I get the long turns. There are so many fun looking games I want to join, but I know that if I join something with turns less than 48hrs, I will NMR.

ditto on 48hr phases...

I have no issues with unknown enemy team composition/distribution, unknown leadership switch times, and continued rotation after nations are eliminated.

I will keep my reasons private as that would potentially yield strategy information to my teammates/enemies.

@YCHTT, yep that was the idea...

I'm with Leif.

Yeah, I was the Good Samaritan because the game was 48 bours. I can't guarantee I'll be on every day especially on weekends.

Looking for a replacement...

http://vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=27144

Honestly, the total randomness of the switching (not a consistent rotation or schedule) was not what I was expecting. I'm now back to my original nation. I thought it would be a rotation on a regular schefule. That is what the thread discussed. This randomness isn't for me. I'm too OCD for that.

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The thread discussed both options, very briefly. I believe the last note on the subject was GOD saying 'random 1-3 phases, unless someone strenuously objects', of which the above post is the first instance of such.

I would, personally, also prefer a more reliable rotation, but it's still playable for me as-is.

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I would describe the random 1-3 phases being playable, but frustrating enough to take away most of the fun. So far it's been like taking over a CD nation twice in a row and abandoning my previous nation. The only interesting part remaining (given the random swap ruining any sort of short term strategy) is knowing which nations my allies are and wondering whether the other generals see the same strategies I see.

Well the system is still in Beta :D
I'd say we leave it as it is for now and implement fixed swaps in another games?

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I guess I can hang in there.

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Unbelievable! We must have the *worst* gunboat player on our team! Everything he touches turns to shite!

Is his a bad time to point out that I am terrible at gun boat?
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Hahaha! But let's be careful to not violate gunboat rules. K?

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I've just noticed a problem -- Notes don't "travel with you", so to speak.

Yes, that was specifically discussed, and usage of them was banned.

But one thing you can do is enter in orders as quick as possible before a swap and the person taking over will then have an idea what you were thinking.

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Query: how does 'allies' actually work? Is it purely 'you know that you all win together', or are there mechanical enforcements (say, with the 'can't dislodge self' rule)?

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Anyone else finding NMR's very annoying here?

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Yes. Very.

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As this game winds down, any interest in doing another with the same or adjusted parameters?

Adjusted sure. Guarantee everyone a full year. Some of those swaps resulted in a player stuck with either no orders or no choice in the orders. The full year guarantees they can be effective (or screw it up). Also, just as in life, announce the nation teams (players can stay anon) so we know if A will work with B guaranteed or not. I suspect there was,some geographic positions that allowed some teams to work together while others were geographically challenged.

YCHTT, hey I get to respond to you in multiple threads :)

Thanks for the input. I can relate to your frustrations, and I probably share them resulting from several instances. But I'm not convinced yet that I agree with you. I think that with a game's experience and the removal of NMRs as a major factor (yeah yeah, unicorns...), it would remain compelling and challenging to be forced to deal with an uncertain shift schedule as well as a fog-of-war element in not knowing who your coordinating enemies are. That being said, I think a key component is chosing your teammates. If I could be secure in knowing that my teammates were reliable quality players I would gladly take the same parameters. Otherwise I'm with you, Draug. So I think preselected teams should sign up for the next game. While it has been interesting to try to coordinate like this without any communication, I'd even go so far as to stipulate that teammates can coordinate with each other while the game remains gunboat between opposing teams.

Regardless, GOD you've hit upon another variation in Diplomacy play that has a lot of promise and deserves multiple games of play to suss out its best form. Please keep doing it.

I'm fine with random teams, as long as the sign-up list is vetted for reliability. Preferable to picked teams, even, since that has a very real chance of resulting in a 'super-team' or a 'dud-team' deliberately.

Definitely agreed with YCHTT about fixed terms in control of a nation, and knowing all alliance blocs from the start. To add to fixed terms, I'd also prefer a fixed rotation - you know when and where you're going next.
Not so sure about the good Doctor's suggestion of intra-team communication, though. One of the things I quite like about gunboat is trying to cooperate without being able to actually talk. About as far as I'd go on that front would be to allow notes - communication can be passed, in one direction (if more than 2 per team), at the time of the swap.

Communication could be done through the notes tab and either better vetted players with none alliances or allow teams to put themselves together works for me. I just found a very weak player on our team cost two nations, the one he screwed up at the start and the one he screwed up in rotation.

But really, knowing the teams up front is important as you could have a block of three together that can hold off everyone with ease if their enemies didn't know they could never expect help from one of the other two nations.

http://vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=27144

I'm back from vacation and ready to resume my place in the rotation!

Bump. Is this game ever gonna swap again?
http://vdiplomacy.com/board.php?gameID=27144

That was a blast!

When is the next one?