Diplomacy Master Thread- Helping Your Opponents Beat Themselves

[kjn]

Response to fintourist.

I was interested in how waypoints could be used of C&D.

[scooter]

My stab at a message to WPC:

Tatu,

Great! Glad to have the NAP signed.

As for your question about the German team - unfortunately our NAP with them is much too long for our liking. We signed it with them very early, and it runs until T150. Believe me, there's no way I would have agreed to it if I had any idea how slow they would be on turns, but unfortunately a deal is a deal (the length was their idea). If it's any consolation to you, they will almost certainly not be getting a NAP extension from us. To answer your last question honestly, I do believe your idea would have been great for the good of this game were we not bound to the NAP. You have my genuine apologies for being stuck with such a long NAP with your enemy. We actually signed that NAP before we even met your team.

I guess we can just hope that the German team will play quicker, and as a result T150 will come quickly. Your plan to aim for catapults sounds like a very good idea, so I hope it works out for your team. I'm not sure of what we can do for you right now off the top of my head, but if you think of a way we can be of use to you, please let me know!

Thanks,
scooter - Team RB

Notes:
1) Yes, we did sign that deal before meeting WPC. By my email records, we signed it on November 2nd, and we met WPC the next day.
2) They outright asked us what turn the NAP ends on, and I think we gain more by being completely level with them.
3) I took a slightly apologetic tone for the length of the NAP. I don't think we would've wanted to fight before T150 anyways so I actually think signing the NAP was the right call and I'm not actually sorry for that... but seeing as being friends with WPC is nice, I do feel sorry for their team. So I tried to communicate that. Let me know if it seems like I'm laying it on a little thick, because that's certainly not intentional.

[Azoth]

An alternate talking point to explain the length of the NAP could go something like this:
"We made contact with the Germans when their wandering Combat I Quecha reached our borders, and we didn't want to seem unfriendly when we had nothing better on defense than Warriors."
The unspoken message being: the days of the Incan UU (and by extension German military might) are in the past.

[kjn]

Should we advise WPC to make peace with the Germans for now, and perhaps offer to help broker it? They are quite a long way away from Construction, since they will need both Masonry and Mathematics.

If they remain mired in war with the Germans, it makes both teams more backwards, but we risk resentment from WPC since we can't help, or that they look for assistance elsewhere (Apolyton or CFC).

If they make peace, they can both develop more naturally, but we should still have a huge military and production edge around T150, and we can cement WPC as a friend of ours.

Other than that, I think it your draft is good. Perhaps exchange some of the "I" to "we", like "there's no way we would have agreed to it [the 150-turn NAP]".

[novice]

Should we advise WPC to make peace with the Germans for now, and perhaps offer to help broker it?

We should if we want a faster turn pace.

Seriously though I think we should let them handle their own foreign policy, (but what do I know).

I like Scooter's draft a lot.

[Boldly Going Nowhere]

I agree with novice, let them fight it out our come to their senses on their own. If they continue fighting, they'll be that much weaker for it and easier for us to gobble up later. I see no need to have WPC as a friend. They can be useful to us in carving up Inca, then they can be useful to us for giving us their land when we come for it. If we manage to do that, this thing is likely over.

[scooter]

Yeah I see no reason to advise them to make peace. The weaker the two of them get, the better. All we really care about is being able to use Knights to run over Archers or something silly like that. That would be fun. The longer these two bash at each other, the easier that gets.

edit: speak very soon if you have serious objections to the message, otherwise I'm sending it soon.

[scooter]

I'm going to send this to CivPlayers very soon (next 30 minutes) if I don't get a quick objection:

CivPlayers,

I was talking about this with my team, and I think it may be a good idea for us to arrange a chat. I'm not sure what timezone you are in, so that may be an issue. I am on the east cost of the US: GMT -5. Anytime in the evenings for me is great. If you're on European time, I could probably do early evening for me which would hopefully not be too late at night for you. Would sometime tonight (Monday) work?

To set the agenda, I'd like us to discuss:
1) basic NAP agreement - we're flexible on this, so I'd like to hear what it is you want
2) basic border agreement - there is not much land between us now, and it's not very desirable land. I think we would both be wise to consider an agreement so we can both focus on settling in different directions
3) Open Borders

If you can let me know quickly - especially if tonight would work, that'd be great.

Thanks!
scooter - Team RB

This is in conjunction with the discussion in the DotMapping thread. But if you have feedback for this message, please post it quickly. Sorry for unusually short notice here - I believe quickness here is of major importance.

[kjn]

Press "Enter".

[scooter]

That's enough confirmation for me, sent. Hopefully I hear back quickly. If I can get a time setup, I'll probably try to snag one of the other "team leaders" jump in the chat too just to have another head in there.