Some games you'll see as "gunboat". These games have no in-game communications whatsoever. All "communication" is done via moves (support holds, where a unit moves, etc) and you try to build alliances using your intuition. Otherwise, there is an in-game PM system in which all communication is done.

As for the password-protected games - these are most often started by groups of friends to play private games together, or are special challenge games or tournaments created by members.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Welcome to the site.

Passwords are private games so you would get the password from the guy creating the game. You can join the non-passworded games.
There is a PM system inside each game for communication.

You will get the hang of the game after a couple games. When I started less than a year ago I also was confused by the password thing. Also be prepared for the pace of the games to be somewhat slow...meaning you may make 1 set of moves a day in most cases. That was hard for me to comprehend at first.

Argh! Gold beat me to it.
Stupid, if you have any questions while you are in your first game, feel free to send me a private message and I can help you out.

Hi draugnar

;)

Welcome aboard! Invite me to a game or two, but I don't do gunboat. The whole point of the game is to build the fragile alliances.

and break em ;)

Alright! I just joined "Stop calling me darling", one more player and we're set to go! I'm new to dip, but I've been reading up on some strategy articles, and I'm psyched to try it out.

I knowledgable about all things WebDip and real-world alike. PM me for any advice on life, love and ....oh never mind. I'm the resident asshole, but you will come to love me.

Welcome aboard.

"I'm new to dip"

Something about this statement doesn't sound like you're new.

Tell me stupidfighter, can you handle the truth?

Obviously I've been playing the game forever, because who but a veteran could think of cleverly shortening a word to its first three letters?

Wait, I know, the game designers did it for the map!

Santa, philcore. Play nice and treat our new member fairly. ***New*** member. If you have concerns, you know the proper way to contact us.

Sorry stupid, just playing off of Santa's joke. Welcome to the site, and good luck to you.

By the way, horrible choice for a username. People are always going to shorten it to the first word (as I did above), and its going to sound like they're insulting you (which I wasn't)

You know, it really was! I use it in a couple of places. It's meant to be Bigstupidfighter, but so many places have max character counts that force me to shorten it... I really should have tried for the full name!

Now I do feel a bit stupid... but I'l get over it!

See now "bigstupidfighter" would have been shortened to "big". That's a good username!

I sometimes wish I would have gone with "awesomephil" so people would just shorten it to "awesome". But people just tend to call me that here naturally, so it wouldn't have made a difference in the end.

Why "bigstupidfighter" at the other sites, if you don't mind me asking? I assume the "stupid" part is self-deprecating, but are you a fighter? A large one at that? if so, what kind of fighting?

whose stupid is he knew

Bigstupidfighter is D&D specific jargon for the party tank/beatstick. It comes from the suggestion that there are 4 in-combat roles- Glass Cannon, Bigstupidfighter, God, and the Waste of Space.

Here, its meant to be a bit ironic... obviously, you don't play Diplomacy by running up to your enemies and dukeing it out.

Why is Draugnar lurking incognito like?

OK, at first I had no idea why everyone was accusing me of being someones alternate account.And it hurt my feelings!

Now I see its some sort of in-joke on the forum. Santaclaus made a thread about this guy, so if you absolutely must slander me, kindly post your wild accusations there!

And have a nice day! Unless you're playing in a game against me. In that case, have a nice day! In hell!

P.S. Muwahahahaha!!!1!

^^

Shut up Draugnar.

<....where's my f*ing vorpal sword...?

Stupid can't be draug. Too many ! s. I don't know whether Draug ever banged. :)