"Variants, by their nature, are experimental, unbalanced, and generally get boring quickly because they lack the subtle nuances and attention to detail that the original Diplomacy map has."

I disagree. I think the variants provide many more opportunities for "nuances" and far more strategic development, because it is often new territory, requiring the player to really test his skills in dramatically new situations. Playing thousands upon thousands of classic games makes it easy to predict those subtle nuances of the game, and when everyone knows that, they typically resolve the same way. That, IMO is boring. The most interesting and fun nuances of the game are the new ones that you have to negotiate without previous knowledge, making it more realistic anyway because you don't typically fight the same war over and over again. That's why I prefer this site, more fun to play variants, Oli's work with the features is amazing (the "preview" feature is a God-send), and the players here are much, much better and exceedingly cooler than the moldy figs over at Webdip.

I have some doubts about the form, but the essence of 2WL assertion is reasonably right, at least if we argue about the Classic board game: the crowd is maybe 10 times greater on webdip, so…

Regarding the thoughts about the variants instead, +1 Raro, nothing to add.

Only one adjustment:
the "preview" feature is not a God-send, it’s a Decima-send, which came true through the hands of Oli

:-)

ah, thank you Decima. It was a great addition.
... there's another reason I like this site: democratic representation!

i cant remember to send anything!

I look at it like this. expirianced players joining a noobs game helps them learn and gain expiriance. it rather helps them. although it could be easy points its making the noobs better by playing more difficult players.

if its that much of a concern just set the game of on the forum and password protect it

2WL is a pretty prominent member of the webdip boards, he often attempts to make jokes but they tend to fall flat. Maybe if he spent that time working on his gunboat game he would be able to put some some marginally more respectable numbers. A monkey without hands could amke the top 10 on the webdip gunboat GR.

This thread is funny, +1 for everyone.

Flip side I have seen people hide points in a effort to look less skilled and join games so attract less attention.
Even calling the game "how to hide points" or 'hiding points' no one really sees a 200 or more game as you can only see the one you can join unless you do a search.

So as they say, there are ways and ways of doing things...

The point system is not a great judge of skill. I dare say there are people here with hardly any points and very few games to their name who may actually be quite good players. At the end of the day noobness is a state of mind and it is perfectly possible for someone with dozens of games an several hundred points to still genuinely consider themselves to be a noob (and, indeed, play like one).

There will never be a foolproof way of having noob only games, unless noob is redefined as something meaningless. We just have to rely on the integrity of our peers.

Also:

Hello! I'm new :). Is it fun here?

yup it is

I for one do not bother to read the titles of games. If I join a game that says 'for noobs' I will probably realize it once the game has started. I only search games according to game settings.

If you want an all-noob game, don't make it open for anyone to join. Use passwords, they exist for a reason. Also, playing with noobs can be harder than with experienced players, due to the unpredictable nature of the early game. I would never think it means 'easy points'

@kaug
However, "noobs" (perhaps it is more correct to say unskilled players, as this does not apply to some new comers) initiate communication less which is their primary downfall in the early stages of the game. It is to my belief that the basic tactical aspects of diplomacy can be learned rather quickly through observation and can be learned quite well in 1-2 games. The diplomacy aspect, which usually dominates the early game, is what most people usually and ironically have to work on.

Even with the unpredictable nature of the early game, the experienced player who initiates diplomacy can usually ensure his survival simply by organizing agreements with more countries to promote his/her own interest and survival. There are even times when the experienced player can literally manipulate the entire board by himself assuming that the other players are, in fact, noobs, and do not talk to each other as much as they should.

I play mostly gunboat games, which is why the unpredictable nature of newcomers makes it much harder.

The Variants are so much better. Serious diplomacy players have the moves memorized like a couple of chess masters playing out a well known variation till they make a "gentleman's draw". Variants make it interesting from the start.

Hey, I am a noob here and has been a noob for two weeks in Webdiplomacy site. What's the difference and extra I need to learn on this site to get going here. I am proficient on Webdiplomacy site.

I am going to defect here even though this site is a bit slower than the other site. There are too many people swearing F-word on the other sites, and they are quite angry/nasty.

"I am proficient on Webdiplomacy site." Trolling is not a measure of proficiency. You've finished 1 game that you were defeated in.

Well, maybe I am not good at the game Diplomacy on line and/or on the board game, but I am for sure proficient on the Webdiplomacy site. I know how to use all the functionality on the Webdiplomacy site.

Not only that I know how to mute a person, but I also figure out how to unmute the person. You know when you mute the person, the person no longer shows up on your browser. So, how would you unmute the person? I figured out how.

Hi MeepMeep, welcome on VDiplomacy. :)

I'd say that you need to learn "Etiquette" and "VDiplomacy features" sections here:
http://www.vdiplomacy.com/help.php

Feel free to ask more questions here, if you just need to know something, or on the Modforum (just hit "Mods" link on top-right) if you ask for something. IE, if you think you discovered a bug in a map there's no point in posting it here since only Mods can fix it (more details in "Etiquette").

I also figured out how to temporarily unmute a person too without even hitting the unmute button. LoL.

Jmo is a troll here.

If I say anything untrue about Webdip, ie. there are too many players swearing F-words, you can challenge me to defend Webdip. I would respect that.

If I claim to be proficient in Webdip, it's just my claim. You really have no business to come here to do an Ad Hominem. What I found out so far is the Webdip site has a lot of low class people like Jmo and they don't even know it. They do personal attacks all the time as a natural.

Wow, this site has the reliable rating! It's just what I need. I am in for good games, not for winning. Unreliable people ruin the fun of the game.