RUFFHAUS 8 wrote:Confirming danivon's post delineating the division 1 and division 2 games. The official scoring tables will illustrate this a little better. Division one games contain the players that qualified for it based on play in the first two rounds. All new players begin in division two. I wouldn't read anything into that right now. The top two players from rounds one and two are not playing, and many of the new players to the tournament are very talented players. Ultimately the divisions are meant to provide competitive games for everyone, and give additional incentive to play well even when a game goes poorly.
George, I would think this would be abundantly clear, but since it's not, the point about Diplomacy being a game of honor is that we agree to play the game without the influence personal grudges, friendships, paybacks, kickbacks, etc. In the online environment we enter into another level of honor and trust in various respects in that we are each using only one user name, and playing each game within itself, and not inventing straw man accounts to stack games. While this behavior does not exist at Redscape, it is not uncommon in the online hobby. That's the honor I speak of.
Randy, your original use of the phrase "Diplomacy is a game of honor" was ambiguous without fault; but also without meaningful context. Now that you have provided that context above, we concur! One aspect of the honor you speak of is not something inherent within the game's objectives (which was my original point), but is an issue of playing the game within a largely anonymous, electronic environment. I have, in fact, played in games on other sites where I had a very strong suspicion of one player acting under two different identities. Fortunately, as you pointed out, I don't think we've ever had an issue with that here at Redscape.
Another aspect of "honor" you brought up ("we agree to play the game without the influence personal grudges, friendships, paybacks, kickbacks, etc.") to me is more an issue of civility and decency, I think. Yet another part of your definition, in fact, is part of so-called meta-gaming, often found in team-based tournaments (absent in this event), where kickbacks, paybacks and cross-game deals are expected.
As to grudges, friendships, etc., I totally agree with you, of course. I think most of us like to go into each game as if it were
sui generis. This is where player familiarity becomes important, because I think it is paradoxically easier to attack or be attacked by friends in a game, rather than by strangers. I think familiarity between players helps reduce personal attacks, as well. This is another area where Redscape has excelled.
Finally, I would like to take a moment to affirm that I am not playing in every game under an assumed identity. Rather, I am playing in one game as a composite identity made up of 27 different people, deciding negotiations, strategy, and tactics by consensus. Right now, about half of us are currently voting for a non-interventionist policy, some of us are hoping that an international assembly will decide for us, and the rest are ready to form up ranks and start marching. All of us have our hands out, waiting for the right affirmation that will help make us the sole, entitled ruler of Europe. And if Mr. X in game 3 doesn't cough up the influence we need within the next 2 days, we'll publish those photos of him and the shipping clerk in Las Vegas.