you can count the number of orders you've written and compare it to the number of units you have and make sure you aren't forgetting anything) you could do it in a number of ways. "F Mao H" is the shortest way and is perfectly acceptable to me. "F Mao Hold" and "F Mao Holds" are fine as well. Anything other than that and you may have lost me.

Using something like -> to designate an attack rather than the shorter and more conventional -. A Gre-Bul could be written as A Gre->Bul, if you really feel a burning desire to do so. As long as you are consistent, it shouldn't be an issue.
Units that are issued illegal orders are issued hold orders when adjudicating. So if you order A Swe-Mun, A Swe will attempt to hold instead.

[asqwasqw]

Hey moody, can you PM me a copy of the main map that you use every turn, if it isn't too much trouble (and the spy orders)? It would be nice to see what everybody moves.

[Moody the Wise]

Hey moody, can you PM me a copy of the main map that you use every turn, if it isn't too much trouble (and the spy orders)? It would be nice to see what everybody moves.

My first reaction was "haha, no," then I remembered that you graciously agreed to let someone take your spot.

Even though you aren't playing in the game, I'm not entirely sure it is appropriate to leak that information to anyone. Since I believe that the game really belongs to the players and not to me, I'll leave it up to them to decide.

Would anyone mind if I sent asqwasqw a copy of the map each turn so that he could follow along with the game from an omniscient perspective?

If just one person has reservations about this, I won't do it. If you're not comfortable posting that opinion here, you can PM me about it.

[asqwasqw]

Oh yeah, I could cheat and pass the map on to other players (not that I would do that... Unless they bribe me with cake!) Forgot about that. Hmmm, scratch the idea then. Just make sure to post the results at the end of the game, so everybody can enjoy it. I can wait. (his army was there?!?!)

[thewamp]

Yeah, I was going to offer to help send maps to people who want individual maps made for them, just so I could follow along in the game, because I thought it would be entertaining.

Sounds like that's a negative too, but seriously, this game does seem cool to watch. Especially with the presses.

But, if you want to take me up on that offer, I'd love to help.

Oh, and just to put an idea on the books for the future, it would be cool if you added to the secrecy and spying, an omniscient map published with a 1-2 year delay. That way people could watch and players could find out the fate of those across the world, with a big delay.

Edit: Oh yeah and hi, I'm back from Europe, finally.

[mdsoze]

I recommend after the game is finished, posting turn by turn maps and orders. For those who like suspense, you could even do 1 turn a day or something. ;)

[thewamp]

I recommend after the game is finished, posting turn by turn maps and orders. For those who like suspense, you could even do 1 turn a day or something. ;)

I meant in future games
The 1 turn a day would be cool, but would be a hassle for moody, I think.

[Moody the Wise]

I meant in future games
The 1 turn a day would be cool, but would be a hassle for moody, I think.

I'm sure I'll come up with some nifty way of declassifying these documents when this is all over.

[Charity]

Tzar Zargabore would like to invite all foriegn dignitories to his pre-war assassination party.

[Ceridan]

Dear Tzar Italy will be unable to attend your gala, please accept this fine bomb Er... fruit basket instead.

[Charity]

The great Tzar would like to thank the Italian government for their generous gift. It has been a great aid to the war effort, although it seems to have been mislabeled as foodstuff, which lead to an amusing incident with the Tzars peasent food testers. The good Tzar sends his thanks from his kitchen staff in the shape of some er... meat pies.

[Moody the Wise]

Orders are due tonight! 10 PM EST (GMT-5)!

If I don't get them all by tonight, I'll extend le deadline until tomorrow morning since I failed to give 24 hour notice and it has been a week since any formal notification of this turn has been given. But I'd like all orders in tonight, obviously.

Thanks.