Diplomacy zine -- BRUX From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Thu, 10 Aug 1989 03:35:44 +0000 Issue #87 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: ************************************************************** Sorry this is a few hours late, my network was being upgraded. ************************************************************** Chapter One contains: D-DAY, NAVARONE, BLITZKRIEG, OPERATION OVERLORD, GETTYSBURG, and HMS HOOD And is published by Daybell@aludra.usc.edu/Donald Daybell Chapter Two contains: DRAGONSPLAYER, DOUGHBOY, BISMARK, COLD WAR and JACAL And is published by Snarr@chemistry.utah.edu/Benjamin A. Snarr ------------- Chapter Three ------------- Summer '08 of the game MAELSTROM (BNC number 1989AA) Nothing happened. Spring '01 of the game TANNENBURG (BNC number not known) (GM is Ebrosius@lucy.wellesley.edu/Eric Brosius) Due date August 13th. GM comments: I have one opening in my postal zine, PROTOCOL. A fantastic breakthrough has been made in eye surgery! For the past decade or so there has been a procedure called radial keratoty in which tiny slits are cut in the edges of the lens, causing it to flatten out. The problem with this procedure is that it can not be predicted how the eye will heal and so it doesn't work 100%. It also can not be used to correct astigmatism. But a new alternative is now being tested where a robot is used to sculpt your corneal lens. The procedure takes 30 seconds, requires no anesthesia, and has a recovery time of two to three days. This procedure corrects astigmatisms as well as near and far sightedness plus causes a lot less damage to the eye then radial keratoty. Since nearly no healing is involved the results can be predicted with much more accuracy. And using a laser is a little more precise then a scalpel. In a year or so, I may be one of the people who pays for this procedure. I'm getting a little tired of my pitiful vision. My right eye has about a 1 inch range that it can see clearly in, my left eye has about a 1/2 inch range. Luckily by using thin glass I can get 20/20 vision or better yet the lens look pretty normal. In fact, the person who fitted me for glasses was amazed how thin my glasses are considering how poor my vision is. But as my astigmatism gets worse in my left eye, there are limits to what light bending materials can do for it. The FDA has already approved this procedure for one company and two more companies will be approved in the next six months. Come on, laser wielding robot surgeon, do your best! Taken from Excelsior #30: MY TEN BEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN POSTAL DIPLOMACY by Brux Linsey 1. Drawing 265 voters in the 1985 Runestone Poll, more than doubling the previous record despite determined opposition from my detractors. 2. VOICE OF DOOM #100, the largest issue of a zine ever. 3. Winning the Don Miller Memorial Award for hobby service (the Runestone Poll and the Publishers Handbook) a while back. 4. Winning 1979CF as Germany. 5. Helping Paul Gardner host three great cons (BruxCon/TomatoCon 1986-88). 6. Producing SUPERNOVA, which has helped people get started in Diplomacy for nearly a decade. 7. Producing ONCE UPON A DEADLINE, the publishers handbook. 8. Winning the 1985 Runestone Poll (this would be much higher on my list if it hadn't been for the fact that I ran the Poll, contributing greatly to VD's win). 9. Winning the Rod Walker Award for writing, for my article "The History of A Diplomacy Zine" in VD #100. 10. The fake DIPLOMACY WORLD--it ruffled a few feathers, but what a scam! Taken from Excelsior #30: AN INTERVIEW WITH BRUCE LINSEY By Bruce McIntyre (Over the past year, I have conducted a postal interview with Bruce Linsey. As we enter the second decade of the Bruxer's gargantuan involvement with this hobby, it seems like a good time to print the interesting results.) XL: You've been distributing SUPERNOVA for quite a while now. How many of today's prominent hobbyists can you remember having requested a copy? BRUX: I'd guess that most prominent hobbyists have gotten copies at some point or other, but come now: you don't expect me to remember exactly who has asked and who hasn't, do you? In almost nine years, I've sent out probably over 2000 copies. XL: Well, let me rephrase that a bit. We as hobby "big-shots" all get letters from novices that are of the, shall-we-say, "wide-eyed" variety. I just thought that the novices reading this might like to hear some juicy lines you remember from today's old-timers! Some of them might seem quite old indeed. (For example, I have a priceless letter from Bruce Geryk, circa 1986, that accompanied BI #1, which I find hard to believe given the worst postal abuses of the Bad Boys to date.) BRUX: I can't remember anything noteworthy along those lines from a hobby old-timer, but I will enclose a copy of the one letter I've gotten from a novice which was funny enough to save all these years: "Dear Bruce: Oh please send me the Novice Package called SUPERNOVA. I am just starting a game up here called AWBRI (??) in SLEEPLESS KNIGHTS, which is a Canadian game magazine and the runner of it, Dave Carter who you wouldn't know because he is from Toronto, suggested I send $1 to you and get this. And I need the help bad, because I'm Austria, and Italy and Russia both stabbed me, and Turkey doesn't like me. Also Italy told me that France was sending around letters lying to say that he is me. You may have guessed that I am a novice." XL: I suspect I'll be sending you a letter much like that one soon if my position in HANDEL worsens and I can't find my copy of SUPERNOVA! Are there any plans to update SUPERNOVA? BRUX: Not in the near future. It's done the job well in its present form for a long time. Info which gets dated quickly appears on the insert sheet, which I update every 2-4 months. XL: How did the Runestone Poll transfer from Randolph Smyth to you come about? BRUX: Randolph announced in FOL SI FIE that he was looking for a successor. I figured that with VD about to fold, I'd have the time and energy to do a good job of it. So I told Randolph I'd like to be considered, and he chose me. (I'm not sure whether anyone else expressed interest.) Things got hairy when some of my detractors organized a campaign to get people to protest the transfer, but after asking both sides to provide lists of supporters, Randolph reported that publishers were behind me by about a 3-to-1 margin, and let the decision stand. XL: Where did the preference matrix idea come from? BRUX: The preference matrix was in use in the British zine poll. I asked Mark Berch for a copy, liked what I saw, made a few modifications, and adapted it. XL: What scale do you feel is more important? BRUX: Neither. I weight the modified mean twice as much as the preference scores in calculating the final result, but that is due to the latter scores having a greater standard deviation than the former. Both measures are important. I suppose if I had to choose one for the Poll, I'd choose the modified mean. XL: Everyone seems to agree that grudge votes are a problem. (Even I'm thinking seriously of submitting one or two this year.) Isn't the fact that grudge votes cannot affect the preference matrix nearly as much as they can the modified mean a good argument for the preference matrix? BRUX: Yes. But the modified mean is, in turn, much less affected than an UNmodified mean. XL: In the 1989 Poll Announcement, you suggested that the preference matrix might not be used this year, and that you might not run the Poll next year. First, has a decision been made on the scoring system yet, and second, what advice would you give to a successor if you appointed one? BRUX: The preference matrix will be used once again thanx to Eric Brosius and his hard work getting the Poll programmed into his Mac. It will be used for the first time in rating subzines and GMs. As for next year, I'm still thinking it over. What advice would I give to a successor? Always be willing to consider suggestions from hobby members, but don't let yourself be bullied into doing things someone else's way. Get ready for some flak because the Poll results are seen by a lot of people, and some of them get pretty upset when the hobby's collective opinions don't match their own. XL: With TCSR getting bigger each year, would you consider first releasing a shorter version of the results, then following with the database? BRUX: Yes, I should have done that last year. XL: What's the current strength and status of the anti-Runestone Poll crowd? BRUX: They're generally very loud, but they don't represent most of the hobby. XL: Due to my slowness, it's now May 1989 (the original question was posed last year). Have there been any changes since then? BRUX: Yeah. I have a few more grey hairs now then I did then. XL: Hmm. Sorry 'bout that. Speaking of grey hairs, how about this topic: For BRUXs sake, what's "Pentagram Publications" and why is the logo always hand-drawn? BRUX: "Pentagram Publications" are a fad term loosely associated with my enemies. I don't know why it's hand-drawn. Last year I sort of crossed them up by including the logo on Page 1 of THE CREAM SHALL RISE. XL: Is there much demand now for the Publisher's Handbook, ONCE UPON A DEADLINE, in comparison with when it first came out? BRUX: After the initial couple of months when much of the hobby wanted a copy, it's been a pretty steady seller--perhaps a copy every three weeks. XL: Can I print your first choice as a title (BEYOND SUPERNOVA), and why it was discarded? BRUX: Sure you can print it. It was discarded as two unimaginative. I like ONCE UPON A DEADLINE much better. XL: So do I, but the first draft had advantages of its own: you'll never top them initials! (Thay's why I assumed it was discarded: I see that assumption was full of BS!) Are there still plans to update OUaD? BRUX: Not immediately. There are changes I'd like to make, but I'm far too busy these days. XL: When you get unbusy, let me know: I'd like a crack at the second edition! How did you locate the postal Diplomacy hobby? BRUX: I was on a wargame buying binge in 1979, and Diplomacy looked too fun to resist. Since I didn't have six people handy who felt the same way, I wrote to the address listed on the game box flyer. The rest is history. XL: What about future history? Do you think the Postal Diplomacy hobby has a bright future? Can we ever be certain that the hobby cannot be derailed by feuding? How about the trend away from Diplomacy? I think it's safe to say that the Postal Diplomacy hobby is far less Diplomacy today than it was in 1969, but between 1979 and 1989, has Diplomacy declined in hobby popularity? BRUX: Yes, the hobby has diversified in the decade I've been part of it. There is a wider variety of games being played in a wider variety of zines. Small house cons are commonplace and widely publicized--that wasn't so ten years ago. And electronic mail is now a common way to play. Those are three of the biggest changes. And if feuding hasn't destroyed the hobby by now, it never will. (Though it can seriously detract from the fun....) I'd say the future is bright but I'm an incorrigible optimist. XL: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you are either playing or GMing a game of regular Diplomacy these days. What's not widely known is that you have a postal Diplomacy win to your credit. Let's hear a bit about it. BRUX: First off, I've started playing again--picked up a standby position in Steve Cooley's Dragnet. My postal record as a starting player in regular Dip is "perfect." I've done everything exactly once: one win, one draw, one survival, and one elimination. My sole win was as Germany in 1979CF run by Ron Brown of California in his zine MYRD'RING MINISTERS. At the time, my commitment to the game was very high. The high points for me were 1) becoming very good friends with the Italian player, Paul Hefti, and 2) an extremely effective stab against Russia, who then dropped out. XL: Is Diplomacy the perfect Postal game? If so, why, and if not, what do you feel would be a required element of the perfect postal game? BRUX: Although there are now a few games I enjoy more than Diplomacy, it is still the game I regard as tailor-made for postal play. I can't imagine any other game being so easy to play by mail. So in that sense, yes, it's the perfect postal game. XL: I guess it's fair to say that there aren't many hobby controversies you haven't been involved in, especially since VD's fold. Yet now you are on a self-imposed holiday from feuding. Is it safe to conclude that you aren't as offended or threatened by today's controversies, as compared with the one's from the heyday of NO FIXED ADDRESS? BRUX: I'm not threatened at all by the current hobby controversies. My reputation was truly on the line in 1985. By now, enough people know me well enough to prevent the more ludicrous charges from being believed. (And if an occasional novice gets drawn into my enemies' camp, I haven't got the time or inclination to worry about it.) Times change. I have my friends and my standing in the hobby, both forever. XL: At the risk of overgeneralization, what would you say are the main causes of feuds? BRUX: Irreconcilable approaches to the hobby held by different people with large egos in prominent positions. (Does that make the Hall of Fame ofr Ponderous Prepositional Phrases?) XL; Since joining the hobby, what was your most joyous moment? BRUX: That's easy. Having Joan Extrom tell me over the phone that "you have a new niece, and her name is Crystal Anne Corbin..." I didn't come down to earth for weeks! Several other hobby matters have been extremely satisfying. I'll put them in a Top Ten Format for you. XL: Thanks--I'll put them on the cover. BRUX: I suppose I ought to rank my starting the postal EMPIRE BUILDER sub-hobby in there somewhere, but that isn't strictly Diplomacy. Thanks for the opportunity to boast! XL: What do you see as your own role in the hobby for the next ten...hmm, let's make it five...years? BRUX: I see myself gradually stepping out of the limelight--a process which has already begun with this year's Runestone Poll taking a low profile--and concentrating more on other aspects of gaming and of life. I'm undecided as to whether I will have a role to play in next year's Runestone Poll, or how long I will keep distributing SUPERNOVA and ONCE UPON A DEADLINE. I do, however, plan to keep hosting and going to cons. Sharing these good times with friends is one of my most enjoyable activities. But my days of hobby prominence are winding down. That's either good or bad, or both, and neither (maybe). Thanx, McBruce, for helping me celebrate ten years in the hobby with this interview. XL: In turn, thank you for helping get the XL interview section off to a fine start. By the time this sees print, I'll be making one of my infrequent sojourns in the East. I told you in '86 I'd be back, and I'll be telling you the same thing this time. (I can't possibly refuse a chance to share the good times with the far-off people that make the hobby so much fun, now, can I?) Count on it! I am enjoying moderating this zine, keep that mail coming! Eric Klien Up