Iain wants to play Diplomacy. After a long time with no touch to Diplomacy, I’m actually interested to give it a go, too. However, finding a game isn’t that simple and it looks like we’ll have to arrange one. So, I thought the readers of this blog should include at least some people who’d like to play Diplomacy. No earlier experience is needed, knowing the rules and willing to play the game to the bitter end in a timely manner is enough. Remember, though, joining means committing to play for few months at least — replacing players in the middle of a game is very annoying.
DPJudge is probably the best place to set it up at. We need a GM, but that should be easy. Being a GM means doing the initial setup (no skills necessary) and adjusting the deadlines in case players need a vacation (very simple). Oh, and yeah, we need about five players, too. If you’re interested to join (GM or player), either comment here or drop me e-mail. Fellow bloggers are especially welcome to participate.
8 responses to “Diplomacy PBeM game”
What frequency of deadlines are you planning to have?
Medium speed, something like one major deadline each week. I guess, but that’s what suits me best.
Ugh. What a horrendous thought. If ever there was a game that is dated it is this. Don’t get me wrong, I do think it is genuinely a ‘classic’ and I hold it fond affection, but I simply can no longer contemplate spending up to 12 months of my life only to end up with a few units on the board and a potential share in a draw. I can, to a degree, understand why a variant and/or different map would be of interest to people but the standard game……? A Game of Thrones can contain just as much diplomacy and the mechanics are much more interesting — and you have a guaranteed winner.
So you’ll guess from that that I’m not interested in playing. I would however be willing to GM if you want someone independant. I do have quite a lot of experience — none of it is in the last 15 years though! I haven’t used the DP Judge before but it looks quite good and easy to get in to.
Michael
I don’t think I have ever heard Michael so passionate!
Thanks for offering to GM.
Great. DP Judge is very easy to use and GM is only needed to adjust the deadlines. It’s also possible to allow players to adjust the deadline for smaller amounts, so that reduces the need for GM even more.
I agree Diplomacy is dated, but I think it still works quite well as a PBEM game. I wouldn’t play it in real life — Intrige would be my choice to replace Diplomacy, not A Game of Thrones, though.
12 months — that’d be too much for me, too. I’ve once GM’d a game that took about 14 months, but it was cursed anyway (only one original player stayed throughout the game, some powers had three or four different players). If we get to play, I sure hope it won’t take that long. And it shouldn’t, if players are committed to it.
The worst thing about Diplomacy (and A Game of Thrones to lesser extent) is not elimination, but near elimination. There’s few things more frustrating than hanging around for hours with very little to do, while still being tied to the game.
I’m probably a bit out of date here because most of the games I played in were snail mail postal games — In those days 12 months was a minimum. Obviously the ability to correspond by email can allow for more rapid deadlines.
Michael
Any news on this? A flood of eager candidates? Assuming the worst case scenario of no, should we initiate the game and hope some punters show up?
No flood… I’ve e-mailed Michael the instructions to get our game started. Let’s start with a private game to make sure we both get in and then publish the password.