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Internet Diplomacy is the online manifestation of Diplomacy , a board game in which seven players, each controlling one of the major European powers of 1914, fight for control of Europe. The concept is not unlike that of Correspondence Chess . BACKGROUND Internet Diplomacy is popular due to the difficulty in playing the game face-to-face; the game commonly lasts at least four hours, and among experienced players can take days. Since seven players are needed (fewer can be used, but this biases the game mechanics somewhat), it is often impossible to find enough players with enough free time for a face-to-face game. Internet Diplomacy can find suitable players anywhere in the world, and the whole game need not be played at once, thus making the game more practicable and less time-consuming. HISTORY Internet Diplomacy developed from Play-by-mail Game s dating to 1970s Fan Zines . Similar to standard mail games, players sent press to one another through E-mail or game networks, called 'Judges'. These judges later evolved to become Adjudicators , capable of resolving the orders and producing results, as well as performing other tasks (password administration, draw requests, etc.). Later developments then added an automatically generated graphical map and, on some, the ability to move pieces around for order creation. Judges are governed by a Judgekeeper, and the individual games are controlled either by individual 'Masters', or that particular game's creator. KEN LOWE JUDGE The Ken Lowe Judge system was the first network to exist. "What is njudge?" by Millis Miller, ''The Diplomatic Pouch'', S2002R, retrieved October 4, 2006. The Ken Lowe Judge system allows users to send press to one another and send orders to the processing server. This is achieved through a variety of commands (see below). Today, many separate adjudication systems run in the same, or similar, fashion to the Ken Lowe Judges. NJUDGE Njudge was a rewrite of the Ken Lowe Judge system, with more support added for different variants. This software program continues to be used on a number of email servers . THE DPJUDGE In 1995 , Manus Hand, a prominent member of the Internet Diplomacy community, created the DPjudge , notably changing the format of Internet play. DPjudge has distinct advantages over other systems:
DPjudge appears to have overtaken the Ken Lowe Judges in popularity, and as of July 2006, had more than 11,000 player accounts DIPBOUNCED Other sites have developed systems similar to that of the DPJudge, notably DipBounced . This system's interface relies upon a variety of frames, allowing players to switch between internalized press information, maps, orders and game rules. DipBounced press and orders are stored in a database structure, rather than following the Ken Lowe Judge tradition of transmitting information in the form of emails. PHPDIPLOMACY Started in Dec 2004, phpDiplomacy (main server here ) is an attempt to make Diplomacy more accessible to people who haven't played Diplomacy before as a board game. Instead of writing moves out with correct syntax, to be interpreted by the judge, phpDiplomacy presents a set of options which guide the player through creating moves intuitively, step by step. In taking a more simplistic approach, and being relatively new on the scene, phpDiplomacy has an adjudicator which is simplified and lacks the full functionality of the entire Diplomacy rulebook. STABBEURFOU Started in Sep 2005, stabbeurfou was first build in French, then translated to be bilingual English/French. It has full features to play standard Diplomacy but is aimed at hosting tournaments. Its simple interface make it eligible for beginer players and its advanced features are new to the scene. It also offers various tools for orders translations, map building etc.... It is hosting the first attemp to implement a world cup in Diplomacy, the Diplomacy National World Cup. INTERNET VARIANTS Perhaps the largest change that occurred from transferring Diplomacy from board game to Internet play was the introduction of new variants. Variants range from minor rule changes to entirely different board setups or massive overhauls of gameplay. These variants include Internet favorites such as Void, Hundred and Classical. REFERENCES |
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