Search found 265 matches

by swordsman3003
Fri Mar 12, 2021 10:20 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: Anatomy of a Top Ranked Player
Replies: 5
Views: 5469

Anatomy of a Top Ranked Player

This is a revision of a forum post VillageIdiot wrote a while back. It's been published in the Briefing as well (see the article for a link). However, I think this is just an amazing piece and wanted to enshrine it in a way it would be easy to find for beginners. VI obliged me, so, here we are! Anat...
by swordsman3003
Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:27 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: The Double Backstab
Replies: 1
Views: 4244

Re: The Double Backstab

by swordsman3003
Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:17 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: The Double Backstab
Replies: 1
Views: 4244

The Double Backstab

This article was originally published in The Briefing last year, but I bet some of you haven't read it yet! Well, here it is republished as one big article, The Diplomacy Double Backstab . I think most every player is familiar with this concept, but as always I think it always helps to think about t...
by swordsman3003
Wed Feb 03, 2021 4:40 am
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: Soloing as Italy
Replies: 41
Views: 13030

Re: Soloing as Italy

KIE-HOL is uncommon, but it is a reasonable opening for Germany.
by swordsman3003
Tue Feb 02, 2021 2:53 am
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: Soloing as Italy
Replies: 41
Views: 13030

Re: Soloing as Italy

Beneficial Insurance wrote:
Mon Feb 01, 2021 8:22 am
As opposed to say, Turkey, where you only have one option for an opening worth considering, and when you fail, you hang in games for years and years crippled but not put out of your misery.
Are you sure?
by swordsman3003
Fri Jan 29, 2021 2:18 am
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: England/France alliance in Gunboat
Replies: 0
Views: 6702

England/France alliance in Gunboat

Alright, I am pretty sure that my blog is popular enough among webDippers to have influenced the anti-France gunboat metagame we all know (and....love?). But check out this new article! A different direction, to say the least. How England Can Ally France in Gunboat Diplomacy—And Win! This one is pit...
by swordsman3003
Mon Jan 04, 2021 11:24 pm
Forum: New Games
Topic: seeking players for gunboat with EOG discussion so we can improve
Replies: 132
Views: 25334

Re: seeking players for gunboat with EOG discussion so we can improve

I will gladly play a Gunboat match with a group that plans to dissect the game afterwards.

If you invite me, I urge Draw-Sized Scoring; I think that is particularly important for gunboat.
by swordsman3003
Mon Jan 04, 2021 10:55 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: Soloing as Italy
Replies: 41
Views: 13030

Soloing as Italy

In my opinion, this is a super interesting topic. If you're into audio content, you might enjoy the Diplomacy Dojo's take on it. I'm out here saying how much I like to play Italy at least once a year, so might as well get started for 2021... It's also a good opportunity to discuss the topic on the f...
by swordsman3003
Sat Jan 02, 2021 5:01 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Worldwide decline in Diplomacy game
Replies: 26
Views: 9926

Re: Worldwide decline in Diplomacy game

I felt like 2020 was an explosive year for Diplomacy. I can tell you that my website's readership more than doubled. I got asked to get involved with allll sorts of stuff related to the hobby (not just tournaments!), and people came out of the woodwork to contribute guest content to my blog. And tha...
by swordsman3003
Sat Jan 02, 2021 4:56 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: 2020 Retrospective
Replies: 0
Views: 5426

2020 Retrospective

If you want to read about something Diplomacy-related that might make you feel like something is working out for somebody in 2020, try reading my 2020 Retrospective on my content-creation as BrotherBored. This is actually a huge piece! That's because I review all the content that I and every guest p...
by swordsman3003
Wed Dec 30, 2020 8:48 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: How often do games draw?
Replies: 76
Views: 18636

Re: How often do games draw?

I think there are paradoxical ideas at play, which is probably what I was trying to get at in my old article when I talked about 'fetishizing' solo wins. If I just wanted to solo win per se —like I don't care about anything other than a match resulting in a win for me—I would play pickup games on Ba...
by swordsman3003
Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:30 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: How often do games draw?
Replies: 76
Views: 18636

Re: How often do games draw?

Responding holistically, I think a massive flaw in all the center-count scoring systems is that there's little-to-nothing for crippled powers, and getting crippled—even crippled early —is something players experience very often. I wrote about scoring almost 2 years ago on my blog: Why Players Prefer...
by swordsman3003
Tue Dec 29, 2020 8:59 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: How often do games draw?
Replies: 76
Views: 18636

Re: How often do games draw?

From my point of view, the incentive to whittle out players is a feature —not a flaw. The term " draw -whittling" is loaded, in my opinion, because it implies an assumption that the players cooperating to eliminate a rival are seeking a draw per se . Plenty of players cooperate to eliminate a rival ...
by swordsman3003
Tue Dec 29, 2020 6:30 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: Gunboat Diplomacy Stalemate Lines
Replies: 20
Views: 8807

Re: Gunboat Diplomacy Stalemate Lines

To achieve a high solo win rate, you must vote draw only as a last resort. There are plenty of ways to shake things up in a match that superficially appears stagnant. When I am stalemated as the dominant power, I often pull back to see if the match will keep going. I am not interested in whittling t...
by swordsman3003
Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:13 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: How often do games draw?
Replies: 76
Views: 18636

Re: How often do games draw?

Taking a completely unscientific, pure-intuition average of all scoring system, all skill levels, gunboat and press, tournament vs. private vs. pickup games... I expect about half of the matches I play in to end in draws, and about half of them to end in solos. Keeping in mind that there are 7 playe...
by swordsman3003
Tue Dec 22, 2020 8:39 pm
Forum: Announcements
Topic: Official webDip Holiday: On the first day of Xmas, my zultar gave to me
Replies: 150
Views: 73034

Re: Official webDip Holiday: On the first day of Xmas, my zultar gave to me

1. Dargorygel 2. Arca 3. Szpoti 4. worcej 5. RayJay 6. Rdrivera2005 7. Doug7878 8. Josef IV 9. TestSubjector 10. Peregrine Falcon 11. tr1285 12. hthefourth 13. Halls of Mandos 14. Dejan0707 15. Hamilton Brian 16. yavuzovic 17. jasnah 18. CptMike 19. teccles 20. mschwartz 21. RoganJosh 22. Nikola Mar...
by swordsman3003
Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:02 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: All Diplomacy Scoring Stinks
Replies: 81
Views: 21296

Re: All Diplomacy Scoring Stinks

I think that the quality of play is far higher on webDip than other websites I have dabbled in. I think the main reason is all the metrics we use to track results.
by swordsman3003
Wed Dec 09, 2020 2:50 am
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: E/G alliance—how to stab?
Replies: 0
Views: 7229

E/G alliance—how to stab?

I got asked about how England and Germany can stab each other in the Diplomacy Dojo. I don't normally create a forum post here to direct players to episodes of this Podcast (I already publish blog posts >1 per month and this podcast is every 2-3 weeks so I do get nervous about being reprimanded for ...
by swordsman3003
Sat Dec 05, 2020 9:31 pm
Forum: Diplomacy Advice
Topic: You've Never Used Turkey's Best Opening
Replies: 10
Views: 6794

Re: You've Never Used Turkey's Best Opening

I can tell you from a few years' experience that blog posts with outrageous titles get about twice as much readership (and triple the comments) as posts with practical or whimsical titles.