YOU F----D UP. YOU TRUSTED US: What happens when you invite a real diplomat to help you play Diplomacy? David Hill, a boardgame enthusiast, decided to dust off his game of Diplomacy invited Dennis Ross, a career foreign service negotiator, to serve as his coach.
Follow the story in two related pieces of media: the Grantland article and last week's episode of This American Life.
I honestly thought we'd had that Grantland article here, but I'm glad we do know. It's really, really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI listened to the TAL piece Sunday night, and one of my principal reactions was "Gee, I'm glad that I never played Diplomacy, even though I really, really wanted to at certain times in the past."
ReplyDelete"I could play Diplomacy, or I could have friends."
ReplyDeleteIt's an utterly maddening game.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I was a nerd when I was younger and frequently played Diplomacy with my friends. I think the fact that we were all friends helped; we had a relationship that went beyond and could survive the game. But I was always uncomfortable with the paranoia and distrust, and that was as a teenager who hadn't experienced much lying and back-stabbing yet. I doubt I would enjoy it at all now.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone here ever play Steve Jackson's game "Illuminati"? That one also encouraged all kinds of bad behavior. I played that with friends. It was fun, except you could never go to the bathroom for fear that people would take your stuff or rearrange the cards.
ReplyDeleteI play this game for 10 hours a day at the office. Why would I voluntarily do so in my free time?
ReplyDeleteGreat game. I think their later CCG was just awesome.
ReplyDeleteBut, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BBMbbhqXfw#t=9m00s