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A place to discuss topics/games with other webDiplomacy players.
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semck83 (229 D(B))
21 Feb 15 UTC
Little Free Libraries and zoning
Interesting article.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/02/little-free-library-crackdown/385531/?utm_source=SFFB
15 replies
Open
abgemacht (1076 D(G))
24 Oct 14 UTC
(+2)
SOW Fall 2014 Professor Commentary
This thread is for Professor Commentary for the Fall 2014 semester of the SOW. Please feel free to follow along and ask questions, but please do not post if you are in the SOW game. Please be courteous to those running the game and respect any reasonable requests they may make. This semester's Professor is peterwiggin, assisted by Adjunct Professors TruNinja and uclabb. gameID=149309
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dyager_nh (619 D)
16 Feb 15 UTC
Its easy peasy. The next time the Ghost Ratings come out and Abgemacht organizes his monthly GR challenges we just create a threat for the Top GR game.

Then we just need a couple of the highest end players to provide an annual commentary. Perhaps some of the game experienced moderators like Jmo and Zultar could grace us with their presence as professors since I hear they don't play anymore.

abgemacht (1076 D(G))
17 Feb 15 UTC
(+1)
"Abgemacht organizes his monthly GR challenges we just create a threat for the Top GR game."

Sorry, but we're no longer allowed to threaten anyone on the site, so my monthly threats of top GR players had to stop. Oddly, this seemed to correspond with me doing less well in games...
A_Tin_Can (2234 D)
18 Feb 15 UTC
It's probably because England built so many fleets.
LeonWalras (865 D)
19 Feb 15 UTC
(+2)
Thanks to all the Profs and TAs for making this happen! It was both a pleasure and a privilege to be able to play. Below is the conclusion of England's EoG.

Part two: The difference between PPSC and WTA

At the end of part one, it was Autumn 1903 and I was stabbing Germany with the justification that I needed the German centres to solo. Almost every move had this purpose in mind, with one crucial exception. Rather than support A Nor into St P, F Bar sailed to Norg. To me, that choice was as just pivotal (and probably a lot more constructive) compared to the decision to stab Germany. That was the first move I had made in order to decrease the likelihood of an Italian solo, rather than increase the likelihood of my own solo.
As one of the Profs mentioned during the commentary, Russia can be thought of as a 3-centre power that starts with an extra centre. With St P in English hands, the threat of Northern fleet builds is removed. Russia still has 3 home centres, and we are effectively at peace if we want to be. I'm not sure if I wanted to be. An army in St P would have finally resolved the dead-end tactical situation that English players (myself included) often create by taking St P with a fleet.

However, last time my TA was working for Italy, that SoW ended in an Italian solo. That student is now has an impressive Italian record under their belt and is TA to our Italy. Looking at the board (the one player that never lies!) it is becoming increasingly clear that the Italy-Russia alliance is a one-sided affair, with the bulk of the profit going to Italy. Mentioning this to Russia while simultaneously invading Russia is not a credible way to make that point. Even worse, causing Russia to collapse at this stage when realistically I'm only after War and Mos, just to hand the other seven south-eastern centres to Italy doesn't seem like a good plan either. The fleet moves away, I am no longer fighting Russia.

My 1904 strategy is continuation of this hybrid plan. I'm gunning for those much needed German centres, while trying to work with France and Russia to slow the Italian advance. The results of this strategy are mixed. Holding on to to Belgium and gaining Denmark is good, but expanding at such a slow pace is useless when Italy is picking up a full three builds each year. The hasty DMZ agreement with Russia didn't go so well either. Worse, Italy is now taking Russia's centres with Russia's permission, and my warnings to France that defending against Italy is more important than defending against a retreating Germany have gone unheeded. Less threatening army movements up north combined with better diplomacy could have seen this year go a lot better.

On the bright side, Italy isn't at all happy about my fleet in NAO. At least I know that was the right move. Followed up with a fleet build in Lvp, I spend most of 1905 conducting a full scale press campaign to assure everyone I'm going to unite with them against Italy. Despite losing St P, I'm still shuffling my armies away from Russia in order to provide the assurance they need to stand their ground against Italy. This would never have happened in a PPSC game, and in my humble opinion, that variant is much weaker because of it. The dynamic shift required when a board of enemies and competitors suddenly has to reverse course to unite takes a fair bit of skill to execute effectively. Playing for "strong second" as I would have done under PPSC completely eliminates the opportunities to hone such skills.

I vowed not to attack Germany at all from now on, but was also determined not to lose any ground against continued aggression from Germany. Unfortunately, France was a different matter. Though we would need France's fleet in Por if we were to make progress against the Italian occupation of Spain and Marseilles, with Germany short on units (somewhat my bad) and none of the moves we'd agreed with France ever happening, it was time to invade Brest. Having a rogue army in Brest was superfluous to building the stalemate, and far too much of a liability should Germany lose Paris.
1906 went well. I was back to working with Germany again, and while I did want the French fleet in Por, I wasn't going to lose any sleep over disbanding it. We'd built the Western stalemate (thanks to mendax's wonderful advice on where we needed to get all our units) and we were in a good position to take centres should Italy make any mistakes. As ATC mentioned in his EoG, Italy did make a mistake this year, but it was diplomatic rather then tactical.

I think public chat is one of the most underused features on webdip (especially as we lack group messages), so when Italy failed to respond to my public message about not thinning the draw, it was a key moment needed to rebuild the trust that saw the anti-Italy coalition through to (spoiler alert!) the final draw. A lot can be achieved with one message when everyone sees it, and being public it carries a weight of authenticity that one to one messages often lack. From then on, with my draw vote posted and an uncontested statement on public chat, everyone knew where I stood.

The new-found trust paid off very effectively over the next couple of years, there was a lot less hesitation in private chat as we swapped units and centres around. Thanks to this, we were able eliminate a lot of the risk associated with having units positioned against each other when suddenly they needed to be positioned together on the stalemate line instead. For a more detailed analysis of the problem and solutions we came to, see PeterWiggin's posts about 1906 and 1907.

I'm afraid the rest of the game is a bit of a blur to me. The holiday season rolled around, and the main priority in between eating too many chocolate almonds was maintaining the stalemate line. My TA and I have very similar opinions about an acceptable level of risk when sitting on a line that would result in a solo if crossed, so despite prodding from other players to attempt something more risky in order to break through the line, I stood my ground knowing that greed would eventually win out and I'd get Por once Italy stalled on 17 centres (assuming Russia loses all but War, Mos and St P, which is a fair assumption since there was no stalemate line further south). Despite a shaky couple of turns where Italy managed to break into War, then Mos, thanks to the trust built in the previous years we managed to build a solid northern stalemate line.

We now had a nice little 4 way draw. Except, 4 isn't that little. The circumstances didn't seem that nice. This was SoW after all, and we were here to learn ALL there is to learn in a game of diplomacy. No early finishes, no possibilities left unexplored. I'd better be sure the game is truly finished before I vote to draw! In the spirit of face to face games, where you don't really know what the votes are until after phase end (and also often the votes are anonymous, which would have worked so well to my advantage here) I withdrew my draw vote with 5 seconds remaining on the clock. For the first time Italy was on the back foot. My fleet in Por gave me the position needed to push further into Spain and Marseilles, and for once I was the only one without a draw vote posted.

So what next? I doubted we could cut Italy out, though that was the line I was spinning to Russia. Germany had been an excellent ally in both the early and late game (plus rather fine to stab in the middle too!) so I didn't have any intention of cutting Germany. I doubted I could without giving Italy their 18th centre from Munich anyway. The only real consideration was to see if we could cut Russia out. Consulting with my TA, it was clear we'd need both Spain and Marseille BEFORE trying to cut Russia out of the draw. Since War and Mos form the stalemate line together, losing one would inevitably lead to losing the other.

The other problem we were facing was that Germany had lost Boh through a lack of communication about who was holding Warsaw. None of our eastern units were redundant anymore, so we'd have to play flawlessly to gain Spain and Marseilles without Russia turning against us. Italy is now finally in full propaganda mode, telling everyone in public press that I was trying to pull something. It all seemed just a bit too risky. I'd had my last hurrah, as Germany told me, it was time to click the button and be one of the fabulous four.
A_Tin_Can (2234 D)
19 Feb 15 UTC
(+1)
Great post, Leon! Now we just need posts from the other students...
LeonWalras (865 D)
21 Feb 15 UTC
Bump for everyone to post their EoGs and then sign up for the study group! threadID=1230216
mendax (321 D)
21 Feb 15 UTC
I keep meaning to put up an EoG of my own, and somehow I still haven't get around to it. I don't know what more there is to add from an English perspective that LW hasn't said already in his very extensive report.

One thing I will say is that I've found the best SoW experiences I've had, namely this one and when I was TA for ATC, is working with a student who's capable of writing good press once they know what they should be writing about. I personally am more interested in the board reading, strategy side of things rather than press, and so this works out very well.

For example, in this game I was talking to LW about what centres are needed for a solo, when we needed to pivot to defend against Italy, and how, on a tactical level, to best untangle with germany to do this. With this understanding of the board, LW was entirely capable of writing press that aided this without much additional help from me.

I don't really have a conclusion to this, apart from to ask other TAs whether their experiences have been similar. If I remember correctly I'm one of the lowest ranked TAs by GR, so it may be that my interests suit SoW more than playing myself, but either way my results as TA have been pretty good so far.
RAZ000 (272 D(G))
21 Feb 15 UTC
I find not having a clear strategy makes for poor press writing as well. I tend to offer up many ideas which often comes across as either incompetent or caniving (see my press with ATC in the SoW that Mendax was TA for ATC). I've been playing GB to improve my strategy and then I can go back to working on press.


218 replies
abgemacht (1076 D(G))
21 Feb 15 UTC
(+1)
No NMR! EOG
Because fuck it, why not? gameID=155568
66 replies
Open
Rhinos (1763 D)
21 Feb 15 UTC
Civil Disorder
Recently I joined a live game. I should not have joined the game, as I was preoccupied with another activity. As a result, I did not input any orders. For this, I am truly sorry. Will those in the game "fight Friday night" ever find it in their hearts to forgive me?
2 replies
Open
katiethegreatie (100 D)
21 Feb 15 UTC
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAUED????
JOIN ENTERTAUMENT http://webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=155559 I
2 replies
Open
Stover78 (100 D)
20 Feb 15 UTC
Support
When you use support move. Let's say you have two adjacent provinces and one enemy. X y and x. What's does x support move to y from z mean?
Or how does it work? What do the to and from mean?
11 replies
Open
CommanderByron (801 D(S))
20 Feb 15 UTC
(+1)
Non-Islamic Domestic Extremism....
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/19/politics/terror-threat-homeland-security/index.html

This article claims that these anti-government extremists are more dangerous than ISIS to the U.S national security. Discuss
7 replies
Open
rmf (100 D)
20 Feb 15 UTC
Little Leage GB Series Game Four commentary
I almost had a solo here, but I couldn't push through. I have a lot of questions that would love to see answered as I'm sure the answers will help me improve my game immensely.
2 replies
Open
yassem (2533 D)
20 Feb 15 UTC
Going crazy suspicious...
No usernames, no IDs, just wondering. What would you guys think if you started a game with 1 day waiting period and after about 8hrs 3 players joined in 5 minutes, and then one more after 15 minutes (making up all other players since it's ancient). Like, is that at all suspicious or am I going crazy?
3 replies
Open
yassem (2533 D)
20 Feb 15 UTC
Electric Avenue
Hey guys, so get this... A live game (Classic I think) where all the players are either high or drunk. I know we basically all lie in this game but we'd have to trust each other on that one. Anyone in?
7 replies
Open
Your Humble Narrator (1922 D)
20 Feb 15 UTC
(+2)
[Shameless brag]
gameID=153782
Two way draw, in a gunboat game, and neither of us was being a Carebear. I'm unduly and absurdly stoked.

But it got me to wondering, how common are two-way draws? My impression was that they're virtually unheard of, and when they are seen it's usually from one player reaching 17 and being a Good Ally (patent pending). I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever participated in one, at any rate.
32 replies
Open
Sh@dow (3512 D)
19 Feb 15 UTC
EOG - A Silver Tongue
Invitational game gameID=151861 with myself, Yonni, ckroberts, rdrivera, guak, KingJohnII, and jmbostwick!
End Result - 4WD b/w Sh@dow, Yonni, rdrivera & ckroberts
6 replies
Open
CommanderByron (801 D(S))
20 Feb 15 UTC
Official Krellin Meme
http://tinyurl.com/nuo8q34
3 replies
Open
kasimax (243 D)
19 Feb 15 UTC
modern gunboat - new italy needed
gameID=154212

the old italy went into cd. it is certainly not the best position, but there are certainly some possibilities and an incoming build! 24-hour phases.
2 replies
Open
TrPrado (461 D)
23 Jan 15 UTC
Searched and Destroyed in the Second Take
A thread to discuss the format of the game "Search and Destroy - Take 2" (gameID=152945). That link is for any onlookers in case we haven't cancelled it yet.
40 replies
Open
krellin (80 DX)
19 Feb 15 UTC
(+3)
<Eye-Catching Subject, Insinuated Insult or Slander>
<ridiculous web link>

<Provocative intentionally misleading and inflammatory comment>
26 replies
Open
KingCyrus (511 D)
17 Feb 15 UTC
Euphemisms
So, euphemisms are weird. And they vary from place to place a lot. Post a euphemism that you use the most. Also, please post a general location (country or state), so we can have some insight on to how geography euphemisms.
22 replies
Open
yassem (2533 D)
19 Feb 15 UTC
Oh the humanity...
http://www.buzzfeed.com/avdeev/horrific-images-capture-the-sheer-brutality-of-ukraine-war?fb_action_ids=10202365152529098&fb_action_types=og.shares#.taQg39xdXY
2 replies
Open
naked (4955 D)
19 Feb 15 UTC
Account Strauss (Top 1) looks like a cheater to me
I just played a no press game and saw some incredible cooperation which is, on my mind, only possible if one guy plays both accounts or two player are chatting or talking while the game is going on. I looked at the stats of both accounts and saw one Top1 (Strauss playing F) and one account with 4 finished games (xxx420BLAZEITYOLOxxx playing R). I think it is fair to assume account sharing.

Game: justafastgame1
10 replies
Open
CommanderByron (801 D(S))
19 Feb 15 UTC
Steak and Cheese Stuffed Peppers
I made steak and cheese stuffed peppers for dinner tonight. Steak,Mushrooms, Onions and ricotta stuffed in green bell peppers and topped with cheddar cheese.
27 replies
Open
CommanderByron (801 D(S))
17 Feb 15 UTC
Predictions: WW3
So in your opinions how will WW3 play out. Using evidence id be interested to see what you all think.
64 replies
Open
CommanderByron (801 D(S))
19 Feb 15 UTC
(+2)
I was dead serious
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mVqxVKD_bXBXoXtF_gFDKGXogIQcqsSg49pKLsv9qJg/edit?usp=sharing
9 replies
Open
bo_sox48 (5202 DMod(G))
19 Feb 15 UTC
Twittah
http://tinyurl.com/k2rphk7

LOWERING THE BOOM ON THE REPUBELICANS. Oops did I spell that wrong?
0 replies
Open
Bayclown (0 DX)
17 Feb 15 UTC
(+1)
Congo Memorial Game
For all you fucks who love typing this shit. Get at me in a game I'll fuck you up with my record. I guaransheed I succeed yet again and make you fuck your own face.
18 replies
Open
mislav76 (807 D)
19 Feb 15 UTC
PLay now
Anyone wants to play a quick game now?
2 replies
Open
KingCyrus (511 D)
19 Feb 15 UTC
A Moral Question
A crime was committed some years ago. I know who did it. Must I report it? I would were it not for the effect I fear on the victim.
24 replies
Open
bo_sox48 (5202 DMod(G))
17 Feb 15 UTC
Sigh...
...http://tinyurl.com/n7za8jy
16 replies
Open
abgemacht (1076 D(G))
19 Feb 15 UTC
Alright, who the Fuck was Austria?
Fess up!
39 replies
Open
xpedior (707 D)
19 Feb 15 UTC
Reliability Ranking Question
Are the rankings/percent reliable updated in anything close to "real time" or is it something that is done monthly or on some similar question? Can't seem to get mine to move despite 100's of moves without missing an order and taking over CD's.
0 replies
Open
CommanderByron (801 D(S))
19 Feb 15 UTC
Why do noobs plague me so?
I know I was once a noob but I atleast understood the rules of the damn game. I wouldn't assist someone to 18 centers in a WTA match... why is it that people do that when they could just as easily have worked against that person like everyone else?
52 replies
Open
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