Diplomacy Games are Like Onions

[BrotherBored]

Hello friends and foes. Here once again to promote my blog. Thanks for all the positive support. I guess there's only a handful of people writing blogs about Diplomacy.

First article in a 3-part series. I say that the outermost layer is "Politics."

Unlike some of my other writings, I have two in-depth examples of something I specifically did in a match that I think worked. That's probably the juiciest part. I have an example of where I conquered a player while showering them with messages, and an example of where I conquered a player after going silent for several years. Intriguing!

[Tortellacci]

Will definitely read. I really like your stuff!

[Phlegmatic]

Onions make me cry, so I fully agree with your headline

[jay65536]

Why would you say politics is the "outermost" layer?

[BrotherBored]

Jay, I believe my answer to your question will be found in my second article, which I have just now published.

You can now read "Layer 2: Tactics"

In the second part of this series, I offer my opinion that the Tactical Layer is deeper than Politics. That is to say, I believe that the positions and movements of each player's pieces tell you a truer, more accurate story than words.

The article thoroughly explains why I have this belief.

[jay65536]

I believe that the positions and movements of each player's pieces tell you a truer, more accurate story than words if you can interpret the moves properly.

I would agree with what you said provided we add the bolded.

The way you have written the article, it now makes me wonder the opposite of my earlier question--why you think there is a "deeper" layer than what you've laid out.

I guess I'd say, to me, what you refer to as politics, tactics, and strategy are not stratified, with a top, middle, and bottom, but they're a triangle, all feeding into each other.

[BrotherBored]

There's a lot to say about Strategy. (Surprise, Surprise)

Instead of publishing one titanic & unreadable article, I broke off a subsection and published as its own post. I consider it part of this series, but it could also stand alone.

The Top 5 Strategic Goals in Diplomacy

Enjoy!

The way you have written the article, it now makes me wonder the opposite of my earlier question--why you think there is a "deeper" layer than what you've laid out.

The goal of this series of articles is to help players who are finding it difficult to spot the difference between truth and lies. When I say that tactics is "deeper" than politics, I'm saying that when someone's actions contradict their words, probably the words are not true. That should be obvious right? But in practice, this is a challenging heuristic to apply—not just for Diplomacy, but many situations in life.

As far as your qualification that you have to "interpret the moves properly," my Tactics article states that this is true and offers advice on learning how to interpret moves.

[BrotherBored]

And I'm done!

Onion Layer 3: Strategy

The thrilling conclusion to a series of essays about how to see through lies.

[Tortellacci]

And I'm done!

Onion Layer 3: Strategy

The thrilling conclusion to a series of essays about how to see through lies.

Very good read! It's nice to read explicitly about the implicit thought processes we all may or may not have.

[David E. Cohen]

An interesting read. You're wrong, of course, in some of your premises, but an interesting read.