PERFIDIOUS #2

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THC
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PERFIDIOUS #2

#1 Post by THC » Sun Apr 05, 2020 7:23 am

The new issue of my Dip zine PERFIDIOUS is out now.

If you haven't already, read PERF#1.

Email me to:
- subscribe: Write "Subscribe" in the subject of the email.
- write to the zine: Write "Letter" in the subject of the email.
- advertise a Dip event: Write "Event" in the subject of the email.
- submit an article: Write "Publication" in the subject of the email.

PERF#3 will be published the first weekend in May. Contact me by the last weekend in April for any of the above.
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Octavious
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Re: PERFIDIOUS #2

#2 Post by Octavious » Sun Apr 05, 2020 9:45 am

A good read. Can't say I agreed with a great deal of it, but a fun read nevertheless :-).

On the subject of the fragmentation of the hobby, I'm not sure this is really true online. A huge number of members of one site are also members of various others. Most have a preferred place to play, but I dare say that's as much because you can only play so many games per year as anything else. The days of intense site rivalry have sadly long gone, and I say sadly as it did add a bit of colour to the hobby.

The gap between online and ftf games is more profound. Unless you live in or near a major city ftf diplomacy is a rich man's game. For people who aspire to playing regular world cup tournaments it is very much a rich man's game, and open only to the sort of people who might otherwise jet off for regular golfing holidays. Online Diplomacy's greatest strength is it is truly open to all, whether you're playing it from a room in a mansion or via regular visits to your local library's stock of public computers. All are equal in the digital version of 1900s Europe.

The games themselves are also quite different. The aim of online Diplomacy is to take 18 centres, and anyone who fails to aspire to this accomplishment is looked upon with a mixture of pity and suspicion. Ftf players like to solo, of course, but their primary aim is to finish with the best possible position at the end of a fixed number of phases or chucking out time of whatever building they happen to be in. Very rarely do ftf players play a game to its natural conclusion. That's not to say that ftf is a lesser game. Ultimately you are still pitting your wits against 6 others and using many of the same skills. But it is not the same game, and people who go from one to the other without recognising this and adapting will struggle.

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