Diplomacy can be played in one of two formats: Face-to-Face (FTF) or Remotely.
Face-to-Face
This is the way the game was designed to play and that isn't surprising given that the Allan B Calhamer was developing Diplomacy in the 1950s. FTF play is around a table with all the players present. They don't always stay at the table, though; it's usual that, during the Negotiation phase players will disappear into little nooks and crannies to discuss strategy in secret.
House Game
There are a number of ways to play FTF games but Calhamer had only one way in mind, really, what you might call a House Game. This is a group of people playing Dip for fun as a one-off game. Nothing else, no distractions caused by scoring or outside pressures... well, other than the time taken to complete it.Tournament Play
A more competitive way to play arrived when tournaments arrived. These would be organised, open to players to compete against each other in a number of rounds. Each game was scored and the winner was the player that scored best over a number of games.
Because tournaments tend to be played over weekends, or long weekends, there is a time limit in which to get these games completed. It is common for a tournament game to end before it's finished, therefore. This is because they tend to have a Game End point, a game year that will be the last year in the game.
This is certainly a common format in Europe. In North America, I understand, early round games don't feature a Game End date... but the final game does. Which slightly silly to me: play until you're ready to end the game early on but, in the final round, the most important one usually, you've got a limit.
The Game End year means that games played in a tournament are a variant of Diplomacy. The game is designed to be played until it's impractical to play it any more, either because there's no time left or because the game isn't going to end any other way.
Tournament games are also a variant because they're scored. There are a number of scoring systems that are used, and each system has pros and cons. Well, no they don't: there are a number of systems that have only cons. I'll discuss scoring systems in another series of posts.
It's the fact that they're scored at all that makes this type of play a variant, however. It means that players need to play Dip towards the scoring system if they're going to do well and this usually means that they're not playing Diplomacy as it was designed.
League Play
League play is not quite the same as a tournament. In a tournament, a game is part of a small number of rounds, all played close together. There tend to be more players involved because a tournament is an event.
League play is likely to be over a longer number of games, and the games are unlikely to require a set Game End year because you're likely to only need to complete one or two games in a round. From this point of view, a league game is not a variant.
Yet league games are scored - there's no point in playing them otherwise! Again, then, the scoring system is important. Does the system mean that, to do well, you have to play differently to the way you'd play a house game? If so, then the league game is certainly a variant.
Now, of course, if you're playing a game that is part of a series of games, then you're playing more competitively than you would a stand alone game. You want to get the best result you can within the context of the league, and League Play is therefore a variant. But if the scoring system exacerbates those differences, then the variation widens.
Remote Play
Any kind of play that involves players being a distant from each other is Remote Play. It is automatically a variant of Dip because this isn't what Calhamer had in mind at all. However, how much of a variant depends on other factors.
Play-by-Mail (PBM)
Remote play started with Play-by-Mail (or Postal) Diplomacy. Players would write letters to each other to communicate and negotiate. Orders were posted to a Game Master (GM) who would adjudicate, produce a map, and post the details back.
Often PBM games were long events, as you'd imagine, especially if it involved international post. Often letters would cross and you'd find yourself having sent a proposal to someone only for that player to have sent you her ideas before she had the chance to read yours. Very frustrating, sometimes.
The length of PBM games meant that you would often be asked to include Retreat and even Adjustment orders when submitting your movement orders, which meant that you had to be a soothsayer to play well.
But it was what it was: It involved a large player base and games tended to be interesting because of it. It removed the frustration of trying to organise a large enough amount of time to play FTF - and then six other players to compete against. It developed a real community in the Dip Hobby. More people were aware of FTF tournaments and discussing Dip strategy and rules became popular.
From this came the Dip zines. Zines were amateur publications (some of them very amateur!) that became the focus of the Hobby. They weren't restricted to hosting games: they published articles, held discussions, offered rules and map variants, as well as other games. Until the age of electronic communications they were immensely popular and successful.
Play-by-Email (PBEM)
And then came the internet and email. Email killed Postal Diplomacy because it was faster and easier. It wasn't an over night death, but long and lingering simply because not everyone had access to email technology. Difficult to imagine these days, huh?
The Hobby adapted, of course. A number of zines went online. The two biggest to survive were The Diplomatic Pouch and Diplomacy World.
TDP was published through a website. It is sad to see that today the Pouch seems to be in trouble - the last issue posted was the Fall 2019 Movement issue and the editorial of that issue is sub-titled: "At the last minute of the last day of the year we rescue the world from the plight of a year without a single Zine issue."
Diplomacy World has reached issue issue 149, published in January 2020. It is still going strong.
There are other ways to discuss and play Dip these days, so it isn't surprising. Still, other zines appear and there is a new zine Last Orders! that started in January 2020; the link takes you to issue 2. You'll need to subscribe to get updates.
And there's a return to of an old one: Eternal Sunshine. Resurrected in January 2020 by it's original editor, let's hope it keeps going.
How did this turn into a discussion on Dip zines? Oh well... I'll add a page on Dip publications.
Webplay
In time, automated judges appeared. These were programmed to resolve adjudications without the need for a human GM. As you'd expect, they came with some bugs and errors to begin with but they became more reliable and, eventually, reliable enough for them to be adapted by Dip websites.
Webplay is the format used to describe playing Diplomacy on a dedicated website. Here, there are usually in-game communication systems, removing the need to use email or instant messaging. Orders are adjudicated automatically, and the player base can be in the thousands (although probably the hundreds of active players is more accurate).
Unfortunately, Webplay is bedevilled by drop-outs. Like any other game played on the net, it relies on players sticking with it and it is all too easy to not do so online. Still you can get a good game with good players if you look for it.
Webplay usually involves scoring of some kind or another and there are plenty of players who play to the system. Deadlines vary and it is common for communications to be possible during Retreats and Adjustment phases. Webplay - for some - is a big variant; for many players it is simply a way to play.
A number of websites feature variants, and you'll find tournaments organised through website's forums. The most important online tournament - the Online Diplomacy Championship (ODC) - is hosted by the two biggest sites: PlayDiplomacy and webDiplomacy.
Play-by-Forum (PBF)
Many websites feature forums, and there are other websites that are run as a forum alone. In this format, games are run through the forum (or organised through the forum) and may feature PBEM or messaging directly through the forum itself.
Forums are a great way to discuss the game. Information can be posted immediately and replies are easily logged. It's difficult to miss out.
And, if you want to play variants, forums are probably the way to go. Many sites offer variants but it is in the forum that you'll find the biggest selection. Take a look at Playdip's variant section of the forum.
And Finally...
As you'd expect, new ways of playing Dip are out there too. There are Dip apps, such as Diplicity, and some games (as well as discussions) are run through Discord. I don't know much about these (if I know much about anything) so I'll let you make up your own mind.
Or contact me and pass some information on.
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