DC Newsletter – July 2008
G’day! It has been a long time, since you have been bombarded with a newsletter from good ol’ me so I thought I better write one. Actually Mike and Trout strongly hinted that it was time I wrote one so here it is.
HELLO members of Dc, old and new, friends and nemisis (nemiseseses, nemisii), guys and gals. What’s going on? What’s happening? (don’t all answer at once).
A quick introduction because some people might not even know who I am (we have 233 ACTIVE players in a game right now.. man do I have to send this too 233 people… not looking forward to that..).. and I remember someone stating recently that any diplomacy club would struggle to get over 100 active members… hmmm.. so wrong there&hellip
.. I’m Steve (also know as – deathblade_penguin or penguin to some).. I’m the last founding member of diplomaticcorp and one of the trio of moderators. I’ve been playing diplomacy for 8 years online now and more recently face to face in my little town of Melbourne, Australia. Many GMs know me as ‘the guy who hassles us when the games are delayed’. My two compadres are Mike Sims (loving husband and father), American and downright master of the diplomaticcorp site and of course Trout, our fun lovin Canadian friend who does a little bit of everything and anything to keep the gears a-running. So hello to everyone.
Okay section 1 – Updates and Announcements
The Winter Blitz is over. Many thanks to Mike, Trout and all the GMs who pitched in and helped run this first annual tournament in Dc. Congrats to Nigel for sweeping the 1st Annual Winter Blitz with back to back solo victories! Also victorious…
Best score, round 1: Paul Russell
Best score, round 2: Paul Green
Overall tops:
1st place, score 43.6: Nigs, aka Nigel
2nd place, score 38.5: Bridgejunky, aka Paul
3rd place, score 35.0: M_don_j, aka Mikael
4th place, score 34.6: psychosis 1973, aka Michael
Complete standings are posted online: www.diplomaticcorp.com/winterblitz
The Diplomaticorp Invitational has already started with little fanfare or pomp. This annual event is a 2 round game in which the top 8 players in our club are personally invited to play. Also included in the invitation were last year’s winner, our very own Mike Sims and a ‘favourite’ chosen by the moderators. However these names are all hidden as the first game is gunboat. Not always a popular choice with our players – the gunboat game adds an element of strategy and randomness to the game. Will our pack leader survive the first round being in the top 7 to play in round 2… only time will tell. Anyone interested in following this game, can drop me an email at stevelytton(at)hotmail.com and I’ll add them to the adjudication list or just check out game Dc189! It’s exciting stuff.
GMs are always needed. Even though we have had Andy, Michael, Kai, Garry, Doug, Christine, Steve, Jerry, Hamish and Paolo grabbed games recently.. more and more are needed. If you can help out GMing a game (it generally takes between 20-30 mins a week to run a standard game), let us know.
Section 2: Games, Games and more Variants
Man, have we had a lot of new and exciting variants coming to diplomaticcorp (DC from now on) lately. Let’s have a look at them briefly :-
Star Trek Variant, Imperial 1841, 35 player world war IV, mandate of heaven, 2 season diplomacy, Viking diplomacy and Baltic Diplomacy – and that is just to name a few. I’ve already signed up for mandate of heaven, star trek and viking… but I am a sucker of a diplomacy variant… I think of it as the next step from playing standards. AND all of these variants can be found in the dipwiki. I read somewhere there are 122 variants listed there, everything you want to need. So check out the open games page and sign up for some of these games. And some of these variants are even being created by our very own diplomaticcorp members.. how exciting is that. (and a special treat for all you old veterans of diplomacy, I hear a rumour that someone may be running an original 1958 diplomacy game with original rules… I’m not going to mention any names (Paolo) but keep your eyes peeled.
Section 3 :Holidays.
I understand that you northern hemisphere types (okay I was born in England so I know) are about to enter summer. This means that it could be a period of delays for a number of games, so here is a quick run down of some of the things you can do to help your games and your fellow diplomancers
a) Let your GM know as early as possible about any delays
b) Consider whether or not the internet access you may have on your holiday will be enough
c) Talk to your GM about getting a friend or another diplomaticcorp member to play your position in your absence. Many GMs allow a proxy for a short time, as long as it’s not a player who was already in the game. This allows the game to keep moving.
d) Submit conditional moves for a couple of terms to lessen the need for a delay.
e) If you’re a player in a game with a delay, just remember it’s a game!
Section 4: Civil Disorders.
Now I’ve said this before but it often happens with new players, the civil disorder. Please remember that when you sign up for a game it is generally a 6-8 month commitment. I will tell you that even in a losing position, everyone would prefer you to submit orders rather than just give up on the game…… giving up because you got stabbed, or you are losing – it’s not really good enough… and it spoils the game for 6 other people. So let’s try and keep those Civil disorders down can we.
Okay that’s enough from me, I think. Until next time. As always if you have comments or feedback on everything I write, or even complaints you can send them to former.trout(at)... Wait.. hehehe a little joke there.. send them to stevelytton(at)hotmail.com
Steve
