Finding the Right Friend

[Zosimus]

I guess I just don't get the question. Why would England go to the Channel? England's first goal is to ensure that he will get Norway, no ifs ands or buts. His second goal is to try to get Belgium through force, negotiation, or trickery. Going to the Channel seriously endangers his ability to ensure Norway and doesn't give him any better of a claim on Belgium than the North Sea does.

What England wants to play is Liverpool to Edinburgh, but he won't do so if he thinks you are going to move to the Channel yourself. But then again, why would you? Your goal is to get Spain and Portugal and maybe have an influence on Belgium.

There's no way that England is going to the Channel unless he thinks that Germany is with him. If you fear that, just ask Germany for a bounce and open Marseilles-Burgundy, Paris-Picardy, and Brest-MAO. Assuming that Germany really does go for the bounce, you'll have an army in Marseilles waiting to go to Spain, a fleet in MAO waiting to go to Portugal, and an army in Picardy to either cover Brest against the unlikely English invasion or to influence Belgium. Germany will be out of the running, that's for sure.

Or, if you favor an alliance with Germany, just offer Belgium to Germany. Tell him you have no interest in Belgium at all and invite him to take it. There would be no reason for Germany to invade Burgundy if he knows Belgium is his for the taking.

[Nanook]

I really like this thread.

I am relatively new to Diplomacy and play mostly online. I am a very good chess player and that relates well in Diplomacy with tactics. However, I am poor in persuasion and I am not sure how to improve because I do not know what I am doing wrong. I am one of the most talkative in game but I rarely rally other powers to my side.

How does an Austria convince an Italy to do a Key Lepanto and not get stabbed? How does England tell France not to move to English Channel? How do you convince another player that a move is the best move? How do you get better at being persuasive on paper?

I can't really speak to all of those examples, but in general the best way to convince someone to do something for you...is to convince them to do something for themselves. Don't try to get them to do something because it's good for you...show them why it's good for them. So in your Channel example...only very briefly talk about why you want to keep channel empty (you do have to mention it a little, or it's kinda weird and suspect, but don't make it the emphasis), and focus most of your energy on showing why France can make better gains without moving to the channel.

An example of what I'm talking about:

In our first game together, DQ was Austria and I was Italy. The first turn he took me aside and we worked out a plan to work together, and he closed with something like "And I'm just going to tell you this, if you take Trieste without my permission, I will make my sole goal ending your game." Might not have been his exact words, but that was the gist. It was very effective, because it showed me that a) I could work with him, as we'd started formulating a plan prior to that bit, and b) set a clear incentive for me to NOT take Trieste to open.

That's one way to do it--lay out what your reaction will be if France takes the Channel, then follow with something like "But I don't really want to fight that war, so let's go do X Y and Z instead!"

Another is to just suggest a DMZ and lay out all the things France can do if their fleet isn't tied up in Channel.

But the main point is, show them why it's good for them, not just why it's good for you.