myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeff Myers) (01/11/85)
I'm shortly going to be moderating a Usenet game, but I've never played
Diplomacy by mail before. I've worked up a set of ground rules for playing
through the Usenet. I would appreciate any criticisms or suggestions more
experienced players might have.
Thanks in advance!
--
Jeff Myers The views above may or may not
University of Wisconsin-Madison reflect the views of any other
Madison Academic Computing Center person or group at UW-Madison.
ARPA: uwmacc!myers@wisc-rsch.arpa
uucp: ..!{allegra,heurikon,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!myers
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Suggested Ground Rules for Usenet Diplomacy
Jeff Myers
Players & Countries:
If all players agree, countries will be determined by preference lists
submitted by the players (each country ranked from most preferred to
least prefered); otherwise, countries determined by lot by the
moderator.
Players must submit a list of all the ways in which they are willing
to be contacted by others in the game to the moderator before the
initial diplomacy period. You will want to list your electronic
mail address(es), US Mail address(es), and phone number(s) with
area code. If you do not want to be accessible by US Mail or by
telephone, don't supply that information.
Victory Conditions:
Victory levels determined by the number of supply centers controlled
after n (say, 12) moves, or when all players agree to end the game.
Civil Disorder:
If a player is compelled to drop out of a game and cannot find his
or her own replacement, a replacement will
be supplied from a list of alternates, if possible. Otherwise the
standard Civil Disorder rules will apply. Players who need to drop
out are encouraged to continue to receive the move results, even
though they are no longer actively involved in the game. This also
goes for players playing an eliminated country.
If you only need to miss one turn, the moderator will act as your
temporary replacement for that turn. You should submit general
guidelines of behaivior for your country in such a case, but
satisfaction is not guaranteed. You should also notify the other
players that the moderator is acting in your stead (the moderator
will make the same notification). You may also have a friend act
in your stead for a single turn (excluding the player of another
country), rather than the moderator. In a turn in which the moderator
is playing for an absent player, he or she should not look at any of
the submitted moves before deciding on the absent player's move.
Deadlines:
Moves must be postmarked by midnight each Thursday. Results will
be mailed before midnight on Sundays, hopefully much before this.
This may not leave alot of
time for diplomacy for those far apart in usenet routings, but
three months is a long time for a game to hang together, especially
for the students in the crowd.
Writing Moves:
The moderator will follow the rules faithfully, especially with
regard to ambiguous orders; make them as complete as possible.
Retreats and Builds/Teardowns are a problem in a pbm game if you
want to get a fair number of moves in. This problem will be
resolved by forcing the players to submit these actions with
their moves.
For all units which might be forced to retreat in a turn, you should
specify whether that unit should be retreated or disbanded. If you
would like it to be retreated, supply a prioritized list of
provinces. Where multiple retreats are possible, you may want to
include alot of ifs, ands, and buts. If no retreat action is
specified for a unit, it will perform the action which the moderator
considers "most logical".
Similarly, if there is a possibility that you will lose units after
a Fall turn, you should specify somehow which unit or units to
disband. If you might gain units, you should specify what to do
for only one build, for two builds, etc. As with retreats, you may
qualify your orders however you wish. If no action is specified for
a particular circumstance, the moderator will again act for you.
{Game can be slowed by allowing builds/teardowns to be mailed in}
{Game can be really slowed by allowing mailin of retreats, too}
{Is there a better way to handle this anyone has seen or used?}
Diplomacy:
Diplomacy can go on at any time. Remember that you
can communicate with other players separately, in small groups,
or via broadcast messages. The moderator can be used as an
intermediary in negotiations, help broadcast communiques, act
as a random number generator, etc.
The Usenet:
During Diplomacy, usenet foulups can enhance the flavor of the
game by simulating the "fog of war" :-}. However, the problem is
more serious when you are trying to get moves to the moderator, or
get results out to the players. The moderator will immediately
acknowledge all mail -- you should immediately acknowledge the
receipt of move results or other important communications.
You may also wish to use different paths, or mailings at different
times of day.
{Suggestions on improving certainty of receipt especially encouraged!}