View source for DC Newsletter 2007 December

==What’s Happening This December At Diplomaticcorp==

Can we all believe that yet another holiday season has rolled around and that marks the end of the 7th year of Deathblade_penguin being at DC? Wow... thinking of all the people I’ve upset in those 7 years… all the games I’ve won... (And should have won)… ah the memories.

But I digress…

The December Newsletter is here (full of special Christmas waffle and extra long).

==Item 1. -- The Winter Blitz.==

It’s almost here! The scheduled start date is January 3 (although there is rumour of pushing that out to the 6th if there are enough people who request as much). So that’s starting in 18 days… YES 18 Days… and already we have 21 signed up... that’s 3 exciting boards of Winter Blitz Diplomacy. BUT we have GMs available for at least another 21 players – so what are you waiting for... SIGN UP... SIGN UP NOW!

Tell me more I hear you say...

It’s a fast paced 2-round tournament starting in January, and complete by June… The only online tournament offering a donated prize fund of $200 in board games! This is a fast tournament! The only place where you can play 2 full rounds in 6 months time.

Time controls: 1 game year per week:

Deadlines: 3 to 4 days per season, with Spring due every Monday and Fall due every Thursday.

Full info and signup: www.diplomaticcorp.com/winterblitz

==Item 2. -- New Games Recruiting.==

As many of you know, the standards have been kicking off in DC at least one starting every couple of weeks going back for the last 6 months. The club has been bursting at the seams with new members, all looking to join in that good old game of standard Diplomacy. Why do variants take a little longer to fill? They’re harder to play, often on an unfamiliar map, and with rules that take some time to learn. But for those who put in the effort, a variant can provide a nice deviation from the standard game to fuel that diplomacy addiction. WELL... there are 2 variants recruiting right now in www.diplomaticcorp.com in the OPEN games section that can fill that. One is Alex’s YOUNGSTOWN variant… a great starting variant for those who want to try a new map… and of course my deluge variant… are you able to operate under diplomacy and run from the rising water (this one is a prelude to Deluge PLUS that I plan to run next year)… So what are you waiting for… stop reading this and go sign up now.

==Item 3. – It’s Only A Game!==

Yes, even I and the fellow moderators need a reminder of that phrase sometimes. Given the large number of games and players in DC, at some point you
May encounter the same player more than once or perhaps even a player that you don’t necessary like their playing style.. So what can you do... well you have to say
“It’s only a game!” So some of the Penguin’s titbits for new (and old players) as you become more known in the diplomacy community and start up new games.

A) Play each game differently. Never let your mood in one game, affect how you play in another.

B) Start all negotiations from a new standpoint. Whilst a trusted ally in one game may seem promising in a new game, think of all the possibilities of different strategies etc…

C) Don’t take anything personally. A stab is just a stab!

D) If you don’t like the way someone is negotiating (or not!!!!!) – email them about it. Sometimes as much as we hate it, real life issues get in the way of diplomacy and players bring their stresses in….

==Item 4 - Meet The Players.==

Each month or so, I am going to ask 3 experienced or achieving players to write a few lines about themselves so we can get to know them. This month I will start with our 3 moderators.

My name is Stephen Lytton, although I am better known as Deathblade_Penguin (or Penguin). I’ve been playing online diplomacy for over 7 years now most of it for DC. I also play in tournaments for the Australian team. I would like to think I am at least semi- recognisable by my peers in other clubs. I have been a moderator for 6 years and I am the one who keeps an eye on the active games, players and stats (amongst many other things). I am 35 years old, single (although divorced) and I can be moody, domineering, brash and quick to react.

My name is Michael Sims, and I like sunny days, long walks on the beach, and tormenting penguins. Um yeah. Blurb about me. I’m 34, live in California, and spend most of my time working on the dc website adding stats, charts, snippets, and anything else that sounds cool at the time. Besides Dip I play 18xx, Axis & Allies and other board games, and grew up playing stuff like D&D and running BBS’s for hours on ends. Typical geek. Nowadays I’m married w two kids, a fish, a house, a car, and a penguin that I keep locked in a cage and poke every time Steve stabs me in a game. Poor guy.

There are some who call me … Trout. I’m physically 30 years old and mentally something else. Currently working as an engineer in the Big Mucky of Northern Alberta Canada, and living in transit between Edmonton and Fort McMurray?. Some months ago, Steve and Mike were crazy enough to ask me to help moderate DC and have probably regretted it ever since. evil wink

I’ve loved the game of Dip ever since my first game – during which a fist fight broke out, some girls got scared and called the cops, two of my buddies ended up in the drunk tank and the third walked around with shiners for the next few days. (The next night we taped the board back together and launched into another game…)

(And, the Trout adds with apologies to Tennyson):

“… Come, my friends.<BR>
'T is not too late to seek a newer world.<BR>
Push off, and sitting well in order smite<BR>
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds<BR>
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths<BR>
Of all the western stars, until I die.<BR>
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;<BR>
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,<BR>
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.<BR>
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'<BR>
We are not now that strength which in old days<BR>
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,--<BR>
One equal temper of heroic hearts,<BR>
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will<BR>
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”<BR>

==Item 5 – The DC Site.==

Have you check out the Dc site lately? Not only is it looking good, Mike has added in the stats section, the companions are in there and now we have the DipWiki.

So if you want to read an article on diplomacy openings or variants – that is a great place to start. More importantly if you want to write or add your own articles on diplomacy well NOW you can… I know we have great GMs like Mike, Jerry and Jason (to name a few) who have all created or improved on variants so let’s get this all in e-print, shall we! (Is e-print a word... because I like it)

www.dipwiki.com

==Item 6 – Do You Want More?==

The let us know by emailing me at stevelytton@hotmail.com