Diplomacy zine -- EP #129 Chapter Four From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Sun, 07 Jan 1990 04:08:12 +0000 Issue #129 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: 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, and VERSAILLES And is published by tedward@cs.cornell.edu/Ted Fischer Chapter Three contains: TANNENBURG, VERDUN, ENTENTE, MULHOUSE, and DAWN PATROL And is published by dragon@agora.hf.intel.com/Bill Wheeler (He has been compiling the chapters but has so far been unable to get them back to me. We are working on the problem. This problem may not go away until the holidays are over. Unfortunately, all people who have volunteered to replace him can't start helping me until after the holiday are over. To put it mildly, I need more guest publishers!) ------------- Chapter Four ------------- Spring '05 of the game RATATOSK (BNC number 1989IJ) (GM is jall@diku.dk/Mogens Jallberg) Delayed due to Winter vacations. Spring '05 of the game BUSHIDO (BNC number 1989IN) (GM is ronin@cory.berkeley.edu/Sam Parazette) Due Jan 20 Spring '04 of the game HUGO (BNC number 1989IO) (GM is willis@trwind.ind.trw.com/Willis Marti) Due Jan 17 Summer '03 of the game JUGGERNAUGHT (BNC number 1989IR) (GM is rdesper@eagle.wesleyan.edu/Rick Desper) Due Jan 22. Summer '02 of the game TOKUGAWA (BNC number 1989IS) (GM is joseph_harold_thomas@cup.portal.com/Joseph Thomas) Russia retreats F Swe-Fin Spring '03 of the game PETAIN (BNC number 1989IT) (GM is ssmith@ms.uky.edu/Scott Smith) Due Jan 7 Spring '03 of the game DUNKIRK (BNC number 1989KN) (GM is sjzwange@phoenix.princeton.edu/Steven Jacob Zwanger) Due Jan 20 Spring '01 of the game BIG WILLIE (MNC number not known) (Blind game, GM is okamoto@hp-ses.hp.com/Jeff Okamoto) Due Jan 19 Endgame of the game TRENCHFOOT (BNC number 1989IH) (GM is tedward@cs.cornell.edu/Ted Fischer) Not done yet. Will be published in Ted's chapter. Publisher comments: Things are pretty quite during this holiday period. Although quite a few people have signed up for future games. I still need players for my gunboat, blind, 1914, and classic Diplomacy games. WINNING DIPLOMACY: THE ART OF PERSUASION by Eric S. Raymond/eric@snark.uu.net Diplomacy games are deceptive on many levels. One way they sometimes deceive the beginning player is by appearing to be about tactics, maneuver, and the application of force -- but, in fact, 99% of the game depends on negotiation, misdirection, and the artful lie. In general, wargames are carefully designed for play balance between the opposing sides, so that each player will start with an equal chance at victory. But Diplomacy variants are generally more than just balanced; in these games, players are deliberately starved for units and restricted to simple, static tactics. The weak hand everyone starts with forces players to form coalitions and engage in constant negotiation to secure victory. Unless the other players are completely incompetent, it is just not possible to dominate the game by tactical skill alone. To win, you must manipulate the other players into making moves that weaken each other and advance your goals. In Sun Tzu's classic _The_Art_of_War_, it is written "Supreme excellence in warfare consists of defeating the enemy without battle." In Diplomacy this is not only possible but necessary for consistent winning play. A really good player will use diplomacy to stack the deck against each of his enemies in turn, so subtly and completely that they are doomed before his units and theirs ever make contact. How can you play at this level? Only by learning how to persuade. In Diplomacy, threats and saber-rattling are the hallmarks of the half-bright; they won't work against any but weak players. Stronger ones will ally and destroy the blusterer. In general: the more and better you write, the more persuasive you will be. Good players write everyone, early and often; good players establish a diplomatic presence that makes itself felt all over the board from the very beginning of the game. Good players wield mail and press like a precision instrument; they use it to cultivate the respect of their chosen enemies as well as their immediate allies, and to foment trouble everywhere but in their own back yards. The common characteristic of the most persuasive diplomatic letters are a calm strength, an overwhelming reasonableness, a seasoning of humor or role-playing, and a sparing but effective use of falsehood. To persuade, you must usually project confidence without seeming arrogant or overweening. It is necessary to be intelligent and tough-minded, but not sufficient; you must not only have these qualities but be *seen* to have them. Playing dumb or appearing indecisive is occasionally useful in special circumstances (for example, when you need to persuade a threatening larger power that you are or would be a safe junior ally) but fails as a general stance (usually it simply makes you look like easy pickings). By "overwhelming reasonableness" I mean that you must pitch your proposals so that they seem the natural way for your target to advance his or her own interests. Ideally, you want to make non-cooperation seem completely stupid. There will always be a tension between any desire your target may have to cooperate and the zero-sum, too-many-scorpions-in-a-bottle nature of the game; your challenge is to make it easy and natural for your target to cooperate without insulting his/her intelligence by pretending you are an altruist. Humor (and role-playing) may attract your target to you enough to influence his/her judgement. Often there's an interesting consensual element in this kind of manipulation; by going along with your gag or the myth you present about yourself, your target gets to enjoy the joke or fantasy along with you. By pulling him/her into the secondary world you two have agreed to create, you can exert subtle but powerful influence on his/her choices. The subtlest and most effective form of "winning without battle" is when your strength, reasonableness, and humor or role-playing seduces your victims so completely that they start tilting towards you because they *like your style*. At this level, sincerity can become the most effective form of manipulation! Finally, never forget that in any game based on negotiation, your credibility is your most important asset. Never use a falsehood when ambiguity or carefully selected truths will serve. Don't prevaricate when you can be found out, unless by doing so you can set up a strong chance of destroying your enemy. A really good diplomat deceives the way a stage magician does -- by misdirection. Magicians don't lie; they use the audience's willingness to believe. They draw the mark's attention everywhere but where the trick is actually being pulled. It needs to be plainly said: most players lie too often. This is actually to the master player's advantage -- the most trusted player on the board has a huge edge on everybody else. Thus the truth becomes a weapon rather than a weakness. In summary: in Diplomacy, you must win by persuasion and misdirection. The most effective persuasion avoids threats and lies. The most effective tools of misdirection are eloquence, truth, subtlety and (ironically) honesty. Taken from Reader's Digest: While waiting in line to get my car serviced, I read the notice advising customers that the dealership was not responsible for items left in vehicles. The only thing of value I had in my car was a teddy bear, which had been a peace offering from a difficult student. I considered taking it with me, but thought better of it. I left Bear propped up by the gear shift. Hours later, I returned to pick up my car. Bear was gone. Before I cursed the corruptible nature of man, I gave the car's interior one last glance. There, in the back seat, buckled into a seat belt, was Bear. I am enjoying moderating this zine, keep that mail coming! Eric Klien Up