The original game had no draws, there was just victory. A "draw", was just all remaining players agreeing to walk away from the game. It shouldn't be your end goal.

(gameID=41166 ; Unrelated, just hiding my identity)

(gameID=38797 ; unrelated, hiding my identity.)

I'd have to agree with you, gameID=41166. What's worse than giving up while you are winning is giving up while you are losing. As much as I hate it when my opponents fight tooth and nail for every last inch of their territory, I hate it more when someone else's opponent just stops choosing orders and readies with all holds allowing the people near them to take their territory without trouble.

Why are you hiding your identity? I'm doing it because you did it.

I'm hiding my name because the game I'm referring to is Anon, so I can't reveal my identity. If I used the game it was, it would be very obvious which one I am.


(gameID=41166 ; Unrelated, just hiding my identity)

I'm not sure I strictly agree (and I'm not '97, just to be clear). Drawing because boredom isn't fun, but the third case -- you draw because you said you'd draw -- is just as relevant in anon games as it is in named games. Honor, face, and what-not, all that jazz, you know the rest.

But yeah, if someone's drawing because they got bored, that's particularly unpleasant. I'm somewhat stunned that "oh, I should find a replacement player for myself to ensure the game isn't rendered less fun for other players" isn't a thought that entered their heads, whoever they are.

As a wise man once said, the point of Diplomacy is to have fun. For some reason though, not everyone actually enjoys slogging to the bitter end to whittle 3-center powers out of the draw. A lot of people feel after a while that the game has gone on long enough and it's time to finish up and move on.

And some people are just nice. It seems odd that such people could exist within this community, but some people just leave minor powers in the draw because they want to be nice.

A solo is not usually an option either. By all means try to get a solo, but if the game has reached a stable state in which it's hard to change much about the board, it may be time to just call a draw.

On the other hand, I'm completely against NMR's and CD's. Actually giving up is unacceptable. Agreeing to all walk away is fine, walking away from the game while everyone else is still playing is just plain rude.

Draws are part of Diplomacy. That needs to be accepted. Not every game can end in a solo, and less games will. After all, we don't want to end up like Monopoly, going on for months after everyone has lost interest. No-one should walk into a game aiming for a draw, but if the game has reached a steady state, then a draw is completely acceptable. If someone doesn't want to draw when everyone else does, I can even understand beating them into submission to force them into a draw. Sometimes. That is unless the draw shouldn't have been called in the first place.

As a general rule, draws should only be called when no-one wants to continue, or when the state of the board makes continuing very hard or unlikely to result in changes. In some cases that may seem like giving up, but as the person who started this thread once said, the point of Diplomacy is to have fun, and that's what should guide our decisions about how to play.

(Rant over)

What fascinates me about this discussion is the very real possibility that whoever made the OP has posted again in this thread and is having an argument with themselves.

Trust me, that is not happening. I did not start this thread.

It might happen yet.

Or did you Bob? Who knows?

Me. I know who started this thread...

If you know, then it must be you!

If you want to remain anon, don't push me to reveal you.

Please don't reveal me.

(gameID=41166 ; Unrelated, just hiding my identity)

This is amazing.

The game's over now, I was pressured to draw by people I think could have won.

I am gameID=41166, I'll reveal myself thank you.

I still stand by what I said. Always fight to the end.

damm, it wasn't supposed to hide me. I thought I'd fixed that.

gameID=40202

'Twas this game I was talking about, if you were wondering.

In my face to face early playing days, we used to draw all of the time ... usually because it was 3 AM and the beer was all gone!

Who is that masked stranger? Tonto, is that him?