owned

@DingleberryJones - Signal obviously.

@Thucydides - Huh?

I'm a newbie here. I don't get this forum at all - unless I'm missing something there's no search, no pagination, and old threads just disappear. If that's the case, I think the developers made a very developery decision to roll their own rather than just install phpBB or another free and much more feature rich forum.

As someone who doesn't use forums a lot, this is one that I do use because of its simplicity. No need to use a back button at all, I just scroll down. And if I'm not interested in a post I just scroll over it.

I must say I like this forum. There aren't many advanced features no, but it's much more friendly than phpBB etc, and fits in neatly with the site. Oh, and there are going to be improvements with it next release. Remember this is an open-source project: development here doesn't get you paid!

No registration requirement, except for phpDiplomacy itself, is another advantage.

The disadvantage is that the signal to noise ratio on the forum as a whole is very low...

You keep using that term. I feel like I know what you are talking about, but you should probably explain yourself.

I really like this forum, despite recent hijackings by we-all know-who. Signal to noise ratio will go back to normal levels in time.

D.

Could it be the aliens making those noises :)
Only joking (interesting user-name?)

Yes, the forum is quite basic in some aspects - but you've just joined not so long ago - stick a bit longer and you might start to like it.

The growing community might require some changes to be made though. Keep in mind this was developed for free - and it's free to play here - so we can't ask for much more.

I agree completely. I vote for two Forums.

*braces for harassment for being a hypocrite*

@Centurian - Signal to noise ratio is the level of the rf signal you're receiving compared to the level of noise on the channel. The higher the signal to noise ratio is the clearer the message is. Using the phrase this way comes from Usenet - somewhere else anybody can post anything, even when its off-topic.

@Ivo_Ivanov#1 - My name? I'm a fan of Larry Niven and chose the name when I first signed up for Seti@Home. If you've never read any Niven, get "Neutron Star" from Amazon. Enjoy.

@Ivo_Ivanov#2 - I like the forum for phpDip on Facebook (when I can get at it). The signal to noise ratio is far far higher.

@Ivo_Ivanov#3 - Yes, its free and, IMHO, it would be greatly improved by having 2 forums. One for phpDip threads and one for off-topic threads for diplomat1824 and everything else. (It's what other free games site do).

A Niven fan and a Heinlein fan. Read many of both. Must be a Mote.

i can only see php diplomacy questions on the current forum. what do you mean by everything else?

Annoying threads, political debates, and anything generally off-topic.

Yes true, but surely thats part of the interest?
Anyway, as we see those threads generally shut up for a bit when there is a real problem to deal with. I've yet to find someone truely diplomacy-based get lost from people who really follow the forum

@Alamothe - look harder. Hint "Palestinians, Israel, the US, England, and the World- The Crisis" is absolutely nothing to do with phpDiplomacy.

@warsprite - would *you* want to player Diplomacy against a Motie Mediator?

Maybe if the Mediator didn't know me I would play him. Better than running against a Messenger... There are days I hate the forum format, others I like it. But I agree in part with SpeakerToAliens, there are a lot of posts about... "elsewhere". By the way, I asked two times for "Diplomacy mapping software" and never got an answer. Not even just to say "No, I don't use it".

Diplomacy Maps...
go to the Diplomatic Pouch Resources page:
http://www.diplom.org/Online/maps.html

I have no idea what software you mean, but this is at least a starting place.

Whats wrong with discussing the Israeli conflict. I haven't personally, but if people want to kill some time while waiting for someone to respond (the number on reason I use these forums) then they can discuss what they like. If you want to discuss diplomacy make a thread about it, if you don't want to discuss Israel then don't.

Thanks Edi, I already did that. I wrote two posts asking if someone else uses some kind of software to foresee some tactical situations (I'm using jDip, which is quite nice). I also like to keep my games locally, thus I take my moves from here to a saved game there. And it's a pain in the *** because jDip can't handle "order history" directly, and moreover, order history doesn't keep track of builds, retreats or disbands. I asked if someone used something to do so, but it looks like not.

I am then not sure what you are looking for"
1. software that just draws the different blank maps
2. software that allows you to import DipJudge files to make maps (I think realpolitk does that)
3. software that allows you to adjust map positions or to play out positions... There is a project AI that David Norman runs that has this in some form
david AT ellought.demon.co.uk
4. Why do you need a computer at all to play things out... why not use the board game itself or a conference map and some pins or after you stare at the map long enough you will be able to play the game a few turns ahead at least in your head.

Berenguel, DipTool will allow you to replicate a game, order for order. So you could build the game, repleat with game history, in it. I use DipTool for all of my Judge games as it also has an interface for updating from the judges and submitting emails to them.