Turkey and Russia both have a huge leg-up on their neighbours, and Poland, Egypt, and Spain seem like very weak starts.

Are you sure that the start is more unbalanced than in ANY other variant? That seems to be a stretch to me.

The starting position of the Lowlands in the "Crowded" variant is absolutely horrifying for example.

It's not just you, the variant is unbalanced - but it's France which is in the terrible position, not any of the powers you named.

France is terrible in modern. Unwinnable

@civwarveteran I have no experience with variants not on this page, so I'm only speaking about those that are.

Given that there seems to be wide agreement as to the unbalancedness of Modern, why do people play it? I've played it... three times, I think, and I'm not going to again.

To me, Diplomacy is a game of diplomacy. If a "weaker" country excels diplomatically, it will win.
But yep, I'd say Spain and Poland are kind of a rough start. Until press begins :)

In Modern, I can't seem to catch a break when I play Ukraine (thanks to Russia)....yet I've had success with France. go figure.

btw, it's pretty rare to lose your home centers yet thrive elsewhere well enough to make it to a draw. not saying it doesn't happen. just rare. so, I'd argue that one should try and defend original centers and hope the aggressor attracts unwanted attention elsewhere.

"The starts are more unbalanced than in any other variant"

*Two people seem to agree*

"Given that there seems to be wide agreement as to the unbalancedness of Modern"

The deeper I get into science, the more I am amused by people who take a biased sample size of 2 and conclude that the hypothesis seems confirmed.
It really shows two different worlds in a way. Quite interesting.

It's pretty bad but positively exploitable in press

Addressing your question (What's the appeal?), I think Modern is the WebDip variant that feels the most like Classic, while also offering an escape from Classic's somewhat formulaic gameplay. I'll occasionally pick up a Modern game or two out of nostalgia for my early Diplomacy days, before I'd heard of a stalemate line or a Lepanto. Yes, it may be unbalanced and I'm not necessarily a fan of the "build anywhere" feature, but it's fun to play on a less familiar map from time to time.

Curiously, Clownie, do you mostly play gunboat? I've had a lot of success with powers that you name, and haven't found anywhere that seems too dominated. There are powers more in trouble without alliances that work out than with others, but those powers have a strong king-making component. I can imagine gunboat being frustrating for a power like Poland, though.

@steephie22 - Please go elsewhere with veiled personal attacks. I could post something similar about your quip.

@TheMarauder - Makes sense, thanks for the perspective! I haven't played very long, so I'm not quite in the "tired of Classic" realm yet, but I do sometimes want to play on an unfamiliar map. Usually I'll pick World. I'd be interested in hearing detracting arguments about that map, too.

@yoak - I almost never play gunboat, I find actual diplomacy the interesting part of Diplomacy. I've actually seen Poland survive more often than not, I just chalked it up to a small sample size since their position intuitively and logically seems, ah, utterly fucked. In fact, the only power I've named for whom my observations agree with my thoughts is Turkey. Are there statistics anywhere for non-Classic maps? I find Classic statistics very interesting, but haven't been able to find any for other variants.

A slightly higher sample than *cough* three games can be found here:

http://vdiplomacy.com/stats.php?variantID=19

As for the most unbalanced... try fubar for a romp in the park.

Bernie Sanders says Modern has really bad judgement; Modern has really really bad judgement.

I kind of like Modern, and played as France and faired just fine in a 3-way end draw in one game. Modern is definitely unbalanced for no-messaging play, but if you have messaging on, with so many players there is plenty of opportunity to use cooperative diplomacy to make something good of what could be a weaker position. Players that don't like to cooperate and prefer an earlier stab fare more poorly in Modern and World because that stab makes it harder to get anywhere with the rest of the remaining players on the map.

Not as well balanced but with diplomacy you can do fine. I play it as a fun change up from the standard play of classic. Having 10 players really opens up more negotiation avenues.

Playing a game now where a guy started as Poland as is absolutely dominating. I think it can work if played well, and aggressively

Like Marauder said earlier, standard map gameplay can be quite predictable. Or to an unexperienced player, devastating from year one if you don't recognize the important places to be. Modern gives a little room for errors, more easily accessible centers and what's already been said here, a possibility of finding a couple more allies.