I love mastering. If I had to choose between playing and mastering, well, I don't know what I'd do. Why do I love mastering? Because I'm a mentor-type teaching person. I love to convey theory and make it practical for the players.
So, what I love is obvious, but what I hate may not be. Everyone gets disgruntled (I'm being gentle here) when players abandon. In a public game on a judge, you can expect it. And yeah, I don't like it either. But what really gets me as a judgekeeper are abandoned masters. Yes, you heard me — GM's that abandon their games. Somebody starts a game and then just leaves it. It's the whole "auto-master" philosophy. It does nothing for your players and while it helps get things started, it does nothing for the eventual advancement and betterment of the players.
Oh yeah, and the game doesn't usually go anywhere either. If someone wants to change the rules, it goes nowhere. Frustrating. To be fair, there are certain circumstances where a GM gets pulled away from the hobby and I don't mind that. They care but they have a life. My frustration comes from those who don't care.
Ok, enough of that soapbox. I would classify GMs into five categories. Here they are, counting from the bottom. The lowest are the masters who abandon (again, the ones who don't care about the game). I'd like to call them "losers", "low-life scum", "bantha poo-doo" or "second class citizens" but that's probably too harsh. I like Jim Collins (second only to Peter Drucker) and his works, so we'll call them "Level I" GM's.
The third category are the masters who finish the game with the usual "good job" EOG but don't respond very quickly. Keeping with the theme, we'll call these guys "Level II" GM's. The average masters ("Level III") are those who really pay attention to the game. Then there are "Level IV" masters that do a lot for the players and are very proactive about their games. They also have a lot of fun as well. The last and best masters ("Level V") are those who actively participate in the game and probably go over the top seeing a game as another chance to increase the skill of every player involved. So, how do you tell which type you have in your game? How do you better your own status as a GM? Well, I'm glad you asked because we're going to talk about that very thing (like you needed me to tell you that).
I will say that if you get a single broadcast message from the GM shortly before S1901M that says nothing more "good luck", you've got either a level I or II GM. If you don't get anything at all, you've probably got a level I GM. By F1902M, you should know. The best way to tell is to send a press to the GM after S1901M. If you get an answer by W1901A - level II. If you don't get anything — level I. As a judgekeeper, I look at the access log. Unfortunately, that's not available to the average player (NOTE to self: make a color-coded flag for when the GM last logged in). The basic difference is how often they check in on the game. A Level I GM will forget about the whole thing. A Level II GM will probably check the game once a week at the earliest.
How do you work with a Level I GM? Frankly, you don't. For those in
the PBEM hobby, you know that if you don't get an answer, you're doomed
to find a GM replacement. Finding a replacement isn't too bad if the
game has no errors, but it could be agonizing if you do. If you find
yourself in this predicament, e-mail the judgekeeper right away. For
USDP, there are three of us. Just e-mail What about a Level II GM? Well, fortunately, there's a difference but
it's still inconvenient. You may have to wait a week or two before
someone will contact you. Sometimes a month. There's not much you can
do but wait and commiserate with other players.
With a Level II GM, you can probably set the stage early if you know
that's Level II. Send him a press early and just tell him you're
worried about delays and ask him if there's anyway to get a hold of him
during a real emergency. If there's not or you don't get an answer,
you're stuck.
So, you may be reading this and thinking, "Wait a second. I GM that
way. I thought I was doing pretty good." Well, you may be right, but
also remember that people are always a lot friendlier to your face than
what they really think of you. If you want to improve your game
mastering abilities, start by checking in on the game daily. You
don't have to send press to everyone, but send an occasional one. When
you see a really late power, check with him and let everyone know you're
working on it. These types of things tell people that (a) you care
about the game and (b) you care about them. It sends the right message
and doesn't take too much of your time — maybe 5 minutes to make sure
deadlines processed and that players aren't late. Do that and you'll be
doing well.
Level III's are better. They will keep up on the game and keep an eye
for things. Most players excited about the game will start out this
way. Usually, the burnt out GMs are in Level II status and those that
just don't care show up as Level I's. This, though, is the average
place for people to be at.
Don't get me wrong. Level III game masters are *not* bad. I wish we
had more of them. A lot of times, people get invited to GM a game and
lose interest just because there's not much they think they can do. Oh,
but there is! We'll see that in a just little bit.
If you want to GM at the next level, just do one thing: enable the
EAVESDROP command and respond, anticipate, have fun. So far, this has
been about how much time to respond to questions and game awareness.
Now, it's about participation. Have fun with it.
Ok, like I said, these guys are fun. This is when you get a lengthy
message from the GM restating rules you've already heard. That's just
to get the administrative stuff out of the way. Then you get some
outrageous email from the League of Nations offering peace to everyone
in a tongue and cheek way, promising only to keep the communication
channels up. Then, later, as you're testing the email way of doing
things because you haven't used it since you were in college, you get an
unexpected press from the GM saying he noticed and asking if you need
any help.
See yourself as a player *and* GM and you can get in on the fun. I
always play like the League of Nations. For those not in the know,
that's the UN pre-cursor. I went tongue and cheek (I did go over the
top and if you're listening Russia, I apologize again) against Russia in
one season and he threatened to invade OSG (Office of Secretary
General). Then, a press release came announcing that Russia had made
peace with the OSG and some unintelligible quote from the Secretary
General about his finger being over the "resign button".
It sounds funny now, but I did go overboard. Needless to say, you can
have a *ton* of fun this way without subjecting yourself to the torture
of "are they going to stab me". And the players enjoy it as well,
especially those stabbed and eliminated (like offering them at job at
the LN in Switzerland as well as diplomatic immunity — gives some
dignity going out).
Ok, so far we've talked about response time and participation. Now,
we're going to up the ante to coaching. This is my favorite, but I will
be frank with you — it's time consuming. This is why I only play or GM
one game at a time. A Level V GM will not only participate and have fun
but will also look at how he can better the player's abilities. There's
no one way to do this, but here's my method.
First of all, I create four empty emails: one for each EOG statement I'm
going to make (I make a minimum of four; usually, there's a lot of other
interaction as well). The first is for capturing all the press verbatim
(yes, I have the EAVESDROP rule on in all games) as well as the game
results. I divide it by season. I used to just create a summary of the
press, but now I go for the full detail so players can get the full
impact of what people thought of them. This is the raw data. The
outline of this email is pretty easy to follow, but there's *a lot* to
slog through — especially if there were a lot of press. I do eliminate
press to and from myself (GM) and as I'm reading press, I eliminate
personal press between players in private games. Also, at the end of
each season, I copy the results (I don't copy retreat results. Instead,
I just append them to the "dislodged" result). I devote a half-hour per
day doing this. So, the first EOG statement looks something like this:
You get the idea.
The second EOG statement is a seasonal summary. Instead of looking at
press, I evaluate the alliances that were formed or deals made. It's a
good way of looking "behind the scenes" without slogging through the
details. In addition to the alliances and movement summary, I include
analysis on both summaries as well as forecasts of what I think the next
moves will be. This gets hard because I have the omniscient view and
know things the players don't. So, I take it from the POV of a semi
no-press game. When alliance players are supporting and I know they
aren't a threat, I look at it that way. Anyway, the second EOG
statement looks like this: The ellipses (...) are just to cut things out. I didn't want to have to
make up an entire game. This one takes me the longest but players
really like the forecasts because it gives them an idea of what they
could have done differently. I will show multiple order sets if I can't
make up my mind what another power will do. This usually happens at the
end game.
The third EOG statement is like the second, but at the year level and
with a lot less detail. I basically summarize the analysis pieces and
speak more from a global perspective. So, that's the third EOG. I think people like it to get an overview of
when things shifted without slogging through the mud of the detail. The
last EOG is the first one people read: the player summary. This is the
shortest and the most important. You don't want to be personal here and
keep it at a very professional level. Remember, you want people to
learn. You don't want to justify your actions as a game master. Now, one last final note. I do all my press by email in USDP and
there's a little known directive called OFFICIAL. This changes the
subject to whatever you want. With these statements, I'll change it to
"EOG: Seasonal Detail", "EOG: Seasonal Summary", "EOG: Yearly Summary",
"EOG: Player Summary". You don't have to add the "(gamename)" at the
end — USDP will do it for you.
So, we've looked at the different levels of being a GM and in detail the
Level V GM. To summarize: Is it worth it to be a Level V GM? Well, I get a lot of positive
feedback from players and have had at least two players to please let
them know when I'm getting a game together. I've also had other people
ask to be in my games because they saw the work that I did in the
coaching area.
If you like coaching and like seeing people improve to their potential,
you'll enjoy being a Level V GM.
If you wish to e-mail feedback on this article to the author, and clicking
on the envelope above does not work for you, feel free to use the "Dear
DP..." mail interface.
LEVEL III GAME MASTERS
LEVEL IV GAME MASTERS
LEVEL V GAME MASTERS
S1901M
PRESS
(Friday, January 1st, 2007)
Press from Russia to Turkey in Diplomacy:
Don't tell the GM, but since we know each other, we
can cheat and collaborate off-line.
End Message
MOVES
...
S1901M
ALLIANCES:
TURKEY and RUSSIA are working together, but TURKEY is also
working with AUSTRIA and ITALY to take RUSSIA out of the game early.
ENGLAND is on board and since FRANCE and GERMANY are fighting each
other, it may be everyone against RUSSIA.
PRESS ANALYSIS:
AUSTRIA: Talk more. You only sent one press and your neighbors
are going to get nervous with a silent neighbor.
...
RUSSIA: Like I said in my intro press, I get all copies of
press. :)
MOVES:
AUSTRIA: F TRI-ADR; A BUD S A VIE-GAL; A VIE-GAL.
ENGLAND: F LON-ENG; F EDI-NWG; A LVP-YOR.
FRANCE: F BRE-MAO; A MAR-BUR; A PAR-PIC.
GERMANY: F KIE-DEN; A MUN-RUH; A BER-MUN.
ITALY: A VEN-TYR; F NAP-TYS; A ROM-APU.
RUSSIA: F STP/SC-BOT; F SEV-RUM; A MOS-UKR; A WAR-GAL.
TURKEY: F ANK-BLA; A CON-BUL; A SMY-ARM.
MOVE ANALYSIS:
AUSTRIA: Good anti-Russia moves. If Turkey is true, you'll
have RUM and SER with some great momentum against Russia. Great work!
...
RUSSIA: I'm not sure there's much you could have seen coming.
Tough break.
FORECAST:
AUSTRIA: A GAL-RUM; A BUD-SER; F ADR C A APU-ALB.
...
TURKEY: F BLA S A ARM-SEV; A ARM-SEV; A BUL S A GAL-RUM.
1901
ALLIANCES:
I was surprised that RUSSIA never found a friend. AUSTRIA seemed
interested at one point, but after the retaliation in the fall, thought
better of it. His units were better placed to take WAR anyway. I
estimate RUSSIA will be out of the game first.
MOVES:
Things went pretty much as expected, with the exception of Italy's
missed build. That will really hurt him and pretty much guarantees an
A/T. Based on this, ITALY may be second or third out of the game.
RUSSIA:
Well, I think for the most part you did well. You just got beat up by
four other powers and I'm not sure you could have done anything about
it. Turkey is a very strong player and had Austria, Italy, and England
on board from the start. I might have talked a little sooner but
Austria was so anti-Russian that you wouldn't have had a chance with
him. To your credit, you saw the move to the BLA for what it was and
took immediate defensive action. You made a deal with England and Italy
that kept you in the game far longer than I think Turkey wanted. So,
kudos for a good defensive play.
Sam Tyler
(dipsamt@gmail.com)