I'm surprised that everyone is citing F2F diplomacy in an argument about webdip. They are simply different games. In F2F, you play against specific people (and their baggage) first, second, and third, and maybe the way they are playing the game that specific time fourth. In webdip, we are specifically asked (required?) to ignore past relationships and play only against the actions of the powers we are playing against in that game.

The goal of webdip, then, is to specifically reward the best diplomat in that specific game. And, to me, being internet or computer savvy is not a part of being a good diplomat. Whether or not falsifying screenshots is something that requires computer savvy is another question (I would argue that it does), but I'm curious if others disagree with the distinction I make above between webdip and F2F, and if so, why.

Side question: Wasn't there some widget that someone made a while ago that alerted a user that the turn in one of their games was about to end? And wasn't that banned?

@uclabb - Who says we are told or asked to ignore past relationships? We are asked to not let RL relationships influence the game, but we are completely allowed to use prior game experiences to influence our decisions. Of course, doing so is usually deterimental to our own game as we sometimes don't trust when we could use the person's help or trust too much and discover they can also stab with the best stabbers... But nothing forbids looking at our opponents past or taking into account how they stabbed when considering whether or not to trust them.

On your side question, I don't know. I'm not familiar with that one. But the mods haven't given me any problem with my grey press system.

That's why I usually play anon now.

@Draug- There is a reason I put "required?" in parentheses, because you are right, of course, that in non-anon games especially reviewing game history is considered standard (although I can say that I have never done so). Nevertheless, let me try to clarify what I was trying to say. On webdip, maybe the fact x is a frequent 1904 stabber is something that I can (ought to?) use to my advantage. On the other hand, the expectation is that in-game play is only affected by diplomacy-related reasons. I don't read the forums that often, but I think that you are fond of saying something to the effect of "I won't back down from anyone in the forums even if that makes them not like me, but that doesn't mean I am volatile (or whatever) when I'm playing." And that is a perfectly valid thing for you to say; the forums aren't supposed to affect the games.

That isn't how F2F works, at least in my experience. For example, in F2F, my favorite two people to ally with are the two people who are most competitive with each other in real life, as they are then always trying to one up each other and will ultimately make a mistake. And that (or something like it) is how you are supposed to play F2F. In webdip, (again, in my opinion, and I may be somewhat biased since I don't think people have particularly strong opinions about me) the "ethic" dictates that any read like that be made in-game.

I'm not sure if I am communicating well, as it is really late, but that is my attempt.

And, like gobble said, I think a big reason anonymous games were implemented (and are now very popular among the regulars) is because they are closer to what this site considers the ideal game

@uclabb - OK that makes more sense. Yeah, I don't let forum or PM experience come into play if I can avoid it (sometimes our guts tell us things we don't know why) but past in-game experience is fair game. Of course, even in non-anon, the better players mix up their play so trying to predict when Player X will stab is difficult if he is one of the quality regulars.

I think we should play more non-anon, a bit of meta-gaming is fun.

Lopt
How did you get on with your cheating accusation against Bob and SplitD, has that been dealt with by the Mods?
Nigee

Well the games finished now so I feel I can comment.

I was arguably the 'victim' of the sent screenshots - The images published included correspondence firstly between myself and Turkey (in which I made plans to stab Italy with him) and secondly between myself and Russia (in which I made plans to ally with him should his play for a solo fail.)

Initially, I was fairly annoyed that such sensitive messages were sent to the very people I was plotting against. However, I do not actually think it should be banned.

The game is all about getting the upper hand over your rivals. Sending screenshots is one way to achieve that. Yes, it may seem petty or distasteful, but there's plenty that goes on in the game which could be considered those things. Bottom line: if I didn't want other players to know about my plans to stab them, I should have been more careful about who I shared those plans with.

Also, in this instance the player who sent the screenshots did not actually get any kind of advantage from doing so. I was told by Italy that Turkey had sent screenshots. That showed me I couldn't trust Turkey, and so I abandoned my plans for supporting Italy against Turkey and instead did the opposite. By the time the second screenshot was posted, this time in global, the content of the messages caused far less outrage than the actual sharing of the picture which only served to get people's backs up.

No, it shouldn't be banned. If it actually did confer an unfair advantage I'd say it should, but from this example its quite clear that the screenshots didn't help those that sent them in any way, while a simple copy and paste might have done.

I see no reason whatsoever to have this practice banned. Frankly, I cannot imagine any valid argument to do so.

I have used other communication software before during a game (google chat, or simply e-mail if you want to use pictures). This can of course only happen in full press. I never even considered classifying that as metagaming.

So, if you can use other communication software, why not on the global chat? Of course, posting private information on global is often seen as impolite, bad practice. Being impolite is allowed. If that's what you need to succeed in a game, go for it!

I think redhouse is overreacting.

I usually am lol.

Was there a mod decision somewhere in this 12 page mess?

I believe they ruled that in non-anon games, this was legal and in anon games, they are still reviewing the matter, but only in the context of determining whether such screenshots can reveal the identity of the player who's sending it.

^ fullpress only of course.