Diplomacy round 2?

May 11, 2009 1:37 PM

Diplomacy round two? All the original Diplomacy games have wrapped up at this point, and there seems to be some interest in a second round. Just starting a thread in case anyone missed the first round and wanted to join in.
posted by empath to MetaFilter gatherings at 1:37 PM (133 comments total)

I'm in. Hope to have a better outing this time.
posted by schyler523 at 1:45 PM on May 11

I'm in. I would strongly request 24 deadlines, rather than 72.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 1:55 PM on May 11

I'd like to play again but not in a 24 hour game. I just know that I'd end up missing at least one move a week.
posted by octothorpe at 2:02 PM on May 11

I'm absolutely in.
posted by Ian A.T. at 2:18 PM on May 11

I'd love to give it a shot on an ez game. 48-72hrs preferred deadline.
posted by Dr. Spaceman at 2:23 PM on May 11

Please can I play? I have zero experience, but am willing to learn. The opportunity to strut up and down in front of my laptop thinking through my next move and pretending I'm Prince von Metternich is too good to miss.
posted by Sova at 2:30 PM on May 11 [1 favorite]

I'm in for a shorter deadline normal game. Also, smart-cd should be turned on again if people start missing deadlines constantly. The last game was way too slow by the end between the 72 hour turns and people missing deadlines.

Also, if we get enough people interested, a game of Chaos would be fun.
posted by burnmp3s at 2:52 PM on May 11

I'll give it a try.
posted by Iridic at 3:01 PM on May 11

I've agreed to GM one game so last round's GM, spamguy, can get in a game. I'm thinking the game I GM will have some kind of regular deadlines -- either 24 hours or maybe a set time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I'll take this opportunity to remind folks that there is a MeFiplomacy page on the wiki for you to put your name, and EOG reports on your games and whatnot.
posted by Rock Steady at 3:09 PM on May 11

I'd be in for an easy game.
posted by ssg at 3:12 PM on May 11

Also, to n00bs who are going to start their first game: read the rules, then read some general strategy, and when you play the game run all of your orders through jDip. I went through different scenarios in jDip for almost every turn in the last game, and in the early going especially it helped me avoid a bunch of beginner mistakes.
posted by burnmp3s at 3:29 PM on May 11

I used to play a lot in-person; I've never done a play-by-mail game before, but I'd love to give it a shot.

Just the standard game, or do you guys play the other maps that are out there?
posted by roll truck roll at 3:34 PM on May 11

I was in ez1 and ez3, but I want in again!

I second 24hr deadlines.
posted by pravit at 3:35 PM on May 11

Diplomacy? What? Here? I am SO in.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:05 PM on May 11

Just the standard game, or do you guys play the other maps that are out there?

The previous MeFi games were all standard rules, but I'd be willing to try something funky, either as GM or player.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:13 PM on May 11

Chaos looks fun but I'm in for whatever. I'd prefer not to be Austria again though.
posted by schyler523 at 4:18 PM on May 11

I'd love to be in for the next round.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 4:45 PM on May 11

I'm a new person. I'd love to play.
posted by josher71 at 4:59 PM on May 11

Yes, I'd like to play, and please, nobody tell cortex, I'd like to win this time
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 5:28 PM on May 11 [2 favorites]

count me in
posted by KokuRyu at 6:19 PM on May 11

Hokay. I've added a signup section to the MeFiplomacy page of the wiki. I've set up a list for a Chaos variant (this requires 34 players, each taking one Supply Center and going from there), and a beginner/intermediate standard game.

The Chaos game will have daily deadlines to move play along, while the standard game will be set up for every other day (weekends excluded in both cases). I think it is wise to set the "Smart Civil Disorder" flag on both games, so that if a player does not submit an order the game will move on with the player affected basically passing for the turn (I think Smart CD means units will hold and/or support each other when possible). This means if you happen to miss a turn for some reason, it won't be a great season for you, but neither will it be disaster.

In the standard game I'd also like to encourage press to be "in character". It really makes the game a bit more fun, I've found.

Others interested in GMing, go ahead and post your own games on that page, and we'll go from there.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:14 PM on May 11

OK, I've never played but I have heard of Diplomacy, and I'm interested. However I've just read the links in burnmp3's post and I'm completely baffled.

For the record, then: buh??
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 7:45 PM on May 11

I just signed up on the wiki for both games. This is gonna be good!
posted by pravit at 7:56 PM on May 11

For the record, then: buh??

It's actually a really simple game at its core. On the map itself, all you can really do is move from one place to another or stay put. You can also "support" a unit in moving somewhere or holding a position if you have another unit nearby. After all of the orders have been submitted, everyone moves at the same time, and if there are conflicts (as in you try to take Paris and France tries to hold Paris) then they are decided by who has the most support. After each year, the number of supply centers on the map you control is tallied and that's the maximum number of units you can have for the next year. There are some nuances like retreating and convoying, but 90% of the orders revolve around taking over supply centers by having more support than your enemy and defending your existing supply centers from attacks.

That's just the tactical aspect though, if that was the whole game it would just be a really barebones turn based strategy game. The part that makes it interesting is that you get to talk to all of the other players by sending them messages ("press"). Since taking over supply centers is all about having support, and different players can support each other, the key to winning the game is forming alliances. The map is laid out in a way that it's not obvious who should be allied with who, and the alliances that form early on tend to shape the rest of the game. Only one player can win though, so at some point allies have to turn on each other (called a "stab") to attempt to grab a majority of the supply centers and win the game. The complications that arise from having to work with other players while not really trusting anyone is what makes the game more interesting than just a simple strategy game.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:30 PM on May 11

I'm in.
In the words of our once-fearless leader, Let's roll.
posted by kaibutsu at 8:40 PM on May 11

I'm in, if total n00bs are allowed.
posted by mecran01 at 8:46 PM on May 11

Maybe what we should do is wait for two or three games to fill up and then we can adjust the rosters based on experience at that point, so first-timers aren't playing in games with hardened veterans.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:59 PM on May 11

I'm a newb and interested.

So I need to register on the wiki?
posted by ODiV at 9:23 PM on May 11

Rock Steady, standard is all full. Would you mind GMing two standard games?
posted by cmonkey at 11:06 PM on May 11

I'm in, and reasonably experienced at Dip.

Some folks upthread mentioned possibly doing variants. I've played two variants. One is known as "Abstraction II", which I've seen described as "the expert's variant, considered by some good judges to be the one example of a variant which has improved on the original game." Mostly, it adds a lot of supply centers, giving each country four to start with rather than three (map 1 | map 2). It also adds a bunch of extra rules about fleets and frozen seas which we did not use. It was a pretty interesting change of pace (and I didn't view it as being "expert"), but ultimately not "necessary" - the original map plays so well.

The other variant I played differed from the original a good bit more. It's called Abberation, and involved a reconfigured map where an alternate history played out in every region (map 1 | map 2). So instead of Russia, you've got Poland; instead of England, you have Eire. It also has 9 players instead of 7, adding a couple of countries at the periphery - Spain and Israel. For those who like to think about alt-history, it's a fun idea (and we even role-played our bizarro-world countries a bit when emailing in our moves), but I found the map to be flawed. Ultimately, there is just too much space between countries, and so you can spend endless turns chasing units across the map. So, a good idea, but needs tigher execution.

Ultimately, I just prefer the plain old map.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 12:13 AM on May 12

My strategic and diplomatic skills suck balls, but dammit do I likes me writing some press.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:24 AM on May 12

Thanks for the jDip link, I've installed it and played with it a little. Maybe I won't make as many stoopid mistakes this time if I run them through that.
posted by octothorpe at 5:02 AM on May 12

I'm not sure if we really have the numbers to muster a game of Chaos (or of Void), but if that happens I'd be interested. I'm sitting out of normal games for the time being, I think.
posted by cortex at 8:15 AM on May 12

I'm totally new to it, but I would love to join in.
posted by reenum at 8:41 AM on May 12

I would love to learn, if we are still doing that.
posted by milestogo at 8:46 AM on May 12

i.e., im in for a n00b game
posted by milestogo at 8:47 AM on May 12

I added a third game on the wiki, am I allowed to GM and play?
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 9:39 AM on May 12

I'm in again. Thanks for taking the lead, empath.

There's one non-Chaos game up on the wiki right now, but it's non-anonymous and roleplaying is discouraged. I enjoyed both the anonymity and the roleplaying the first time around; is there any interest in another game like that?
posted by xbonesgt at 12:48 PM on May 12

I am willing to GM a standard game as well. I'm adding a signup on the wiki page as we speak.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 1:04 PM on May 12

I added a third game on the wiki, am I allowed to GM and play?

Well, you shouldn't GM a game you are playing in, because you can set it up to get a copy of all the press in the game. I don't see why you couldn't GM one game and play another, though.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:12 PM on May 12

rakish_yet_centered, I will GM that second game (MTWTF, no roleplaying) if no one else is interested so that you can play in it.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:26 PM on May 12

What's roleplaying/no roleplaying mean?

Not having played, what's the difference between "My country would like this." and "My FAKE country IN THE GAME would like this."

Do you just avoid writing words like thee and verily in a non-roleplaying game?
posted by ODiV at 3:29 PM on May 12

I presume you just lie in a more straightforward fashion and dash all the theatrics, yes.
posted by cortex at 3:37 PM on May 12

What's roleplaying/no roleplaying mean?

Some enjoy playing as if they were the king of England in 1902, or whatever the date is. For me, it's like showing up to a chess tournament in mail.

I'm more concerned about the anonymity aspect, because I think it adds context to deal with other mefites, instead of "England", but others disagree, so you get to choose the style you wish to play.
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 3:57 PM on May 12

Ok, I regret the "no roleplaying"

I will fix wiki
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 4:36 PM on May 12

I wasn't complaining, just curious what the difference was.
posted by ODiV at 5:51 PM on May 12

I was surprised by the role playing in the first game that I played here in the Fall. I had only played in person games and we had never acted our negotiations as the Prime Minister of France or Tsar Nicolas. I've tried to play along as much as my feeble creating writing skills allow but I do notice that the presses get less and less in character as the game progresses.
posted by octothorpe at 8:57 AM on May 13

That was cortex's fault for wiping out me and my 7 characters.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:11 AM on May 13

I enjoy reading the role-playing press but I just don't have the skill or energy to keep up something like that through a whole game of detailed negotiations. Carefully mapping out my moves and sending out press to everyone who would listen is already enough of a timesink, so crafting a piece of period fiction for every situation is not something I would want to add to the equation.
posted by burnmp3s at 9:36 AM on May 13

Yeah, I think part of where the roleplaying comes in for folks who like it (I vacillate from game to game) is that the early game is kind of stark, tactically, and so there's a lot of excess energy and time to fill once you've got your nominal plans in place. It's easy to turn that into literary tomfoolery, but then if you live through the first few years you're a lot busier with actual tactical business (which eats up time with analysis) and serious negotiations (which usually don't benefit from frippery), and so roleplaying tends to decay in the process.

There's also the problem of role contradicting strategy; if you really try to set up a character and narrative in the early game and the game goes in a direction that doesn't meld with that, oops! Which can be part of the challenge/fun of writing if you're really into it, but, again, time and energy that might be better spent on actually getting gaming done.

And it doesn't help that "sure, I'll play" usually correlates with "I have a reasonable amount of free time right now" but doesn't necessarily correlate to "I will still have a reasonable amount of free time through the end of the game, several weeks from now".

So the ideal plan for a roleplayer, I guess, is to do very poorly in the first few years but not quite get eliminated, so their moves are simple and they can spend most of their gaming time constructing an elaborate context for the pathos of their diminished presence in the game. Which is sort of what I was hoping would happen with robocop is bleeding back in norm, because his writing was tight.
posted by cortex at 10:08 AM on May 13 [1 favorite]

roleplaying isn't the slightest bit appealing to me. Unless you count lying as roleplaying.
posted by empath at 12:21 PM on May 13

Huh. I'm kind of baffled by this roleplaying/non-roleplaying distinction. I've really only played Diplomacy in person; the one time I did a long-term game, it was still with people I saw every day so it was basically in-person.

And we always used all kinds of emotional appeals to get each other on our side, especially when we were losing. Is that what roleplay is? If so, it's hard for me to imagine even trying to play without roleplay.

Or is roleplay running around saying, "I'm the kind, la di da di da"?
posted by roll truck roll at 2:23 PM on May 13

Or king. Whatever.
posted by roll truck roll at 2:24 PM on May 13

Looks like we're holding steady at eight players for the Chaos game... maybe it ought to be converted to something else? Or perhaps we could combine it with my partially-filled standard game and find a variant that suits 11 or so?
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 3:28 PM on May 13

Role-playing starts out fun but gets to be a burden. Especially with daily deadlines.

OTOH, role-playing makes it easier to lie straight to someone's face. Because it's not you doing the lying, it's the Prime Minister.
posted by notyou at 5:06 PM on May 14

I quite enjoyed other people's roleplaying.

Still didn't bother with it, myself.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 9:00 PM on May 14

In case no one has looked recently: we need three more for the second normal game. If you join, I promise you will win¹.

¹. This may not be true.
posted by cmonkey at 3:41 AM on May 15

Hey, yo. Just wondering whether there had been any movement on the second round. Let's get some game going! I saw the mefi5 and mefi6 on DPJudge; looks like they just need to be populated. I would like to request randomized powers, but would be fine either way.
posted by kaibutsu at 9:24 PM on May 17

Yes, let's! I'm also requesting randomized powers.
posted by pravit at 9:43 PM on May 17

Yea, I'm pretty excited to get started here.

I have a question about how much some of you plan and keep track of your overall strategy (if you're willing to divulge). Looking at the documentation that most of the players added to the ez3_mefi entry in the wiki, you all had a much clearer memory of what transpired than I did. Do you write down a detailed plan at the beginning or at least once you find out what country you are? And then write up your intentions for each move? I plan to keep a journal this time but I was just curious how detailed yours were?
posted by octothorpe at 6:28 AM on May 18

Yeah, sorry, y'all. I've been waiting to hear back from spamguy, as he is sort of the reason I agreed to GM a game. I've deleted his name from the roster for the first game, and as soon as someone signs up for the slot and MeMails me their email address we'll get started.

I think I have cast the appropriate runes and flung the appropriate entrails such that the deadlines for all moves in the games will be at 11:30pm, Eastern Time on MWF (or MTWTF), but we'll see. The only downfall in this is that we could be waiting several days for simple retreat and build turns for only one or two players. Again, we'll see how it goes and can tweak the timing as we go if necessary.

About roleplaying. I think it does add to the game, especially the early going, when there is not much action happening for each player. It does get harder as the movement gets more involved, but I just wanted to encourage it in at least one of the games I am running, simply (and selfishly) because that will make it more fun for me!

Anyway, once that final slot is filled I'll email the players with the password for their game along with some basic DP Judge instructions.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:26 AM on May 18

Also, I've set both games to be randomized powers. Since two of the players in the first game (which I am calling mefi5) asked for it, we'll keep that one random, but if the players in the other one (mefi6) would like power choice we can do that.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:29 AM on May 18

I'm all for random
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 9:30 AM on May 18

octothorpe, I didn't really remember much, I just went off of the turn-by-turn summary PDF that DPJudge provides.
posted by pravit at 11:13 AM on May 18

And yes, someone please sign up for mefi5 here so we can get started!
posted by pravit at 11:14 AM on May 18

I'm all for random, too.
posted by nushustu at 2:35 PM on May 18

Emails have been sent out to participants in Mefi5 and Mefi6. Thanks to all the players, and good luck!

I'm going to remove the Chaos signup list, as it takes up a lot of space on the wiki and it doesn't look like we are getting 32 people anytime soon.

It would be nice to get that third game going, for the sake of those people who are signed up for it, so if you know any MeFites who might be interested, send them Conrad's direction.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:51 AM on May 19

Judging by what happened last time, we may also need to fill in the last few spots for Mefi5 and Mefi6 with new people.
posted by burnmp3s at 10:17 AM on May 19

I should get going when I get home from work today. Thanks for sending the emails.

Having never played before, is there anyone around who wouldn't mind trading MeMails/IMs if I have no idea what I'm doing?

(preferably someone who isn't in my game)
posted by ODiV at 10:27 AM on May 19

I don't mind trading newbie diplo question mail. It'll be like playing but without the obligations that come with playing!
posted by cortex at 10:38 AM on May 19

Signed up for mefi5! Still need three more.
posted by octothorpe at 5:59 AM on May 20

Rock, is it too soon to pull names off the wiki that haven't signed up? Since both games lack 2 players, it solves the problem of the extra 4 players who are trying to get a game 7 together.
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 7:16 AM on May 20

Yeah, let me send one more email to the stragglers tonight and if they haven't signed up by tomorrow AM, we'll open it up to the other folks interested in playing. I've traded MeMail with several of them when it looked like spamguy was flaking on us, so I think they'll be ready to jump right in.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:49 PM on May 20

So who's the hold out in Game 6? Come join already!
posted by ODiV at 1:50 PM on May 22

I can't really figure out who is missing from Game 6 (I've sent all of you an email about it), but if he or she is not joined up by tonight, I'll bring in one of the other folks who are waiting for a game to coalesce.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:02 PM on May 22

OK, I don't want to hold Game 6 up any longer. I'm not sure how to fairly give the last slot to the several people interested, so I'm just going to say that the privacy word for Game 6 is "mushroom" and let who ever checks back in the thread first take the spot. Sorry to the others still waiting, hopefully you can drum up interest fairly soon.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:13 PM on May 22

i'm having problems getting in to 6
posted by KokuRyu at 12:07 PM on May 24

Do you have an account on dpjudge already?

If so, then send an email to [e-mail] with this in the body:
JOIN mefi6 yourPassword privacyWord
SIGNOFF

yourPassword is your dpjudge password and privacyWord is mushroom.
posted by ODiV at 2:11 PM on May 24

Why is the next move in mefi5 not until Monday? The game page says that it's a M-W-F game but after Wednesday's move, the next one is for Monday not Friday.
posted by octothorpe at 5:02 AM on May 28

Hmm. Not sure what is up there, octothorpe. I'll try to dig into the configuration page a little today.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:33 AM on May 28

Thanks, sorry I didn't mean to sound like an irate customer in my previous post. Just excited about the game.
posted by octothorpe at 7:58 AM on May 28

Does anyone know if england has responded to anyone in mefi6? Do we need a replacement? We should probably replace before the game starts if so.
posted by empath at 9:23 AM on May 28

Yeah I never heard anything from England either.
posted by burnmp3s at 9:26 AM on May 28

I'm England, I'm here. Just haven't sent any mail yet.
posted by ODiV at 9:32 AM on May 28

Man, I got so excited when I got the "game start" email. I started sending tons of press and got all jazzed. Then I realized the first deadline isn't even till next Monday. Whoops. I didn't imagine we'd need a whole week on a 24 hour deadline game.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 9:37 AM on May 28

It worked out rather well for me because I was putting off learning the ins and outs of the game. Now I've played around with jDip a bit so I know how the mechanics work. I'm so glad I didn't have to do that and send press in the same 24 or 48 hour period.
posted by ODiV at 9:40 AM on May 28

Great news about England.

I love google adwords trying to figure out what it going on. Is he going to Germany? Can we sell him hotels in Russia? I'm sure echelon wrote a bit of code to eliminate checking DPJudge as to why England was attacking France.
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 9:58 AM on May 28 [1 favorite]

Are mefi5 Germany and Italy AFK or something?
posted by pravit at 10:53 AM on May 28

Yeah, is there any chance you could ask Italy and Germany in mefi5 what's up, Rock Steady? The game is going to be kind of silly if they don't enter any orders.
posted by ssg at 12:22 PM on May 28

mefi6 Turkey has some real world nonsense going on and hasn't been able to reply to anyone yet, but is getting mails and will hopefully be able to get press out tomorrow night. (don't want anyone to misread my silence as enmity)
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 4:11 PM on May 28

Yeah, is there any chance you could ask Italy and Germany in mefi5 what's up, Rock Steady?

I'll email them tonight and give them 24 hours to respond before replacing them.

Thanks, sorry I didn't mean to sound like an irate customer in my previous post.

Not at all, octo. This is my first time GMing, so I'll have to fiddle with the timing. It's the only wonky part of the game configuration -- everything else is dead simple -- and I don't fully understand it yet.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:19 PM on May 28

OK, one of the missing players is still in the game, the other is regretfully resigning, and I am working to get the slot filled now.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:46 PM on May 28

I'm totally not complaining either, but apparently the next deadline for mefi6 is on Thursday instead of tonight. I can live with whatever settings, just thought you'd want to know.
posted by ODiV at 9:29 AM on June 2

I've got a potential opening in Game 6 if anyone is interested and still reading this thread.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:43 PM on June 4

What happened? Why did the deadline hit 3 hours early? That really threw me off.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 5:27 PM on June 4

I'm still seeing the deadline as 11:30 tonight (Eastern) for both games. Not sure what's going on for you. If you can't enter moves, memail me and I'll enter them.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:39 PM on June 4

So no more wait for deadline before processing? I guess it's cool that the spot got filled, but it would have been nice to know who dropped.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 5:39 PM on June 4

Dude, the orders have already been processed. The new deadline is 23:20 tomorrow for winter adjustment.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 5:42 PM on June 4

Oh, hell, I've been thinking it was Friday all day today, sorry. I've set the games to process as soon as the final commands are given, and not to wait until the deadline. This was to prevent it skipping whole days due to waiting the 30 minutes after deadline. Unfortunately, the timing thing is the trickiest thing about setting up these games, and the documentation on it is kind of vague. Spamguy is the user who had to back out due to personal issues, and since he has some GMing experience I'm going to ask him to consult with me on it. I hope we'll be able to get the game to schedule turns like we'd all like it to eventually.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:31 PM on June 4

The deadlines in mefi6 are about seven kinds of fucked up at this juncture. I'd really like to know what the deal is. I understand that we're not waiting for the deadline to process orders, but I'm pretty confused as to when exactly each deadline will fall.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 10:38 AM on June 15

We had one Friday and there's one again tonight, so these past two aren't messed up at least. We'll see what happens after this set of orders.
posted by ODiV at 12:33 PM on June 15

There was one Friday, but then the next deadline (for builds) was also Friday.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 8:56 PM on June 15

Oh, weird. I didn't notice that (obviously).
posted by ODiV at 9:10 PM on June 15

I know this is an old song at this point, but the deadline structure in mefi6 is totally wack. I can't figure out the pattern at all. 24 hours for adjustments/retreats, then another 24 for builds, and then 72 for the next set of moves? What the hell? I signed up for this game so that I could play every day, and that is not at all happening. Is there any way to fix this, or do we just have to suck it up and abide by this fucked up system?
posted by solipsophistocracy at 9:44 AM on June 24

I was hoping that we'd all stick to a 24 hour system voluntarily, but that doesn't seem like it's happening. I don't mind sending annoying emails out asking everyone to please submit their moves.
posted by ODiV at 9:48 AM on June 24

If people would just submit their orders faster, it would go faster. Someone keeps waiting until the last minute.
posted by empath at 11:45 AM on June 24

I believe you should have:

TIMING AT 23:30 DAYS -MTWTF- NEXT 1D MOVE 1D

TIMING key value...
This line specifies the timing data used to set deadlines. It consists of any number of key/value pairs, which are recognized as follows:

AT hh:mm
Specifies the time-of-day at which all deadlines should occur. The hour is specified using a 24-hour clock, and based at the DPjudge's timezone. Note that when a deadline is to be set less than 12 hours in the future, AT is ignored. Otherwise, all deadlines will fall at the next occuring specified time-of-day after the requisite delay period (see below).
DAYS dayList
Specifies the days of the week on which the deadline could fall. The dayList must be seven characters in length, with the first character representing Sunday and each subsequent letter representing Monday, Tuesday, etc. The letter at each position must either be the first letter of the day name (that is, S for Sunday, etc.), which indicates that the deadline may fall on that day of the week, or a dash (-), which indicates that it may not. If not provided, the game will use -MTWTF- as its DAYS control. If the day-letter is in UPPER-CASE, this indicates that deadlines for any phase may be set on that day. If it is in lower-case, this indicates that movement phase deadlines may not be set on that day. (Therefore, at least one of the days must be specified in upper-case.)
NEXT delay
Specifies the default time period to be used to set the next deadline. The delay must be some positive whole number followed by either M (for minutes), H (for hours), D (for days), or W (for weeks). See below for the default value if no NEXT control is given.
phaseType delay
Specifies a time period to be used (instead of the value from NEXT) for any phase whose final word begins with the letters making up phaseType. For example, to set a game to have one-day deadlines for all phases except movement phases, which should have three-day deadlines (note that these are the default settings for any game not given a NEXT or appropriate phaseType control), use:
TIMING NEXT 1D MOVE 3D
WARN delay[,delay...]
Specifies a time span before the deadline at which time any players who have not yet submitted orders will be sent a "friendly reminder." If this option is not specified, warning is given four hours before the deadline. To prevent warnings from being given, specify a delay of 0 (or any value greater than the length of the deadline delay). Multiple warnings may be specified, by separating the time controls from each other using a comma with no whitespace. For example, to specify that warnings should be given to players without submitted orders one day before the deadline and then again at twelve hours and at six hours before the deadline, use:
TIMING WARN 1D,12H,6H
GRACE delay
Specifies a time span after the deadline. Whenever that time span expires before the game-phase processes, any player who still has not submitted orders will either be automatically resigned or (in games using the CIVIL_DISORDER rule) declared to be in civil disorder. In games without a GRACE period set in the TIMING line:

* players are never automatically resigned (note that immediate resignation of late players when the deadline hits can be specified by setting the grace period to zero, such as GRACE 0H), and
* civil disorder processing (in games using the CIVIL_DISORDER rule) occurs at the deadline (no waiting).

NOT vacationInfo
Specifies one or more upcoming vacations, during which time no deadline should be set. The format of vacationInfo is the same as the format of the game's DEADLINE (that is, yyyymmddhhmm but can be shortened in length to omit days, hours, or minutes). A vacation spanning more than a single day can be specified by listing the first and last day of the suspension separated by a dash (-). The first day may be omitted, indicating a suspension from the current date. Multiple vacations can be listed by separating them from each other with a comma (and no whitespace). For example:
TIMING NOT 20040831,20040920-20040927
specifies that no deadline should occur on 31 August 2004 or between 20 September and 27 September (inclusive) of 2004. Vacations are removed automatically whenever a deadline is set beyond the end of the vacation.
TIMING NOT -20020812
specifies that the next deadline should not occur until on or after 12 August 2002.
posted by empath at 11:52 AM on June 24

So floc.net seems to be down. I assume it's not just for me since I never got a results email from last night's move.
posted by octothorpe at 5:23 AM on June 27

I haven't been able to access floc.net either. I really hope it lets me submit my moves before processing when it comes back online (it's been down since Friday afternoon, I think), but it wouldn't really be a big surprise if not.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 2:29 PM on June 27

[insert funny-but-not-really "flake.net" joke here]
posted by cortex at 2:38 PM on June 27

Well, it's back and my orders did get entered.
posted by octothorpe at 4:17 AM on June 29

What's Germany saying about two orders not getting entered? It looks to me like everyone put in orders.
posted by ODiV at 7:01 AM on June 29

With SMART_CD on, it automatically puts in HOLD and SUPPORT orders for any powers that haven't submitted orders before the deadline. So it looks like Germany missed the deadline and got the automatic SMART_CD orders.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:10 AM on June 29

My bust, I misread and thought another power was also unable to enter orders.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 8:27 AM on June 29

Any reason you were waiting so long to put in orders? Do you think we could try to step it up to every weeknight as originally planned?
posted by ODiV at 9:00 AM on June 29

Sorry about that. I'm way into daily deadlines, but it seems a little funky to me to informally agree to do them daily. It seems like having a hard and fast one prevents waiting to see if folks respond to press, etc. Either way, my apologies to everyone for being so cantankerous. I really enjoy the game, I've just been getting frustrated with my own confusion about the deadlines.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 11:00 AM on June 29

So if everyone gets their moves in early, the game progresses right away? Are all games like that or is that a specific setting. I've been purposely waiting until the deadline in case someone pressed me.
posted by octothorpe at 6:25 PM on June 29

You're in a different game so it might be different for you, octothorpe.
posted by ODiV at 8:50 PM on June 29

There's optional (on be default? I'm not sure) waitflag functionality specifically to prevent turns from advancing early; it requires that one or more people leave their waitflag set up through the fixed deadline. So if early turns are causing you problems and the wait flag is available in your game, start setting that when you submit orders.

(I would usually end up putting in provisional orders right away, flag on submit, and then go back and update orders and negotiations merited up until the deadline, possibly pulling my flag if I was certain I had no more changes to make.)

If the game you're playing in doesn't allow waitflaggery, consider making that something on your personal Must Have list next time your considering one.
posted by cortex at 10:34 PM on June 29

We had the waitflag initially, but it was removed (I guess in order to speed the game along, since the 24hr deadlines we all signed up for were never arranged).
posted by solipsophistocracy at 11:20 AM on July 1

octothorpe, In game 5, Italy is not playing, so there really is no hope of moves happening before scheduled time.

I believe the setting is called real_time
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 6:41 PM on July 1

I just got my deadline reminder, but I'm unable to load floc.net. Anyone else having problems?

I know I should have put in orders earlier. Sorry. Just moved to a new time zone (though this is not really an acceptable excuse).
posted by solipsophistocracy at 7:09 PM on July 6

Same here. I was waiting until the last minute on 5 to see if another player responded to my press in time. Now I can't enter my move. This is a little sucky.
posted by octothorpe at 7:19 PM on July 6

Our last orders were processed Friday, solipsophistocracy, so I wouldn't count you as late. Hopefully you can still put in orders.
posted by ODiV at 7:26 PM on July 6

I sure hope so, but no dice yet. We'll see all too soon I guess...
posted by solipsophistocracy at 7:31 PM on July 6

So the deadline has definitely passed, but floc.net's still down I reckon. I guess it'll go back up and just enter moves automatically like last time. This game has been kind of a bummer, but I guess even at its technical best, diplo rarely goes like you'd want it too. Either way, I hope I haven't caused too much grief for anybody else by missing turns and such. I guess this is one of those things that kicks total ass in theory, but is more difficult to pull off in practice.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 10:18 PM on July 6

jeez guys we had a whole weekend to put orders in..
posted by empath at 11:10 PM on July 6

Yeah, but like it says above, since there's no wait flag, it's a tough decision to put the orders in before the last minute, because you never know who'll reply to your press, possible changing the outcome significantly. I know that I personally haven't been as on top of my game as I should have been, but the parameters have also shifted significantly since the beginning. I'll most likely end up going out in whatever the polar opposite of a blaze of glory is, but I still think diplo is an A #1 way to get worked up and kill more time that I actually have to spare.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 11:36 PM on July 6

It's up, put in your orders!
posted by ODiV at 1:08 AM on July 7

I'm getting pretty frustrated with this. That's the second move I've lost because the site was down.
posted by octothorpe at 4:36 AM on July 7

Ditto. I know that diplomacy is supposed to be a frustrating game, but I want to be filled with rage at my fellow players, not the fucking website that can't deliver the set of rules we agreed on at the beginning.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 5:48 AM on July 7

Also, by what twisted logic is the next deadline now Friday? That's not even 72 hours! I know it's been mentioned that the deadlines can be tricky, but I can't understand these at all.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 6:01 AM on July 7

Keep in mind that floc runs on R'lyehian time.
posted by cortex at 6:52 AM on July 7