Game of Diplomacy?

[Furiel]

I sincerely hope no one is angry at me- I'm not unhappy with anyone else. I left because I felt like the well was poisoned, if that makes sense- Dood's outburst made it impossible for him and Joun to then do anything together without some really apparent stigma attaching to it, so they weren't free to run their position as they wanted.

Then when they did ally, it looked to me like there had been either a plan all along (which I had been assured was not the case and I still believe that), or that they were taking the opportunity the issue presented to get in bed together.

I get really uncomfortable with games where you take on a role breaking the fourth wall in negative ways. It never works out well and I just didn't want to be part of it any longer.

As an aside, I'm pretty sure that of all the communications I received in the game, not a single one told the truth when it came to actions on the board involving my units. I was literally stabbed on every agreement I made, with one exception- France.

I don't recall ever lying to you. The possibility does exist though because I expected you were feeding info to Turkey and if I did lie to you it was only with the purpose to spread misinformation to Turkey.

Through the entire game my first goal was to do 1 thing, stab Turkey before he stabbed me. That was going to happen this coming turn. Austria and I had just formed an alliance to take on Russia and Turkey and it was going to be on like donkey kong in the med.

I never betrayed any other agreement I had in the game and it actually stopped before I betrayed Joun either. It's funny though how the psychology of Alvian Diplomacy games goes. Typically most people don't trust me, even though I have been highly trustworthy time and again. People trust Jounville, and he has proven to enjoy trying to be a puppet master. And Dood, well, he's what I would call a skilled opportunist.

[Jimer Lins]

As an aside, I'm pretty sure that of all the communications I received in the game, not a single one told the truth when it came to actions on the board involving my units. I was literally stabbed on every agreement I made, with one exception- France.

I only lied to you at the end about Denmark. I kept to the "Have Norway" part and the no ground troops thing was announced before your moves, and was more of a reaction to the problem developing in the South and the apparent Flemish Sealion developing in the West.

Fair enough. It was mostly a bemused look back at the game than anything else.

[Jimer Lins]

I don't recall ever lying to you.

No, you didn't- but that's why I qualified it with involving forces on the board; direct backstabs, so to speak. Really, it wasn't an accusation, I was just amused.

[Whiteness]

I never betrayed any other agreement I had in the game and it actually stopped before I betrayed Joun either. It's funny though how the psychology of Alvian Diplomacy games goes. Typically most people don't trust me, even though I have been highly trustworthy time and again. People trust Jounville, and he has proven to enjoy trying to be a puppet master. And Dood, well, he's what I would call a skilled opportunist.

This was why I did my best to try and work with you honestly, though I would have had to defer to my agreement with Austria if you had continued with your plan to have me move into Tyrolia.

[Fynn]

First I want to apologize about my non-move move. It was intended (more on that later) but it had unintended and unexpected consequences. If my doing that ruined enjoyment for anyone, I really am sorry. To be clear I didn't prolong any other moves. I was 'all in'.

So here we go.

My Strategies were:

1) Don't Lie: SUCCESS. I was deceitful. I wasn't forthcoming with all of my information. I never told a bold faced lie. Little victories.
2) Destabilize the region to equalize my position: FAILURE. Well, kind of. If Joun hadn't gotten greedy and stabbed early, this could have been a punctuated failure. With 'The Stab', my non-move kept Russia guessing (admittedly). I suspect it just irritated Turkey, but that was a small victory none the less. At the end of the day, if this game continued I would have lost. Hence FAILURE.
3) Avoid conflict with Germany and Italy: SUCCESS. Germany was, to my knowledge, honest and transparent. Italy less so, if only due to vagueness and exclusion of information, and only slightly. Both were friendly. I think we should go out and get some ice cream.
4) Partner with Russia: HUGE FAILURE. After he stabbed in Galicia, then threatened to take one of two home builds, I moved to Turkey. I was reluctant, even against, siding with Turkey. Well Joun. My one and only game had Joun mount me early and often, and his style is a mix of manipulation and bullying (which is ridiculously efficient! That is NOT an insult.). Due to inexperience, I felt there were no more options. Still not trusting Joun, I was fearful to leave Serbia unattended. Further, I wasn't certain Russia's threat was to prevent a move or support into Rumania. I figured I'd gamble and leave my forces as were. I didn't want to close the door on a Russian relationship. I didn't want to give Turkey too much room, but didn't necessarily want to provoke. I non-moved and figured, if I caught flack from Russia, I could claim ignorance. Russia became upset with Turkey and it all fell apart after that.
5) Don't be a pawn: SUCCESS? Again, I think it has much to do with inexperience, but I didn't want to be a tool to anyone's victory. I wanted to win or be conquered, not subjugated. In retrospect, that's poor strategy. Every game needs a Romantic, though . Turkey was highest on my 'no pawn' list. After the stab on Russia, we began 'uneasy' conversations. He wanted Rumania, felt he was entitled. I disagreed. I felt we both risked something, lost something, and took hits. More importantly, I wanted to keep equal footing. If Turkey really, REALLY was on the outs with Russia, he would have needed me. I gambled again that was the case. I lost, and knew the Juggernaut was on when he ended talks. If this game had continued, I would have signed my own death sentence. Big mistake on my part. At the end of the day, though, I didn't dance for him. Again, little victories.

So to summarize: Sorry for the non-move move, all hail Jounville, I have a lot to learn.

[Blackferne]

I will say while I enjoy diplomacy my favorite map war game is axis and allies. If we could do that (actually with tak's mod we might be. Able to make that work) i would be pretty happy. No lying or backstabbing, just a bunch of dice rolling and well defined teams.

[Fynn]

I sincerely hope no one is angry at me- I'm not unhappy with anyone else. I left because I felt like the well was poisoned, if that makes sense- Dood's outburst made it impossible for him and Joun to then do anything together without some really apparent stigma attaching to it, so they weren't free to run their position as they wanted.

Then when they did ally, it looked to me like there had been either a plan all along (which I had been assured was not the case and I still believe that), or that they were taking the opportunity the issue presented to get in bed together.

I get really uncomfortable with games where you take on a role breaking the fourth wall in negative ways. It never works out well and I just didn't want to be part of it any longer.

As an aside, I'm pretty sure that of all the communications I received in the game, not a single one told the truth when it came to actions on the board involving my units. I was literally stabbed on every agreement I made, with one exception- France.

No way! Good on you to leave if it's having negative effects. No need to ruin friendships over a game!

I don't believe we had ANY communication other than greetings. Even Maizan and I exchanged cheese and chocolate. Sorry about that!

[Dood]

Honestly I thought Fynn did a really good job with Austria.

Yes, you would have been pulled apart there at the end, but I don't think that was really due to any failings on your part. I think the Western Theater just played out in such a way that it allowed Russia to realize that it really only needed to be a player in the Southern theater.

Your non-move move was completely interpreted as part of an alliance with Turkey, which was fair since I had been working on a Turkish alliance against everyone.

I was really only mad at Austria because I guessed wrong. Had I done what I told Turkey (and I think Italy) that I was going to do - just take Vienna - things would have been even more interesting.

[Fynn]

Honestly I thought Fynn did a really good job with Austria.

Yes, you would have been pulled apart there at the end, but I don't think that was really due to any failings on your part. I think the Western Theater just played out in such a way that it allowed Russia to realize that it really only needed to be a player in the Southern theater.

Your non-move move was completely interpreted as part of an alliance with Turkey, which was fair since I had been working on a Turkish alliance against everyone.

I was really only mad at Austria because I guessed wrong. Had I done what I told Turkey (and I think Italy) that I was going to do - just take Vienna - things would have been even more interesting.

Thanks! It's funny, I was thrilled at the time that I gambled well but in retrospect it probably would have suited me more to have guessed wrong.

[Dood]

Honestly I thought Fynn did a really good job with Austria.

Yes, you would have been pulled apart there at the end, but I don't think that was really due to any failings on your part. I think the Western Theater just played out in such a way that it allowed Russia to realize that it really only needed to be a player in the Southern theater.

Your non-move move was completely interpreted as part of an alliance with Turkey, which was fair since I had been working on a Turkish alliance against everyone.

I was really only mad at Austria because I guessed wrong. Had I done what I told Turkey (and I think Italy) that I was going to do - just take Vienna - things would have been even more interesting.

Thanks! It's funny, I was thrilled at the time that I gambled well but in retrospect it probably would have suited me more to have guessed wrong.

Actually, the funny thing is that I was mad, but if you had done what I suggested, which was rotating BUL - VIE, SER - BUL, the result would have been exactly the same and I would have been perfectly OK with it. Because I'm rational like that.

[Cuspar]

This happens every time. I'm sad I missed it.

[Bulwark]

The best thing about Diplomacy is not playing it, but watching the fallout after the game has ended.