"I have been blackmailed by the 'If you don't agree to a draw I won't unpause' line "
- that is a different issue - basing a rule to apply to everyone because 1% of them are morons is not the best approach maybe?

"(1) it disrupts the flow of the game, I've had games paused for a week or more and it really affects the dynamic of the game."
- Do you think CDs/NMRs disrupt the game less?

"(2) people know in advance that if they start a game on here it is likely to take a long time, I never start games within a month or so of my holidays unless they are quicky gunboats."
- Good for you, but maybe some people don't take this game so seriously to organize their life around it. How about funerals, national holidays, work, etc. Are these also not allowed? :)

"(3) People can get sitters, it's very easy - just needs a little planning"
- Yeah, but maybe they don't want to. And it also changes the dynamic of the game.

"(4) I know it's only a game, but more serious games I play - like poker - would never stop if a player left the table for a while. His hands are folded and if he misses his blinds he losses some money. He would be laughed out of town if he asked the table to pause whilst he left the table for wahtever reason."
- Totally different game. If you play chess then time will actually a part of the game. This is not the idea here. And we're not playing for money.

"By the way - although I have a policy on not pausing - i do break this on occassions, so if you are in a game with me - just ask. You never know."
- oh, come on, pick one :) You can't be both so strict and principled + reasonable and flexible :)

"I have been blackmailed by the 'If you don't agree to a draw I won't unpause' line "

Was that the game with Draugnar mentioned earlier in the thread by any chance?

@Acosmist - So being a gentleman is the same a pussy in your mind? Guessing being a jackass is same a being a moron like you. No wonder the world is in such a shit hole when we look down upon and mock being a decent human beings.

There seem to be a number of different attitudes to dip here and the morality of the pauses depends quite strongly on the attitude held.
Attitude A) Dip is a contest - you play to win. The rules are those in the book - all else is fair. I think that even those who espouse this attitude would want to draw a line somewhere (so it's ok to hold someone to ransom by refusing to unpause unless they agree a draw but is it ok to actually hold someone to ransom and refuse to release them unless they agree a draw?) and so there are a number of moralities based on exactly where the line is drawn.
B) At the other end of the scale there are those who see the game as a quite abstract contest and want to pit their abilities against those of their opponents. Here it's not about winning but about having the best/fairest/most interesting contest. Again there is a continuum - so you'd allow a pause under any circs but would you move out of a centre gained by an NMR if the defaulting opponent explained the reasons for the missed move?
The problem comes when people from very different points on the scale play against each other. I don't think there is a solution except the adoption of house rules (as we have done with the Central Powers vs Allies game where a group of us wants to try out some changes to the rules and the idea of a single person winning is very much subsumed by the attempt to find a workable structure that models those fixed alliances) - maybe when we set up a new game we should state the limits of gamesmanship that are acceptable within the game.

@Draugnar: I'm only echoing the views others have already expressed, but seriously, I am shocked that you would even consider refusing to unpause, just for the purpose of forcing someone to accept a draw.

That absolutely stinks. It is absolutely not a valid strategy. It is disgusting behaviour, and you should be ashamed of yourself. If someone else did that to you, you would be straight on the forum crying and howling about how unfair it was, and swearing that you'd never play the game again.

Not big. Not clever.

Refusing to unpause has a quick solution. You get a mod to unpause it.

If Maniac was in Pantalones place, and had said right up front that I have a no pause policy, I would be ok with that. I wouldn't agree, but I would understand. Then texas would have to find a sitter, and thats it. But in the case this thread is talking about, it wasn't a stand on principles at all, it was just a douchebag trying to get a final sissy punch in before he died.

Draugnar is clearly not ashamed of himself. Why? Because in his attitude to the game using the webdip software to his advantage is as valid as using his silver tongue and tactical genius. Pantalone does not consider himself a douchebag. Why? Because he thought texas had behaved unreasonably and that using the refusal to pause to punish him was as reasonable as hurling his last few units towards Pantalone and allowing others to take his last few centres.
Are Draugnar and Pantalone morally repugnant because of this? I would say not (although I'm not sure I'd want to play board games with either). The question is "What has been lost?" or "How are others damaged by their behaviour?" So someone drew a game they wanted to play on with and someone else lost a game he stood a chance of winning - it's hardly the end of the world. The loss is entirely within the webdiplomacy site which is free to play, requires no significant behavioural contract before joining and is, let's face it, essentially an anarchy that we have all chosen to join in the hope of getting what we consider a "decent" game of diplomacy. If you don't like it then leave, if you don't like others then don't play with them

Webdip allows it so we take advatage of it. No, I am NOT ashamed. I saw an opportunity, one of the other players saw it at the same time (neither of us voted to unpause) and we forced the other guy to draw. Had a mod interveined I would have complained very loudly about a non-player interferring in the strategy and tactics of the game and asked Kestas himself to revoke the mods rights as a mod. Yes. I would have acted out in that situation and rightfully so. Being a "dick" is as much a valid tactic and as long as I don't hack the site to alter another player's orders, multiaccount, or threaten them with something outside of the site/game (metagaming) they have no right to interfere in my tactics.

How hard is it to make this a simple rule. Pause/unpause is not a rule and not a strategy to be used. If you are not smart or good enough player to use REAL Diplomacy strategies to your advantage you should not waste other people's time.

@Draugnar - Mods have the right and obligation to keep the game going so if they didnt unpause that game it would go against the purpose of being mods. You can cry and whine all you want but you should learn the RULES of the game first before you start to play.

I've looked and, apart from a restriction on multi-accounting, I can't find any "rules" on how we should behave on this site - is there a list of such rules anywhere that I've missed?

There aren't any and there are no rules in the official rule bok for pauses, only CDs. BoG75 is full of shit and I hope to clean his clock in a game someday.

Thats all you got.... HOPE. Good luck you will need it.

BoG75 - mods have do have an obligation: an obligation to see to it the rules of the game are broken, not to interfere with a valid dtrategy and nothing in the RULES you wish to quote says anything about pauses one way or the other. Wisht to dispute me? Point out one signle fucking rule, you fucking asshole.

* rules of the game are NOT broken. Sorry for the typo.

You are a moron that is a rule. There is no point in explaining some things to you. Good bye and point made.

You refuse to accept that there are more strategies in Diplomacy that are dreamt of in your philosophy. Who is the fool?

...why draugnar why?

Cause it's fun. :-)

He said I cried and whined, I simply responded as he would expect. If someone held my game for ransom, I'd be fine with it. As I said, I've done it myself and consider it a valid tactic. Using a pause (or refusing a pause) to your advantage is part of the game as it is implemented on this site. Don't want it used? Remove the capability or make a simple majority be able to drive it so it takes a majority (which we had in the game I was playing) to use it to their advantage.

I quote "Had a mod interveined I would have complained very loudly" that is called CRYING and WHINING.

Appology accepted.

spyman: I wasn't looking to be called a gentleman, but thanks for the compliment! You put it very nicely, by the way. What is the point of a “hollow victory”?

Acosmist: "pussified"? Please, if you want to be a 'sissy', you can force other players to CD and take advantage of that. You wouldn't be able to do that in a real game as much as you could tamper with software!

Maniac: "two cents"? Is that an idiom? Foreward, just get a mod to unpause the game. 1, As previously mentioned, CD's change the game unfairly and much more! 2, games take longer than a month. Wait, gunboats are quick? Who in the world told you that? 3, yes, if all else fails you can get a substitute, but talk about changing the game dynamics! 4, this is not poker; there is different etiquette here. Plus, this is not a hour by hour game on-line; it is a week by week one! 5, What? Of course it is proper to inform the other player of how long you would be gone! Has someone actually tried to pause without telling other players when they would be back? Afterword, huh, I thought you had "a policy of never pausing". It is nice to know you don't. Postscript, it is much more "out of game" for a person to just disappear!

Parallelopiped: No, they are not “morally repugnant”, but they certainly aren’t very nice either, are they. Morally repugnant is Acosmist, or at least his posts. Perhaps starting games with conditions is the best option, but that is not too easy to do, especially if you like joining games in their final stages or midway, as I do. There is a difference between the two scenarios, though. Draugnar’s actions are against the rules. Pantalone’s are not.

No, that is called complaining. I suppose you think getting a blow job is having a good fuck too... Hate to tell you but my loud complaining would have been to WebDipMod@gmail and not on the forum. And even if it were, it is no more crying and whining than getting a hummer from your mom is pounding her twat. Both feel good (although I've had better than your mom), but they aren't the same thing.

JECE - please point out the rule I broke. I broke none. You can't and you, too, are full of fucking shit. Go pund sand up your dad's ass.

HAHAHAHA
If you were not pathetic you would be funny.

I'm tired of being called a cheater when I broke no rule. If a mod thinks I broke a rule or even kestas himself, I challenge them to show me what rule was broken. They can't. You can't. No one can. No rule was broken. Now get off my fucking case!

hey guys guess what come on just guess........ITS A FUCKING GAME GROW UP!!!!!!
Everyone of you is probably older than me(im 17) yet here you guys are fighting like little girls (no offense ladies) jezz stop fucking fighting over a game!!!!!

I am 17. If you don't care to debate or speak civilized, then don't post here again.

civilized? hahaahahhahaahhahahahahaahahah that was funny. well im tired of seeing everybody complaing on my home page.