@goldinger and @ssoren
An important lesson that I have learned in Diplomacy is in the tone of how I say things to other players, especially new/less skilled players.
With experience, I have become much better in simply how I talk to lesser skilled players when they are moving or acting in a manner that is entirely against their interests. Very often, noobs have a hard time grasping the reality that Diplomacy is a balance of power game, pure and simple. Everything in the game of Diplomacy is predicated upon balance of power. Many new players just do not understand this and even when players understand this concept on a theoretical level, I find that many players still have alot of difficulty, for one reason or another, in applying it on a practical level. I have found that it is typically a big mistake to allow yourself to express too much outward frustration towards players who are making obviously sub-optimal strategic decisions. Frustration may be the wrong word to use, because I do think that it is essential to make your case clearly and forcefully, but when you speak in a manner that the other player sees as implying that you think little of them as a player, it becomes almost impossible to work with them.
This also applies for more veteran players as well, but with new players these situations arise all of the time and it is important to become good at dealing with them in as constructive a manner as possible.
)
Opening in Gunboat as Russia
)
)
)
)