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During this year's Tempest tournament I had the pleasure of meeting Edward Hawthorne and some of the other members of PiggyBack. During a brief bull session before the Sunday round, the discussion turned somewhat philosophic and someone asked me why I still participate in F2F [face-to-face] Dip gatherings (no Buz it's not just so I can stab you). This discussion apparently spurred some further conversations among the Piggys and ultimately led Edward to ask me to write an article on the topic which he called the "Gospel of Diplomacy". As I thought about it more in depth I realized that there is more to be discussed than just what brings me back. World wide, the F2F hobby is growing and strengthening. Why? Is it demographics? Is it the result of the work so many people have put into it, or is there something else in play? How do we keep today's youth and tomorrow's newbies involved until they're "old guys". It appears to me that F2F Dip may be nearing a point of critical mass. By looking for answers to these questions we may be able to solidify the gains the hobby made since the 1980's and place it on a firm foundation for future growth. Most everyone in the F2F hobby knows who I am. Since I don't play e-mail or postal I should probably introduce myself. I began playing in Dip tournaments in 1976 at Origins II in Baltimore. I have played in and/or attended 2 to 4 tournaments each year since. Along the way I have had more than my share of success and a lot of fun. Currently I attend DixieCon and Tempest. In addition, I'm the TD [tournament director] at WBC in Baltimore, and, as of the first of November last, at The Carnage Accords in Vermont. Although I still love playing I do not consider myself an actively competitive player. I will play at any of the tournaments I attend if I am needed to fill a board. I do not go to tournaments with the intention to play to win the tournament. It is this which prompted the question, Why do I still put the time and effort into it? When I took over WBC in 1991, the primary reason was to support the hobby. For almost 15 years I was able to play in tournaments all over North America because someone else was willing to put the time and effort into running one. I had had my fun and it was now my turn to carry some of the load. As time passed, I became less involved as a player, and I considered giving up WBC but found that I couldn't. The reason, quite simply, was that many of my friends are people I have met playing Diplomacy. Thus the short answer to the questions which inspired this article is friendship. It is, of course, common for friendship to develop between people who share a hobby. Commonality of interests is probably the primary source of friendship. So, in that regard, the Diplomacy hobby is like a Corvette club or model railroading. I'm sure there are many like me who count among their friends those they have met through Diplomacy. As important as this is to each of us and to the health of the hobby, it seems to me that there is something larger going on. As corny as it sounds, part of the strength of the hobby is, and has always been pride. I think many F2F Dip players take pride in the fact that they have the ability and fortitude to play Dip; after all it's a tough way to have fun. We survive by our wits and our guts. There's no hiding behind bad dice or cards. Because of the wonder of simultaneous movement we don't even get the chance to the opposition's moves and plan to counter them. Let's face it, we think we're a little better. As many of you F2F players know, emotion plays a large role in Dip. Seven people gather around a Diplomacy board and go to war. This war could be described as "the war of the salesmen". England has a story to sell to France, who has a story he's selling to England They are each selling a different story to Germany & vice versa, etc., etc. As any good salesman can tell you the key to selling is to get the prospect to make an emotional commitment to your product or, in this instance, idea. When that happens the prospect has "bought". If France "buys" England's story, he has made that commitment to England and he does what England wants. He will be more easily manipulated in the future, that is, he is more likely to be a repeat customer. We are all vulnerable to this, some more than others. So, five hours into a game the person you've treated like a brother, (you've bought his story, it appeared that he had bought yours) suddenly decides that the easiest way to victory is through your supply centers. This pisses you off. It is the negative emotions we feel when we are stabbed which makes Diplomacy such a tough game to handle and is probably one of the reasons the hobby has had a lot of turn over. The hobby is known for "eating it's young". While there are negative feelings involved in losing in any competitive event, whether it be sports or a game of Chutes and Ladders, in Dip these emotions are magnified. First, because we can't blame our lack of success on bad luck. Second, and more importantly, the "Selling and Buying" process which is central to Dip negotiations sets us up for the fall. Being the recipient of a stab is akin to having your significant other tell you, "Hit the road." It is the combination of strategy, tactics, psychology, and acting which make Diplomacy the almost magical experience it is. There is no other gaming experience which can provide the intensity F2F Dip does, both in it's high's and it's low's. Playing F2F Dip is like going to war. There is victory and defeat, elation and agony. As in war, there can be a great feeling of comradery born out of these shared experiences and emotions, and out of mutual respect between the combatants. This is Edward's Gospel of Diplomacy. Underneath the lying and backstabbing there has developed an esprit de corps. This comradery has, in my opinion, become an important part of the F2F hobby today, and has the potential to help it to even greater heights. Are we going to see a Diplomacy cable channel? Probably not, but one never knows. So, what does all this mean? I suspect that for most of you F2F players this is a minor revelation. You're probably saying to yourself, "Oh yeah, I knew that, I just never thought about it that way." I would like to suggest that in addition to debating what I've said here (I'm confident there will be debate, this is after all Diplomacy) the hobby make the most of these ideas to promote, improve, and grow. So, starting at the beginning, we need to recruit more new players. There are a variety of ways to do this including contacting local high schools and colleges about Dip clubs (as I write this I see where Manus Hand has just recently met with a high school club in the Denver area and as a result expects a large turnout from them for WDC XIII), work with a local game store to get the word out to players and new purchasers of Diplomacy and/or set up a demo game at a Wizards of the Coast store in your area. Another very simple approach is to bring more of the e-mail hobby on board. e-mail players are a natural source of new talent for F2F Dip.. How many of you e-mailers can think of someone you've done battle with that you'd like to meet and perhaps get another shot at. If every F2F player who also plays e-mail were to recruit one new player from the masses of e-mail players, the turn out at tournaments would be incredible. Just as a big challenge is getting newbies to become regulars. As we all know, there is a trend at tournaments to quickly trash newbies, and that is one reason the Hobby has such a high rate of turn over. Far be it from me to suggest that, in the interest of increasing the turn out at tournaments, experienced players pull their punches. There is, however, a developing custom which has helped create a friendlier atmosphere. Back in the 70's and 80's there were feuds which spilled over from the postal hobby into the F2F hobby. Tournaments were less than civilized events which may have included shouting, trash talking , tears and occasionally threats. After the tournament each little clic would go it's separate way. Beginning in the early 90's this antagonistic atmosphere changed. Generally speaking, good humor prevails at these events, and in some cases the mood is absolutely jovial. Here on the east coast there is usually an evening out for dinner complete with a sort of kangaroo court. At WBC we spend Saturday night hanging together drinking wine playing games, bonding, and having fun doing something other than playing Dip. This type of social interaction between competitors helps sooth the wounds of the weekend. So stomp the newbies if you must but try to include them in the social end of the hobby. I think we will see that many more of them will come back round after round and tournament after tournament. Another great aspect of the hobby is the local Dip clubs such as PT&KS and PiggyBack. I think these are both an out-growth of hobby comradery and tool to promote it. They are certainly another great asset to the growth of the hobby. Now, a word of caution. With all this 'love' there will be a tendency to ally with those we consider friends against outsiders. This is a natural impulse, we are all more trusting of those we know. To one degree or another, this is and has always been a problem in the hobby. The existence of clubs raises the potential of inappropriate alliances to a much higher level. It is of the utmost importance that we don't get rivalries started between clubs. Club members who show up and play with the intention of demonstrating that their club is better than another would do an incredible amount of damage to the F2F hobby. In my house rules for WBC the third statement is that, "Players are expected to play in their own interest." This is a pet mantra of mine and is directed specifically at situations such as I've just described. To me Diplomacy is almost "amoral", that is, a player can do anything short of physically assaulting an opponent, to be victorious. The exception to this is if he is not playing to achieve his own personal best. He is cheating himself and, in a tournament situation, he is potentially cheating others playing in that tournament. There is no way I know of for a TD to enforce this concept as a rule. For the good of the game we each must accept this as part of the game As the hobby continues to grow and additional clubs (and Nations?) become part of the world Dip community, it is most important that we all affirm within ourselves that we are playing for personal glory not to prove our group is better. The F2F Dip hobby is in high gear; the future is happening right now. Opportunities for growth are the best they have ever been. So join or start a club, recruit new talent, or volunteer to perform a service for the hobby. Most importantly, join in and play in one of the many housecons and tournaments you'll find around the country. Where's the love? On February 14th, 15th and 16th it's going to be in Denver, CO. at WDC XIII. If you love Dip and want to bask in the love of your fellow lying, back stabbing Dip players, then YOU NEED TO BE THERE. I know I will be.
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Jim Yerkey, DAL (JimdOzz@aol.com) If you wish to e-mail feedback on this article to the author, click on the letter above. |
