I had suspicions of BESM in another game. There was a player that took over a CD nation called RAAT or something like that. The similarities in name (each name consisting of four capital letters) combined with messages from BESM that kept on talking about helping me attack Germany (BESM was Germany and the messages sounded like they should have been coming from the English player) made me very suspicious.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

I have played with him and got along with him well enough. I think there was another thread complaining about him though and a lot of people vouched for him, but the fact that this is the second thread about him is suspicious.

Hey urall.

Cheers for the two cents guys. I really don't wanna come across as a little bitch about this, but the way I was subjected to endless abusive messages over the in game got me really wound up.

When I logged on and found that it was now being posted on the global I did some digging.

One of the things that mad me suspect most was that Italy hasn't sent me any messages since I pointed out to Russia that he/she has awful spelling.

Italy joined in the global chat with a message that was exactly like all the ones i'd gotten from Russia, and mispelled army. I mean, mispelling armie when you're playing diplomacy should be a banning offence in itself.

Ooops, 'mad me suspect' should read 'made me suspect'.

Guess that's some kind of paranoid Freudian slip.

That's a pretty strange Freudian slip, if you know what I men.

I played a game with him
http://phpdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=5780
where I was a replacement player for a NMR France with a bad position.
As I recall in that game he got into an intense press situation in the global press with two of the other players that was a little excessive to my puritanical prudish tastes, which I told him and he calmed it down.
Other than that, he is an old time player from 20 to 25 years ago and nothing in that game would indicate any sort of multiple play.

As far as I can tell BESM is playing fairly.

I've played with him once before and am currently in a game with him and found him very friendly. Granted, we were allies in both cases, but the global chats in both games remained clean and pleasant as well.

My best guess is that he just gets a little overly grumpy when things don't go his way.

Anyone else have that problem? (*slowly raises hand*)

"That's a pretty strange Freudian slip, if you know what I men."

LOL

I wasn't best pleased to read a message from Italy saying that Russia had helped him loads when he joined phpDip so he was helping him from the start. When he added that he didn't like to ever break alliances, and considered silence an acceptable diplomatic tactic I nearly wept.

The whole point of the game is dialogue, and understanding that all alliances are negotiable. Damn PPSC, in WTA games you never get someone sticking with an ally who's lost all home SCs.

Actually I have kept alliances with players who have lost everything, even once forced a 5 ways draw in a game here with a player for Russia who had one center in Bulgaria as I recall.

The real bane of things is the unfun aspect and therein is the rub for what is unfun to me may be fun to you. I prefer that things be flexible and that there be that little bit of tension that things could change drastically and work to make sure that the changes are your way.

People who have worked well before or who have fought all the time before cause problems for themselves and for others on the game and that is why I like games to be treated separately. The existing of the ranking system here may contribute to that aspect.
What would be the prospects of having a 'No-Rank' game where the results are not recorded and people just play to play? Could both systems survive here as they do on one other site that I know of.

It's the first game of Dip i've played on this site, and from the off I was being attacked by Russia and Italy while AH went CD. Italy refused to even enter into discussions with me and continued helping Russia after the fall of Sev, Moscow and St P (shortly followed by Warsaw).

France and Germany both went CD and Italy and Russia still devoted all their attention to me, while England amassed a signifcant lead.

Working with someone you've had previous success with is one thing, but ignoring the game to pursue an agenda which is solely your allies, is a hallmark of what i'd call meta-gaming.

All in all there have been nearly 21 different players involved through various CDs in France, Germany and AH, yet I have faithfully stayed true to my principles and refused to go CD, even though the game's been less fun or even than life or death chess with Garry Kasparov.

Hopefully the ordeal will end at some point soon, and i'd really like my next game here to be one which will restore my confidence in phpDip.

There are plenty of other sites to play Diplomacy on, and if this is indicative of what playing here is like, I doubt i'll bother again.

Just in case this is coming across as severe sour grapes, I personally value the experience of losing at games as highly as that of winning. You learn more, and it builds character.

But being subjected to a flagrant disregard for the spirit of the game leaves a sour taste in the mouth. I'm sure many of you have been there.

My first game was bad too, 3 of my opponents were metagaming. Then my second game, 2 of them were. Since then though I haven't had a problem and I encourage you to keep an open mind to the site. I'd be lying if I said meta-gaming and other forms of cheating didn't happen, but the Mod-Squad (Mods, if you don't like the name let me know and I'll stop calling you it) are great about handling the situations quickly and fairly.

There are problem games around and that's the sad truth of it. However, I would hope that you'll find its not a common thing and we do our best to deal with it. Next time you feel cross about the issue, just consider if it was you being accused. Obviously you wouldn't be impressed to get banned without having a chance to explain yourself.
Also, if you have information about a suspected multi that you don't want to post on the forum for whatever reasons you can always email one of us, I know I don't mind. Indeed, if you're not quite sure about a player this can be the best method, because it saves them of a forum accusation if found innocent. Saying that, I've nothing against people using the forum for it because its nice to keep the community together and friendly, but if so I think people shouldn't list names or account numbers in the first post. There are some people who just read the top message and won't read a thread, which is fine, but if it includes an accusation this will stick in their mind even if lower in the thread the person is acquitted.

rratclif- Personally I don't mind, and I have to admit it still makes me laugh!

I have played a few games with BESM. My impression has always been that he has a lot of fun attempting to provoke people, both through his actions and through press. I think he cares a lot more about that than about winning games. Which doesn't mean he is NOT multi-accounting, since that would be a wonderful way to provoke people...

I've also had problems with BESM and asked Mods to look into he actions when he as France and the Germany player who never once had any press at all with anyone as far as I was able to tell were in a firm alliance. When i questioned him about it he brought our private chat out into the Global channel as well. I found him rude and told him so. Given the choice I'll never play a game with him again because even if he really is only playing one account than he's still a brash person who resorts to foul language and pouting instead of acting like an adult.

I wish you could see the global chat of this game. His rudeness was so horrible that everyone else in the game decided to draw as opposed to playing with him any longer.

http://www.phpdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=6296

There are my two cents.