The Motte Plays: Diplomacy

frogger, TracingWoodgrains, Ash Lael, JayNine, ManyNothings, MacaqueOfTheNorth, McJunker

13 Feb 20 UTC	Autumn, 1902: For there to be peace, Russia must negotiate a new agreement, rather than insisting the old one was never broken.
13 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Germany. An open letter to you. As mentioned, as far as I am concerned, the DMZ remains the law of the land. The 3rd clause negating it doesn’t kick in because the 2nd clause didn’t kick in, because hostility began with Austria and not with me. Moreover, when you signed the apocryphal dotted line sanctifying our shared border, you made no (0) provision for future negation of the treaty based on conduct with other nations. I deny that you have the right to impose “unless and if” scenarios after the pact was made; to do so is the equivalent to not making it in good faith at all. The pact may well have proved impossible to survive into end game where the balances of power have shifted unpredictably, but it was certainly intended to last for the foreseeable future; tossing it aside in Spring 1903 for convenience’ sake violates both the spirit and the letter of the treaty. I’ve already told you that as far as I am concerned, I cannot enter Prussia and Silesia for any reason. So I ask you, in a public forum: are you explicitly declaring that the DMZ is currently null and void, regardless of whatever other hostile actions you may choose to take against me?
13 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Never mind, I looked at the map. War it is then
13 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: I'm sorry Russia. I wish I was not bound as I am. I would have liked to have been your friend.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Requesting a pause.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: (There's still 20h on the clock, how long do you need the pause for?)
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: We might need to find a new player. Possibly a few days.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Oof, who is leaving?
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Me
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: I'm personally fine with waiting a few days if you're planning on coming back. Not sure this game is really able to have a new player slip in this deep
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Well gee
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: I’m personally ok with allowing a new player to take over, but I won’t be surprised if others aren’t.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: I'm not coming back. I can't play this game anymore.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: I hope nothing serious has happened IRL.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Any particular reason why? If you're not coming back - I'm fine with a replacement player, but not sure how replacements are handled. Would Germany have to hand their account over to somebody else?
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: If a player leaves, there's a mechanism to replace them. Unfortunately, I don't know the details beyond that. I'm not sure whether they need to just wait out the missed turn period and then get booted, whether they can actively dip out, or what, but last time I played I saw replacements happen. Also not sure whether we can specifically choose the replacement or whether it's a random. AshLael, you may have more info here since you started the game. (If it came to it, we could probably pretty easily just send hold orders for a year or so and then keep going, or even start up on a new board and move our pieces into place. We're early enough in the game yet)
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: The game makes me feel sick with myself. I can't keep playing.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: You shouldn’t feel sick with yourself. It’s absolutely obvious to everybody you’re a very good hearted person.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: All the accusations of duplicity and stuff is just game talk.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Quit if you need to, but please don’t feel bad about yourself.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Agreed! You're clearly one of the most honest and well-intentioned players here. That said, if this game really makes you that uncomfortable, I totally understand why you're stopping. No hard feelings either way.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: And no, I don’t have any more information on the mechanics of replacing a player, unfortunately.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Well I think probably we ought to just start a new game. It’s a bit rough for people who have committed to particular strategies based on a particular relationship to have a person swapped out partway. And a few people who are in tough spots right now (i.e. Turkey) might appreciate the opportunity to try again and get into a better situation.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Plus I have no idea how to actually replace a player
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: :p
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Unless people object, I’ll set up a new game and update the reddit thread.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: I have no objection personally.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Works for me.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: yeah, i definetely feel like if germany gets replaced, the new player will feel no commitment to being my ally and that scares me
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: alrite im fine with new game
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: but i wanna vote to also use backstabbr
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: I would totally prod new-Germany to invade Edinburgh :p
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Hopefully Russia doesn't hold grudges...
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: I personally prefer the webdiplomacy interface but I'm content with either one
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: well i kinda wanna test moves in sandbox without having to switch out of the game
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: but its not a huge hurdle so whatever
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Oh, they have sandbox in-game? Sold
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Is it in-game? I know they have a sandbox, I was using it liberally.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: No worries, people with experience of both seem to prefer backstabbr so I’ll use that.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Grudges are bad for business. I'd sooner hold a rattelsnake. I'm up for a fresh start, either here or backstabbr.
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Jeez. *rattlesnake
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: https://www.backstabbr.com/game/The-Motte-Plays-Diplomacy/6027095820468224/invite/YNJ6OJ
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Shall I let everyone here join before posting publicly, so no one gets squeezed out?
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: yeah, good plan
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: I just joined
14 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: Great, I’ll make a post and we’ll get a new player
15 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: GameMaster: Game was extended due to at least 1 member failing to enter orders and having an excused missed turn available. This has un-readied all orders.
16 Feb 20 UTC	Spring, 1903: GameMaster: Game was extended due to at least 1 member failing to enter orders and having an excused missed turn available. This has un-readied all orders.
17 Feb 20 UTC	GameMaster: Game was extended due to at least 1 member failing to enter orders and having an excused missed turn available. This has un-readied all orders.
18 Feb 20 UTC	GameMaster: Game was extended due to at least 1 member failing to enter orders and having an excused missed turn available. This has un-readied all orders.