ar@duke.UUCP (Andrew L. Reibman) (07/24/85)
This may be the first flame ever to net.games.pbm
I have been a player and GM in several net diplomacy games.
E-mail diplomacy seems to plagued by a constant stream of
dropouts, NMR's, and players disappearing. At one time this
might have been attributed to constantly changing net topology,
but these days the net is reasponably stable and many games
have a diameter of no more than two or three hops.
It is extremely poor behavior to drop out of a game -
postal games have been won by players reduced to only two units
(and ftf games by players reduced to one). Many a good game
has been ruined when a nearly defeated power simply fades
away - allowing his attacker (the last person who the defeated power
should try to help) to swallow him quickly before others can react.
(I'll admit - I've benefitted more than once from this
kind of occurence.)
One solution may be to form a "warning" or "banned" list.
Net gamemasters could pool there knowledge and make sure that
players prone to fading out are not given preference for
spots in new games. (One dropout is okay - but a player who
has dropped out two or more times is a threat to the hobby).
Another solution may be to get a netwide alternate or stand-in list
- some of our kibbitzing tactical geniuses could be encouraged to
submit a reasonable move while we search for a real alternate.
I realize some people take diplomacy more seriously than others,
but to be fair - DON'T SIGN UP TO PLAY IF YOU DON'T HAVE TIME.
Andrew Reibman,
...!{allegra,decvax,ihnp4}!duke!ar