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I have played many games, but only won one- the first one I played. I was Italy, I made deals with everyone, backstabbed with multiple written orders to show di

I have played many games, but only won one- the first one I played. I was Italy, I made deals with everyone, backstabbed with multiple written orders to show different alliances to players, and won. But then nobody ever trusted me in Diplomacy again, so I could never make any deals and was always eliminated.

lojack 6y ago
Yeah, there's a huge meta that goes along with diplomacy. I've heard numerous times that those that play competitively rarely ever backstab. They understand that there needs to be a certain level of trust in order to succeed.
- baking 6y ago
  They way I would describe it is that 3-way ties are very stable. Backstabbing to get into a 3-way tie is certainly considered fair game and there should be no hard feelings among experienced players. But not respecting the 3-way is a whole other thing. 2-way ties are extremely tricky, so eliminating the third player will usually result in a solo win, often with the third player throwing in to punish the perceived aggressor. So experienced players do tend to play for the 3-way and will only work with others that they know will respect the 3-way draw. On the other hand, solo wins are wicked fun and one solo win is worth ten 3-way ties (even though tournament scoring and other rankings don't reflect that fact.) EDIT: I should add that there is one other dynamic that comes into play, and that is that 4-way draws are really frowned on by many players. A larger player with a smaller ally that stays "loyal" to their small partner can force the elimination of a medium size power that would otherwise have participated in the draw and that can upset the apple cart, possibly in the larger player's favor. But this strategy is pretty transparent and is usually unsuccessful among better players.
LanceH 6y ago
I also won early, also by backstabbing people. It was completely known that I was not to be trusted. But it almost made the game easier. Facing someone with blind rage would cripple their game. Either they would paralyze themselves defending non-existent threats from me, or they would go after me hard. But blatantly going for someone just opens the door for someone else -- and that's who I would make the deal with. It seemed I could always appeal to someone's greed.

lojack 6y ago

Yeah, there's a huge meta that goes along with diplomacy. I've heard numerous times that those that play competitively rarely ever backstab. They understand that there needs to be a certain level of trust in order to succeed.

baking 6y ago
They way I would describe it is that 3-way ties are very stable. Backstabbing to get into a 3-way tie is certainly considered fair game and there should be no hard feelings among experienced players. But not respecting the 3-way is a whole other thing. 2-way ties are extremely tricky, so eliminating the third player will usually result in a solo win, often with the third player throwing in to punish the perceived aggressor. So experienced players do tend to play for the 3-way and will only work with others that they know will respect the 3-way draw. On the other hand, solo wins are wicked fun and one solo win is worth ten 3-way ties (even though tournament scoring and other rankings don't reflect that fact.) EDIT: I should add that there is one other dynamic that comes into play, and that is that 4-way draws are really frowned on by many players. A larger player with a smaller ally that stays "loyal" to their small partner can force the elimination of a medium size power that would otherwise have participated in the draw and that can upset the apple cart, possibly in the larger player's favor. But this strategy is pretty transparent and is usually unsuccessful among better players.

LanceH 6y ago

I also won early, also by backstabbing people. It was completely known that I was not to be trusted. But it almost made the game easier. Facing someone with blind rage would cripple their game. Either they would paralyze themselves defending non-existent threats from me, or they would go after me hard. But blatantly going for someone just opens the door for someone else -- and that's who I would make the deal with. It seemed I could always appeal to someone's greed.