YJ for one. :-)

:P

Nobody cares about YJ. Who really has a reputation that would work for/against them in a non-anonymous, no messaging game?

Split, The Czech, Lando and some others. Players tend to bunch together against top players if they are not anon. Even i had it some times. People ganging up on you even though it makes no sense.

It would be an interesting experiment to see if that "ganging-up" on substantial players would occur if the game had no messaging. Non-anonymous, no messaging. Perhaps that is the way of the future.

I've found the game - gameID=100300 -I believe it was my only non-anon game on the site.Pay attention to Russian opening strategy.

Russia was always going to die in that game. Stuck between Split and Bob Genghiskhan is not an enviable starting position.

It seems like people tend to have a stronger interest in the open-identity games when they're new.

Open-identity games invite what I'll refer to as the Diplomat's Dilemma. Not to be confused with the Catch 22. If you know the identity of another player, it will invariably bias your reactions towards them in the game. If you've no intention of using this sort of information dishonorably, I challenge you to think of any particular use for this information other than metagaming or because it's "fun" to know who you're playing with.

In some regards, I think that online play is a higher form of play than face-to-face. For example, in face-to-face games older players will have an advantage over younger. But online you're able to play anonymously.

You know what I think is fun? Trying to guess the identity of people in anonymous games. Draugnar, Michigan Man, Sandgoose (may God protect him) and others tend to have a recognizable press style.

@SplitDiplomat I don't think that Russian opening was directed at you because you're "SplitDiplomat" - I do that all the time in games where I'm screwed, just go run to a corner of the map and try to hang in there for a draw. When you're surrounded by people with 10 times or more points than you, you just want to be in Turkey, even if you're not Turkey.

@tendmote - you're not really getting the point. This happens all the time for the best players. When I sub into games to take over a CD, I've actually heard "Wow, you have a lot of points, so we're just going to kill you off"

Even in games where it was anon, there used to be a problem where the power with the most points was seeded at the top of the screen, and that was very frequently abused. Based on evidence there are many reasons for highly ranked players to want to play anonymously.

@tendmote I don't think he was screwed after spring '01 moves.Have you seen Austrian,Turk and Russian orders in spring '01 and autumn '01?
What could be the other reason to move like that on Turkey and let Austria have his home center?

@split he was screwed as soon as the game started - I think he just committed to hiding in Turkey, which I would have considered. Anyway we'd have to ask him, really.

I got the point, I'm just not sure Split's example was a real example. Now if someone actually says "Wow, you have a lot of points, so we're just going to kill you off" that's a different story. What game was that?

Care to explain how "he was screwed as soon as the game started" ?

As I said before, he was surrounded by people with 10-100 times more points than him. But I reckon he didn't go after you because you were SplitDiplomat, he went after you because Turkey looks like a safer corner. I think he would have done the same think if a total noob was in Turkey too.

"he was surrounded by people with 10-100 times more points than him"

He was, but in an anon game he would never have known. So knowing about the opposition, their points and their probable skill level did influence his playing in a major way. And that is what the discussion is all about and why i am greatful that anon exists.

"he went after you because Turkey looks like a safer corner."
I don't understand what you mean by that,sorry.
I hope you understand I was talking about 1901,meaning the first and the second move of the game...

I don't buy it tendmote. What Russia sends 3 of its 4 units toward Turkey in any game, let alone a game where Split is Turkey? Its just not smart and its not a good strategy. Plus, its not like his other neighbors were lesser players - The Czech has always been a top player on the site, and I'm no slouch myself. Why ignore Germany and Austria as well as an English convoy to throw 75% of his units at one country? My guess is that he assumed that Austria and Italy would take the same view toward a dangerous player and kill off the high points man right away.

So is he, but tendmote thinks that the russian just wanted to hide away in turkey in face of the opposition, not specifically because you were turkey. Which makes russia either a) stupid and b) influenced by the fact he could see who the opposition was or both.
The fact that he played unreasonably because he knew who surrounded him stays the same which was the point to be made in the first place.

I get a shitload of attention when I'm in non-anon games. Luckily it's more of the "omg it's that guy from the forum! les b frands" and less of the "holy shit it's THAT GUY let's kill him"

I don't think he's talking about '01. Why would anyone seek for a "safer corner" in 1901 or "get screwed" in 1901.
I'm telling you he did it because he has played the game against names and not against powers.
The point is,what I said here few times allready,the non-anon option is useless,you can't win a game if you are focused on anything else outside the game,you need to play the game accordingly to the board.

This isn't Risk and he wasn't making break for Australia. Corner powers are traditionally better, true, but nobody is going to try to "hide out" in a corner, unable to build or attack.

Yeah yeah his playing was influenced by the fact he was surrounded by high-points players, certainly. What I'm saying is that this didn't *inspire him to attack the high points players.* I'm saying it inspired him to *shit himself and hide* from move 0 of the game. Turkey is good for hiding, the fact that SplitDiplomat was there is bad luck for Russia and SplitDiplomat. Ever see "City of God"? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. He wasn't attacking Split because he wanted to go after a high-points player. He attacked because he wanted to RUN FROM a whole shitpile of high-points players. The fact this drove him into another high-points player is just intrinsic to being surrounded. People want to RUN AWAY from high-points players, not engage them. I think the idea that people "gang up" on high points players is a myth.

I would highly recommend against no messaging games that are not anon. For the reason split just pointed out as well as the point Draugnar made. Anon removes the temptation for metagaming and the temptation to use pm's to get around the no press rules.

You are just wrong about it.I see you would do the same thing so it seems there is no point to disscus gb strategy with you furthermore if you can find excuses for this kind of play.

I'd only ever play GB anonymously but FP I enjoy non-anon as people figure out who I am from the first words off my fingertips on anon and I want the playing field to be equal. Plus I enjoy getting to know people more in game.

And it isn't just high points. Newer but not noobs who know about GR most definitely go after top 100 GR players.

Any top GR player suffers just from being in a game with me at all, anonymous or not. My GR is so horrible (recently worse than someone who has never played) that a draw with tendmote might as well be a loss, if my vague understanding of the calculation is at all correct.

Sounds like it is. I may not have points, but I do have GR (not top 10 but enough).

So.....anyone up for a non anon gunboat?