Diplomacy Zine --- Chapter Five EP #155

From: mad-2@kub.nl (C. Wekx)

Date: Wed, 04 Apr 1990 12:30:41 +0000

Issue #155 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL:

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               Ran out of neat quotes, send me some!
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Chapter One contains:

NAVARONE, BLITZKRIEG, OPERATION OVERLORD, GETTYSBURG, and HMS HOOD

And is published by daybell@aludra.usc.edu/Donald Daybell

Chapter Two contains:

DRAGONSLAYER, BISMARK, COLD WAR, JACAL, MANHATTAN, and VERSAILLES

And is published by tedward@cs.cornell.edu/Ted Fischer

Chapter Three contains:

MULHOUSE, DAWN PATROL, SNIKKEL-2, BERLIN, SNIKKEL-1, EL ALAMEIN,
SQUALANE, UNGAWE

And is published by cwekx@htikub5.bitnet/Constantijn Wekx

Chapter Four contains:

FIRE WHEN READY, DREADNOUGHT, HOHENZOLLERN, HUGO, JUGGERNAUGHT

And is published by xcbe12a@ucrmath.ucr.edu/Wayne Wallace

-------------
Chapter Five
-------------

Winter '05 of the game BUSHIDO (BNC number 1989IN)
(GM is jall@diku.dk/Mogens Jallberg)

Due Mar 28

Spring '04 of the game TOKUGAWA (BNC number 1989IS)
(GM is rc0o@andrew.cmu.edu/Bob Cochran)

Due Mar 19

Fall '04 of the game DUNKIRK (BNC number 1989KN)
(GM is sjzwange@phoenix.princeton.edu/Steven Jacob Zwanger)

Not Received.

Spring '07 of the gunboat game VERDUN (MNC number 1989AZrb32)
(GM is eric_s_klien@cup.portal.com/Eric Klien)

Need orders from one more person.

Summer '03 of the game BIG WILLIE (MNC number 1989KBrd24)
(Blind game, GM is okamoto@hp-ses.hp.com/Jeff Okamoto)

Received.

Summer '03 of the classic game RED STORM RISING (MNC number not known)
(GM is jbillone@jarthur.claremont.edu/Jeremy Billones)

Retreats are as follows:

Aus F Alb-Adr
Rus F Nwy-Whi
Ger A Swi-Swa

Fall 1903 moves are due Saturday, March 31, 11:59 PM Pacific time.

Summer 1915 of the game #40 COMRADES IN ARMS (MNC number 1990Ird24)
(GM is att!druwa!hardlj or hardlj@druwa.att.com/Larry Hardouin)

France loses army Pic

Spring '02 of the game OZARK (BNC number 1990P)
(GM is sam@uafsysb.bitnet/Sam Huntsman)

Due Wednesday

Fall '01 of the game NICKEL (MNC number 1990Ird24)
(Blind game, GM is waste@vtvm1.cc.vt.edu/David McCrumb)

Due April 1, 1990

Spring '01 of the game GROUND ZERO (BNC number not known)
(GM is Harry.Protoolis@UK.Sun.COM/Harry Protoolis)

Due April 2

Spring '01 of the game ?? (BNC number not known)
(GM is demon@eve.wright.edu/Brett Kottman)

Haven't received due date.

Publisher comments:

I updated my player list and have some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that we now have 183 players from 12 countries.  We
have 13 from Canada, 5 England, 1 Finland, 2 Ireland, 5 Sweden, 1
Switzerland, 3 The Netherlands, 1 Denmark, 9 France, 2 West Germany,
1 Norway.  We also have quite a few more "subscribers" from Europe
and the U.S.  I classify someone as a subscriber if they are not a
player.  So even GM's and guest publishers are classified as
subscribers, not players.  We have gotten so large that we will soon
have more GMs than the average zine has players.

The bad news is that we are still not as automated as I would like to
be.  I need at least one more guest publisher so this chapter could
be smaller.  I need more scribes as my list of active scribes has
dropped to one person.  A few more standbys wouldn't hurt either.

Following is the latest issue of The MetaDiplomat:

********************
                            * The METADIPLOMAT *
                            *    Issue #13     *
                            *  March  4, 1990  *
                            ********************

Published by:  Jeff McKee          Cost:  50 cents/issue or
               3801 W. 13th #903          $5 for 12 issues!
               Wichita, KS 67203          You must sub to play.

Tentative Deadlines:
  March 24th, 5PM, for Gunboat, and April 14th for Regular and Pub.

Uh oh, late again.  This is getting chronic.  At least when I'm chronic I'm
only a week late.  As my old college band director would say (and it pissed
me off sometimes when he did), "Thank you for your patience."

You see, on deadline day I was in Portland, Maine, to interview for a job
with Harry Milliken's company, National Semiconductor.  By the time I got
home Monday night, I was too pooped to do the work.  Fortunately I had most
of the letter column prepared before I left.  But really, the games take me
longer than the letter column, and they weren't done at all.  Right now
it's about 2 PM on Sunday (Mar. 4) and I've done all the single games, and
I haven't started on the round robin tournaments yet.  Since the letter
column is so long, I'm going to go ahead and put the issue out sans the
RRGT adjudications, and mail those separately to the players and the one
other person who wants them.

I like a long letter column; it's the most exciting part of the publishing
for me, but I must also enforce my 23 page limit, otherwise I'll be
spending more money than I'm willing to on the zine.  That would be very
unpleasant (grin)!  So, as long as the letters keep coming in, you can bank
on not having to skip over the RRGTs.  That will also give me some
flexibility with their deadlines.

PLAYERS TAKE NOTE:  It's very probable that I will be moving in the next
month or so (to Portland).  I will have to stay in a hotel for a while
until I find a place to live.  So, it's quite probable that the next
deadline will be a long time in coming.  I have set tentative deadlines
(the Gunboat deadlines will be ok, but the regular deadlines may be moved).
I will try to come up with some way to get the orders all in one place if I
don't have a place to live, but I haven't really dealt with that yet.  So,
just be warned.

PORTLAND, MAINE?  Yep.  I got to see the city for the first time last
weekend.  I arrived late Saturday night, and Harry M. and Bob Aube took me
around on Sunday.  It was cold, but it wasn't horrible.  It was in the
teens the whole time (in the 50's in Wichita, ugh).  Portland is a very
different place than Wichita.  The buildings are old (inside Portland, mind
you), the roads are curvy and narrow, plus the obvious (there are no oceans
or natural lakes in Kansas).  Presumably the place is absolutely beautiful
in the summer.  The city seemed sort of "shut down" to me, but it was a
cold weekend in mid-winter, and the city really thrives on tourism during
the summer.  Plus they still have "blue laws," so most businesses were
closed for the day.  At least the restaurants were open, and you can
probably guess how I like to eat.  If I had known I'd be able to turn in an
expense account, I would have eaten a little better (breakfast at McDonalds
was a bit inconvenient, and certainly no different than in Wichita).

Harry drove us up the coast to see the L. L. Bean store.  They have lots of
beautiful wood there.  Mainards (grin) are pleasantly egocentric.  Maine
this, Maine that everywhere you go, but at least it doesn't reach out and
grab you by the nuts and scream in your face like some of the tourist traps
in Europe I've been to.  We're still negotiating salary (I have been
offered a job, but for less than I had hoped) so it's still possible that I
will not be moving, but I would put my money on making the move if I were you.

ANY OF YOU FOLKS BOWL?  The Maine folks had to ask "Big ball bowling?" when
I said I would be in a bowling tournament this weekend.  Yes, it's big ball
bowling, and it's the only kind we have in Kansas.  Do you ever have one of
those tournaments where if you could use your team score for singles, you'd
have won the whole thing running away?  Yup.  I had a 150 average, and
rolled 183-212-225 for a 620 series.  With my 120 pin handicap, I would
have won the individual tournament by almost 40 pins.  Alas, I only rolled
189-159-166 for a 634 handicap series in the singles, and placed tenth out
of 60 (the other sixty bowlers are finishing up right now).  I get a charge
out of bowling.  I only bowl about once a year, and I always shoot really
well my first few games, and then fall back into the sheister.

I don't know about you, but I'd say it's about time for the Letter Column!

***  Ken Peel (Jan. 25):

Another Maniac in the making, eh? Well, I don't know Maine well, and have
been there only once, but I have worked for a Member of Congress from Maine
(Olympia Snowe) since 1983. I think you will like Maine if you make it out
there, but you should have no illusions that Portland is the "real" Maine.
In Maine, they talk about the two Maines. There's the south, primarily
Portland, which has been growing economically along with the rest of urban
coastal New England for about 10 years. Then there's northern Maine, which
is "other," left-out Maine in terms of economic growth, but which has
Maine's traditional "down east" heartland and the state's rustic culture.
Maybe I simply don't know what I am talking about from so far away, and
maybe I'm biased by the fact that Rep. Snowe represents northern, more
rural Maine, not Portland and its environs, but then again, maybe not.

(( I prefer to call them Mainards. <g>  When I was up there for my
interview, they talked on two different stations about the "cold spots,"
presumably places where it gets cold, right?  The weather forecasts weren't
too specific, forecasting low temperatures from 0 to -25 (in the cold
spots).  I can't wait to see it during the summer. ))

I agree that the changes in polital geography in Europe since the 1800's is
fascinating. Even more interesting, though, is the changes in the world's
political and diplomatic geography since the turn of the century. When I
was in college I worked a couple of terms doing research for a professor.
One week I had to check a series of references from U.S. diplomatic papers
around the turn of the century. What struck me more than anything else was
the fact that there were simply so few independent countries in the world.
Outside of the South American republics, virtually all of the countries of
the world were in Europe. Beyond Europe and the U.S., there were a couple
in Africa (Ethiopia and Liberia), and a few in Asia (Siam, Japan, and,
supposedly, China). Maybe there's a few I missed, but essentially the
nations of the world were a small club of European nations and the U.S.

(( That's why we have a "Third World" now, because the European nations
drained the colonies of their resources. ))

Want a hobby prediction? I say that BTDT will win the next RP, after which
you can rub your hands with glee and watch the zine go down in flames due
to the infamous RP curse. If I'm wrong, though, you had better start
worrying, because the next most likely candidate is Meta. Better start
doing something about that now before it's too late!  Best, Ken

(( I agree, I think BTDT will win the next RP.  I appreciate the complement
on Meta.  I'm perfectly competent at going down in flames without winning
the RP! <grin>  I'm coming into one of those slow periods where my life is
getting too hectic and the zine is more difficult to produce.  But I've got
my fingers crossed, and I really do like to finish what I start.  Have you
noticed that the Brat Packers seem to be fading? ))

***  Eric Brosius (Jan. 23):

Just got the zine in the mail.  It looks good!  I'll respond to some of the
things in it:

I'll send you a sub renewal soon.  MtD is one of my favorite zines and I
wouldn't want to miss any issues.  By the way, it looks like Tom Nash should
shorten his zine's name if he wants people to print his sub rate!

Have you tried contacting Toyota of America with a complaint about the
dealership?  In my experience the Japanese auto companies are especially
eager to satisfy the customer, and such a complaint may yield results.

(( Believe it or not, they fixed everything free (at the local dealership)
when I pointed out I hadn't had the car that long, they couldn't possibly
have safety-inspected the car and had this many problems, plus I suggested
that a friend had recommended I contact Toyota of America.  They growled,
but they took care of me.  Thanks for the tip! ))

Elmer Hinton has $5.00 of my money, too.  All I got back from him was
a handsomely cancelled check.  I complained to the postal authorities about
him, but apparantly they need to get a bunch of complaints about a single
criminal before they are willing to take action.  So y'all should get out
your pens and complain!

Re Mark Berch's letter:  Remember that my system is only intended for scoring
RRGTs--not tournaments.  For reasons such as Mark mentions, I think it's a
bit too radical for tournaments.  But in an RRGT, I stand by it.  An RRGT
run under my system would be more exciting, and I think it would produce
more interesting games.  There are several reasons for this:

1.  You'd go all out for wins because of their disproportionate value.  This
is good, as going for a win makes an interesting game.

2.  If you couldn't win you'd try your hardest to stop someone else from
winning, because a win would be a big boost for that opponent.  In my
experience most RRGT's at the present see people rolling over and playing
dead in games where they are doing poorly.  (Too many other Dip games have
this feature, too).  If you knew your best game would be a 2-way, you'd have
a great interest in stopping a win.

3.  It's hard to imagine not wanting to shorten a draw in this system!

(( Tell me about it!  I've run into some amazing alliance players in
Gunboat here recently!  I always thought you play Gunboat to win! ))

4.  You'd see more stabs in this system, since a win is better than two
2-ways and a 2-way is better than two 3-ways.  Mark says that it's unfair
for a 2-way to beat two 3-ways, but if you knew this system were in use
you'd just stab one of the other two players in your 3-way and *make* it
a 2-way.

I guess point 2 is particularly telling to me.  Mark says only your best
game counts.  That's not really true.  Your other games might not give
*you* any winning edge, but they sure would deny it to someone else.  I
think this game would reward players who really work in every game.  In
fact, I'd be tempted to play in a tournament in MtD if you used this system
(maybe even with those silly British combinations.)

I'll send you my DW article by e-mail when I get to school (it's a lot easier
to upload it there over an Ethernet cable than here at 1200 baud!)  It
will have a lot of LaTeX formatting commands in it, but you should be able
to get the idea.

I wasn't criticizing you for printing a humor piece that had appeared
elsewhere.  I was just remarking on the phenomenon that "plus ca change,
plus la meme chose" or "what goes around comes around".  Sorry if you were
offended.

(( Just wait, I've got tons of other stuff that's probably been printed
somewhere else before, too! ))

Yes, it's easy today to tell which games are e-mail games.  But as time
goes on people will forget which zines where e-mail, which PBM, and which
play-by-fax.  It's better to put these things down in writing than to trust
on people's memories.

My play of Diplomacy inclines toward the anal-retentive side.  If there are
a bunch of retreats/removals, I'll list all 252 of them and start writing
orders appropriate to each situation.  After a little while it becomes clear
to me that there are only a small number of sets of moves I want to use, and
I distill my conditionals down to that small set.  I have the satisfaction in
my mind of knowing I've covered *everything*!  In the "British" system there
is no way in the world you can cover every situation.  I often look at
what happens in the Black Sea when I'm writing moves for England.  That's
why I prefer American.  Actually, being a patient sort of person, I prefer
three mailings per year with a reasonably quick pace, but that's another
point.  It would be interesting to see what personality types correspond to
"British" style and which to "American".

***  Kathy Caruso (Jan. 21):

Enclosed is your gamestart (("Buggy's Brats" in KK)), I'm sorry you are
stuck with Austria but in this particular game that may be a blessing.

(( Playing Austria is never a blessing when Italy doesn't write. Grr.. ))

See, there you go making me feel guilty on page 3 of your zine.  You list
KK as one of the zines you enjoy most, and yet you had to badger me for
months to get me to send a sample.  So, I decided that since you said such
a nice thing (i.e. you read it cover to cover), that I would explain why it
is so tough to get a sample out of me.

I realize that most pubbers love the idea of sending out samples in hopes
of getting new subbers.  I, however, feel like a fool sending out samples
of KK because it is so far off the wall.  I really can't imagine why anyone
would want to sub there.  KK started out as a joke, and trust me when I
tell you, never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be what it is
today!  Anyway, since you brat packers badgered me to death, I've turned
over a new leaf.  I decided I'll just send them a sample if they ask and
then they'll leave me alone.  I sent out three samples last week (I don't
send that many out in six months) and I now have three new subbers.  Maybe
KK is the break from normal zines that dippers need.  Either that or the
entire hobby has gone bonkers!

(( For the record, I haven't sent out a single unsolicited sample since
Issue #2.  My postal sub base is right where I want it! ))

Please warn all your subbers ((I'll let you do it)) to heed the words of
William Pegues and avoid Elmer Hinton like the plague.  There is no "LOV"
game, never has been, never will be.  He collects money, pockets it, folds
or disappears for six months, keeps all monies, then reappears again and
starts the process all over.  Do not be fooled by this man, I could give
you a list of people that he has ripped off.

Complaint:  How can you leave the interview out of last issue?  That
happens to be my favorite part of the zine.  Bring back the interviews!

(( KK, you know you only enjoyed the interview because I interviewed
Melinda!  Actually, you'd better watch it, because you're pretty close to
the top of my list of people to interview!  Melinda was a special case, the
perfect personality to interview.  She's everywhere, but she doesn't do a
lot of writing outside of her games (at least as far as I can tell).  Now,
then, if not you, who would you like for me to interview? <grin> ))

***  Pete Gaughan (Jan. 20):

The Marco Poll is now underway.  Please vote for your five favorite zines,
GM's and subzines, by sending three lists, each one ranked from 1 to 5.
Send ballots to Pete at Box 7006, Corde Madera, CA 94925-7006, before April
16 (yes, IRS day is late this year!).  If you'd like to get a copy of the
results and you don't subscribe to _Perelandra_ or _House of Lords_ (( the
latest of which has a fold announcement from Dick Martin effective now )),
send a self-addressed stamped envelope with your ballot.  And, yes, _Pere_
will be eligible this year.

(( Well, so much for objectivity! <grin> ))

*** Chris Rousseau (Jan. 27):

Alas, I have missed most all debate on Dip ratings, but I do have an
opinion.  I really don't want to see a number that will tell me how good a
player is.  I *would* like to get some idea about how many games have been
played, draws, wins, etc.  I mean will they be a duffer like me (and
therefore be honest because they don't know any better)?  Have they been
playing long enough to be jaded?  Do they have fun or are they a fanatic?
That's *useful* information.  Nash may have a score of 200, but Vince
Leamons (with a negative score) may be a lot more fun to work with (no
particular insult intended to either of you).

I want to reinforce Harry's comments about bosses.  Unless he (the boss) is
a total ass, you should talk to him.  Frequently.  I sit down with mine
formally every quarter or so to make sure he thinks I'm on track.  I have
not been surprised during a review for several years.  The other thing I do
is lay out a plan for what I should be doing every year.  If things go well
with the boss, it is best to share that plan.  Fewer misunderstandings.
(Ouch!  My soapbox just collapsed!)

By the way, your Gunboat speech makes me yearn for a game.  What do I have
to do to sign up?

(( You can't sign up, I don't have any Gunboat (or any) openings at this
moment.  I'll probably open one up when one of the current games ends.

(( I'd love to have the opportunity to talk to my boss, but he likes to be
left alone.  He hates personnel matters with a passion.

***  Pete Gaughan (Jan. 24):

For an excellent plan on how to release "war hormones" for good, see
Callenbach's _Ecotopia_, where two groups (say, Factory X vs.
Fishing Boat Z) stage mock battles called "war games."

***  Cathy Ozog (Jan. 29):

Your car problems remind me of my own.  Dealers--don't talk to me about
dealers.  I never could travel across the country without my car breaking
down every day.  Thank goodness it's gone now.  I even got $1,000 for it.
The Escort has been running just fine.  I think my luck has changed.

Listen, if you want to cut trades with me that's ok.  I don't mind subbing
to you.  Just let me know.  I have not gotten myself going in the 1990s
yet.  _CR_ is still waiting for me to type it up.  We went to Las Vegas for
vacation and then many trips down to Phoenix.  The mail kept piling up.

Whatever--I will have it done before Feb. 1.  I'm just trying to get my
orders out on some games so I don't NMR.  Now _that_ would be unhip.

(( You will have it done before Feb. 1, huh?  <grin>  Eh, no problem,
Cathy, we'll work something out on the sub.  Ghod knows your long-distance
bill has probably bought you a few issues by itself <grin>. ))

***  Jim Green (Jan. 24):

Hey, I like the format you are taking.  This is the way you started out in
the first issues I received and I liked it then.  It requires a little more
time to prepare the zine but it makes the zine more interesting.  The way I
see it, FTF dip is as much socializing as it is playing.  So it only
follows that a PBM game should have a good bit of socializing involved.  A
letter column is the best socializing we can do by mail.  Glad to see it
back.

(( Jim, these transitions you mention came about without any conscious
effort.  In fact, I wasn't aware of any real changes until I got this note
from you.  I love the letter column, it's my favorite part of doing the
zine.  This format is actually *easier* (is this the format you like?)
because I don't have to chop the letters up.

***  Randy Davis (Jan. 23):

Howdy!  Good to see Melanie's game finally start.  Interesting to see
someone from Pleasant Hill, the next town over from Concord.  She's in
tough playing Germany, but I hope she does well in her game, maybe she'll
stay in the hobby.  (( I hope so, I miss her bad poetry! ))

I agree the Lakers will probably win it all like most years, though the
Bulls are still my inside favorite.  The Warriors have come out of their
early slump and should make the playoffs (I hope).  Perhaps they'll get
that strong power-forward and surprise everyone by winning it all next
year.  I don't watch much college ball (of any kind), but I did see Kansas
dethrone UNLV earlier this year.  They should make the Final Four.

Do you feel Gunboat games are played with different strategies from regular
games?  Seems defensive openings are used more than usual, eh?  I like
British Style a lot.  I feel Black Press games should be left for regular
games, not Gunboat.  Otherwise, I'd be completely lost.

(( If I had an angstrom of space in this zine, I'd probably start writing
Gunboat strategy-and-tactics articles.  As far as I'm concerned, not only
do tactical strategies vary from Regular to Gunboat, but also depending on
the kind of press allowed.  If I really gave a shit, I'd suggest separate
variant bank numbers for no-press, edited-press and full-press Gunboat.

(( The biggest differences between Regular and Gunboat that I see are in
the Eastern powers.  R/T almost never lasts, and A/I almost always fight.
These four powers also win a disproportionate number of games, as I see it.
The key is Turkey; if Turkey doesn't attack Russia, and Russia doesn't
attack Turkey, R/T rolls, I mean CRUISES to victory.  A/I alliances are
very rare, and that's why Turkey wins so many games.  I hate it!  Plus it's
never *my* Turkey that does well! <grin> ))

*** Eric Brosius (Jan. 28):

Here's my idea of a reasonable game rating system.  It's fairly easy
to figure and isn't that different from current systems.  I'm going to
start by ignoring standby players.  It's not that I don't think those
players should be rated, just that it's easier to do things one step
at a time.

1.  Start with a player's score using the Calhamer Point Count as kept
by Randolph Smyth (at least until recently): 1 pt for a win, 1/2 for a
2-way, and so on, down to 1/7 for a 7-way.  Let that number be called X.

2.  Now let N be the number of games the player has started.

3.  The rating is then     X - (N/7)
                           _________

SQRT(N)

where SQRT is the square root function.

The idea is that an average performance will give you a rating of
zero.  I know that isn't popular, but I'm a mathematician, and zero
has a great attraction for me.  This is what the (N/7) is for; it's
the number of Calhamer points you'd average in N games.  Subtract that
from X and you get a positive number if you've done better than
average and a negative number if you've done worse.  But you could add
some number (say 1.000) to all the scores if you want, this would keep
you positive unless you've finished 49 games without getting a single
draw.

The other unusual part is dividing by the square root.  You could
think of it as a compromise between not dividing (the CPC system) and
taking an average by dividing by N (the Averaged CPC system).  The
ACPC treats 16 wins in 16 games the same as 4 wins in 4 games;
obviously the former is better.  But the CPC system treats 4 wins in
16 games the same as 4 wins in 4 games; obviously the latter is
better.  My proposal seeks a happy medium: 16 wins in 16 games would
give a rating of 3.429, 4 wins in 4 games would give a rating of
1.714, and 4 wins in 16 games would give a rating of 0.429.  As you
can see, these would be like batting averages, with three places after
the decimal point.

Incidentally, the use of the square root can be justified by more
statistical mumbo-jumbo---I can point out that the Law of Large
Numbers states that the standard deviation of the sum of many
identical independant random variables increases in proportion to the
square root of their number, but there'd be little point to this.

This method would be relatively simple to figure;  all you'd need is
the information used to compute ACPC (not that anyone's doing this at
the moment).

(( I like it!  Then again, if you meet some basic criteria of mine (which
your system does), I'm very easy to please.  All I require are a) some
method of averaging scores; b) no points for supply centers owned; and c) a
fair method of handling standbys.  Omission of standbys is about as fair as
you can get.

(( I like mathematics, too, but don't expect any overwhelming public
acceptance of your plan, because nobody trusts anyone who says "Trust me,
I'm a mathematician!"  Never mind that the system *works*....

(( One suggestion....  How about making that whole formula, call it F, an
exponent for some arbitrary constant C, e.g. C**(F+1).  The problem as I see
it, is that as you add more games and players, the numbers will get *very*
close together, and who knows how many decimal places will need to be
included in order to distinguish the players.  Of course, it won't change
the rankings of the players any, but just spread them out a bit.  And...
something will have to be done to keep those with negative scores in the
right place.  But I do like the idea!

(( For the record, Eric and I discussed this at length over our Ethernet
connection, but we really didn't break a whole lot of ground.  I can tell
I'm not going to have space to run Eric's article, so I'll leave you all to
dig it up in Diplomacy World.  It was an essay about the last ten years and
the next ten years in Diplomacy.  I thought it was very interesting and
thought-provoking. ))

*** Jack Garrett (Feb. 15):

Ask Nash how he liked the piece of the "One True Cross" he received from
me.  Now that was fun!

(( Nash, how did you like it?  And VOTE FOR THE THREE-WAY IN FOMALHAUT, YOU
DUNDERHEAD! ))

*** Randy Davis (Feb. 13):

Hi.  How's things going?  Did you change jobs yet?  I'm still a bloody
carpenter, but hell, it ain't so bad.  Over 20 bucks/hr., but can I do it
until I retire?  (Let's see, about 27 more years.  Hmm...maybe I should go
back to school like Melanie.)  I see you like Pink Floyd.  (( Who says I
like Pink Floyd? <Grin> )) Great in concert, though I haven't seen them for
a good long while.  I must admit I still like Led Zepplin, too, and I heard
they were getting back togehter with J. Bohnam's son as drummer.  Please
tell me it's true.

By the way, what's stopping PBEMers from PBEMing in the same game?  I
noticed from Melanie's game that five of the players also PBEM.  I wonder
if they'll use that in her game?

(( I'm really not a great fan of Pink Floyd or Led Zepplin, but I do listen
to it from time to time.  I named Atom Heart Mother simply because a good
friend of mine *is* a true Floyd/Zep fan and showed me AHM's remarkable
cover.  When I listen to that type of music, it's usually Yngwie Malmsteen.

(( Nothing at all is going to stop the PBEM players from negotiating over
that venue.  But also remember it will take them tremendous discipline to
keep communications up with 5-6 week deadlines.  Looking at Big Bottom, you
may notice that not having E-mail capability is not hurting the postal
players.  If Melanie writes, she will not be at any disadvantage.

*** Steven Sulzby (Feb. 21):

As far as whether I prefer American style of play, or British style of
play, I believe that I prefer American.  If I'm wrong ((of course you're
wrong! <grin>)) please send me a note explaining the difference, but the
American style of play includes its builds, removals, and retreats in the
next set of orders, while the British style includes retreats and builds
with the current orders.  ((Yes.))

(( It probably won't make much difference to you unless you get squeezed
(not too likely as Russia in Steve Reeves, it's a lot harder to squeeze
Russia than say Austria, or Germany) or you get over 10 units.  I'll try to
remind the players to send retreats and builds/removals with each
appropriate turn.

*** Jon McCleery (Feb. 24):

MORE HISTORY STUFF:  Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis RICHELIEU (1766-1822) was a
French statesman and diplomat.  He was a supporter of the monarchy and fled
to Russia during the French Revolution.  At one point he and his officers
were planning a campaign.  One of the officers pointed to the map and said,
"We shall cross the river here."

"Excellent, sir," replied Richelieu, "but your finger is not a bridge!"

On another occasion, Richelieu learned that an old, rich, and somewhat
stupid widow he knew had passed away the day before.  His only comment was,
"What a pity!  She would have been a fine catch the day before that."

*** Jeff McKee/David Hood  re: Dipcon (Feb. 6):

Jeff:  I wrote a letter to David Hood with some strong recommendations for
the Dipcon scoring system.

January 21, 1990

David:

While I didn't make the Dipcon Society meeting in San Diego, so far I'm
impressed with your efforts so far to promote Dipcon.  I think it's going
to be a terrific event and I expect to be able to make it.  Call it about a
90% chance; I still haven't figured out how I'm going to *pay* for the
trip, but if I can pay for it, I'll be there.

I want to make a couple of comments.  First, would you please clarify
something for me regarding the entry fee.  I'd like to know if the entry
fee is refundable if I can't make it after all, and if so, to what date it
would be refundable.  I hope I haven't missed something in the newsletters.

My most important item is to give you my two cents on the scoring system.
After being incensed by last year's system (I'm talking about the regular
Dip and Gunboat scoring systems--the ones that were not made public until
after the tournament), I started writing about it a few places, including
my own zine and over the E-mail network, and have grown increasingly
frustrated.

If nothing else, the scoring system used at Dipcon should encourage players
to play a full, natural game.  At such a Con, there's always something a
player who is losing would rather do, and that really warps the game for
the others who are playing.

At Dipcon, another thing happened to me (and others) that I really didn't
like.  Players continued games, after the outcome was pretty much decided,
just to eliminate the weaker powers so they would get more centers (and
more points).  One ally in one game worked incessantly just to get me to
agree to let him have one more center at the end of the game than me, so
that he would be the largest power, the major partner in the draw.  It was
infuriating in another game when myself and two others had agreed to a
three-way draw, but then the other two started negotiating as to how we
would eliminate the other player so that we would all get more points.

So, I have two objectives in mind in designing a scoring system--to
encourage players to try and stay alive as long as possible, and to
eliminate any benefits to players who grind out centers after the outcome
is decided.  Also, to encourage the players to play a natural game, whether
they are "win" players or "draw" players or whatever.

So, I propose the following:

Win: 20.
 Draw: 2-way 14.  3-way 10.  4-way 8.
       5-, 6-, and 7-way draws are treated as survivals.
 Surv: 5 points to all other players surviving at game end.
 Elim: 0 points to the first eliminated, 2 points to all others eliminated.

NO points are given for number of supply centers owned at game end.

Tiebreakers:  Players with most wins; 2-way draws; 3-way draws;
       4-way draws; survivals; 2 point eliminations.
       If a tie is not broken between players who have draws, those who
       achieved their draws the *fastest* have the advantage.  Players
       without draws will tie.

The total points shared among the winners grows gently from the win (20) to
the four way draw (32).  Survival is rewarded, but two 2-way draws are
better than one win and one survival--you won't win the tournament by
surviving, but you'll do better than those who don't survive.

Folks ought to have to play at least three games to have any reasonable
chance to win the tournament.  I didn't think two was enough last year.

The part of this that I have run across the most opposition is the
part that says that no points are given for supply centers.  It seems
intuitive that the largest player ought to receive the most points, but I
have several reasons that should not be the case:

1. The larger power has agreed to include the smaller power(s) in the draw.
2. The smaller power has probably had to work harder to be included.
3. A large position is not necessarily indicative of good play.  For
example, perhaps the large power faced inept opposition; perhaps the larger
power is a 17 center power who was stopped by a cohesive alliance.
4. A draw should be a tie.  Back in DIAS days, a 2-way draw HAD to be a tie.
Voted draws were invented to save the effort of eliminating the powers who
had conceded.

Here are some possible advantages:
1. Games will likely be shorter, as the endgame result will be the
   objective rather than the number of centers.
2. Powers who have conceded will not have to suffer through the divvying up
   of their centers.
3. If the game is truly a draw, it will be over when the draw is agreed
   upon.

It seems that the great majority of people think that supply centers
*ought* to count, but I've asked around, and nobody has been able to offer
a rational reason why they should.  "They just should."

You would probably come under considerable fire if you were to adopt
the principle of not awarding points for supply centers, but I contend that
the play will be much better if you do.

One more suggestion:  Some way ought to be devised to allow players
to vote secretly on proposals.

I appreciate your time and I look forward to the Con.

*** David Hood's reply:

Entry fee would be refundable if you didn't show up, period.  I certainly
hope you do make it.

Not much time to comment on everything about your system.  It is not a bad
idea, and we'll hash it around here as we decide what to use.  I tend to
agree _somewhat_ with your aversion to supply center counts--they do
sometimes lead to silly play at the end--but they are also a pretty good
indicator of strong play, I think, your arguments to the contrary
notwithstanding.  You make reasonable arguments, though, and they will be
considered.

Draw proposals _will_ be voted in secret--there are several ways to do that
in FTF games.

*** Beverly Anne Norton (Feb. 12):

Hello.  I am interested in joining the exciting game of postal Dip by
mail!!!  A good friend and fellow classmate of mine "turned me on" to
Diplomacy.  The friend I mention is Melanie Winters, and also her "man"
Randy Davis.  I have been reading all the zines, including yours, and I
have decided that my great wit, humor, and manipulative skills are going to
waste.

(( I must interrupt--I don't have any more game openings.  All I can offer
is to put you on the standby list, so you could take over someone's
position if they flake out.  But then again I chase people down for their
orders so I may not get to you before I have another game opening.  But
there's still no need to waste your great wit, humor, and manipulative
skills on a Dip game, how about writing more letters to me for Meta? <g> ))

I think you should consider being the game master of an all womens game.
(( ARE YOU LISTENING KATHY CARUSO?? ))  I too, am partial to puppy dog eyes.

Unfortunately, as I am room-mating at the Davis/Winters household, it
wouldn't be necessary for me to subscribe at this time to your wonderful
publication ((blush)).  I hope this will not penalize me in joining any
game you might be running.  (( A zine delivered to your residence satisfies
my "you must sub to play" requirement. ))

Again, I think this "hobby" would be good for me, and it seems that some
more women--REAL--women might make for some very interesting games.  After
all, we do have the reputation of being great at "playing games!!"

*** Foster Marshall, Jr (Feb. 14):

(( Foster probably didn't expect this to be printed! ))  Happy V-D.  That's
Valentine's Day in case you didn't know.  (( One of my favorite tricks:
When someone asks to take a drink of my drink, I give it to them, and while
they're sipping it, I ask them "Do you have herpes?" with a real concerned
look on my face.  They say "No" (hopefully) and then I say "Well, you do
now!"  yuk yuk ))

Right now I'm sitting at the bar of Roscoe's.  That's a local ((Chicago))
tavern.  I'd thought I'd come over and watch the VD festivities.  But
Chicago's int he midst of a big-ass snowstorm.  I think this place'll be as
boring as it is now (that's why I'm writing YOU a letter, ha ha).  (( Uh,
that sentence didn't make any sense <grin> ))

The place is all fixed up with hearts and red string.  But there's maybe 15
people here.  Usually its packed (a dance club/floor in the back room) on a
regular day.  So VD should be bringing them in.  But there's 6 inches of
snow and it's blowing like needles in the Chicago wind.  Of course it's
only 8:30 but still.  The VD live version of "The Dating Game" starts at
9:30.

Actually, I like the snow.  I walked over from where I live.  ((FOOL!))  It
was fun going in and over the snow drifts.  Some lady had her car stuck so
five of us good citizens helped her get out into the street (that crack was
my arm breaking while patting myself on the back).  Course, when I got here
I was covered in snow.  I had to use the towels in the women's rest room
(no towels for the guys).  (( DISCRIMINATION!!!!!  FOUL!!!!! ))

I suggested we start a snowball fight with the bar across the street, but
no takers.  Similarly for my idea for a snowman on "the patio."  (Nice in
the summer, but closed in the winter.)  Oh well.  These people obviously
grew up too quickly.  I for one, have decided to stay a kid forever. [...]

Even the videos here are bad.  Most bars are like MTV where you see the
video to the song playing.  But not here.  We're watching cartoons while
Sonny & Cher, Liza M., the B-52's and "Winter Wonderland" plays.  Anyway, I
hope things are going well in Witchita (sp?)  (( Follow the bouncing dot --
W-I-C-H-I-T-A, and you could learn to spell my last name, too, Foster....))
(ooo... now there's a giant sea turtle pulling people into the water while
Samantha Song Sings.)

*** Per Westling (Feb. 18th):

According to the definition my zine probably should be considered a Brat
Pack Publication (what do you say about that, you leader of the pack?)  but
personally I haven't thought of myself in those terms.  Maybe you can
enlighten me so I can see the light?

(( I had put out my Issue #5 before I had even HEARD of the Brat Pack, much
less realizing that I was one of the founding fathers!  I did not bestow
the title of "Brat Pack Publication" upon myself or anyone else.  I think
it's up to the hobby's "Old Cronies" to determine where the Brat Pack Era
starts and ends! ))

Trades are a difficult chapter for most publishers.  Myself I trade with
more than 20 zines and this figure will rise.  (I have too few trades in
mainland Europe.)  It's hard to keep in touch with enough parts of the
worldwide hobby but the difference between subbing and trading is slim.
Well maybe you wouldn't sub to all the zines you trade with.  ((True.))

My view is that the money isn't everything (yes!) but that you should try
to get a job where you will be appreciated.  I wish you good luck in Maine!
<<thanks!>>  If I told you what I work with you wouldn't believe this
section so I won't do that....

re: Paul Milewski's letter:  Regarding Sweden and the Napoleonic campaigns,
I recommend Calhamer's article published in DW 57 which also shows what
turncoats the Swedes are.  Sweden got Norway (from Denmark although not
voluntarily.. ((???)) ) in 1815.  They functioned together as a union with
one king (the Swedish of course, the Norwegians had no king at the time).
During the 19th century the nationalist feelings grew stronger and this
could have lead to a civil war if Norway wouldn't have got its independence
in 1905.  (If you don't know I can tell you that at the time Sweden was a
Great Power (17th century), the Baltic was almost completely surrounded by
Swedish territory, during the 18th and 19th centuries we lost those
territories (the last one Finland in 1809 to Russia). But all in all I'm
glad that Sweden isn't a Great Power anymore, and haven't been for quite a
long time, and Sweden has stayed out of any wars since 1815, although it
was quite close before the Danish German war in the 19th century, and
before and during WWII.

There are more "errors" in the game board (e.g. Finland should have access
to the Barents Sea (( it does in the 1958 version )) ) but it doesn't
really matter as Diplomacy is a game that simulates the diplomatic
situation, not a war game.

FORTRAN SUCKS!  Ops, sorry, I shouldn't really get involved in such
discussions.

(( You want to really get a rise out of people?  Say MACINTOSHes SUCK !! ))

"[...] the lift Dippy needs now." ((sic))  I agree that PBEM will probably
have a positive effect on the hobby as a whole, the question is how the
slower regular mail and the electronic mail will affect the zine subset of
the hobby?  But at the same time have the desktop publishing (DTP)
techniques, and computers generally, made it a lot easier to make zines so
I believe the zine hobby will stay healthy and even grow.

Is Mark Berch present in every zine (except mine? <g>)?

Is conditional press allowed?  (( Yes. ))

My impression of your zine:  Well, it contains everything that a zine
should contain to be interesting (i.e. letter column, games, and personal
smalltalk).  The layout could be better but I guess this is as good as it
can get if it's "computerized" (in the electronic zine sense, not the DTP
sense).  As always content is more important than looks.  More articles and
general stuff would be nice.  But I wish there existed Dippy publishers
here in Sweden with your (and other BP's) enthusiasm.  It's lonely at the
top. :-)

(( Thanks for the feedback.  I had a much better layout the issue I did on
the laser printer, where I used Times Roman and two columns on each page
for the letter column.  Much earlier (up to issue #4) I used a cheap dot-
matrix DTP program (called NewsMaster) but became quickly discouraged
because it took 20 minutes to print a page.  I don't have access to a
really good DTP system, nor the time or energy to do it well, so I try to
do the best I can in a hurry.  By the time I get everything typed and the
games adjudicated, I really don't care much for the layout.  There are
other wonderful zines I could never compete with as far as looks go (Garret
Schenck's "upstart" for example) so I try to keep the content the focus of
the zine.  Garret's zine looks great, but more often I read Kathy's Korner
cover to cover when I get it, and it's typed on a regular-old typewriter.))

I am enjoying moderating this zine, keep that mail coming!

Eric Klien