- D&D (1) [MN:Apr92]
- Common abbreviation for Dungeons and Dragons.
- DASTARD (1) [MB:Jun80]
- Shear's press byline in _Down Alien Skies_.
- DATELINE (1) [PB/TNP:1980/87]
- A heading under which press is published. The _GM_ will have one reserved
for his own use, and each country is often allocated one exclusively. Examples
include OVAL (Pete Birks), Imyrryr (Richard
Walkerdine) and 'The Kop' (Mick Bullock) plus numerous others scattered
around the AZ files.
- DAVIS, FRED C. Jnr
- An entry that needs to be written.
- DD [PG:Nov93]
- Abbreviation for _Diplomacy Digest_.
- DEADLINE [PB:1980]
- (1) When you have to get your orders in by (not posted by). A double
deadline means that you have until the deadline after the one set in the zine.
Usual for Spring 1901 orders. Occasionally permanent for International games.
- DEADLINER [MN:Oct93]
- (1) A program written in 1993 by Christopher Davis for the use of the
internet diplomacy hobby. The input to the program is the output of a 'list
full' cmd sent to a Judge. The program tells you which games you're in. what
their deadlines are, who's late and so on. Useful for people playing in or
GMing a large number of games.
- DE-MILITARIZED ZONE (1) [MN:Apr92]
- An area which two or more, but usually two, powers agree not to enter, or
if they do enter it they agree to tell the other power(s) in advance. Mostly
used in the first few seasons to give powers a chance to expand without having
to worry about the activities of a potentially hostile neighbour. For example:
England and France may agree to make ECH a DMZ, Russia and Turkey may make BLA
a DMZ, Russia and Austria may make Gal a DMZ, Russia and Germany may call
Sil/Pru a DMZ, Germany and France may make Bur a DMZ.
May also occur later on in the game to a whole bunch of provinces. For
instance, Italy and France may make Pie/TYS/WMS/GoL/NAf a DMZ with the extra
proviso that France doesn't build F(Mar) and Italy doesn't build F(Rom).
See also DMZ.
- DECOY UNIT (1) [MB:Jun80]
- In some variants, a unit built in excess of
what a player is allowed. Usually, these are destroyed when attacked, and
cannot actually affect an adjudication. The GM
knows which units are decoys. See paper unit
and Variant Jargon (KW).
- DELEMOS RATING SYSTEM (1) [MN:Jan93]
- Marc Delemos' rating system for standby
players posted to dipl-l on 12th January 1993.
For each supply center above the number the player
started with, award 1 point. For each center below the starting number,
subtract 1 point. No points are deducted once the SC count has dipped below
the country's starting number (3, 4 for Rus). A players standby rating would
be the sum of all their scores from the games in which they appeared.
Players who are immediately wiped out or take hopeless positions are not
penalized for being immediately attacked and decimated or helping out in a
situation that no one else wanted. On the increase side, someone who takes over
a strong country gains points not for the win, but for the increase in size
over which he presided.
This system would favor frequent players (5 games with an increase of 3
SC's is worth more than 1 win). See also Rating Systems For Standby Players
and Rating Systems (KW).
- DELUGE (1) [TNP:87]
- Diplomacy variant played on a progressively flooded board. Winner is the
occupier of Switzerland at the end of the game. See
Variant (KW).
- DEMO GAME (1) [MB:Jun80]
- An invitational game, normally with more experienced players, and with
commentary (usually). The best known is the series in
_Diplomacy World_.
- DEPOSITS [PB/MB/TNP:1980/Jun80/1987]
- Out of favour in the late 1970's and early 1980's in the UK but supported
by Mick Bullock on the grounds that they do discourage drop-outs. Opposed by
Pete Birks on the grounds that someone who isn't interested isn't much use as a
player anyways. No resolution in sight. What are they? Money you pay at the
beginning of a postal Diplomacy game and get back at the end (or on
elimination) if you don't drop out (or resign, sometimes. This is usually
spelled out in the HRs). They don't seem to make any
difference to the dropout rate and can be an administrative headache.
- DERRICK RATING SYSTEM (1) [MN:Jan93]
- Shaun Derrick's rating system used for the 'Universities Diplomacy
Tournament' in 1984 and 1985. There are 100 points. One point is awarded per
supply center owned at the end of the game with the
remaining 66 being given to the winner or split between the drawees. See also
Wilam Rating System for another 100 points system and Rating Systems (KW).
- DESERT RAT VARIATION (1) [MN:May93]
- Richard Sharp's name for any opening using
A(Smy)-Syr. See Turkish Openings (KW).
- DEW (1) [AoS:88]
- Distant Early Warning. Information about your neighbours from nations at
the other end of the board.
- DIAS (1) [AoS:88]
- The rulebook specifies that a drawn game (any game without a single winner)
must include all the remaining players. The rule is referred to as "Draws
Include All Survivors", or DIAS. Most postal games, however, offer the
opportunity for a voted draw without all the surviving players sharing in the
draw, provided the vote is unanimous. These games are therefore non-DIAS. In
practice, you can assume your game is non-DIAS unless otherwise stated in the
Gamestart or the House Rules. Dick Martin may have been the first to coin the
phrase DIAS in his zine Retaliation in the early 1980s.
- DICK RULE
- See Boob's Rule of Szine Publishing.
- DIGEST (1) [MB:Mar82]
- A zine format involving a split (folded) page
and usually reduction, e.g. _Diplomacy
Digest_. Also called "Centre Staple".
- DIPCON (1) [MB/MN/PG:Jun80+Mar82/Jun93/Nov93]
- Usually the largest annual Face-To-Face dippy
tournament in the US, usually run in conjunction with a large wargaming
convention and often featuring a hobby business meeting and/or a
seminar/panel discussion as well. These began in 1966, and have been held
annually since 1969. A good summary of I-VII is in DW 9.
DIPCON YEAR # Host Dip Winner Site Diplomacy Winner
I 1966 9 John Koning Youngstown, OH ???
II 1969 11 John Koning Youngstown, OH ???
III 1970 35 Jeff Key Oklahoma City Betsy Childers
IV 1971 25 Rod Walker San Diego ???
V 1972 49 Len Lakofka Chicago Richard Ackerley
VI 1973 49 Len Lakofka Chicago J. Smythe/Conrad von Metzke
VII 1974 49 Len Lakofka Chicago ???
VIII 1975 51 G. Anderson Chicago ???
IX 1976 140 Avalon Hill* Baltimore Thomas Reape
X 1977 ? GenCon Lake Geneva, WI Mike Rocamora
XI 1978 ? GlasCon L.A. ???
XII 1979 110 Origins V Chester, PA Ben Zablocki
XIII 1980 56 MichiCon* Detroit Carl Eichelberger
XIV 1981 ? Pacificon* S.F. Ron Brown
XV 1982 161 Atlanticon* Baltimore Konrad Baumesiter
XVI 1983 118 MichiCon* Detroit Joyce Singer
XVII 1984 91 DalCon* Dallas Jeff Key
XVIII 1985 60 Dragonflight Seattle J.R. Baker
XIX 1986 76 Marycon Fredericksburg, VA Malcolm Smith
XX 1987 51 Madcon Madison, WI. David Hood
XXI 1988 23 Greg Ellis San Antonio, TX Dan Sellers
XXII 1989 55 PeeriCon San Diego Hohn Cho
XXIII 1990 100 DixieCon** Chapel Hill, NC. Jason Bergmann
XXIV 1991 58 CanCon Toronto Gary Behnen
XXV 1992 31 Poolcon Kansas City Marc Peters
XXVI 1993 56 Pacificon S.F. Hohn Cho
XXVII 1994 ?? DixieCon Chapel Hill, NC. Bruce Reiff
XXVIII 1995 AvalonCon V Hunt Valley (MD)
(#) Number of players in Diplomacy Tournament. May not
include people who played in only 1 game.
(*) also hosted Origins
(**) also hosted {World Dip Con}
- DIPCON (2) [MN:Jun93]
- A brief run-down on previous Dipcons:
- DIPCON XXI (1) [MN:Dec92]
- Ran by Greg Ellis, Stephen Wilcox and Pete Gaughan 1st-4th July 1988 in
San Antonio, Texas. Prizes given to the top three finishers, best country
performance, most dip games played, last place, quickest elimination and most
demanding GM. Low turnout.
- DIPCON XXVI (1) [MN:Sep93]
- Held in conjunction with PACIFICON 4th-5th September 1993. DipCon organised
by Pete Gaughan. Tournament ran by Don Del Grande had four rounds (a 9AM game
and a 6PM game each day).
- DIPCON (3) [MN:Dec92]
- More generally a dipcon is any Diplomacy convention.
- DIPCON (4) [EB:Dec07]
- Go to:
European Diplomacy Association for updated information on DipCon and other
results. For a history of the early DipCon years go to:
The Dipcon Story
- DIPCON CHARTER (1) [MN:Nov92]
- Originally written by Dave Kadlecek and Rod
Walker, Fred C. Davis reviewed their draft copy. It was adopted at DipCon
XII (Chester, PA, 23rd June 1979). It divided North America into four regions
with DipCon rotating through these regions.
The 1979 DipCon was held in the East (Region I), the charter provided that
the 1980 DipCon be held in either Region II or III. In 1981 it had to be held
in either Region III or IV and in 1982 in either Region IV or I. (In the
original draft only one region could bid for DipCon.)
Amendments to the charter have to pass at two consecutive DipCons. The
charter was amended at DipCon XIII, 1980/81, when the region boundaries were
redrawn, XVI, XVII and XVIII.
- DIPCON SOCIETY (1) [MB/MN:Jun80/Nov93]
- An informal group of those who attend a DipCon and the society's meeting.
Its purpose is to select the site of next year's DipCon. Originally the
committee was 1/2/3, the Charter now specifies 3 Committee members exactly, it
also coordinates with the host Con and arranges for the selection of a scoring system.
- DIPCON RATING SYSTEMS (1) [MN:Sep93]
- A collection of the various systems used to rate players in the DipCon
diplomacy tournaments is given in Appendix One.
- DIPL-L (1) [MN:Feb93]
- In Fall 1988 Danny Loeb created a listserv
list, D20A-L, to help manage the email for a 20-player variant he was
running. The Listserv manager asked him whether he would be needing any other
lists, since it would be easier to make them all at the same time. Danny
asked for a list DIPL-L to discuss Diplomacy.
DIPL-L was not pushed over Usenet as a place to go and the discussion rate
remained low until it was rediscovered in 1991. By then Danny was no longer at
MIT and was experiencing difficulty looking after the list, ownership of the
list passed to Nick Fitzpatrick in March
1992. With the formation of the Usenet group rec.games.diplomacy interest in
the list decreased and with the setting of a feed between rec.games.diplomacy
and dipl-l the dipl-l list was only of interest to those who did not have
access to Usenet.
List Owner.
Fall 1988 to March 1992 Danny Loeb
March 1992 to December 1993 Nick Fitzpatrick
December 1993 to Nick Fitzpatrick and David Kovar
- DIPLOCCOCUS AWARD (1) [MB:Jun80]
- Allan Calhamer's award given in four categories:
Poetry, art, current strategy for any area and diplomatic history --- all for
an audience of Diplomacy players. He awards a medal and $20. Currently
inactive. See Hobby Awards (KW).
- DIPLOMACY [PB:1980]
- Invented by Alan Calhamer (seminal article
Games & Puzzles 21, January 1974), student of international relations and
19th century history. Finally developed in 1954, 500 sets printed at the
inventor's expense in 1959 (anyone know where one of these is?) then
transferred to Games Research Inc in 1960.
Sold to Avalon Hill in 1977.
Philmar may always have had British rights, and
have produced a different board and different pieces. Rules were revised in
1971 as a result of extensive postal play in USA. Changes include possibility
of disbanding retreating units. Space precludes anything else. Wait for my
all-encompassing encyclopedia.
- DIPLOMACY (2) [SS:Jan95]
-
- The patriotic art of lying for one's country. Ambrose Bierce
- Take the diplomacy out of war and the thing would fall flat in a week. Will Rogers
- Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing in the nicest way. Isaac Goldberg
- Diplomacy -- the art of saying "Nice doggy" until you can find a stick. Wynn Catlin
- DIPLOMACY ADJUDICATOR (1) [DL:28th April 1992]
- Any computer program designed to take Diplomacy moves as input and return a
set of results. Virtually hundreds exist. One is marketed by
Avalon Hill, most are free. Some, like Jon
Monsarrat's, are designed to be an aid to the GM.
Others like the Diplomacy Programming Project's Diplomat Interface are
designed primarily for use by diplomats. The most advanced adjudicator is the
Washington Diplomacy Adjudicator JUDGE written by Ken Lowe. See
Diplomat, Judge.
- DIPLOMACY ADJUDICATOR (2) [MN:Apr92]
- The first diplomacy adjudicators were designed in the 1960's by various
postal players and the program written by Tony Pandin led to the discovery of
Pandin's Paradox, none of these programs were
ever fully operational. Several postal GMs use
adjudicators and it is still a popular hobby to write your own.
- DIPLOMACY ALLIANCE AGAINST HEART DISEASE (1) [MN:Nov92)
- A fund-raiser run in conjunction with the 1989
Runestone Poll.
- DIPLOMACY AUTOMATA:
- See DIPLOMAT
- DIPLOMACY.AZ (1) [HR:Dec92]
- See also Limerick.
Diplomacy AZ is phun,
Especially when it's all done!
Proof-reading's a chore,
And a terrible bore,
And printed, it must weigh a ton!
[Gets more and more pertinent with each issue!!]
- DIPLOMACY BOARDGAME COMPENDIUM AND GALLERY, THE [SS:Dec02]
- http://www.szykman.com/Diplomacy.
More than you ever wanted to know about editions of the Diplomacy boardgame, as
well as its variants, software, books on the topic, and various other items. The
site includes over 150 images covering its contents.
- DIPLOMACY CENSUS
- See Hobby Census.
- DIPLOMACY DEFINITIONS (1) [Mike Guest and Bill Michell, 1988]
- Ally: Someone who has misheard you.
Close Ally: Someone who you are blackmailing.
Bad Player: Someone who can't lipread.
"Think Ahead" Player: Someone who diplomes before the countries have been picked.
Paranoid Player: Someone who insists on being there when his drink is being poured.
Good Player: Someone who seems to win every week, but does it so quietly that
no-one seems to notice.
Demilitarized zone: The Black Sea
Confidence: An Austrian who bothers to draw up a seat, or an Italian who asks
what 4+1 is.
Optimism: Russian F(GOB) - Swe in Fall 1901
Trust: A weapon to use only when all else fails.
See Humour.
- DIPLOMACY DIGEST (1) [MN:Mar92]
- Diplomacy zine produced by Mark Berch that
only carried articles (no games). And only articles on Diplomacy/the hobby at
that. Most of the issues were organized around some theme, such as Austria
(#16), Personalities (#33), Aspects of GMing (#32),
Son of Lexicon (#57). This was particularly
useful since Mark kept all of his back issues in print so you could order the
issues which covered the subjects that you were interested in. The zine
started in the late 1970's and moved into the 1990's at an increasingly
erratic pace; it's hey-day was from its inception to the mid 1980's. Issue 57
contained an index of topics covered to that point. Too dry for many people.
See Zine Names (KW).
- DIPLOMACY EMOTIONS (1) [HR:Apr92]
- Satisfaction: That your moves went off as planned.
Delight: That your backstab worked.
Glee: The opponent you stabbed was also stabbed by someone else.
Gloating: Seeing an opponent who critically stabbed you get crushed.
Exultation: When it's you who delivers the coup de grace.
Bliss: 18 supply centres.
Anxiety: Wondering how many of your neighbours are plotting against you.
Fear: Finding that it's all of them.
Desperation: Trying to get their neighbours to stab them.
Despair: When they insist on fighting each other.
Exasperation: Just when you've fought off 2 of your neighbours, the
third comes barging in.
Frustration: Getting a build when all your home dots are occupied.
Vexation: Getting a build when someone else is occupying your home SCs!
Shock: Getting unexpected support from another player.
Loneliness: Exile in Iceland.
Sympathy: What's that?
See Humour.
- DIPLOMACY FEDERATION [PB:1980]
- Ill-fated British 'organization' put together by Clive Booth, Bob Howes
and others forgotten in order to rival NGC.
Mentioned only to remind some people of what silly things we used to fight
over, and how grown up and self-deprecating we've all become.
- DIPLOMACY GAMES AND VARIANTS (1) [MB:Jun80]
- Written by Lew Pulsipher and published by Strategy Games Ltd, London
(1978), it is a 20 page softbound booklet with oversized pages and pullout
maps, devoted entirely to variants. Available in stores only in England
(#2.45). See Variant Jargon (KW).
- DIPLOMACY PLAYER POLL (1) [MN:Apr93]
- There have been various attempts at running a Poll to find the best (most
popular) postal diplomacy player in the UK. The first two Polls were run by
John Piggott through his zine _Ethil The Frog_ and named by him
"The Ethil The Frog Egoboo Poll". The NGC ran a
number of polls in the 1970's. The idea was picked up by Peter Northcott in
1982 who ran a poll through his zine Last Stand.
Year First Second Third
1973 John Piggott Richard Sharp Andy Davidson (19 voters)
1974 Richard Sharp John Piggott Mick Bullock (20 voters)
???? Tony Ball
???? Roland Prevot
???? Nicky Palmer
1982 Mike Close Steve Jones John Norris (22 voters)
A digression. It's interesting to note that American player
Conrad von Metzke came 5th in the 1973 Poll and
6th in the 1974 Poll. See also Hobby Awards (KW).
- DIPLOMACY PROGRAMMING PROJECT:
- See Diplomat.
- DIPLOMACY QUOTATIONS (1) [HR:Apr92]
- Diplomacy dichotomy: Getting stabbed is as much fun as sucking
lemons when you have the mumps, but stabbing someone is as much
fun as switching his chocolate bar with one of Ex-Lax.
- Famous last words of a Diplomacy player: "But you promised...!"
- Playing Diplomacy is like juggling knives on a greased floor. Make one slip and you'll get stabbed.
- The Ultimate Compliment: "I'm glad I'm not your neighbour!"
See also QUOTATIONS and
Humour.
- DIPLOMACY QUOTATIONS (2) [WU:Nov92]
- I once was playing Austria-Hungary with a powerful alliance with Russia.
When I back-stabbed my buddy, I took five supply centers in one move. After my
ex-ally glared at me I said "If you stick a knife in somebody's back, you may
as well twist it." This has become one of my more famous quotes with this group.
- DIPLOMACY STATISTICS (1) [NF/MN:Jul93]
- An e-mail zine produced by Nick Fitzpatrick
born out of the 'folded' Internet Guide To
Diplomacy. _Diplomacy Statistics_ is published monthly, around the 15th.
It first was prepared in December 1992 for inclusion in EPC2, however due to
a publication hiatus it never was published. Issue 2 came out in January 1993
and has appeared monthly ever since.
_Diplomacy Statistics_ contains the number of games (broken down as
regular, Youngstown and other), number of registered player, and judge
release version for each judge. It also contains a running total of all games
currently underway and monthly readership and article numbers for the Usenet
newsgroup rec.games.diplomacy. See Zine Names (KW).
- DIPLOMACY STATISTICS (KW) (1)
- The following entries contain game-related
statistics: Armenia,
Black Sea,
Completed Games (1) and (2),
Dolchstoss Games,
Early Eliminations and
Length of A Game.
- DIPLOMACY SKILL INDEX (DSI) (1) [MN/CM:Bov96]
- A rating system devised by Conrad Minshall and originally
printed in _Gateway_ 1 (May 1994). The DSI produces an average
rating for original players. The 'official' rating system considers only
non-anonymous standard diplomacy games listed in the
HOF but ratings based on anonymous and gunboat games
are also available. Novce-only, amateur-only and intermediate-only games are
excluded from the ratings. The point system is a modified
Calhamer Point Count:
Points
win 7.00,
2-way 3.50,
3-way 2.33,
4-way 1.75,
5-way 1.40,
6-way 1.17,
7-way 1.00,
survival 0.50,
elimination 0.25,
drop-out 0.00.
The above point count is modified again by weighting the results according
to the difficulty of the powers played so that the point count from one game is
given by: Point Count = Points*(Average Modifier/Country Modifier).
The weights for each power are determined from the results of rated games.
Different tables are generated for different types of game. The tables for
standard diplomacy (DSI 8th ed) are:
Modifier Power
1.13 Austria
1.39 England
1.44 France
1.09 Germany
0.96 Italy
1.29 Russia
1.27 Turkey
----------------
1.22 Average
A player's rating is the average of his points. There is a six-game minimum to
appear in the in the ratings table. However a player who has played in fewer
than six games is given sufficient hypothetical game results of zero to
increase their game count to six. See also
Rating Systems (KW).
DIPLOMACY SKILLS INDEX (2) [MN:Nov96]
- Does the weighting factor used in the DSI vary with time?
(a) Regular Diplomacy details.
DSI4 DSI5 DSI6 DSI7 DSI8
Austria 1.08 1.11 1.15 1.13 1.13
England 1.39 1.36 1.45 1.42 1.39
France 1.55 1.53 1.45 1.45 1.44
Germany 1.07 1.08 1.04 1.05 1.09
Italy 1.01 1.01 1.01 0.96 0.96
Russia 1.34 1.32 1.29 1.26 1.29
Turkey 1.12 1.15 1.19 1.28 1.27
# Games 264 292 327 370 413
|
(b) Broadcast-only Gunboat Games
DSI4 DSI5 DSI6 DSI7 DSI8
Austria 1.40 1.36 1.18 1.12 1.21
England 1.47 1.59 1.75 1.70 1.51
France 1.24 1.14 1.46 1.42 1.40
Germany 1.35 1.23 1.22 1.23 1.32
Italy 0.50 0.48 0.47 0.49 0.49
Russia 0.99 0.99 0.98 1.10 1.13
Turkey 1.70 1.86 1.64 1.63 1.61
# Games 25 28 36 39 49
|
(c) No Press Gunboat Games
DSI4 DSI5 DSI6 DSI7 DSI8
Austria 1.60 1.70 1.60 1.52 1.41
England 1.23 1.16 1.11 1.03 1.07
France 1.74 1.73 1.85 1.94 1.90
Germany 0.59 0.57 0.92 0.96 1.16
Italy 1.15 1.09 0.99 0.98 0.95
Russia 1.01 1.06 0.98 0.95 0.91
Turkey 1.52 1.53 1.38 1.50 1.45
# Games 62 67 84 89 135
|
(d) Anonymous partial-press Games.
DSI4 DSI5 DSI6 DSI7 DSI8
Austria 0.80 0.75 1.06 1.12 1.03
England 1.71 1.85 1.60 1.43 1.44
France 1.06 1.04 1.19 1.25 1.40
Germany 0.89 0.80 0.95 1.01 1.16
Italy 0.90 1.18 1.09 1.14 1.21
Russia 1.60 1.45 1.22 1.18 1.05
Turkey 1.54 1.43 1.44 1.36 1.06
# Games 41 49 76 107 152
|
DSI4 : November 1994.
DSI5 : March 1995.
DSI6 : November 1995.
DSI7 : April 1996.
DSI8 : November 1996.
See also Rating Systems (KW).
- DIPLOMACY VARIANTS COMMISSION (1) [MB:Jun80]
- A coordinating organization for variant activity founded by Robert Sacks,
presently active. See Variant Jargon (KW).
- DIPLOMACY WIDOWS ASSOCIATION (1) [MB:Jun80]
- A humorous, non-existent organization led by Carol Buchanan.
- DIPLOMACY WORLD (1) [MN:Sep93]
- An American zine which first appeared in January 1974, it was the successor
to _Hoosier Archives_. It contains articles on
the play of the game, con reports and news of
interest to Diplomacy players. Often publicized as carrying the best writing
on the game of Diplomacy and being an essential read for any North American
hobbyist (sometimes carrying the label 'the flagship of the Diplomacy
hobby'), it has rarely lived up to this publicity and in particular until
recently most editors felt that coverage of the Diplomacy world was
synonymous with covering North America. It usually carrys a Demonstration
Game to help teach novices the finer points of strategy and tactics. See
Diplomacy World Anthologies,
Index and Menu (Diplomacy World) and
Zine Names(KW).
A list of _Diplomacy World_ publishers and editors:
Issue Publisher Editor
1-15 Walt Buchanan Walt Buchanan
16-20 Walt Buchanan Conrad von Metzke
21-27 Jerry Jones Jerry Jones
28-38 Rod Walker Rod Walker
39 Kathy Byrne Rod Walker
40-59 Larry Peery Larry Peery
60+ David Hood David Hood
74+ Doug Kent Doug Kent
- DIPLOMACY WORLD ANTHOLOGIES (1) [MN:Aug95]
- Each volume is a collection of the best articles on a given subject.
Anthologies I-IV contain material that originally appeared in DW 1-39. They are
a good way for the novice to learn more about diplomacy and the diplomacy hobby
and are available from Larry Peery.
Volume I: The Best of Diplomacy World: A collection of all kinds
of articles chosen by
Walt Buchanan, Conrad von Metzke,
Rod Walker and
Kathy Byrne Caruso. Strategy and Tactics, diplomacy,
hobby history, variant games (complete with rules and maps), and more.
Volume II: The Complete Mark Berch
features a wide variety of articles by one of the hobby's best and most
prolific writers, including the infamous Shep Rose stories.
Volume III: Diplomacy Variants with maps, rules, and variant game
related materials. Over 50 complete variant games are included, along with a
separate map folio of 'ready for play' maps separate from the book.
Volume IV: The DW Demo Games includes the moves,
commentary, maps and press for Diplomacy's oldest on-going series of quality
games. Eight complete games are included.
Volume V: Conventions and Tournaments (DW 1-69).
Volume VI: Diplomacy Strategy and Tactics (DW 1-69).
Volume VII: Best of David Hood's Diplomacy World (DW 60-69).
Volume VIII: Complete Issues of WD 60-69 (2 parts).
See also Diplomacy World.
- DIPLOMAT (1) [DL:Nov92]
- Short for DIPLOMACY AUTOMATA or AUTOMATION. This name has been used for
many different programs. In general, it refers to any program capable of
playing diplomacy. However, a simple diplomacy adjudicator should not be
considered a Diplomat, since it serves not as a player but as a referee.
Avalon Hill's Diplomacy adjudicator contains
a very simple diplomat which plays a simple strategic game and has no means
of negotiation.
During the period 1986-89, several Israeli computer scientists (Sarit
Kraus, Daniel Lehmann and Eithan Ephrati) wrote a Diplomat in Y-Lisp. (See
for example "An Automated Diplomacy Player", in "Heuristic Programming in
Artificial Intelligence" (Eds: D N L Levy and D F Beal; Ellis Horwood, 1989
pp 136-153). This program is capable of negotiating like a human, and on a
strategic level could beat Avalon Hill's
program regularly. Unfortunately, the hardware for which this Diplomat was
designed no longer exists.
In 1990, the Diplomacy Programming Project was formed to promote the
programming of diplomats. A simple language (DPP Protocol) was devised in order
to standardize the communication among diplomats, and a standard Diplomat
Interface was written in order to coordinate communication between (humans and)
programs written in different programming languages by different programmers,
and in order to serve as an Adjudicator. In 1991, Loeb and Hall published
"Thoughts on Programming a Diplomat", and in 1992, Loeb published "Challenges
in Playing Multiplayer Games" both in "Heuristic Programming in Artificial
Intelligence", and beginning in 1992 work has begun in Bordeaux on the
implementation of a Diplomat based on these ideas. In comparison to the Israeli
diplomat, the Bordeaux diplomat is founded principally on the strategic level
and it is compatible with the DPP Protocol.
- DIPLOMAT (2) [SS:Jan95]
- A diplomat is a man who can convince his wife she'd look stout in a
fur coat. Anonymous.
- A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never
remembers her age. Robert Frost
- How is the world ruled and how do wars start? Diplomats tell lies to
journalists and then believe what they read. Karl Kraus (1874-1936)
- A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such
a way that you'll look forward to the trip. Anonymous
See Humour.
- DIPLOMATIC POUCH, THE (1) [SS:Dec02]
- The Diplomatic Pouch
(http://www.diplom.org) is the most popular web site for players of the game of
Diplomacy. The site includes sections for play-by-email players, face-to-face
players, postal players, as well as a comprehensive section of online resources
including maps, variants, reference materials, and much more.
- DIPLOME (1) [MB/TNP:Jun80/87]
- Verb intransitive, meaning obvious, derivation unclear and frowned upon by
purists, but probably here to stay.
- DIPLOWINN (1) [MB:Jun80]
- Norman Nathan's variant to speed up
face to face games. In W04, the units are adjusted to
give one fewer than one is entitled to, in W05, 2 fewer, etc. Static battles
and stalemate lines are less likely, as are unfinished games. See DD 13. See
Variant (KW).
- DIPSTRAMA.EXE (1) [MN:Nov93]
- Program written by Keith Ammann. It doesn't play the game, doesn't resolve
moves, doesn't print output. What it DOES do: It reads Judge list output and
places units on the screen that can be moved around. You can also start with an
empty board or the standard starting positions, dragging pieces onto the board
from a "palette" containing one of each type of unit.
It requires VBRUN100.DLL, not included.
- DIPWIT (1) [AoS:88]
- Person who becomes so obsessed with the hobby
that he or she has difficulty conversing on any other subject.
- DIRECT PASSAGE (1) [AP:1986]
- Where a direct passage or legal move link exists, units may move, be
convoyed, attack or support directly between the two spaces thus connected;
These spaces are considered to be adjacent. All movement or support between two
such linked spaces does *not* affect the operations of other units between
other spaces or over any other direct passage links; all the spaces concerned
should be regarded as if they come together at a point. Such a link between two
land provinces (which are separated by sea) means armies may move directly from
one province to the other, without the need to be convoyed, and do not affect
fleets in the intervening sea area. See Variant
Jargon(KW).
- DISORGANIZATION (1) [MB:Jun80]
- Players in this variant write orders for the next season before they see
the last adjudication --- one season ahead.
Must also give conditional retreats, or the GM will use
a retreat rule. Thus, when S02 is published, that locks in F02, and B02 and/or
S03 are due by next deadline. Also called Blitzkrieg.
- DITTO (1) [MB:Jun80]
- Spirit duplication -- the one using the purple ink. Advantages: Can do
colour (though very few do), less complicated, low cost. Disadvantages: Hard to
correct, less clear printing, print-through and fainter copies in the above 100
copies area. One types on the master, which transfers ink onto the carbon,
which is used for the printing itself. Examples today include _Eggnog_, _The
National_, _Passchendaele_ and _Runestone_.
- DIVORCES [PB:1980]
- Have been many. Wives and commitment to the hobby rarely mix. I wondered
whether to put this bit in. Suffice to say that they will be occasionally referred to.
- DM [PB:1980]
- Dungeonmaster. See D&D.
- DMZ [PB:1980]
- (1) Demilitarized Zone. May be used in
Diplomacy letter to you by someone who has watched too many American movies
(pronounced DeeEmZee) about Vietnam.
- DMZ [JF:Jul95]
- (2) In every single game where a neighbor has proposed, at game-start,
making a sea or province that borders us both a "DMZ" or a "demilitarized
zone," said neighbor has moved into said territory immediately thereafter.
I'm not commenting on the untrustworthiness of deals per se; what I'm
commenting on is the strange phenomena of the use of the term "DMZ."
Every time someone's proposed making the Black Sea (for example) a "DMZ,"
I know that's *exactly* where they're moving. It *never* fails.
- DNP [PB:1980]
- Do Not Publish. May be ignored by a nasty editor.
- D.O. [PB:1980]
- Or d.o. Drop out. One who fails to finish a game which he started.
- DOLCHSTOSS (1) [MN:Mar92]
- Zine started by
Richard Sharp in October 1972 to run games organized
by the NGC. In its first run, which lasted 69 issues
(forty of them litho --- the first British Diplomacy zine to enter this field)
until its fold in 1979, it was the most influential zine in the UK Hobby as
almost all novices entering the Hobby passed through Richard Sharp's hands; for
several years its circulation was the highest in the UK, peaking at 350ish. The
zine attracted a loyal core of supporters (the Old Hard Core) who met regularly
throughout the 1970's, almost all of whom entered zines at one time or another.
During this period it won the Zine Poll in 1974
(2nd Poll), 1975 and 1978, came 3rd in 1974 (first Poll) and 4th in 1977.
Folded terribly 1978/79, failed to refund subscriptions, announce fold, forward
mail or anything else. Had catastrophic effect on the flow of newcomers to the
hobby.
It was relaunched in December 1983 and since then it has become one of the
top zines to play postal diplomacy in. The GMing is excellent and the standard
of opposition top class. It has become a little isolated from the mainstream of
the British hobby and contains many readers from the 1970s. It is one of the
best written zines in the UK and is always an entertaining read. _Dolchstoss_
Mk II was the winner of the 1991 and 1992 Zine Polls. See Zine Names (KW).
- DOLCHSTOSS GAMES (1) [MN:May94]
- In _The Numbers Game_ 20 (Febuary 1994) Richard Sharp
presented a summary of UK game finishes as rated by the
Dolchstoss Rating System. This is *NOT* the
same as a list of completed UK games (see
Completed Games).
W D E S D CPS Av W = wins.
Austria 129 294 694 197 494 216.35 0.12 D = Draws.
England 129 328 471 331 549 227.92 0.13 E = Eliminations.
France 183 403 322 385 515 306.84 0.17 S = Survived but neither D or W.
Germany 187 326 490 315 490 285.70 0.16 D = dropouts.
Italy 117 334 475 378 504 218.80 0.12 CPS = {Calhamer Points}
Russia 193 322 462 303 528 287.37 0.16 Av = Average number of Calhamer
Turkey 161 339 455 369 484 265.00 0.17 Points.
- DOLCHSTOSS RATING SYSTEM
- See NGC Rating System and
Rating Systems (KW).
- DON MILLER HOBBY SERVICE AWARD, THE (1) [MN:Dec92]
- See Hobby Awards (KW) and
Miller Award, The.
- DOOMIE (1) [MB:Mar82]
- A name affectionately bestowed by Bruce Linsey upon readers, especially
enthusiastic fans, of _The Voice of Doom_.
- DOOMIE OF THE YEAR CONTEST (1) [MB:Mar82]
- An annual, humourous, essay contest in VOD to determine who best
exemplifies the qualities of a "True Doomie". DotY in 1980 was Bob Olsen; in
1981, Garry Hamlin. See Hobby Awards (KW).
- DOUBLE BLUFF (1) [MB:Jun80]
- The act of giving the impression that you are bluffing when you are for
real. Thus, a player writes that he will do A, but in a manner that suggests to
the reader that the letter is a lie. The player then actually does do A. A
devious way of gaining credibility.
- DOUBLE BRACKETS (1)
- See Double Parenthesis.
- DOUBLE DEADLINE (1) [Aos/MN:88/Apr92]
- Situation where a Gamemaster decides not to print
an adjudication and extends the deadline for
orders to that of the following issue of the zine. Players may request a Double
Deadline for any reason, but it is usually only granted in extreme cases, e.g.
serious illness, postal strikes. Just what is, and what is not, grounds for a
GM granting a double-deadline should be covered in the
house rules. Most GMs automatically grant a
double-deadline at the start of the game, recognizing that the first season is
the most critical and the season with most diplomacy occurring. Almost all GMs
will not grant a double deadline to a player who 'has exams' or who is 'going
on holiday'.
- DOUBLE PARENTHESIS (1) [MB:Jun80]
- Material inserted by the editor into an original article written by another
is traditionally placed in double parenthesis. Sometimes these are inserted
into the body of the article, sometimes are bunched together at the end. See
also Triple Parenthesis.
- DOWNFALL (1) [MN:Apr92]
- A Tolkien variant whose main aim is to try to recreate the flavour of the
books rather than using the wargaming 'simple variant on new map' approach of
most of the earlier Tolkien based variant games.
Downfall I was designed by Hartley Patterson (who had been active in UK
Tolkien fandom for many years) and was first published in _War Bulletin_ 50
(circa 1973-4). It quickly attracted a following and several games were
started, including a couple of games in the States.
After this initial burst of enthusiasm interest waned and the game was not
played again until the end of the decade when Pete Lindsay (who had played in
some of the earlier games) ran a game in his dipzine _Bron Yr Aur_. One of the
players was Glover Rogerson who would be responsible for relaunching the
variant in the early 1980s as the main game in his new dip zine Denver Glont.
Through publicity in Denver Glont the game rapidly attracted a cult
following and it became almost de rigeur for every new zine to open a waiting
list for the game.
Extensive play testing throughout the 1980's (over 50 games were started
in the UK) led to a multitude of different versions being published. By the
end of the 1980's there were about 16 different Downfall marks, many of which
added chrome in an attempt to impart even more flavour to the game; often at
the expense of playability.
With the fold of Denver Glont and Vienna (a zine responsible for much of
the redesigns in the latter half of the decade) interest in the variant has
once again waned, although there are several games being run in New Zealand at
the time of writing.
Most Downfall games feature Gondor, Gandalf, Rohan, Saruman, Elves,
Dwarves, Umbar and Mordor as player powers. There are personality units for
Gandalf, Aragorn, the Fellowship, Saruman, Sauron, and Faramir. There is a ring
piece which has a crucial role in the game, basically you either win by
destroying the ring or by wearing it (becoming evil in the process, but gaining
special powers) and conquering the board.
Downfall games usually contain extensive press releases, usually parodying
the style of the book and press sagas are common. See
Variant (KW).
- DRAGON'S TEETH RATING SYSTEM (1) [MB/PG:Jun80/Nov93]
- Created by Steve McLendon and Bob Sargeant, and run by Steve, the game is
worth 34 points to the winner, or divided evenly between the drawers. Among
survivors, 1 point is given for each center held, and penalties are levied for
early elimination. Inactive players and standby
players are not rated. Game and player rateability criteria are given in DW 22.
System was maintained by Stephen Wilcox in service
zine, _The Dragon's Lair_, until Wilcox left the hobby in the fall of 1987.
See Rating Systems (KW).
- DRANG NACH OSTEN [PB:1980]
- Gigantic wargame of Eastern Front--the ultimate wargame. Never played
beyond the second turn in my sight, and that took a weekend. The Real Thing was
probably less complicated.
- DRAW [PB:1980]
- Since the rules state that all players surviving must share in a draw, a
draw is where a game ends without one player reaching 18 centres.
- DRAW PROPOSAL (1) [PB/TNP:1980/87]
- In theory a game not won outright can continue forever. Usually, however,
the players manage to agree to a result. Occasionally there is fierce
controversy over who should share in the
Calhamer point and the
GM may have to intervene.
After any season a player may propose a 'draw', a 'joint win' (the same) or
a 'concession' (where the other players agree that one country will win). If it
is in the opinion of the GM a reasonable proposal, he will ask
for votes on it. Failure to vote may well be counted as assent.
- DRAWS INCLUDE ALL SURVIVORS
- See DIAS
- DR GOLDILOX METHOD (1) [AoS:88]
- Any form of psychological warfare not involving physical action, e.g.
flattery, intimidation, charisma.
- DROP FEE (1) [MB:Mar82]
- See Deposit.
- DROPOUT (1) [MB/MN:Mar82/Jan96]
- A player who is removed from a game by the GM for not
submitting either orders or a formal resignation. An abomination. The first
zine *not* to replace dropouts was Dan Brannan's
_Wild 'N Wooly_.
Novice Games often have a large number of
dropouts: the email game Jem (1994PD) had 29 players, with at least 3 players
controlling each power during the course of the game and Austria having a total
of six players. This is a 'record' of sorts.
- DROPOUT (2) [MN:Oct94]
- _Dolchstoss_ 189 (September 1994) contained an all-time
leader board for the most dropouts from UK games: John Piggott (23 games), Eric
Willis (14), Barry McManus (13), Martin Hammon (12), Steve Docwra, Paul Segal
and Mike Sherrad (10). Most of these date from the 1970s. Most prolific
dropouts in the 1980s were Mike Sykes Gelder and Dave Rowbotham (8).
- DROPOUT NUMBER (1) [MN:Jun95]
- The average number of dropouts in a game of diplomacy. Interesting
questions include: Does the dropout number depend upon the medium used to play
the game and do orphan games have a higher dropout number. Concept introduced
by Mark Nelson in _Everything_ 90 (October 1994).
See also Length Number,
Q Rating and Win Number.
- DROPOUT NUMBER (2) [MN:Jun95]
- Some stats!
GAME DROPOUT NUMBER
NAPG Non-orphaned games* 2.75 /pm 1.56
NAPG Orphaned games* 4.00 /pm 1.32
COMPU Non-orphaned games* 2.02 /pm 1.28
COMPU = Games played over Compuserve network.
NAPG = North American Postal Games
* Data from Everything 85 (May 1992) through Everything 1991 (March 1995).
- DSI
- See Diplomacy Skill Index.
- DTRS
- See Dragonsteeth Rating System.
- DUMB MISTAKE (1) [MN:Jan95]
- A mistake is said to be dumb if it falls into
one of the following categories:
a) miswritten orders (less common yet possible in judge diplomacy,
e.g. miswriting F Nth-Nwy as the also legal F Nth-Nwg)
b) incoherent orders (e.g. A Ser S A Bud, A Bud-Rum)
c) failing to defend an easily defendable SC (unless negotiated?),
e.g. A Kie h, A Mun h instead of A Kie S A Mun if enemy units are
in Ruh and Bur.
See also
long term strategic mistake,
short term strategic mistake and
tactical mistake.
This classification of mistakes is due to Robert Rehbold.
- DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS (1) [MN:Apr92]
- The first role-playing game, designed in the early 1970's, distributed by
TSR, and attracting a cult following in the
mid-to-late 1970's. As a result of extensive publicity it became a household
name by 1986-87 (by which time its approach to role-playing had become outdated
and better systems were available). Even now it is the most widely known RP
game, probably the most widely played and certainly the best supported in terms
of add-ons but serious rpgers look down on it as archaic.
Many of the people responsible for designing the game and producing the
first set of modules/add-ons had been postal Diplomacy players in the 1960's
and some of them had been zine editors/involved in hobby politics. Many of the
first D&D players were Diplomacy fans.
At different times various people have run D&D games in dip zines. These
games have normally taken one of two approaches: (1) Design a party and wander
around the GM's dungeon; (2) A campaign style game. On the whole these have
not lasted any length of time and with the advent of pro PBM games fewer of
these games are being offered. In fact I haven't seen any for several years in
the dip hobby (although role-playing fans may still run them.)
- DW (1) [MN:Feb92]
- A common abbreviation for _Diplomacy World_.
- DYNAMIC STALEMATE LINE (1) [MB/MN:Jun80/May94]
- One in which a unit must be ordered to move, rather than hold or support.
Term devised by Robert Lipton and Douglas Reif in October 1973. First published
dynamic stalemate line appeared in Eric Verheiden's 'Western Stalemate
Positions' (_Graustark_ 313, 13th July 1974).
Opposite to Static Stalemate Line. See
_Diplomacy Digest_ 10/11 (p 9, 16-17) and 14/15 (p2-3).