Diplomacy Zine -- Chapter Eight EP #271 From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1992 19:06:56 +0000 Issue #271 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: ************************************************************************* THE TOP 10 USES FOR YOUR COMPLIMENTARY OS/2 SOFTWARE KIT 10) Set of 26 3.5-inch disks make attractive coasters for highballs, iced tea, and hot coffee. 9) Documentation replaces costly lead ballast in both sail- and motor-powered pleasure craft. 8) Nicely fills unsightly gap on software bookshelf between your copies of DisplayWrite and dBASE IV. 7) Enough shrink-wrap to handle a week's worth of bag lunch sandwiches. Ideal for casseroles as well. 6) Slipcover neatly hides all four volumes of "Leisure Suit Larry". 5) Hi-tech booster chair for infant chief information officers-in- training. 4) Personalized body sculpting. Install process yields more wrist muscle bulk than four hours on a Soloflex. 3) Foam spacer makes great loofa sponge for shower. 2) Save for use in felony trials requiring sure-fire insanity defense. 1) Perfect counterbalance for maintaining even keel while carrying the latest issue of Computer Shooper. ************************************************************************* Chapter One contains: BAGHDAD, BLITZKRIEG II, KING'S GAMBIT, PASSCHENDAELE, DRAGONS, BLACK OCTOBER, OPERATION DESERT STORM, THE SOMME And is published by uunet!cti1!rlister or rlister@cti.com/Russ Lister Chapter Two contains: BATAAN, BOADICEA, CONAN, CROATIA, CUBIT, DAGGER, DIEN, DRAM, EMU, EYLAU, FONTENOY, GIGGLES, HASTINGS, IONA, KHAFJI, MARENGO, OSIJEK, PARIS, PORTNOY, QUEBEC, TIBERIUS, VEGA And is published by loeb@geocub.greco-prog.fr/Daniel E. Loeb Chapter Three contains: SQUALANE, BRUSILOV OFFENSIVE II, CULLODEN, GANDALF'S REVENGE, GOODBYE BLUE SKY, MASTERS OF DECEIT, PANDORA, NOW AND ZEN And is published by mad-2@kub.nl/Constantijn Wekx Chapter Four contains: DEADLY DAGGERS, MONTREUIL-SUR-MER, FIRE WHEN READY, THUNDERDOME, And needs a publisher. Chapter Five contains: YALTA And needs a publisher. Chapter Six contains: BERLIN WALL, HIROSHIMA, GENGHIS KHAN, SEA LION, GIBRALTAR And is published by barry@brahms.udel.edu/Barry Fausnaugh. Chapter Seven contains: RIYADH'S RECKONING And needs a publisher. Chapter Eight contains: TIBERIUS, BETELGEUSE, IRON CROSS, GUERNICA, TEUNISGEK, WOLF BLITZER, THE COMMANDERS, THE SUTHERLAND CONFLICT, NOW AND ZEN ------------- Chapter Eight ------------- Table of Contents: Letter about Rules from Harri Haanpaa DIPCON XXV Diplomacy Test #1 by Harold Reynolds Diplomacy Test #2 by Harold Reynolds People's Diplomacy Organization Relief Auction JUDGE ver 1.6 ad My First Dipcon . . . . DIPCON XXII by Ron Cameron DIPCON XXII Tournament: Some Ideas Worth Improving and Keeping by Edi E. Birsan ---- This is a response to the series of letters that I published in the last issue: From: Harri Haanp{{ <haha@vipunen.hut.fi> Finally you posted something so I could send you what I thought might be relevant to my rules query :) The Diplomacy set I bought I bought in Germany, and it was copyrighted by Gibson Games Ltd. I thought D was an Avalon Hill classic, right? Do I have a pirated version (it doesn't look like one) or what? Harri H. My response: As you pointed out in your last letter, your rules are copyrighted 1989, seven years after the latest U.S. edition. Can someone in Europe let me know what year their rules were copyrighted? I'm even wondering if it varies from country to country. DIPCON XXV INFO: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SOMEWHERE UNDER THE RAINBOW Announcing _____ __ _____ _____ _____ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ | _ \| || _ \| __|| _ || \| | | \/ || \/ || \/ | | |_| || || __/| |__ | |_| || | > < > < \ / |_____/|__||__| |_____||_____||__|\__| |__/\__||__/\__| \__/ In Kansas City, Missouri! July 3 through 5, 1992 (PoolCon IV follows, July 6 through 12, at Marshall, MO.) DipCon Committee: Chairman Vince Lutterbie, Committe Members Gary Behnen & Marc Peters WHAT HAVE THE WIZARDS GOT IN STORE FOR YOU? PRICE: $25 if you pre-register by May 31st, 1992 $20 for registrations from June 1st-July 2nd $35 at the door! GAMES: North American Diplomacy Championship Team Diplomacy Tournament (limited to the first 7 captains who register their teams) Titan Tournament Even more yet to come! CONTACT: Vince Lutterbie 1021 Stonehaven Marshall, MO 65340 (816) 886-7354 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I received the following humor from both the author, harold@rainbow.physics.utoronto.ca/Harold Reynolds and one of my favorite subscribers, richard.v.lamb@um.cc.umich.edu/Richard Lamb: Diplomacy Test #1 Test your knowledge of the Diplomacy game board by filling each blank with one of the places listed below. 1. There's ____________ I can do 100 geography questions for tomorrow. 2. The boy cried so much he was called the Prince of ____________. 3. First mark all these Geography tests, ____________ the labs. 4. You failed the Geography exam? You ____________, it was so easy! 5. Fred is ten minutes late! ____________ he going to show up? 6. "____________? Not at all! Bud's the nicest guy I know!" 7. Geographical opposite of Lowerland. ____________ 8. When you run the race I'll stand at the side and ____________ on to victory. 9. "That ball is a bomb!" "Yes, I hear the ____________ too." 10. It is generally not a good idea to ____________ boat until the engine is turned off. 11. "That map of Belgium belongs to Russel?" "Yes, it's ____________ map." 12. I don't want to ____________, but your essay is due tomorrow. 13. Bovine sculpture made from entirely from moss. ____________ 14. The "Greek Cement Swindle" soon became known as the "con- ____________". 15. Did you manage to ____________ your Geography homework? 16. When people go nuts about rowing, it's called ____________. 17. Israeli government's policy: one ____________, two/too serious. 18. My downtown apartment is great! I ____________ few minutes from work! 19. My sister wants to balance an atlas on her nose while juggling three globes? Boy, is ____________! 20. "Where does Fred hurt?" "Fred's ____________ is in his lower back." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- a) Algeria f) Crete k) Moscow p) Spain b) Ankara g) Denmark l) Norway q) Syria c) Baltic h) Finnish m) Romania r) Turkey d) Brussels i) Ireland n) Russia s) Venice e) Budapest j) Livonia o) Sicily t) Wales Harold Reynolds April 10, 1992 Diplomacy Test #2 Test your knowledge of the Diplomacy game board by filling each blank with one of the places listed below. 1. Sugar is added to ____________ your coffee. 2. A nice city for wandering around. ____________ 3. Sign at the salad bar: "____________ self." 4. I don't want an argument. I'll be much happier if he a-____________ with me. 5. The ____________ tree can be found in the swamps of Florida. 6. I don't know how to ____________ piano. I'll get a pro to do it. 7. When finished a lecture, Professor Lund says "____________." 8. It is difficult to keep a-____________ of all the new developments in Geography. 9. A good city to buy gerbils, mice and guinea pigs is ____________. 10. The situation went from badda to ____________. 11. ____________ you going to finish this Geography test? 12. When selecting Charles and Nick, the prof said, "You, Charles and ____________." 13. The preferred perfume of oceanographers is ____________ No. 5. 14. Can a general become world-famous? Of ____________. 15. Where to find the best sardines. ____________ 16. We are the Soviet Maniac Society. ____________ for today is puns. 17. The ____________ keeps a sailing ship from tipping over. 18. A downpour of ukeleles could only occur in ____________. 19. In poker, a ____________ two of a kind. 20. Geography meets baseball: "Hey, you! ____________ next at bat!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- a) Amsterdam f) Cyprus k) Munich p) Sweden b) Armenia g) Europe l) Paris q) Tunis c) Brest h) Greece m) Rome r) Ukraine d) Channel i) Kiel n) Sardinia s) Vienna e) Corsican j) London o) Serbia t) Warsaw Harold Reynolds April 10, 1992 -- -- The first person to correctly answer both tests wins a few clone of him or herself which I will pay for -- Eric. -- -- PDORA INFO: *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* PEOPLE'S DIPLOMACY ORGANIZATION RELIEF AUCTION Douglas Kent 54 West Cherry St. #211 Rahway, NJ 07065 Greetings! It's that time of year again - time for PDORA to try and raise money to help fund hobby services. Last year we raised over $525. This will be my first year running the auction, so hopefully we'll be able to make it as successful as those that John Caruso did. It's YOU the hobbyist who makes the auction a success. So please, if you're a publisher, plug the auction. If you have something you'd like to auction off to help raise money, by all means now is the time to contact me. What I need at this time is the information on the items you wish to auction, NOT the items themselves - those should be sent to the successful bidders later on. You may give me a short description to include, and minimum bid and any postage costs. All items provided for auction will be listed in a booklet which will be mailed out around the end of May. If you do not receive a copy of the auction booklet by mid-June, they may be obtained from me for a SASE or simply by request for one. No request will be refused. The kinds of items you may offer for auction may include but are not limited to: subscriptions to your zine, game openings, games, horoscopes, coins, stamps, old zines, Dipdom memorabilia, photographs, or any number of other items whether related to Dipdom or not. If you have a hobby service that you'd like to submit a funding request to PDORA for, by all means do so. All you need to do is let me know what the service is, and how much money you are requesting. If I need further information about your request I'll be in touch. All funding requests will be passed on to the Financial Committee for consideration, after the auction has ended and the bids collected. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you for your help in making the PDORA a success. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Here's a free ad I'm running for Les Casey: For sale....JUDGE ver 1.6 (software to adjudicate your Diplomacy game) * runs under MS-DOS ver 2.0 or greater * only needs 250K ram * simple menu structure * tried and tested for over 4 yrs * adjudicate hundreds of games * includes several utility progs * output to either printer, screen, disk * many satisified customers NOTE: This game is meant for Gamemasters only. Please send $30.00 (U.S. or Canadian funds) to: Judge Software c/o Les Casey Box 5241 Note: Make checks payable to Les Casey Merivale Depot Ottawa, Ontario Canada K2C 3H5 The following was first published in ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL #119: ****************************************************** Transmitted via scribe Larry Hardouin/att!druwa!hardlj ****************************************************** Guest Editorial MY FIRST DIPCON . . . . DIPCON XXII by Ron Cameron, member DIPCON XXII Administrative Committee As most people that have played the game with me either in person, or by mail will certify, I have a tendency to reamble on and on....and on. This tale about DIPCON XXII will be no exception, so get ready for not too short a read. My DIPCON weekend started well before the actual official events and registration. As a member of the DIPCON Committee, I had the distinct advantage and enjoyment of knowing many of the attendees beforehand. This created, in my feeble mind, many pre-illusionary and pre-conceived mental pictures of these people that I was about to meet, in person, for the first time. In addition, as founder of the CAMCON Diplomacy events in the Los Angeles area, I looked forward to renewing friendships and visiting with once again, those 'deadly Camconians' that I hadn't seen in several months. On Wednesday before the con started, Steve and Linda Courtemanche arrived at my home quite late in the evening. They were finishing up their California vacation. They had spent the day at Knott's Berry Farm, and, by the time that they arrived, my wife Kathy and I were both sleeping. Since we both had to work that day, we left the door unlocked with a note for Steve and Linda to let themselves in, and make themselves at home. We greeted them briefly the next morning and went off to work, while they took on Disneyland with the other tourists. Early that evening, Thursday, Don Williams arrived. To say he was more that a little 'pumped up' and 'raring to go' is an understatement!! We were both uncaged, unresponsible, on the party animals. Off we immediately went to the local Shakeys for beer, pinball and pizza. I conveniently 'forgot' my wallet so Don had to pay for everything, including the quarters for the video games and the six-pack and cigarettes purchased on the way back to 'Casa Cameron'. It wasn't too long before Steve and Linda arrived, wrapping up a long day at Disneyland. My daughter, Julie, had made a chocolate cake for the occasion, but had gone to sleep with the rest of my sleepy family by the time our 'mouseketeers' walked wearily through the door. Don, Linda, Steve and I devoured the entire chocolate cake, and then talked 'hobby' for quite a while. Steve and Linda are two of the nicest people that you would ever want to meet. The time, effort, money, and support that they (and Don) gave me on the Holley Award project will never be forgotten! Next morning, Don and I were off like a shot to DIPCON while Linda and Steve were to meet us in San Diego later, as they wanted to drive down the coast and do some scenic sight-seeing. Turns out that they were so tired from their visits to Knotts and Disneyland, that they spent most of Friday morning in my spa. Linda apparently has got the California 'bug' and wants to move here immediately. We'll have to send her that bumper sticker "WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA, NOW GO HOME". Ha Ha. Arriving at Larry Peery's, we were greeted by 'the King' himself. I was told by more than one person that Don and I had missed a great mixer the night before. Larry proudly gave us the nickel tour of his house, complete with "The Duck Williams Bathroom" and Diplomacy World Central. I met Matt McVeigh and his gorgeous wife; they had come all the way from England. Matt, I believe, was runner-up World Con Diplomacy Champion. We said hello, and laughed with Camconians Hohn Cho and Tim Moore. Mike Legg was selling very nice Diplomacy map postcards. I finally got to meet Mark Lew and David Hood. Great guys, one and all. Some of us participated in a cork gathering event held in Larry's backyard. Essentially, Larry scattered some colored corks around and the seven participants scurried to see who could gather 18 the quickest, either by initial grabbing, or later trading. It took the winner all of five minutes to achieve his 18. Later, to our astonishment, we found this event would count in some minor way, as part of the winners final score. Don had promised Gary Behnen a ride from the San Diego airport, so we stopped there enroute to the hotel. I'll say this about Gary; he's not what I expected. Like myself, he's not a little overweight, not too physically attractive, and certainly not someone you'd like to have come to your front door to pick up your daughter for her first date. While Don Williams is about 6'2", lean, and fairly good looking (in my wife's eyes), Gary is the exact opposite. Still, Gary has the personality of a comedian and it's easy to immediately see why he's won so many postal games. He's the kind of guy that you'd like to have as your partner on a game show. Or in a dark alley. Both Gary and Don would be hilarious on a night out on the town. Pity Gary is a St. Louis Cards fan. The Town & Country Hotel is one of San Diego's best. Thanks to Mike Maston, Larry made a terrific choice for the Con location. The facilities are expansive and expensive, to say the least. I think Fred Davis got lost three times before he found the convention hall. People like Fred made DIPCON XXII the success that it was. He was always there to help, always with a kind word and a friendly smile. Our game rooms were as comfortable and modern as any convention I've ever attended, and as a banker, I've attended more than a few. Walking up to the registration table, I saw Marla Cronin and Audi Jaxon. This was a nice touch, I thought, two attractive, pretty young ladies the first people you see at the con. They had everything well in order; the registration packets and program was very well thought out and structured. Even the greenist novice would have had no trouble figuring anything out. I thanked Audi once again for the help that she had given me in the previous months. The room where the blood was soon to spill was crowded, the atmosphere cordial, but at the same time tense. I wanted to meet everyone, play everyone. Someone remarked that it seemed like just before feeding time at the zoo. Gunboat was the first game of the night. Seven or eight tables started up. Rules were explained, "NO TALKING" and gamesmasters assigned. David Hood was our GM. Now David is the kind of guy you'd like to have show up at your doorstep to escort your daughter on that first date. This guy is Mr. Right. Got his act together. Now wonder he's a past DIPCON Champ; he's persuasive but not domineering, friendly, but not with too much syrup. He also has what few good face to face players possess, the ability and expertise at being a good listener. Mark Lew is also in this category. Talk to him for five minutes and you immediately admire him, even if you are in disagreement. They both exude such confidence without being obnoxious. I won my Gunboat game Friday night, with an 18 center England. It took me slightly over six hours. I later found out Jeff McKee got double the credit that I did for 'beating' the computer and gaining 20 centers in 13 minutes. Sour grapes? I was, nor was anyone else I talked to that weekend, not happy how Larry Peery ranked and scored the events. However, that is another article; maybe a longer one that this. Mark Lew won the Gunboat Division championship with a 14 center Germany. Figure that one out. Mark and I can't to this very day, especially since Steve Cooley and Bob Aube had 18 and 19 center wins as Austria and Italy respectively. I did admire Jeff McKee's pooh-poohing his mastery of a flawed Diplomacy computer program. A relative newcomer to the play-by- mail hobby, Jeff has a good intelligence for the game and a cockiness that you admire. I hope Jeff stays in the hobby and continues to publish. It will also be interesting to see his thoughts about his 2nd place overall finish at DIPCON XXII which, in large part came from beating that flawed computer program. Of course that's not Jeff's fault that this event was given so much weight in the scoring system. Saturday morning brought the team event. The fun part of this event was that you knew exactly what country (pre-assigned by team captain) that you would play. Everyone on your team would play his country at a different table. Steve Cooley, from the Los Angeles area, had hand picked a superb slate of seven face to face gamers. Steve is probably the best face to face Dip player that I've ever had the pleasure, (and displeasure) of competing against. Larry Peery originally balked at Steve's lineup. "They're too good; we'll have to break them up!", he said. "Calm down Larry", I replied, "I'll just form a better team". Don Williams and I got together and did just that. And what a team!! I called it "Cameron's Californians", all members California residents, or ex- residents. We had tournament champ Edi Birsan playing Italy and (should have been tournament champ) Hohn Cho playing France. Don was to play Austria and I was to play Turkey. Mr. Gary 'Greedy' Behnen played Russia and Camconians Eric Aldrich and Steve Golob played England and Germany. Remarkably, the team finished with six draws and one survivorship--probably a record that will stand for some time to come. I sure was proud of these fellows! Steve Cooley's team finished in second place and it seemed the competition was so fierce, especially since there was not one win in seven boards played. How did I do as Turkey? Fairly well, an enjoyable game considering I wanted to do well and felt the pressure. I think I ended up with 9 centers in the four way draw. Saturday night saw the first round of Individual Diplomacy. Just before the round started, it was quite evident that everyone was quite excited. You could hear a pin drop as the names were read assigning players their tables. Problem was there were 53 participants and four were need to volunteer to sit out. Since news of my 18 center Gunboat win had spread like wildfire, I was willing to leave my table. Also, as a member of the DIPCON Committee, I thought I had that responsibility. I received assurances from Don DelGrande, tournament director, that missing the first round would not be held against me. Later, I found out that playing that round and doing well would have placed me among the final leaders, as the lowest round performance would be eliminated from a player's score. Sour grapes? Naw, only the victim of one person's value judgements about how the ranking of the events and the scoring system, radically changed for this Dipcon, could have such a profound effect on the overall winner and champion. I watched and observed and kibbitzed round one of the Individual Dip competition. There was Cathy Ozog, fighting for her life as Italy, and making it to '07 before elimination. Kathy is one hobbyist I'd wished I had more time with which to visit. Hohn Cho, always precise and cunning, was having an easy time of it, and on his way to an 18 center win as Turkey. Sue Welter was also playing Turkey at another board and holding her own with 8 centers. Sue is quite a crackup. Her bubbly personality was a real pick-me-up for me all those times we spent talking in the hall. You see, as smokers, and no smoking allowed in the game rooms, I happily spent time talking with her, even as my games were taking place. During round one, I was hoping Vince Lutterbie would get eliminated so we could play that game of Acquire we had hoped to face off on for so long. Vince is truly on eof the most amicable people I have ever corresponded with in the play-by-mail hobby. He is no disappointment in person. Too bad he is such a good player; he slugged it out with Steve Cooley and only because of Germany did not get part of the draw. Still, Vince finished a strong 12 center Turk. By that time I was dead to the world and asleep like a rock back in my room. The next morning, after a swim in the pool and a small continental breakfast consisting of a Miller draft and a doughnut, was the hobby meeting. Dave McCrumb, Cathy Ozog and David Hood all submitted bids to host DIPCON XXIII in various cities. Edi Birsan was of the opinion that DIPCON should be held exclusively of any other gaming events or convention. Most of the meeting agreed and the vote gave David Hood and his Carolina Diplomats the DIPCON XXIII location in North Carolina. Round II of Individual Dip then started. Six boards convened and I drew Russia. I normally like to play Russia, but, in this case, did not play it well. At first, Turkey and I had a good, solid alliance going and together we had 12 units by the end of '02. But Italy would not let Austria cave in. Worse, I had made a tactical error by stabbing Germany too early, and he and England quickly moved against me. With nowhere to go to grow, it was obvious that the Sultan would gladly join in. I couldn't blame him. Mercifully, the game ended in a 1907 seven way draw. Overall, in round II, the competition seemed very good as no one had better than 12 centers. Next came the awards banquet with over 30 people attending the sit down dinner. Everyone was all spiffed up, each anxious to learn the results. I remember how nice Steve and Linda Courtemanche looked, just like they were ready for church. I thanked Tim Moore for his help that he had given to DIPCON, thankful that I hadn't met up with him on a table. He's a good player and knows most of my tricks. Don Williams, Vince Lutterbie and I downed a couple of Miller drafts. Stories of stabs and alliances, '...if I had only done this, or ... if you only would've done that', etc., etc. Everyone had battle wounds and war stories. Greg Ellis, from Texas, and a very serious, intelligent, and exacting player won the Rolex watch door prize. Dinner was excellent, the first full course meal for many that weekend. Don Del Grande, tournament director, tried in vain to explain the scoring system. He spent a full five minutes trying to explain it, then asked for a show of hands who did. Not more than three raised their hands. Larry read the long list of winners and presented the very impressive awards. After dinner entertainment was the highlight of the award's ceremony and consisted of a roast of Larry Peery. Larry had known nothing of this beforehand. Rod Walker was master of ceremonies and you could not ask for a better one! His initial monologue and interjections of jokes between speakers was hilarious. One by one, he introduced Don DelGrande, Mike Maston, Don Williams and myself. Each threw barbs and stabbed Larry probably more than he's ever been stabbed in a Diplomacy game. The crowd loved every minute of it! Edi Birsan, in particular, was superb. I can't remember his exact words, but he had the audience howling every second. He'd be into another scenario and you'd still be laughing from the first. Everything from that weekend is still fairly vivid in my mind, even as I write this almost 50 days later. I will long remember the fun. Even longer, I'll remember friendships, conversations and faces that I made for the first time. Fellowship is what DIPCON is all about. Sure, the competition and games are exciting, but its the people you meet and the social interaction that was the best part for me. I was everything that I had pre-pictured it to be. More important, I'm sure everyone had a great time and no one regretted attending. So that's my first DIPCON---I'm sure now that it won't be my last..... The following was first published in ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL #177: The following was scribed by u2228@crayamid.cray.com (Dave Bowen): Taken from Diplomacy World #56: DIPCON XXII TOURNAMENT: SOME IDEAS WORTH IMPROVING AND KEEPING Edi E. Birsan There is a tendency to judge events and systems by the immediate initial result and to then overlay a heavy case of personal inclinations and perceptions with a resultant total rejection when your own expectations are not met. A new system or idea is rarely debuted in a flawless performance to worldwide acclaim and acceptance. More typically, as is the case with the last DIPCON Tournament System, there are areas subject to great question as to the social acceptability of the application of the techniques and the details that are hung on the new form. I am writing to try and shift the review from 'what was done' to 'what was tried' in the hope that some of the very positive ideas that came out of the tournament system can be advanced, improved and perpetuated for future attenders to build on and get enjoyment and satisfaction with. With that said, let me ramble on with my prejudices and biases on the salient features of the last system. 1. THE UNKNOWN RATING SYSTEM: The players were not told the exact details of the rating system for each individual event. Nor were they told of the mixing and weighing system that would be used to blend the results of each individual score into an overall result, other than there would be some kind of mixing and everyone was expected to be in three events. I liked the idea of a hidden rating system because it prevents players from trying to play the rating system and doing all sorts of artificial things to get information on other games. If players cannot zero in on playing the system, then they shift to playing the best they can and you have that wonderful interface between player's own perceptions of what they think is good and worthwhile in playing. Then, no matter what the system is, the players have a more memorable game since ther is less distractions of importance in the games around you. We have a hobby in which there is no universal acceptance of scales of achievement other than a solo win. We can heap abuse latter on the details if we disagree on the rating of a four way draw with four centers vs. a three way draw with nine centers, or a second place Italy with sixteen centers. However, the potential for discord and disharmony is very great in the course of the tournament's games if the then current scale is known because players will harp on their own disagreement with the details of the system; while the friction of other players playing the tournament rather than the game greatly reduces the social nature of the multiplayer game. KEEP THE IDEA OF THE HIDDEN RATING SYSTEM 2. THE MULTIPLE EVENT OVERALL RATING: The Diplomacy hobby is not composed of only regular games of individual Diplomacy. DIPCONs do not feature only games of the regular seven player game. In fact, if you look at what is actually played at the conventions by the Diplomacy players, the traditional seven player game in many cases is not even sixty percent of the games actually played. One of the overall reasons we go to DIPCONs is to meet the people, have a good time, try some different things and socialize. By having different events, such as the Team Game, Gunboat Event, Variant Game, etc. players are encouraged to participate in different groupings of people and to maybe take in different experiences. Likewise with the introduction of an Overall Rating, it helps to diffuse the focus on an individual game result and encourages players to play more often, and to with multiple events we see achievement recognition for broad spectrum skills rather than always on the individual event. We need to develop different events and should probably try something new each DIPCON. The Computer Diplomacy Event was not well received and probably should be dropped until the game is made a challenge other than speed typing. Likewise, the Quiz on the Diplomacy Board was distorted with too many hobby history and cult personality trivia questions. A focus entirely on the board and play would be more acceptable. I'd like to see a Diplomacy Escalation Game Event (but I'm biased, being the inventor). However, the idea of different events and an Overall integration of the results of these individual events is a good idea. Let the local DIPCON committees struggle with the number and type of events and whether its the best three scores out of five, or two out of three, etc. KEEP THE IDEA OF AN OVERALL RATING ALIVE. 3. TIME LIMITS: While each board was allowed to time itself, the event or round was over at a specified time. Diplomacy without a social time limit becomes a silly exercise in insomnia. By having time limits it allows the administrators to keep up with the information needed to digest the scores, and forces players to move along to the next thing. Does it allow for some players to twaddle to slow things down, or encourage some to hold out with refusals to vote for draws? Yes, but that is acceptable from my view when you consider the benefit for moving things on. It also reduces the tendency to watch other games for their results. KEEP THE IDEA OF TIME LIMITS. 4. THE TEAM GAMES: Seven teams of seven were formed. Five of which were formed by players prior to DIPCON and two were tossed in, made up of those who had no prior teams. The idea being that in each game there was one member from each team and that the collective scores of the team members were compared. The team 'captain' got with his mates and tried to put forth the best team on country strength so that a player who felt very secure as Russia played that country and so on. This tended to give some interesting results in that you sort of had a self-seeding effect. It was also a beginning of a group comraderie which diffuses the self focus on the individual and forces the player to look at overall happenings. I believe the idea of Team Games started in the UK conventions and it is worth keeping. KEEP TEAM GAMES. 5. GUNBOAT EVENT: Having been at DIPCON V where Gunboat Diplomacy was invented...a funny story in itself...it was surprising how popular the game was. This DIPCON had an interesting twist in that each game had a gamemaster who would mix up the orders and hide them from view so that when read it was not obvious who was playing which country. Nevertheless, errors and guesses eventually revealed the player-country assignments. However, this was a very good idea for Gunboat and should be continued. KEEP THE GUNBOAT EVENT. 6. MANY PRIZES, TROPHIES, AND AWARDS: I never liked the idea of only trophies or plaques for the top three positions. Rocamora and I came up with the idea of recognition for the best country score, regardless of your overall standings. The advancement of multiple events allows for event winners, such as Hohn Cho winning the Individual Diplomacy Event, to receive recognition. The adding of funny awards such as 'Best Poland', for the first player elimin- ated, or a 'Winner's Circle', for those who win a game regardless of what, is good. We should try to have as many awards and things as possible that people can take back with them as memories of the DIPCON. KEEP THE GOODIES. Anyway, I've rambled on enough here and I'm sure there are many other things of positive value that can come out of DIPCON XXII. I look forward to seeing that DIPCON spirit continue to improve the quality of everyone's enjoyment. Publisher comments: Quote is from Arlan Levitan, p. 160 of the May 1992 Computer Shopper. Note that I am looking for GMs! If your lifelong ambition has been to become a GM, I have the players to help you fulfill this worthy goal. I am also completely out of material. I hope you enjoyed the old DIPCON articles that I dug up to compliment my DIPCON ad. This way you can find out what these tournaments are all about before you sign up for one. ****************************************************************************** To join in the fun, send your name, home address, home and work phone numbers, and country preferences to Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com. ****************************************************************************** Up