Forum
A place to discuss topics/games with other webDiplomacy players.
Page 133 of 160
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Enriador (1507 D)
16 May 18 UTC
(+2)
Classic Redrawn
I got bothered with some of the historical inaccuracies of the Classic map - like French Corsica being painted Italian green - so I went on and redrawed the entire map.
243 replies
Open
CptMike (1575 D)
02 Aug 18 UTC
Live 1v1 - Fall the American Empire: Civil War
Hello,

Is somebody interesed in playing a live (10' / phase ) on this map :
* https://vdiplomacy.net/variants.php?variantID=33
0 replies
Open
Flame (1073 D)
29 Jul 18 UTC
Territory Diagram
I wonder why VDip is not using Territory Diagram to reveal the dinamics of territory occupation in time. Now it's working rather good. But for maps with neutrals it still has several bugs. We use this module on Diplomail. Please check: https://ibb.co/mFZF3o
5 replies
Open
Enriador (1507 D)
04 Apr 18 UTC
(+2)
'Edwardian' - A new variant
Greetings diplomats.

I present you @VaeVictis's 'Edwardian' - an upcoming jewel to vDiplomacy's glorious crown. 'Edwardian' is set in 1901, the start of the Edwardian Era, and represents the intrigue and tension of the period with a level of elegance and detail never seen before
44 replies
Open
polaris (1137 D)
28 Jul 18 UTC
Known World 901 question re rebuilt armies
The variant page says that "This map is build anywhere and has neutral standing armies that disband when dislodged, but will be rebuild if the relevant Home Supply Center is vacant and unowned during the build-phase in autumn." but looking at completed games, I don't see the standing armies getting rebuilt. Does this mean I need to always occupy my own SCs in the fall or else they turn back into neutral standing armies? Can someone explain this to me?
4 replies
Open
Flame (1073 D)
23 Jul 18 UTC
(+2)
1898 - Civilization in Diplomacy
Variant "1898" by Randy Davis is very cool. One unit for each power at the start on the classic board.
It's already avaliable to play... but...
17 replies
Open
Flame (1073 D)
21 Jul 18 UTC
(+1)
Mistake in Known World 901 variant
In "Known World 901" we have Principality of Kiev (short - Russia). But it's a mistake which I have fixed when I did the php-adaptation to Western Known World 901 variant. The power must be called as Kievan Rus (short - Rus). It's not Russia at all. So it must be also fixed in Known World 901 variant I think.
15 replies
Open
JECE (1534 D)
20 Jul 18 UTC
The variant page is down. This is what I get:
Error triggered: A software exception was not caught: "syntax error, unexpected ''Ghana'' (T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING), expecting function (T_FUNCTION)".
4 replies
Open
kaner406 (2181 D Mod (B))
10 Mar 18 UTC
(+4)
Bourse 2018
See below:
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kaner406 (2181 D Mod (B))
10 Mar 18 UTC
It's been a while since I ran one of these games - the last one was in 2016, but it spilled over into 2017. That game was a great success although there was some talk about maybe altering some of the rules surrounding how the points are scored and stock are traded.

Now that I have a little bit more spare time, I'm making this thread to see what sort of interest there is out there to participate in the next game, as well as to start a discussion as to the following:

1) variant map
2) Bourse score vs Board score
3) If there has been any movement on developing the player to player, stock -> stock, trading system as advocated by some of the players during the last game.

I'll post the vanilla rules of playing bourse in the next post.
kaner406 (2181 D Mod (B))
10 Mar 18 UTC
Bourse is a game that runs 'inside' a game. Essentially you are buying and selling stock of a power in the game that is running. Speculation and misinformation is encouraged between players, buying into good solid stock can see your net-worth increase, but beware! If a country is eliminated from the game than that country's stock is reduced to nothing. Play large and win big on the stock market!

The rules are:

1) A Diplomacy Bourse is associated with a Diplomacy game, and runs parallel with it.

2) Any number of players may participate. Each begins with 1000 units of currency of each country in the game: Austrian Crowns, English Pounds, French Francs, German Marks, Italian Lire, Russian Roubles and Turkish Piastres. All currencies are equal at the start, each being worth $1 US. Throughout the game the value of currencies is expressed in Dollars.

*However due to the nature of vDip the players themselves will compete in the variant, so if there are 10 players who want to give this a shot then Modern will be the variant played

3) Orders are in two parts, buying and selling. Players may never sell more than 500 units of any one currency at one time, but may buy as many as he may afford. Any surplus after purchases may be retained as a Dollar balance against future purchases. There is no limit to the number of dollars that may be withdrawn from this balance at one time, but it may never go into deficit.

4) Each time 100 units of a currency are sold its value in relation to the dollar drops 1¢. Thus if in the first season the total of all orders results in 500 more Marks being sold than bought the price of the Mark for the following season would be $0.95. Each time an aggregate of 100 units is bought the price rises similarly by 1¢. Only complete multiples of 100 units affect the price - thus if 299 more Marks were bought than sold its value would rise by only 2¢.

5) Each season the GM will list who bought and sold what, old and new prices, players' holdings and Dollar surpluses, and their net worth.

6) When a country is eliminated from the Diplomacy game (i.e. when its Winter supply centre holding is 0), the value of its currency drops to zero and all trading in that currency ceases. Other than this, the value of a currency may never fall below 1¢. There is no upper limit to the value of a currency.

7) When the associated Diplomacy game ends, each Bourse player's "Victory Points" will be calculated as follows: for each currency in which he has a holding, the number of blocks of 100 units of currency multiplied by the number of supply centres owned by that country in the Diplomacy game. Thus if Turkey wins with 18 centres, with France on 14 and England on 2, and a player has 6000 Pounds, 10,000 Piastres and 4000 Francs, then his VPs would be 120+1800+560 = 2480. The GM will endeavour to maintain running totals of Victory Points during the middle and end game.

8) Orders may not be made conditional. If orders are incorrect or illegal, the GM will adjust them in accordance with what he discerns to be the player's wishes. Players are asked to check adjudications for errors, since the Diplomacy game will not normally be delayed on account of Bourse errors. Players are also requested to include details of their calculations with their orders.

_______
I'm up for another one if the final rules and scoring lead to a good game.

No, I haven't had time to work on any software to help.
An interesting twist would be to make the actual game be anon gunboat and insist players maintain anonymity. Then trading blocks will be guess work and could get screwed by an insider.
Technostar (1302 D)
10 Mar 18 UTC
My personal preference would be to play Bourse on WW4 Sealanes, although we'll have to pick a map based on the amount of interest we get. I'd say that we should shoot to recruit enough players for a Sealanes game, but if that proves to be impossible, play Bourse on KW901 instead.

In addition, unless the map is smaller than KW901, I believe it is necessary to play with 3-day phases, as the Bourse rules make it so that players will need more time to negotiate.

I'll start a sign-up list:
1) Technostar
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
etc.
Technostar (1302 D)
10 Mar 18 UTC
As for the rules in question, here's my take:

In order to make the Bourse game rated, we can run a rated "dummy game" alongside the actual Bourse game. The Dummy Game would run on the same map with the same players, although it would be paused immediately after everyone's joined. Once the normal Bourse game has concluded, everyone but the Bourse winner would vote to Concede, giving the Bourse winner a rating boost equivalent to a solo. In the event of a tie (like what happened in the last Bourse), the following tiebreakers could be used, in order:

1) Most SCs (to encourage players to be competitive on the board as well as on the Bourse)
2) Either the player with the most VPs in the most recent year where the two players had a different number of VPs or the player with the most SCs in the most recent year where the two players had a different number of SCs - I'm not sure which to go with yet.

Depending on how much we want to reward players for on-the-board performance versus Bourse performance, we could also make the main Bourse game rated. I would personally prefer to make both a rated dummy game and a rated main game, as it would encourage players to play to the best of their ability on both the board and in the Bourse.
We would also need a system to prevent long end-game stalemates where two players are both stalling a draw so they can try and win the Bourse. Perhaps we could force a draw after a certain number of years without any eliminations.

Finally, there's the issue of trading currency between players. I suggest a system where you order currency to be sent to another player with the rest of your Bourse orders, and it's completely up to them whether they decide to give you anything back that turn. This way, any trade deal can be a source of a backstab, while trade deals could also be used in exchange for favors on the board.

As you cannot normally liquidate more than 500 units of a single currency, I would suggest that, per turn, you cannot sell OR trade away more than 500 units of a single currency - for instance, you could sell 400 Marks and send 100 Marks to Russia, but you could not sell 400 Marks and send 200 Marks to Russia in the same turn.
I don’t care how we rate the bourse game. Yes, the number beside our usernames that proposes to tell us how good we are is cool (especially if it says we’re really good), but in the grand scheme of things, what I really want from this site is to have fun playing Diplomacy, with whatever variations we see fit. Unrated or rated, I will play.

1) Technostar
2) Mr. Finkelmuiyer
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)

To avoid the game dragging on for too long, we could institute a mandatory end date- either in-game or IRL. At this time, kaner can enforce a draw or a victory as he or the players see fit.

If we get more than enough players to play Known World, but not enough to play WWIV Sealanes, then we could have two leagues of players: those in the game and those not in it. (Eliminated players could be moved to the second league if they so desire.)

I'm rather keen to play as well -- similarly to Mr. Finkelmuiyer, I'm not too fussed about how it's scored. (Although I'm only sitting on 20 points available so I'd prefer the total bet is less than that, but eh, either way.) Rated or unrated, I don't really mind -- heck, the lower my score is, the more accurately it reflects my competence.

1) Technostar
2) Mr. Finkelmuiyer
3) a_mercurial_git
4)
5)
6)
7)
etc.

I'm happy to help with the coding of any sort of spreadsheet or even maybe a Python script that everything can be chucked into each turn.

I also do like Technostar's idea of trading currency, that's not a bad goal, but if that's the case we might have to drop the idea of folks Boursing behind a pseudonym. Which I think some folks do? But I guess kaner didn't list that rule above so never mind, anyway.
Hey! I said I'd play first. I'm on a phone. Please add me to the lisr.
Oh and I'm out if it is sealanes. I hate that scenario with a passion.
I'd prefer a rating system and like Techno's suggestion of a "ghost" game to manage the VP outcome. But if there's a consensus for unrated I can go with that too.

Not thrilled about a sealanes game as I'm total crap with sealanes, but again if that is the only stumbling block I'd still join

1) Technostar
2) Mr. Finkelmuiyer
3) a_mercurial_git
4) YCHTT (but no sealanes)
5) Amby (generally prefer not sealanes)
6)
7)
RUFFHAUS 8 (2490 D)
10 Mar 18 UTC
I told Kaner that I'd come back to play a bourse game if he runs one. I like the rules just as they are, and think it works best on the KW901 map. The game really needs to be rated and WTA to achieve the proper dynamic balance with the bourse. I'm not seeing the need for a ghost board, and worry that would add unnecessary complications. Over half of the bourse veterans here still don't really understand how it works yet. Adding more rules to it now will only break things down. I love the sea lanes, and would absolutely play that. Yet as much as a 35+ player game would be amazing to play with bourse, it seems unlikely that you can get a full roster of reliable, dedicated, and skilled players to make it work.
kaner406 (2181 D Mod (B))
11 Mar 18 UTC
It's great to have you on board Ruff,

1) Technostar
2) Mr. Finkelmuiyer
3) a_mercurial_git
4) YCHTT (but no sealanes)
5) Amby (generally prefer not sealanes)
6) RUFFHAUS 8
7)
8)
9)

As there has been little work in regards to how stocks can be traded (and more importantly how this would be adjudicated!), I'm strongly leaning to keeping the rules as they are. I also second the proposal that the game itself should be a rated game, preferably WTA, this would give a strong incentive for the players both on the board, as well as off the board with the bourse.

Rather than having a second dummy-game set up we could instead have a 'pot' for the bourse, where points are awarded and gifted via a moderator for the winner of the bourse, down to 5th or 6th place. Any thoughts there?
Captainmeme (1400 D Mod (B))
11 Mar 18 UTC
Bourse is an incredible variant and the last one was one of the best games I've ever played, but I'll probably end up sitting this one out. I know there was some bad feeling after the game about the way I played, and I think if I'm present in this one that bad feeling will probably carry over in some respect or another and make the game less fun for a lot of people.

That said, if you want to play, Kaner, I'd be happy to run the Bourse.
Technostar (1302 D)
11 Mar 18 UTC
(+1)
@Kaner
That would actually be a much simpler alternative.
drano019 (2710 D Mod)
11 Mar 18 UTC
Hi all -

I haven't played the Bourse games before, but thought I'd throw in an idea I thought might be interesting if you ended up splitting maps into two groups:

What it you played Bourse on the map you weren't actually playing? You speculate on one map, and play on the other. Could allow for some interesting conversations as players actively try to convince peoples moves in a game they aren't actually playing in.

Or alternatively, one map where the players in the game don't play Bourse, and the Bourse players aren't playing the game. Could provide a very unique dynamic.
That's actually how Bourse was intended to be played - Bourne players were a second group. Additionally, like the stock market it is named from, the Bourne participants had no influence or communication with the games players.
jason4747 (1633 D)
11 Mar 18 UTC
(+2)
I am interested in playing. The Podcasts were a great way to explain a bit as to how it works. Thanks Amby and Kaner!

[happy rant following] ..... and for Diplomacy's sakes get some microphones. I know you two have put out a cheap attempt to get free beer and wine, and maybe buy some mics, (for which I will happily contribute!) but I did notice there was much better audio pickup from your plates/forks/knives when you guys eat.

This strongly indicates the mic near the plates is good, just too far from your yappers to pick up the elegance and eloquence of ye olde Diplomacy talk. I appreciate the podcast enough to trans-nationally finance your capability.
RUFFHAUS 8 (2490 D)
11 Mar 18 UTC
Out of curiosity what is the driving motive behind changing the bourse rules? The games played to date have been fantastically competitive in the board and bourse competitions. Nearly everyone has agreed that these games were great contests. It's not broken. Stop trying to fix it. The existing rules are already too complex for the average VDip gamer to comprehend. That's not an elitist statement. It's just a fact. The last game we played saw most of the players checked out of the bourse almost immediately because they fell behind so fast and didn't understand the rules.
Captainmeme (1400 D Mod (B))
11 Mar 18 UTC
I wrote a bit about this after the last Bourse game, but I feel like the Bourse itself will likely become irrelevent if the board is made WTA due to the Bourse giving no rewards and the board altering your vPoint score. Generally speaking, the two work reasonably well together (establishing board control is essentially for winning the Bourse) but there's a lot of potential for players to sacrifice their Bourse result for better results on the board - for example, stabbing a player they're hugely invested in and eliminating them to narrow the draw or achieve the solo, taking themselves out of Bourse contention in the process, or agreeing to not contest the Bourse in return for not being stabbed by another player.

I think that unless you overhaul the entire system, though, there's no way to line these two up well with one another. The best idea would just be offering rewards for both so players who choose to focus on the Bourse side get something in return for their efforts.
Ezio (1057 D)
12 Mar 18 UTC
Add me to the list for bourse! I'm down to try again
I'm interested but confused. Could someone condense the information?
jason4747 (1633 D)
12 Mar 18 UTC
(+1)
Sure! Ezio's in. That's as condensed as I can get it ;-)

If you mean the Bourse Bafflement, I have no idea...... but there were some challenges and some great goodness the last time it played. I have never played it so, like you, I am not sure the issues. I figure that the key leaders will sort it out.
I will play if anonymous.
ubercacher16 (2169 D)
12 Mar 18 UTC
I will play.
Updated list of updatedness updating updatedly, based on people saying they're interested but not updating the list themselves *like a bunch of bads*

1) Technostar
2) Mr. Finkelmuiyer
3) a_mercurial_git
4) YCHTT (but no sealanes)
5) Amby (generally prefer not sealanes)
6) RUFFHAUS 8
7) jason4747
8) Ezio
9) Dr. Recommended (if anon)
10) ubercacher16
11) ??
12) ???

Honestly, I don't think there's an issue with the Bourse adjudicator playing, so long as we have a way to submit Bourse moves that they can avoid seeing until the turn flips.

Just a moment to clarify, though -- Presumably, Bourse only occurs during the resolution of Spring and Autumn, right? Rather than, say, also at the resolution of Winter, or even Retreats as well.
kaner406 (2181 D Mod (B))
12 Mar 18 UTC

1) Technostar
2) Mr. Finkelmuiyer
3) a_mercurial_git
4) YCHTT (but no sealanes)
5) Amby (generally prefer not sealanes)
6) RUFFHAUS 8
7) jason4747
8) Ezio
9) Argentinean Empire
10)
11)
12)

Maybes :
drano019, Captainmeme,

@Drano - We actually tried this out in our original tilt at bourse by playing a standard map game, and running a bourse game alongside it. What we found was that the players on the actual board tried to 'game' the bourse, by making erratic, random and sometimes silly moves just to see how that would effect the market. The only way this would work in my humble opinion would be to choose a game at random and running a bourse on it, without the players knowing that this was taking place. Something quite difficult to achieve I would think.

@Captainmeme - Thanks for the offer, I'll put you down as a maybe for the next game, I know you love playing bourse and I'm sure your previous opponents will forgive and maybe work with you this time round. We don't hold grudges here, do we? do we?

@Jason - thanks!

@Ruffhaus - I think we'll go with the rules as they stand. I haven't heard any convincing counter arguments for changing the rules, and as you say - they are quite complex enough as they are! The reason I brought it up was because there was some discussion surrounding them last time, and I wanted to see in any movement had happened on it that I was unaware of.

@Argentinean Empire - Basically everyone starts with 1000 units of stock in each country. To begin with each unit of stock is worth $1. Every time 100 units are sold this stock goes down 1 cent. Every time 100 units are bought the stock goes up 1 cent. That is the cost of buying stock. Your Victory Points in the bourse depends on how many SCs a country has *multiplied* by the amount of stock that you hold (so the more stock you hold of the player that is winning on the board, then the more Victory points you will inevitably have)
kaner406 (2181 D Mod (B))
12 Mar 18 UTC
1) Technostar
2) Mr. Finkelmuiyer
3) a_mercurial_git
4) YCHTT (but no sealanes)
5) Amby (generally prefer not sealanes)
6) RUFFHAUS 8
7) jason4747
8) Ezio
9) Dr. Recommended (if anon)
10) ubercacher16
11)
12)
13)

Maybes :
drano019, Captainmeme,

@a_mercurial_git - yes, the bourse adjudication occurs when the Spring and Autumn phases are played, they are published ASAP in global.

bozo (2302 D)
12 Mar 18 UTC
I would like to join.
ubercacher16 (2169 D)
12 Mar 18 UTC
@Kaner, is it allowable to invest heavily in a player and then let them win? Or is that bad sportsmanship?

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194 replies
Oli (977 D Mod (P))
09 Jul 18 UTC
(+2)
You can now access the server via https...
So friends in the same network can no longer spy on your network-traffic here to gain an advantage over you... :-)
9 replies
Open
Penguin_XX7 (1309 D)
14 Jul 18 UTC
Sitters for four games.
I need game sitters for 3 Gunboat games and one full press until July 24th. Please PM me.
1 reply
Open
Thanks to the winning thread, I lost The Game...
...and now you have too.

The perfect thread for all of us losers to post when we've lost. There can be no winners here.
7 replies
Open
Strider (1604 D)
09 Jul 18 UTC
Preview in fog of war
Why can't you preview your moves in fog of war? I understand that some features might need to be turned off for fog to work but it this required or just an acident.
6 replies
Open
Antiloquax (1287 D)
23 Jun 18 UTC
Why is the red box attacking me?
The red box on games with no saved moves is stressing me out! I have 2 days. What's the emergency?
23 replies
Open
Retillion (2304 D (B))
10 Jul 18 UTC
(+1)
A thick and ugly blue box
Please read below.
8 replies
Open
Enriador (1507 D)
22 May 18 UTC
(+4)
New Variants (yup, plural!)
Four new variants, based on Classic, will be coming to vDip!

Some of these were directly taken from the DP Judge. Others were lost in the Variant Bank for a long while.
28 replies
Open
RVG1984 (1169 D)
09 Jul 18 UTC
sealanes
How do they work?
15 replies
Open
Anonymous Games
Anonymous Games grant liars a shelter to do there worst, making abusive and absurd offered and generally making me passionately hate this game, which can lead to NMRs . Having to be out there means you have to have honor, and enables revenge. I have seen allies pitch in by hopping from one neutral territory to yhe next in the name of their promises. This site seems to be for the childish.
98 replies
Open
Flame (1073 D)
09 Jul 18 UTC
First Diplomacy game edition 1959
Who got the photo or scan of the first Diplomacy edition board (500 pieces), 1959? Please share to be used in an article.
7 replies
Open
nopunin10did (1041 D)
18 Jun 18 UTC
(+2)
Replace PPSC with something rank-based?
I've put together a length proposal over on PlayDip to provide a rank-based scoring system for draws that's similar to the Carnage system used in several North American Dip tournaments today.

https://www.playdiplomacy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=57975#p951166
103 replies
Open
Enriador (1507 D)
07 Jul 18 UTC
[New Variant] Machiavelli - To the Renaissance
New (official) subvariant of Machiavelli coming up on vDip. Not a single case of adjacent home centers - praise be God!

http://vdiplomacy.com/variants.php?variantID=115
0 replies
Open
Enriador (1507 D)
25 Apr 18 UTC
(+2)
New Variant: Crusades 1201
Hail diplomats,

New 11-players variant coming up, set in the High Middle Ages.
44 replies
Open
gremlin (994 D)
02 Jul 18 UTC
New Variants
Just curious, what is the process for creating new variants?
1 reply
Open
WiJaMa (1228 D)
26 Jun 18 UTC
Looking for game sitters
I'm looking for a game sitter for three games while I'm out from 1 Jul to 22 Jul. PM me for details.

Also, is there supposed to be a thread for these? I can't find it but the help page says there is one.
2 replies
Open
ubercacher16 (2169 D)
25 Jun 18 UTC
Strategy - Hold Order
See First Post
16 replies
Open
nopunin10did (1041 D)
12 Jun 18 UTC
(+2)
At long last: 1900
With some help from Tobias & Oliver, my implementation of Baron VonPowell's "1900" is finally live.

64 replies
Open
Matthew Goldman (965 D)
27 Jun 18 UTC
Looking for someone to take over my country (Not in a bad position)
Currently 13/35 countries remain and my country, Brazil, is in 8th place after some set backs with NMRs. Currently allied with the 2nd place country, Argentina, as a fight between the two of us will ultimately be the doom of our existence. Argentina has said that a substitute will not charge the alliance between our two countries.

Reply if interested in taking over.
3 replies
Open
RVG1984 (1169 D)
21 Jun 18 UTC
convert fleet to army
How do I convert a fleet to an army and the other way? I see people do it, but don't see the option on the dropdowns.
12 replies
Open
WaitingCynicism (903 D)
20 Jun 18 UTC
Notifications by email?
Is there a way I can get email notifications for my campaigns? I haven't gotten any at all, and because of that I've lost several games.
4 replies
Open
The Ambassador (1948 D (B))
17 Jun 18 UTC
(+1)
Padlock City
What's the deal with all the padlocks that have appeared throughout my games when viewed on the vDip homepage?
57 replies
Open
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