I agree with NinjaPostmanRobotZookeeper on this one, this really should be explained in the intro section or the FAQ, as it does have the capacity to really confuse beginners, and it doesn't get the slightest mention in the introductory 'how to play' section at present.

I suggest encouraging your friends to read the official rules, which may be downloaded from this site:
http://www.diplom.org/~diparch/diplomacy_rules.htm
The same site also has a wealth of articles on various aspects of the game such as openings, alliances, tactics and strategy.

I honestly think the great majority of the rules are covered pretty well by the automatic processes here... but the one I mention is kind of an ugly gotcha.

The FAQ section ought to prominently link to the actual Dip rules, too, though... now that you mention it.

@Jamiet99uk, LOL...

If you click HELP, right under the FAQ is the Intro. The objective of the game is extremely unhelpful regarding this.

"The objective of Diplomacy is to be the first to get 18 supply centers. For each supply center you occupy you get a new unit, and you lose a unit whenever a supply center you own gets occupied by someone else."

It should state 'For each supply center you occupy AFTER AUTUMN MOVES....'

Well...the rule defines "occupy" as having a unit there after the fall moves.

Yes but the intro and FAQ on this site don't explain that.

Jamie is right. We need to better clarify that one aspect in the intro and add a link tot he PDF of the rules in the FAQ. This should be doable without a major point release, so I don't know why someone who does the dev work doesn't just do it and push it up.

I don't know why a developer needs to do it.

I'm certain that if someone or someones took the time to write what they feel should be added to the FAQ, it would take Kestas little or no time to upload it, and everyone's happy happy joy joy.

I just meant a dev in that it has to be added to the PHP pages that are the FAQ and the homepage. anyone could write the text, but PHP isn't HTML. It takes a little more effort to add the text to the page than just plopping it into an existing DIV tag.

Yeah, but you're asking the dev to write the stuff too.

Why not make their job easier? They have a lot in their hands already with the new version.

No, just plop it in at the appropriate response.write location. I agree, one of us could (and should) write it. But with my crappy typing, it probably shouldn't be me. <grin>

I agree, second/third/x/whatever this motion.

I didn't know about this particular rule when I joined, and that was after doing some semi-exhaustive googling (most of the sites/guides I found took a similar simplistic approach to explaining the rules, and thus leaving out some of the more complex nuances of the map and capturing SCs, etc.)

Eventually I found a .pdf of the full rules, and that solved the problem.. but that was later.

Maybe the FAQ should just be replaced with a .pdf of the rules?

I agree. Just post a link to the rules. If they can't be bothered to read the rules why are they playing?

I disagree. The rulebook is too long.

Xapi is right. Not to mention that the rulebook is rather confusing. Watching Edi Birsan's videos makes the game fundamentals far easier to understand.

A link to the rulebook should be posted in an obvious place, but it shouldn't be the only (or even recommended) means by which people learn the game mechanics.

Hmmm... Maybe we could create a bogus game where each turn demonstrates an increasingly more complex layer to the dip rules.

When I was trying to tell the rules to a friend who'd never played before I found this to be a good way to demonstrate, in a very easy to understand way, how the game is played and pretty much all of the rules.

http://ry4an.org/diptutor/mgp00001.html

I agree that a link to the rules is a great idea, but I don't agree that that should simply replace the FAQ and Intro. I'm the sort of person that doesn't learn games very well by simply reading the instructions. I have to see how it's played, with examples, and then I probably still have to screw up a few times. Once I have some context for how the game works then the rules become much clearer to me and I can read them and understand the finer points, but the first time through is likely to be rough going for me if all I have is a set of instructions.

Just to add, even that link I posted above isn't perfect (some of the example's aren't totally clear if you don't already know what's going on, but it's the best I've found. I will admit though I haven't seen Edi Birsan's youtube videos, (just heard about them... today.) so those may be better.

I didn't advocate replacing the FAQ -- just adding one small point to it. With up to 10 new players aboard and ALL of them stumbling over the same thing, plus coincidentally MordinUK posted a question on the same subject at the same time -- I'd say it's a point worth considering.

Everybody seems to have picked up the rules amazingly well from the high-level FAQ, other than this one item.

That being said, they were also all very happy to receive the link to the original AH rules when it occurred to me to send it.