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    1. Songs/albums that remind you of someone you lost

      NOTE: This does have slight self-promotion which I'm aware is against what Tildes is. While it is to drive attention to my band and although originally so, music promotion is NOT the sole reason...

      NOTE: This does have slight self-promotion which I'm aware is against what Tildes is. While it is to drive attention to my band and although originally so, music promotion is NOT the sole reason for this post. It is here for context. It does benefit me, but I make music for this type of discussion. Grief and mourning are important things to me, and art helps me open up and process those feelings. Music is art.

      Want to do more of these posts, as I have found my niche in ~music to be this. Nevertheless, I want to balance these to be fair and to make these special. Please leave feedback about what you think, and whether or not I should continue these posts. DO NOT VOTE if you think it does not fairly contribute to ~music or Tildes as a whole. All I ask is you read this entire post before reacting or commenting.


      I've been going back and forth on this but I decided to do so. I want to keep things as anonymous as possible, so please respect my wishes.

      I am part of a band called LUCY. Over this fortnight, I've been grinding hard trying to promote the discography in order to get as many eyes as possible. I wanted to make this post to highlight "Film" — which I strongly believe is the best released song thus far. But I didn't want to use my account just for promotion. I love Tildes, even with its quirks, and I wanna do quality, meaningful posts. Then I heard from a friend or an acquaintance that a good friend of theirs died.

      Suicide, no less. I was......

      There's no word or phrase or idiom. There's nothing that can describe the feeling and realisation when someone is gone. It reminded me of why I wrote "Film" in the first place — to grieve and remember a friend who killed herself. I don't think a number of grief songs or popular anti-suicide songs really talk about grief. That one Logic song was bleh but cool, but that remix that goes "WHO CAN RELATE" was insulting.

      You may not even have a loved one who killed themselves. You may have one who just died, or disappeared. Or the worst:

      The relationship you once had with a person you loved lots. One of your most prized people in the world. That one day, breaks and bo matter what. It will never happen. They're gone from your life

      Forever.

      And they're not coming back. You have to move on. Even tho you don't want to and sometimes, you yearn for the connection. To be near. Bittersweet nostalgia, to fall back into place. Y
      In the end, it is what it is. Yeah..

      Grief is hard. Mourning is hard. Moving on is hard. It's messy and there's no right way to do it. Life is unfair and one day, it will end. Songs and albums help. Music is that language and that lexicon that knows just how you feel. "Film" was what I wanted to do, to bring attention to that process. Nowadays, it's an occasional comfort song that's best played when it's overcast and blue. And you'll know when if you know.

      So my question for y'all is... what songs or albums have you listened to that reminds you of someone you've lost? What are some lyrics that don't stick out like a sore thumb, they hit you like anaesthesia? What are your stories? What are your regrets? What are you afraid of? Hell, if youre a musician, what songs have you done that address this? And no matter what, please don't feel like it's too much. To the extent of the code of conduct and what is appropriate, there is nothing pathetic about grief. Esp if you're hanging on and can unravel at any moment.

      Ask me anything about my list of songs for grief too (won't include my band's songs heh). I have another song in the works that I'd love to just talk about. I'm an open book as far as grief, fear and such. I write songs for catharsis anyway.

      Hope you are all having a wonderful day or night. Forgive me if I can't reply or listen to all the songs, I really do wish I could. I will vote tho.

      17 votes
    2. Could we share some uplifting news?

      I'm seeing a lot of doomer content lately and plenty of defeatist commentary to match. I know it sucks out there but surely there's an air balloon that looks nice in the sky or something, right?...

      I'm seeing a lot of doomer content lately and plenty of defeatist commentary to match. I know it sucks out there but surely there's an air balloon that looks nice in the sky or something, right? It's exhausting to see the same negative stuff that I would see on reddit.

      I need something positive and maybe you do too.

      Here, I'll share something nice to get us started: This 72 year old guy graduated and his 99 year old mom cheered him on.

      76 votes
    3. Does anyone here enjoy poetry? If yes, what are your gateway drug poems and what are your hidden gems?

      So as an American whose love of poetry started in early childhood with A A Milne and Lewis Carroll, I have a theory that the teaching of poetry in typical schools (at least for my generation which...

      So as an American whose love of poetry started in early childhood with A A Milne and Lewis Carroll, I have a theory that the teaching of poetry in typical schools (at least for my generation which may be 30 years out of date re what happens now) that poetry as taught is almost tailor made to destroy any interest in poetry. I like to compare it to introducing music by teaching music theory.

      So, if anyone here reads poetry and is willing to talk about it, what poems would you use if you wanted to come up with a gateway drug. They should be easy to appreciate. And on the flip side, if you met someone who said they were really into poetry, are there sophisticated poems that you think are just cool and insightful and moving and impressive in some way? Please feel free to explain your choices or to talk about your experience with poetry in or outside of education.

      36 votes
    4. Why does Johann (the father/leader of the city) in Metropolis (1927) want a revolution?

      He says he wants the "man-machine" built with the likeness of Maria in order to "sow discord" amongst the workers. Maria is the one who is preaching a message of hope/faith and therefore keeping a...

      He says he wants the "man-machine" built with the likeness of Maria in order to "sow discord" amongst the workers. Maria is the one who is preaching a message of hope/faith and therefore keeping a revolution at bay. For how much longer, who knows. The point is, she is giving the workers hope and preventing violence.

      Why would Johann want a version of Maria that encourages a revolution (death to the machines!)? It is in Johann's best interest if the workers stay succumbed, as his bourgeoisie lifestyle is dependent on their work.

      (First post, sorry if the tags are bad.)

      9 votes
    5. NASCAR - Chicago weather delay

      Under lighting strike delay for 30 minutes, then started to on/off drizzling rain, hopefully we get the race in today!? Upside though, Cole Custer (Ford Mustang) in 1st place, if you're a Ford...

      Under lighting strike delay for 30 minutes, then started to on/off drizzling rain, hopefully we get the race in today!? Upside though, Cole Custer (Ford Mustang) in 1st place, if you're a Ford person like I am ya gotta be loving it!

      UPDATE -

      NASCAR has canceled the rest of the race do to rain and possibly more lighting strikes until 11AM (ET) tomorrow 7/2 on USA Network

      6 votes
    6. I, like many of you came from Reddit. But what brought you to Reddit?

      I've heard much about the great Digg migration but I found Reddit through different means. Any of you hear of mfisn? It was my Reddit before Reddit. A bare bones link sharing community where a...

      I've heard much about the great Digg migration but I found Reddit through different means.

      Any of you hear of mfisn? It was my Reddit before Reddit. A bare bones link sharing community where a number of registered users could share links. Unregistered users could suggest links that I guess a registered user could approve? I remember sharing links to movie trailers there. I found Reddit years later after googling it and finding a Reddit post asking about it. And that's how I fell into Reddit.

      I discovered mfisn through cookiethievery, a yourethemannowdog-esque page that had a rotation of repeating animations set to a short music loop. And I vaguely recall finding that through an AIM buddy's profile...? Either that or albinoblacksheep.

      Any of you have a traceable lineage of Internet communities you've passed through? What were your pre-Reddit internet go-to sites? Are they still around?

      142 votes
    7. Saturday Game Jam Thread (July 01 2023)

      Hey y’all, welcome back to the second weekly game jam thread. Whats a game jam you may ask. Well imagine if you locked a group of game developers in a box for box for some quantity of time ranging...

      Hey y’all, welcome back to the second weekly game jam thread.

      Whats a game jam you may ask. Well imagine if you locked a group of game developers in a box for box for some quantity of time ranging from a few days to a few weeks and told them to compete with each other by building something around a theme and then judging whatever each other came up with, that's a game jam.

      Now you may ask why would anyone play these things besides the other game game jam entrants. I don’t know about everyone else but despite being one of the younger users on this site I can’t help but feel like I have to work very hard to find any sort of magic in my life and I keep telling myself if I just keep playing more games and scraping and scrounging at the fringes of the industry I can find the magic again and be happy for a little bit.

      Its actually a little scary sharing these games with you guys. I know its unreasonable to get emotionally invested in tiny games I did not even make but it does make me happy that people are taking an interest in this thread. Here is what I have for you this week.

      HeartBeat

      Platforms: Windows, HTML5
      Genres: Rhythm

      Do you remember that one part in that one game that you like, during the final boss fight when the heroes theme is reprised and layers are added to the song for each stage of the boss fight and then the vocals kick in and its awesome. Here in game jam land our motto is “All killer no filler”, we like to skip to the good part and this entry from Boss Rush Jam 2023 fits the bill. Its the final boss battle of a rhythm game and features an unusual control scheme that takes a few tries to get the hang of. Let me know if this game jogs any memories of boss fights.

      e-scape

      Platforms: Windows
      Genres: Simulation

      If you talk to a gamer that has been around for awhile they will have a story to tell you about a game that they used to play that has since been shutdown. Its always the same story. They see an article out of the blue that the game they used to play just announced a shutdown date. They log in and like a traveler from an antique land, are greeted by a ghost town filled with statues of champions and kings soon to be buried forever at the command of a datacenter sysadmin.

      That is e-scape, look on its works, ye mighty, and despair!

      This week was both nostalgic and somber for me and that leaked into this weeks selection in a big way. I really do look forward to seeing peoples responses to this thread though and I hope to keep doing these threads for the foreseeable future.

      PREVIOUS WEEK NEXT WEEK

      9 votes
    8. Tildes predictions (a time capsule for 10 years from now)

      Where do you think Tildes will be in 10 years? Will it still be around? How will the world be different from today? Do you think the world will be a better place? Be as positive or morbid as you...

      Where do you think Tildes will be in 10 years? Will it still be around? How will the world be different from today? Do you think the world will be a better place? Be as positive or morbid as you want. Or, just say something, share something, post a link, tell a joke, give some advice. Then in ten years we can all come back to this thread and have a laugh... hopefully.

      62 votes
    9. Why are so many 55+ neighborhoods being built?

      Living in northern Virginia, it seems like half of newly-constructed homes are earmarked for "active adult" 55 and up communities. Is there a financial incentive above and beyond normal...

      Living in northern Virginia, it seems like half of newly-constructed homes are earmarked for "active adult" 55 and up communities.

      Is there a financial incentive above and beyond normal residential construction that these are popping up more?

      It seems like a newer trend that's picked up in the last 5 or 10 years.

      Edit 1: Thank you all for the input and sharing your perspective. It's just been a question hanging in the back of my mind as I've been driving around in recent months.

      45 votes
    10. Progressive metal: What are you listening to?

      My love for progmetal, djent, and related genres has recently been rekindled by an appreciation of the depth, complexity, and even runtimes of progmetal pieces in a world where most music made...

      My love for progmetal, djent, and related genres has recently been rekindled by an appreciation of the depth, complexity, and even runtimes of progmetal pieces in a world where most music made today (more generally) consists of relatively simple 1.5 minutes long tracks.

      I'm out of the loop. I've kept up with Periphery over the years (listened to them in highschool) and not much else. I recently saw Animals as Leaders, Devin Townsend, and Dream Theater live and had a good time.

      Bands I've been listening to:

      • Periphery
      • Erra
      • Animals as Leaders
      • TesseracT
      • Devin Townsend

      What else should I be listening to? What should I know about progmetal; both historically and today? What shows have you been to, which were your favorite? Just a general thread about a genre I've rediscovered.

      45 votes
    11. Favorite podcast app?

      I just got an email stating that Stitcher, the podcast app that I use, "decided to discontinue operation of the Stitcher app and website effective August 29, 2023." Any good recommendations for...

      I just got an email stating that Stitcher, the podcast app that I use, "decided to discontinue operation of the Stitcher app and website effective August 29, 2023."

      Any good recommendations for another podcast app? ETA: I listen on my Android phone.

      42 votes
    12. Building my own email system and/or other privacy-first email solutions?

      Back in the day I remember setting up squirrelmail + qmail to host my own email as well as for others. And then I got that coveted gmail invite and never really looked back. I've started to get...

      Back in the day I remember setting up squirrelmail + qmail to host my own email as well as for others. And then I got that coveted gmail invite and never really looked back.

      I've started to get into the mindset of erasing my digital trail, at least for my personal activities, and email seems to be the main one that I need to figure out.

      The idea of setting up my own email solution came up again because I wonder how transparent / private services like protonmail and mailbox.org really are.

      Any suggestions or insight would be appreciated. Squirrelmail seems to be now defunct, and I am pretty sure the world has changed enough that residential ISPs don't allow running of servers at home anymore. I guess I could setup something on AWS if I had to.

      22 votes
    13. Anyone else here love knives?

      I have several from Benchmade, a few from Microtech, Buck and various other brands. Including kitchen / cooking knives like the Wusthofs I own, and japanese knives I plan on getting relatively soon.

      38 votes
    14. AlbumLove recommendations thread: July 2023

      Choose one album that you love that you think deserves more love Tell us what it is, and why. Previous posts in series Additional Details What is this? It's a new post series I'm trying out! Each...

      Choose one album
      that you love
      that you think deserves more love

      Tell us what it is, and why.


      Previous posts in series


      Additional Details

      What is this?

      It's a new post series I'm trying out! Each month people can use the AlbumLove thread to post an album they love and explore those posted by others.

      I'm planning to put up a new AlbumLove thread on the first of each month for a few months to see how these go as a trial run. If people like it we can keep it going — if they don’t it’ll fizzle out and I’ll stop.

      Why AlbumLove?

      In this day and age, algorithmic recommendations for music are easy to come by, and it's trivial to seek out new music that interests you by searching online. AlbumLove offers an opportunity to sift through music loved by others, including those who might have divergent tastes from you. Think of this as an opportunity to listen outside of your comfort zone, with music that you know someone else adores, from a small pool of thoughtful hand-selected options.

      What do I post?

      Any album that you love and that you feel deserves more appreciation. There are no restrictions on genre, year, or anything else, and nothing is “too popular” or “too niche”. If you think it needs more love — for whatever reason — then it’s welcome in AlbumLove.

      Name the artist and the album, and then, most importantly, share what you love about the album. It could be the music itself, but it could also be your associations with it -- maybe the album reminds you of someone you love, or you saw the band live and got a new appreciation for the studio songs.

      Also, commenting on others' recommendations is encouraged! If you love something that someone else shared, let them know!

      Do I have to listen to what everyone else posts?

      Nope. You don't have to listen to anything if you don't want to. This is about creating a menu of options that people can explore as they wish.

      Can I post more than one album in a month?

      Nope. Limit one! This helps us be more selective about what we choose, as well as preventing the threads from getting flooded with too many contributions to keep track of.

      Why albums and not songs/artists?

      I like albums. :)

      Seriously though, I feel like it's a very different thing to like an album as a whole versus a few songs or just an artist's general vibe. I like the idea of quantizing music for appreciation in the same way we might do with books or movies.

      What about EPs?

      Fair game!

      20 votes
    15. NordVPN changes to username and password encryption cause Auth_FAIL in OpenVPN/Gluetun

      Recently NordVPN rolled out an update which forced users to use an encrypted username and password combination when connecting through OpenVPN. I haven't seen any posts on this here, and it took...

      Recently NordVPN rolled out an update which forced users to use an encrypted username and password combination when connecting through OpenVPN. I haven't seen any posts on this here, and it took me way longer than I want to admit troubleshooting this issue because I knew my original credentials were correct.

      If you use a gluetun container for routing any of other containers traffic, you might have recently noticed a 500 Internal Service Error in your Health Status and when you check your logs you will find a AUTH_FAILED message.

      Solution below:

      1. Go to NordVPN website and log in (using your normal credentials)
      2. Under accounts, services, click NordVPN
      3. Click "Set up NordVPN Manually" at the bottom of the page
      4. You will receive an email verification code, using whatever email you have set up for your NordVPN services. Type this code into the popup window.
      5. Copy your new encrypted credentials for your Open VPN client settings.

      This is my first post, please add tags as required.

      24 votes
    16. Dual-boot with a shared partition?

      Hey, I use Windows 10 and Arch in a dual boot configuration. I use both of them for software development and want a shared partition to store all the projects. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as I...

      Hey,

      I use Windows 10 and Arch in a dual boot configuration.

      I use both of them for software development and want a shared partition to store all the projects.
      Unfortunately, it's not as easy as I had thought.

      Initially, I tried NTFS as the Linux support seemed fine. I tried both, ntfs-3g and the kernel implementation.
      Besides the issue that hibernate could lock the drive - which you can disable - it periodically caused problems during compilation and other stages.

      Especially Rust based projects have thrown weird errors during builds, but I also had this on certain Go projects as well.
      It sometimes felt like, that the NTFS driver returned the wrong files when the compiler asked for them. Unmet dependencies, missing files, etc. Usually, when the project is huge.

      In certain scenarios symbolic links didn't work and permissions were not set correctly - which you can fix by adding some args to the fstab mount - never got it really stable though.

      I then tried to format to Ext4, and all issues were instantly gone on the Linux side.

      Fortunately, there are tools such as Linux FileSystem from Paragon which promise to make it work (I even bought a proper license) - and it did for a while, until it didn't.

      I once copied a bigger folder that included a bigger node_modules folder and during copy, files were missing, corrupted, the copy process hung - then crashed.

      I was so desperate that I even tried out FAT32, but I quickly found out that it doesn't support symbolic links at all, and therefore breaks Git and other tools depending on it.

      Is it still so hard in 2023 to have a shared partition between two OS? Has anyone made better experiences?
      I really don't want to split the partitions as I sometimes work on the same project on different OSes.

      Thanks in advance!

      7 votes
    17. What are your favourite lightweight websites?

      I'm a huge fan of lightweight sites. They load super fast on mobile and that's the most important thing for me. I found a number of outdated lists online and wanted to hear what your favourites...

      I'm a huge fan of lightweight sites. They load super fast on mobile and that's the most important thing for me. I found a number of outdated lists online and wanted to hear what your favourites are.

      Here is my list.

      News

      https://lite.cnn.com/
      https://text.npr.org/
      https://www.cbc.ca/lite/news/canada/toronto?sort=editors-picks
      http://68k.news/
      https://legiblenews.com/
      https://www.skinnyguardian.xyz/
      https://www.newshound.co/editions/en-us/
      http://skimfeed.com/
      https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/text/textedition

      Edit

      • Lots to think about, thank you everyone!
      123 votes
    18. Tour De France discussion thread

      Anyone following the Tour De France this year? I watched the documentary on Netflix a few weeks ago and loved it. I still don't fully understand how it all works, but I noticed it started today...

      Anyone following the Tour De France this year? I watched the documentary on Netflix a few weeks ago and loved it. I still don't fully understand how it all works, but I noticed it started today and decided to watch it for the first time.

      I came here to see if there was a discussion thread. Since I don't see one I thought I would start one myself.

      Anyone follow it? What are your thoughts this year? Anything I should know as a newbie?

      32 votes
    19. What do you look for in cooking related YouTube content?

      (I'm not looking for simple lists of YouTube channels that you like.) even though I'm about to dump a list of channels that I like There's a lot of YouTube cooking content. I was wondering what...

      (I'm not looking for simple lists of YouTube channels that you like.) even though I'm about to dump a list of channels that I like

      There's a lot of YouTube cooking content. I was wondering what you look for in that content, and what you want to avoid?

      I don't have a particularly coherent answer - I like a mix of content.

      I do like plain and simple information, or informative content that gives details about technique or science or why a thing is done the way it is. Examples of this would be America's Test Kitchen, or J. Kenji López-Alt or Helen Rennie, or French Cooking Academy.

      I also like recipes that I can actually make. I prefer recipes that don't have a massive array of ingredients that I don't have. Examples are Brian Lagerstrom (I like the way he tends to use a limited amount of equipment and he gives alternatives for ingredients if he thinks some thing is going to be hard to get) Not another cooking show has some nice recipes (his grilled cheese and tomato soup is fantastic).

      Some channels I watch have Michelin Starred chefs discussing a recipe. I like watching this because I can't replicate most of it, but I can get ideas for improving taste or texture. Italia Squisita has a lot of content, and some of their videos are comparing a traditional Italian recipe (and these are excellent) with an elevated restaurant version. The staff canteen is a bit frustrating - it's almost exactly what I want, but it ends up missing the mark a bit. But they talk to chefs, mostly in the UK, about being a chef or about a dish. La pâte de Dom is self-taught, but they have a high level of skill in pastry.

      And here's a list of videos that I can't categorise, and why I like them.

      The Biryani Expert (sadly, channel appears not to be making content any more) taught me that biryani covers a quite wide range of different dishes.

      Sheldo's Kitchen He seems like a nice bloke, and his food looks really nice and achievable to make. Again, sadly, he doesn't seem to have made any videos for a while, and he was saying that he has a lot on. But he has a calm style and I liked his content.

      Cool Daddy, YummyBoy and Street Foods TV expose me to a lot of food that I'm not used to. I can't recreate a lot of it (I don't have a camel I can cut up and cook but it gives me ideas for new ways to combine ingredients or new flavour profiles to try.

      So, what do you look for in content?

      (In this thread I avoided dunking on creators, because there's a few that I really don't enjoy but I don't think me yelling about them is good discussion. But I'd totally join in if someone created another thread.

      18 votes
    20. Tell me about your experience with martial arts

      This is a good time to repeat the prompt made by @0d_billie back in 2020, and I will also reuse the questions in their post. So are any tilderen martial artists? If so, tell me about it! What do...

      This is a good time to repeat the prompt made by @0d_billie back in 2020, and I will also reuse the questions in their post.

      So are any tilderen martial artists? If so, tell me about it!

      • What do you practice?
      • How long have you done it?
      • How does it benefit you?
      • Do you attend classes or practice solo?
      • Would you recommend your martial art to a beginner?

      I'm curious to know what martial ars everyone likes the most, and why!

      24 votes
    21. The longest game of Diplomacy ever

      This is an article I wrote on boardgames subreddit seven years ago, about a tournament game of Diplomacy which had lasted more than 3 years and was still ongoing at the time. It eventually ended...

      This is an article I wrote on boardgames subreddit seven years ago, about a tournament game of Diplomacy which had lasted more than 3 years and was still ongoing at the time. It eventually ended in a draw with Italy leading, in Feb 2016, after 3 years and 7 months of play. I'm reposting it here because I'm quite proud of the article (and I want to move it away from Reddit) and because imo it still holds up as one of the greatest events in the history of Diplomacy and a very interesting event in niche internet history.

      tl;dr - Seven players (less now that some have been eliminated) have been playing a game that simulates the First World War in a Tournament. They've been playing it so long that the First World War is now continuing on into the 21st Century. The game has been out for 57 years and this has never happened in a recorded game before.

       

       

      If you are not familiar with Diplomacy, it's a war game based around negotiation where 7 players each play one Great Power in the First World War, attempting to gain control of Europe by taking key provinces known as Supply Centers. It's very similar to A Game of Thrones - The Board Game except that you can (usually) talk in private with other players and all players must submit orders for a phase before any are revealed, meaning that you don't know if your 'ally' will backstab you that phase or not until you've already set your orders. Other players can support your units into provinces, so negotiation is key to victory.

       

      Everyone who knows about Diplomacy knows that it takes a ridiculously long time to play. In a face-to-face (FTF) tournament strict deadlines of 15 minutes per phase are set, and games are played from 1901 to 1908, meaning 4 hours for a game. In casual settings, where the timers aren't observed so harshly, a game of the same number of phases can take 8 hours.

       

      Because of how difficult Diplomacy can be to start in real life, there are a lot of active communities for playing it online. In online play, phases are usually set to process every 2 days, and you only need to dedicate an hour or so a day to it. Because of this, the set end date (1908) used in most FTF games isn't needed, and the game can be played to the win condition stated in the rulebook - one great power controlling 18 Supply Centers - which isn't used much in FTF because it takes far too long to achieve. This in turn means that games can last months.

       

      There's also the possibility of an 'eternal game' since there is no set end date. Usually, this is due to stalemates - there can be positions where no player can push any further forward, and no player can back off because another player can win as a result. These games are declared drawn, since no victory is possible.

       

      However, there's a small possibility of a game that would go on forever while going back and forth, back and forth - one power gaining centers then being pushed back by the others, and then another, and so on, without the game being stalemated. In practice, this sort of thing rarely happens - going by statistics from webDiplomacy last year, out of ~43000 games completed, only 17 had legitimately passed 1930, and none of those had reached the year 1940.

       

      The longest recorded completed game comes from another site and reached 1964 -note, I originally had a link to this game but it appears to now be dead. However, one non-completed game on webDiplomacy completely blows it out of the water.

       

      The 2012 webDiplomacy World Cup Final has one game still ongoing, long after all the others have been completed. This game has just reached the year 2000! That is absolutely insane - if this had been a FTF game at a tournament, the participants would have been playing for just over two days straight. Since it's online, they have been playing for three and a half years.

       

      I have checked with several important members of the Diplomacy community and it is indeed the first game ever to have legitimately done so (not just because some players decided to mess around until it reached that date).

       

      Link to the game

       

      What was/is the 2012 webDiplomacy World Cup?

       

      The World Cup was an event held on webDiplomacy which mimicked the FTF Diplomacy Tournament that goes by the same name. Different countries (or regions, if there were not enough players in a country) would gather a group of players and play in a group of games with teams from 6 other regions, each having one player in each game, and gaining points based on how well they did in each game. The best countries/regions advanced from groups in a knockout style until the Final, which has not yet finished.

       

      Why has it gone on so long?

       

      That's a difficult question to give a straight answer to. It's a combination of several factors:

       

      • These players are insanely good. The teams in question reached the final, and they picked their best participants at the Public Press Variant (which I'll come to next) for this game.

      • This game is Public Press Only. That means that any messages anyone sends are received by everyone, which slows the game down a fair amount because players have to position themselves to make completely uncounterable moves if they want to coordinate them with allies, or they have to risk their allies misunderstanding what they are doing and not supporting them correctly.

      • Nobody wants to lose or draw. Sounds trivial, right? Everyone wants to win any game they're playing. This one is different, though - every other game in the world cup has finished, so everyone in the game knows how many points all teams have. Every team in this game can still win the overall tournament, but for most of them it is only if they achieve a solo victory. One specific team will win if all players draw, so nobody except that team want this game to end in a draw, and certainly nobody wants anyone else to get a solo.

       

      That said, fatigue is starting to set in and they may draw the game soon just to be done of it. That's only after over 3 years of trying to achieve a solo though.

       

      Do you have a handy graph of how the SC counts of each player have changed throughout the game?

       

      What a coincidence! I just happen to have one right here!

       

      That game is really long. I want to just see the interesting bits.

       

      Again, you're in luck! I happen to have an imgur album here which shows the high points and low points of each great power and explains a little what happened to them. The important provinces (Supply Centers) are marked by white circles with a black dot in them. The provinces and units belonging to each country have an assigned colour as follows:

       

      • Pink, England
      • Blue, France
      • Brown, Germany
      • Green, Italy
      • Red, Austria
      • Purple, Russia
      • Yellow, Turkey

       

      If you do want to look through the game for yourself, you can find the full record here. On webDiplomacy, red arrows represent move orders, yellow arrows represent support move orders, green lines represent support hold orders, and blue lines represent convoys.

       

      Has any Supply Center never changed hands?

       

      No. Every Supply Center on the board has changed hands at least once. Ankara has been taken the least, it's been held by Russia for the 76 years since he took it from its original owner, Turkey, in 1925. Rumania has been taken the most, it's been conquered an astonishing 26 times. Most SCs have been taken around 11 times, but in particularly contested places (like the Balkans and Scandinavia) the average is much higher.

       

      If it's Public Press Only, can I read the messages the players have sent?

       

      Yes! You can find all messages sent in the game here. Use the blue arrows above the messagebox to navigate pages. The chat from each country follows the same colour coding as their provinces and units.

       

      Bear in mind, though, that there are so many messages to look through that they actually crashed the game at one point. The site administrators had to assign more memory to the chat of this particular game to fix it. There's also some profanity in some of the messages, although not many.

       

      Diplomacy sounds interesting. Can I try it?

       

      First off, playing the game in person is a very different experience to playing it online, and one that I find to be much more tense and exciting (although online is good too!). I'd very much recommend you play it in person first. You'll need a copy of the board game (it's available on Amazon) and 6 friends with 4 hours spare.

       

      Obviously that can be a bit difficult to arrange, so you could also look for Diplomacy Face to Face groups in your area - there are quite a few of them around the world. If you want information about them feel free to PM me and I'll try to find out if there are any in your area and get back to you. Also, if you're part of a board gaming group, it's possible that someone there will have a copy so you might be able to play it with them.

       

      If you are interested in the online version, there are many online sites that offer it. I'd recommend webDiplomacy but there are plenty of others if you don't like the interface there.

       

      Is there anything I should know before I play?

       

      Yes, specifically if you're playing in person. I'll let some board game celebrities say it for me:

       

      "This game makes people mad, and I mean really mad." ... "The tagline is 'Diplomacy - Destroying friendships since 1965'." - Tom Vasel

       

      "Diplomacy wounds run deep, and take forever to heal." - Wil Wheaton

       

      It's not quite as bad as they make out, but it's worth making sure that you don't play it with someone you know will take lies and backstabbing badly. Also - don't play it over several sessions, the paranoia you get when you see other players talking to one another in the breaks can be unbearable.

       

      Congratulations if you've read this far, and I hope others found this Diplomacy game to be as incredible as I did!

      23 votes