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The Board Game of the Alpha Nerds (2014)

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Re: The Board Game of the Alpha Nerds (2014)

#31

Post by fenwick67 »

acomjean wrote: post #5
danielvf wrote: post #4

You can play online if you have ever wanted to give it a try. It’s probably the best way to learn, since you can take your time communicating and planning your next moves. Diplomacy is probably the emotionally hardest game I’ve ever played. It feels bad when people betray you, it feels bad when people utterly outsmart you, and after this happens to you (on say, turn two) you still have a couple hours in person to pla…

>it feels bad Even when you win it’s not great because chances are you did something shady and your friends are mad at you. This might explain why I haven’t played/ thought about this game in 30 years. I like board games (competetive and co-op) but have no desire to play this again.

This is the same problem I have playing Risk.

I don't enjoy deceiving my friends and having them deceive me. It's hard for me to understand what kind of person enjoys basically trying to manipulate other people for sport.

Re: The Board Game of the Alpha Nerds (2014)

#32

Post by mindgam3 »

Apologies in advance if this is somewhat off topic, but I have some pushback against the title of this post.

No disrespect to Diplomacy, I think it's a great game. However I would respectfully submit that chess might have a stronger claim to being "the board game of the alpha nerds". (Or go, arguably, in the eastern world. But despite go's supremacy in terms of complexity, it hasn't captured the world's imagination like chess has.)

There's a reason why chess scenes always pop up in movies and literature featuring, e.g. criminal masterminds vs Sherlock, or the venerable doctor teaching strategy to the protégé. The reason is, chess (rightfully or not) is universally recognized as the quintessential game symbolizing human intelligence.

In my opinion as a former competitive chess player, chess skill actually isn't correlated with general intelligence, in the sense that if you're smart enough to get good at chess, at some point you realize that there are more worthwhile things to be doing with your time. But that's neither here nor there.

My main argument is that if we did a vote among all the world's "alpha nerds" to determine who is the alpha-est and nerdiest of us all, I suspect that current world chess champion Magnus Carlsen might place higher than any of these Diplomacy masters. I have no idea how this survey methodology would work (could anyone declare themselves an alpha nerd, or would they need to be confirmed by other nerds with official titles in nerdy activities?), but you get my point.

Re: The Board Game of the Alpha Nerds (2014)

#33

Post by tormeh »

cableshaft wrote: post #29
IggleSniggle wrote: post #19

I absolutely loved this game in high school. It’s very special, in that it’s primary mechanic is real world relationships placed into a tactical context. The downside is that it pulls real world relationships into a simulated zero-sum environment where the game ends but the relationships persist. I’ve never played any game quite like it. Unfortunately, I can’t think of a situation in which I would ever play it again,…

I've been brutally betrayed twice in Diplomacy. I'm still good friends with those people. It's only a game. If you can't separate player's behavior in the context of a game with who they are outside of it, then maybe board games is not the hobby for you, or at least not social/negotiation board games, which are very common in recent years.

Diplomacy sounds unique, though, because it takes so long to play. In shorter games I might betray you and you me before the night is over. Also, maybe the length makes it eel like there's more at stake?

Re: The Board Game of the Alpha Nerds (2014)

#34

Post by fjsolwmv »

mindgam3 wrote: post #32

Apologies in advance if this is somewhat off topic, but I have some pushback against the title of this post. No disrespect to Diplomacy, I think it's a great game. However I would respectfully submit that chess might have a stronger claim to being "the board game of the alpha nerds". (Or go, arguably, in the eastern world. But despite go's supremacy in terms of complexity, it hasn't captured the world's imagination l…

"Alpha nerds" as a term is unhelpful and distracting.

Re: The Board Game of the Alpha Nerds (2014)

#36

Post by mindgam3 »

fjsolwmv wrote: post #34
mindgam3 wrote: post #32

Apologies in advance if this is somewhat off topic, but I have some pushback against the title of this post. No disrespect to Diplomacy, I think it's a great game. However I would respectfully submit that chess might have a stronger claim to being "the board game of the alpha nerds". (Or go, arguably, in the eastern world. But despite go's supremacy in terms of complexity, it hasn't captured the world's imagination l…

"Alpha nerds" as a term is unhelpful and distracting.

I don't disagree, but I think the fact that the article has the term in its title is why it made it to the front page of Hacker News.

Re: The Board Game of the Alpha Nerds (2014)

#37

Post by fjsolwmv »

sanderjd wrote: post #15
whack wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if it's someone you plan to continue a relationship with in real life, then betrayal, even if it's "just a game", will damage that relationship, possibly terminally so. Do you also hold it against someone in real life, if they bluff you while playing poker? What you're saying might be true as a descriptive statement - many people can't separate gameplay from reality. But betrayal is a key mechanic that's designed i…

A poker "bluff" has always seemed poorly named to me. You aren't making any claims about your hand either way, you're just making bets. So a "bluff" is actually just the other players guessing wrong at what you're holding.

That's an overly reductive view of poker that misses the point of the game. If a high bid isn't an implied threat of high cards, what is it? Bidding is correlated to hand strength and player stacks, so a bid is a statement about your hand and the game, albeit a fuzzy one.

Re: The Board Game of the Alpha Nerds (2014)

#39

Post by hirsin »

polynomial wrote: post #30
bhickey wrote: post #3

This is a trip down memory lane. Back at HuskyCon 2009 I was on a board with Brian Ecton. When it was my turn to read orders, he stepped away from the board for a smoke. Since he was gone I made up new orders for his fleets. Boy was he livid when he got back. Unfortunately it seems like the face to face hobby is aging out. The last decade has seen several luminaries of Diplomacy retire from the game or pass away.

> Since he was gone I made up new orders for his fleets. How does that work?

Cheating, to be blunt. The person reading out the orders (OP) decided to ignore what was written on the paper and make up something. Difficult to pull off though - in every game I've played the written moves are shown to everyone, just to make it easier to keep track of who's doing what.

Re: The Board Game of the Alpha Nerds (2014)

#40

Post by bhickey »

hirsin wrote: post #39
polynomial wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since he was gone I made up new orders for his fleets. How does that work?

Cheating, to be blunt. The person reading out the orders (OP) decided to ignore what was written on the paper and make up something. Difficult to pull off though - in every game I've played the written moves are shown to everyone, just to make it easier to keep track of who's doing what.

Yep, in some circles the prevailing law is that cheating is fine until you get caught. The issue here is that Brian walked away from the board while orders were being read. No one has a responsibility to make sure your orders are adjudicated correctly.
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