webdiplomacy.net

So, I have this friend. He has 3 children; 2 boys and a girl. They are all still a bit young to fully comprehend the strategy and mechanics of Diplomacy. Still, I would say they all have potential, but especially daughter. Would be underestimated often (cute, smallish, female, etc), but knows how to use it to her advantage (without you even knowing it happened until your in bed, late at night thinking, that little shit...).

Anyway, my friend is concerned with the sometimes devious nature of the game. To win, well you know... How to balance all of this while trying to raise children who are morally sound, but also ruthless, yada yada yada.

Maybe start with gunboat, to learn the mechanics, and get some understanding of strategy (tactics, stalemate lines, and so on), then progress to press games. I started playing in my 30's, but could have handled the main concepts by adolescence. I simply didn't know the games existed.

When is the ideal time to introduce an innocent to the horrors of Diplomacy? Have any experiences that would help? My friend would appreciate it.

I was introduced to the game from my aunt along with my sister at age 14. I was a fan, but didn't have any desire to play the game then. My sister was 12, and had no desire to play at the time. With my grandmother, I played F/A, my aunt played G/T, my aunt R/I, and my sister England.

12 is a bit young; 14 is a bit older. You could get away with 13. I also had a passion for history, so I was eager to begin. I kind of forgot about the game, though, until my friend told me about a year ago about this game, and I was reminded! Now, I have over 10x the games completed than him, and a large portion of my friends, along with my sister and myself, play together in a private game.

Magnetic24 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2019 1:21 am

and a great portion of my friends, along with my sister and myself, play together in a private game.

I would kill for this! Also, nachos...

There was like a 9 year old at WDC this year who was better than a lot of the adults.

You just gotta rip the bandaid off.

Play dip at a young age just keep them off the forums that discuss them ,,,

Diplomacy has a pretty strong moral compass, I'd say, and people who stray from it are widely vilified by the community. Consider how people who regularly CD are shunned. Same for those who NMR. Consider how people who cheat are treated with genuine anger by the rest of the community, regardless of whether they have been directly impacted. It would be wrong to mistake a different set of morals for an absence of morality.

What diplomacy is, then, is an education tool that will teach these youngsters to have respect for different ways of doing things. Those who take diplomacy's lack of respect for honesty as evidence that it is a moral free for all soon fall foul of it's moral code and suffer for it. Those who respect the game and the spirit in which it is played do well. If European explorers had had the benefit of playing diplomacy before they travelled the world then global history may have been quite different.

So, the thing about Diplomacy is that you're entering a compact with people that betrayal and lying are acceptable in this one, specific, context. You agree that you're allowed to betray people, and that you're not going to get sore if someone betrays you.

I think teaching kids about deceit and sportsmanship using this game is a good idea. As long as you make it very clear that this is not the way to behave in real life.

Being good at Diplomacy is about controlled deception, empathy, and communication. And the latter two are much more important. All good things to teach to kids.

And especially, Diplomacy is a good way to teach kids about the repercussions of lying. And how to lie in a tactful way that doesn't ruin your future credibility.

As to the age, I'd say as early as they can understand the mechanics of the game. I play The Resistance with my nieces (a game about lying) and they love it - the youngest was 10 when we last played.