Save I use initially to get orders in to protect from NMR. After that, I try to get substantial press through and received before I hit ready. I want to go in with a solid plan before I can call myself ready.

This site lets you see whether other players have:

* No orders (!! symbol), meaning they have not entered orders. This is the only state that can cause an NMR.
* saved some orders (grey ✓ symbol), meaning that they have entered orders
* or readied (green ✓ symbol), meaning that they have entered orders and are ready for them to be adjudicated.

Others will disagree with me here (especially Tru Ninja), but I don't think there's much to be read in whether players have saved orders or not. However, I do get a bit worried if a player readies their orders without discussion - especially in 1901.

For me, I almost never ready orders unless it is a gunboat game. I only ready if I think "no further press is going to change my orders this turn", and even then I'll usually wait for the timer to tick down. It helps me plan when I'm going to need to write new press :)

I play slow games though- 48 hour turns or more. I think the site culture is to ready more often in faster games- at least that's how the few 24 hour games I've played progressed.

The three states have a good analogy to Face-to-Face games:

* No orders - I haven't seen them write any orders yet
* Saved - I've seen them writing orders
* Readied - I've seen them put their orders in the box

Just like in FTF games, orders can still be changed when readied - but you have to take them out of the box first - ie, you have to mark "not ready". And just like in FTF, I'll sometimes say something like "I see you've put your orders in already - I'm surprised we didn't talk about Galicia yet"

So I suppose the different perspectives on whether to let the timer run down or ready to speed things up is a critical part of the game play. If one or two players are wanting that 24hr set time versus moving on early, it would be good to know via global chat? Is there a protocol around this?

I wouldn't say it's a critical part of the game play. Opinions differ, but my feeling is if you want a game that progresses faster, then join a faster game :)

Nobody is under any obligation to ready up before the timer hits zero.

In gunboat, depending on the map, if there are neighbours with NMRs, sometimes I will Save but not Ready, and check in closer to deadline as to whether they're still NMR. If they are still NMR and it's close enough to deadline, I might change moves to assume that they are going to NMR. If I have no neighbours with NMRs, then I'll just press Ready after double checking.

In non-gunboat, I would rarely press Ready at all anyway, even with a nearby set of NMRs. I might press Save on an initial set of orders before talking to anyone, and I suspect many players would do that (but hopefully do some talking ASAP also).

But like ATC, I'd take a set of Ready orders without talking as an indication of "well, I've got orders in and I'm not talking to you" and something probably needs to be done about that (usually trying to talk, but if there's no talking forthcoming, it's usually a bad sign).

^ "In non-gunboat, I would rarely press Ready at all anyway, even without any nearby NMRs."

I meant to add - if we're in a game together, and I've got orders saved (or not entered, or readied), it means that I am going along with your plan and no-one is going to talk me out of it.

ATC: Of course. Isn't that how everybody plays? I always go along with everyone's plans and never let anybody talk me out of doing otherwise. Now, everyone should go ahead press Draw, before we all get ourselves into more trouble.

I have some days that are IRL busier than others. On my busy days, I tend to save moves early, if I'm afraid I'll miss the deadline because of my life demands.

I'm always tweaking saved moves, so seeing the grey check shouldn't discourage anyone from suggesting great ideas for me.

Yeah, in my opinion, if i join a 25 hour game, i expect the phases to take 25 hours - unless it is a build/retreat phase where only one or two players have orders, chances are i never ready.

(Except maybe in spring 1901, where i will tell my neighbours what beligerent actions i'm taking and then ready, cause until i see how they actually move nothing they say is trustworthy...)

The things you learn, the more you play.

I don't know how many new comers to this site have played diplomacy before (I hadn't) and there is a lot of assumed knowledge on the rules and simple nuances of game play. Has anyone put together a newbies guide which is a little more detailed than the FAQ, but not as intense as the School of War?

Most people don't really use the Save and Ready buttons. They're mostly for show and to give us something to complain about. They are pretty close, after all.

When you're from an older generation of webdippers, having buttons is luxury. Back in my day, we only had one button, and it was a self-destruct button. Now you kids have all kinds of buttons: Save button, Ready button, Join Game button, Spectate button. What's with all these buttons? Sounds like some button-happy mod is running for president. Plus, they're all so close it's like playing darts trying to actually submit orders. And don't get me started on that fancy Post Reply button. It's so close to the bottom of the text box that if you have to edit the bottom line of text, you'll probably press that dang thing and accidentally

@Polemarch (and anyone listening, really) you're right in that the FAQ could be vastly improved - especially for new players. If you want to write up some sections that are missing, I'll happily add them to the site.

I'm serious btw - if anyone wants to help update/improve the FAQ, shoot us an email at [email protected]

I thought it was pretty good. It's gotten bigger over the years, but when I came to this site I hadn't completed a single game and only had two half-games under my belt.

I agree with Tru_Noddy that buttons are scary. Especially ones that say "self-destruct." You know you don't want to push it, but there's this strong urge to. BOOM!

I remember when you had to type /draw to vote for a draw... Simpler time :)