[MN-dip] Thanks for coming out to diplomacy today

[Ry4an Brase]

On Sun, Jan 14, 2007 at 04:07:28PM -0600, Chad Walstrom wrote:
[snip]
> I also think it would be a good idea to agree upon a time-limit to the
> game from the outset.  That way, the winners of the game don't end up
> being those that stay the longest.  Don't worry, I don't feel bad
> about leaving the game early.

A lot of people (including tournament directors) have done a lot of
thinking about how make a dip game fit into real world schedules, and I
don't think anyone's ever come up with a good system.  Some things I've
seen suggested are:

1. Play 'till you drop

    This is pretty much what we did and I agree it completely favors
    those who can stay later, which is a huge negative.  That said I do
    think it's the best option of a bad lot.

2. Fixed ending time

    Tournaments use this sometimes.  Biggest drawback I can find is that
    it seldom has as meaningful a resolution as a game that's allowed to
    wind down naturally.  Invariably someone tries to say they "won" or
    "did better" 'cause they have more centers at the end, which I
    complete crap.  Also everyone does a "last-minute" stab of everyone
    else "for the fun of it" on the last turn just because they can (and
    especially so if supply center count is taken to mean something).

3. Secret, Random ending time or game-year

    Some tournaments will use this to avoid the last-minute stab
    syndrome and I think it's always preferable to a fixed ending for
    that reason.

4. Changing victory conditions

    Some tournaments will decrement the supply center count required for
    a solo from 18 each game-year starting fairly early on.  This
    certainly makes for more solos and probably makes draws more
    difficult in addition to shortening the game.  Here's a reference:

        http://www.diplom.org/Zine/S1998R/Norman/VarLength.html

One thing I would suggest is that if you do have a planned departure
time, keep that time secret.  I know I spent all night telling people
not to ally with you since all your units were going to go into Civil
Disorder at 6pm. :)

Thanks again for coming Chad; it was great meeting you.

-- 
Ry4an Brase - http://ry4an.org/