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Adjutant
 
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Post 12 May 2016, 11:45 am

Does anybody still do this? I am looking at some links on the diplomacy archive website but they all seem quite outdated. I was really just curious what it's like, how it works, etc. Besides, I love getting stuff in the mail. It's far more exciting than waiting for email.
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Post 13 May 2016, 9:51 am

I would get in touch with Jim Burgess (jfburgess at a gmail address). He runs a zine by the name of Abyssinian Prince, though I think the sponsored games may be via email. Anyway, he might be aware of some zines in which traditional PBM games are conducted.

I'm betting there are some out there who like the format and still play old school. Good luck & have fun!
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Post 13 May 2016, 10:42 pm

I've never done it of course, but I'd imagine that the communications you have are much lengthier. If you have to write out a letter and then send it by post then you're going to want to put as much into it as possible. In much the same way that email based games are different from (and better than) games that run through a judge, I suspect the same applies for postal games. There's probably a niche market for it somewhere, although I must admit it would be too slow for me.
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Post 14 May 2016, 7:29 pm

Colin, I was involved in postal Dip many years ago, in the early '80s. Sassenach and SLOTerp are correct with regard to the length of time. Think of two years for a game. Because seasons were every 3 or 4 weeks, you could actually accommodate several games at one time without getting overwhelmed. Back then, it was common for games to get an official "Boardman" number that a volunteer would manage. Game results were cataloged and helped produce a lot of the stats that people have since referenced when talking about "most likely to win" or "to lose" countries. I don't believe they are used much, if at all, these days. Here is a link to a nice history of the "Boardman Numbers" by Rod Walker: http://diplom.org/Zine/S1997M/Fitzpatrick/Bnumbers.html

Of course, you spent a lot of ca$h on paper, envelopes, and stamps for postal play. And you often had to pay a subscription to the 'Zine that the GMs published that contained game results, editorials, and other stuff. Then again, you pay for your Internet access, too (well, most of us, anyway). But there was time to get involved in devilish plots and deceptions. One favorite was mailing phony letters from the city of one of the other players. You had to know somebody else in that city and send them the phony letter/envelope so they could mail it for you. Some players took to coding their letters to prevent that kind of deception. But it wasn't as bad as Chess-By-Mail, for example. Even Gunboat was done by mail. I suppose that was the simplest and cheapest, as it required only 1 letter per month. But Gunboat is a waste of time, I think.

In addition to Jim Burgess, there is Douglas Kent, who edits Diplomacy World. Email him at diplomacyworld at yahoo DOT com. He was around back then. He also runs the Eternal Sunshine zine, I believe.

George
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Post 14 May 2016, 8:49 pm

I kind of like writing letters old-school style. It's a lost art I think. The games shown in the 1st (or 2nd) ed. of the Gamer's Guide to Diplomacy are from old postal games.

I'll check these guys out, then.

In the mean time, I haven't had much luck starting a Diplomacy club locally.
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Post 14 May 2016, 10:19 pm

JimHackerMP wrote:I kind of like writing letters old-school style. It's a lost art I think. The games shown in the 1st (or 2nd) ed. of the Gamer's Guide to Diplomacy are from old postal games.

I'll check these guys out, then.

In the mean time, I haven't had much luck starting a Diplomacy club locally.


What city are you in? Is there a game store in your area? That would be a good place to go. You probably know that some game stores support local gamers and gaming groups. You've probably also searched the BGG Diplomacy forum? If nothing else, try going to one of the many regional or national tourneys.
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Post 03 Jun 2016, 3:17 pm

I'm in Sykesville, Maryland (21784). Kind of 15-20 miles NW of Baltimore, about 40 north of DC. Not exactly a rural area anymore, but not exactly urban, sort of. So I'm thinking there's GOT to be somebody interested! Maybe I could go to BGG? There's gotta be someone in the area who's into it. There is a game store in Glen Burnie (suburb of Baltimore about the same distance away from me) that I've been to before. I wanted to set one up in my area, not there, though. But as for that....
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Post 03 Jun 2016, 3:32 pm

You might want to check out this group: http://www.meetup.com/Halethorpe-Board-Game-Club/

They could be a jumping off point for a sub-group of Diplomacy players.
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Post 03 Jun 2016, 3:34 pm

Of course, the PTKS'ers aren't too far from you either. http://www.meetup.com/Potomac-Tea-and-Knife-Society/