Diplomacy

[gingerbenjamin]

I've been playing diplomacy for years.....one site stands out above all others http://www.phpdiplomacy.net/. They completed about 5000 games on the site, have a nice community, and nice UI. Orders are based on dropdown lists. I've played in 5 other places in was very unsatisfied.

So my take is that this is a very competitive space when considering offering this game. However this is perhaps one of the most classic of all strategy games and very easy to program. If gametable wants to be a center for strategy gaming its a game that must be considered. I love axis and allies, and if offered diplomacy here, would move to combine all my gaming in one site.

[EdiBirsan]

There are many places to play Diplomacy but that does not mean that this place should not be one of them.

The Diplomacy hobby is also supported by two main hobby 'zine
www.DiplomacyWorld.net
www.Diplom.org
the later (Diplomatic Pouch) has an extensive outreach with sections on Face to Face events world wide as well as an archives of how to play and other articles.

Anyone interested can also contact me
EdiBirsan AT astoun DOT net

One of the sites not mentioned in the above group is
www.stabbeurfou.org which is also the site of numerous tournaments and also has a team functionality as well as an AI that can be used by the GM to avoid missed orders.
Special games can be set up so that you can play against the AI.
However these games are not Real Time games. There are numerous issues with Real Time Diplomacy games due to its typical length 4- hours or more and the extent of being able to communicate with all the players quick enough while use a typed interface. Not to mention connection times and quality.
Most Play By E Mail games (PBEM) have deadlines of 24-72 hours to allow for a lot of correspondence between all the players and to allow for world wide participation over numerous time zones.

[TDRandall]

Thanks for the tip, gingerbenjamin, I hadn't looked around in quite a while, since everything I had found previously just didn't grab my attention. It looks good...

... although looking at the offerings already available here it is not hard to imagine that it could be done even better.

I agree with some previous thoughts. The mechanics of the game are certainly within the ability of the coders of the games already on the site, certainly a basic AI too as far as submitting their own orders.

What I expect would be more challenging would be a suitable interface to appropriately communicate. It would be really cool if you were provided little separate chat sessions along the borders somehow with each of the players to do your canoodling and conniving. I like the idea of rooms that more than two people could meet in, but that would also decrease the amount of plausible deniability when things just "happened" to not work out as originally planned. (Would that be a good thing or a bad thing in this game?)

More robust AIs who could actually offer or accept some type of deals would be fantastic! And one that might actually backstab you and might be working with another AI against you? "HAL: I'm sorry, Dave, but as Russia I really could not let you take Romania. Perhaps I could support you into Bulgaria this next time for your plans against Austria?"

(yes, I'm a bit punchy - lack of sleep)

[rockismyreligion]

Bump.

[huwjones]

I have been playing Global Diplomacy on the following free website since 2004:

http://members.shaw.ca/emg.pbm/emg.htm

Huw

[rockismyreligion]

Bump.

[rockismyreligion]

Bump.

Actually, I think this game would be a fantastic premium Play by E-mail game, with a special premium PBEM price tag attached to it.

[BKBrawler]

I would like to see GTO put Diplomacy up. It'd be nice to have my favorite games all in one spot. What can I say? I'm a lazy guy...

[aagamer_kc03]

Diplomacy is one of the greatest games I have played. It's really fun at Gen Con as you have new people each year which varies strats, alliances, etc...

How does PBEM work? It would sure seem to change the face to face aspect of alliances and backstabbing. (It's really fun to see the look on England's face as their two "allies' France and Germany take them out in a single turn lol)

[bb82]

There already are a few sites that specialize in dip.

It is subjective. But if you like dip, you wont find better than playdiplomacy.com.

[rockismyreligion]

There are already a few dip sites.

It is subjective. But if you like dip, you wont find better than playdiplomacy.com.

I checked it out. Interesting.

[jbrentmorrison]

I just discovered Diplomacy. I agree that it would be nice to play it here.

Administrators consider; it really isn't a question of how many other sites offer the game, but rather one of "would we benefit from offering the game?" I would imagine Diplomacy being easier to write programming for as there are only two unit types and a handful of rules to follow. Much of the difficulty in this game comes from the human interaction part. Aside from having decent chat capabilities, I would think that GTO could do this game well and on the cheap.

[RobEng]

I just discovered Diplomacy. I agree that it would be nice to play it here.

Administrators consider; it really isn't a question of how many other sites offer the game, but rather one of "would we benefit from offering the game?" I would imagine Diplomacy being easier to write programming for as there are only two unit types and a handful of rules to follow. Much of the difficulty in this game comes from the human interaction part. Aside from having decent chat capabilities, I would think that GTO could do this game well and on the cheap.

In general we have come to a similar conclusion that exclusivity of our games is not a requisite. It is a factor but not a requirement.

In 2008 when we were working on the Gleemax board game initiative for Wizards of the Coast, they had brought up the topic of doing Diplomacy. We did some office play of the game and there was some element of the game that presented some challenge but I can't recall what it was.