195 - Forum Diplomacy Steel Rex

[Netstrider]

WA -> All Kingdoms

Personal matters in our "home" realm have meant that we have not read all of the reports from the corners of the world with as much vigor as we should have. As the honorable King Oban has pointed out, we too are confused at the very concrete diplomacy that seems to be going on between the Gnome, Ancient Ones and Witchlord. This is especially confusing since I am not able to find a single diplomatic missive from the Witchlord. Why would the Witchlord join a public diplomacy game without wanting to conduct public diplomacy? Why would the Witchlord declare the AN and GN allies without any communication whatsoever? Why would the Gnome and Ancient Ones reciprocate without a single communication or agreement in the public forum? This looks as suspicious as the same thing happening in a "no diplomacy" game. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation and I am not trying to impinge any players reputation, but someone should make the effort to at least explain why this "hidden" diplomacy is reasonable. Suspicions are only heightened by the Gnomes public posting regarding prior out-of-forum communication with the Witchlord player regarding what could happen in a similar situation.

In light of these developments I will take defensive diplomatic measures against a 3-way alliance with completely unknown intentions.

In no way should my actions be taken as intent to initiate hostile actions against the GN/AN/WI alliance. This includes the AN village in Amberland. But let it be known that we are prepared to defend our territory to the best of our ability if attacked.

Sincerely,
Red

[Jumpingfist]

AN - DW

We want to make it clear there is no pending war between the warlock and our people. This seems to come from a paranoid distrust the warlock has. We offered the warlock any length nap he wish and got a response of 10 turns would not work. So we will let the warlock decide if advancing on a regionless kingdom serves him any good.
As to the WI we are simply responding to his action not his words. Clearly no words respond to

[mafmiller]

OOC -
I think it's cool that the WI is playing a diplomacy-heavy game by not communicating. We are supposed to be in character, and to me, that seems to be very much in the spirit of that kingdom.

[HeadHoncho]

OOC: Netstrider, as your post primarily relates to OOC matters, I will respond OOC.

I've already indicated my thinking on the past public and private tactical discussion. Two people I respect (JF and the person who came up with this public diplomacy concept) expressed that it made them uncomfortable, and so without any complaints, I immediately edited my post to remove the discussion, and said I wouldn't do it again.

There is absolutely no indication WI even saw it, and he certainly hasn't responded to it to confirm any kind of action. So this is really an innocently-intended, "no harm no foul" type of situation. This is a new experimental format, and so questions about procedure and conduct are bound to arise.

On the WI declarations, I've already explained it twice, so I'll decline to explain it a third time. Some people are more active on the public diplomacy than others, and LT has apparently decided to go entirely silent. That is completely his prerogative, if he wants to play this like an anonymous game with the benefit of seeing information posted by other people.

Finally, there may be an undercurrent in your post that seems to imply that I or we are doing something underhanded. I would appreciate your clarification that either you don't intend that, or if you do, to please come out and say it plainly, so I can respond plainly. Thanks.

[Netstrider]

WA -> AN

The concept of a NAP is a bit foreign to us and doesn't align with our cultural values. The Warlock has already promised that you will not be attacked by our Kingdom for the duration of the game except in self defense. An attack on our allies, of course, will be considered an attack on us. What we've offered is much more concrete than a NAP. We apologize if our offer doesn't meet the normal protocols employed by the muggle diplomats of this realm and has created confusion.

We are much heartened that there is no pending war between our two kingdoms and hope that situation does not change in the near future.

Red

[Netstrider]

OOC -> Head Honcho

Pretty much as I said in my post. It just doesn't make seem to make any sense to arbitrarily respond to an ally declaration from the *one* silent player without understanding what the shared goals would be. If some newb was playing WI and declared you ally out of the blue would you respond by declaring him ally in return and locking yourself into all that that implies?

Maybe I just don't understand the "agreement" of allied-ness that everyone else is working from.

But just because I don't understand your actions, doesn't mean that I have any real heartburn with it. I just don't understand so it's mysterious. I'll get to have fun fireballing something before it's all over, I'm sure.

[HeadHoncho]

OOC: What's arbitrary about seeing someone declare you an Ally, and declaring that person an Ally back? It's basic reciprocation, which seems pretty logical and rational to me.

And honestly, I have no idea what WI's goals are, because he hasn't told us. So I have no clue if our goals are shared. I can't speak for him, but I also correspondingly have little sense of obligation, and without communication, I won't even know he's being attacked so that I could try to help him (if I even decided I wanted to, which again, I don't necessarily feel any obligation to do without communication).

At the end of the day, you know as much about what it means as I do right now, because there hasn't been any communication.

Finally, since I didn't see you answer the question clearly, I will just state plainly that I don't appreciate what you appear to be insinuating. At all. And that is putting it mildly.

[Vulkar]

OOC -
I think it's cool that the WI is playing a diplomacy-heavy game by not communicating. We are supposed to be in character, and to me, that seems to be very much in the spirit of that kingdom.

DW
I couldn't agree more. It's certainly adding an element of unknown to the equation. Nothing like a little paranoid anxiety stemming from a lurking evil to add to the fun and exitement. Perhaps when the minions are unleashed we'll hear the demands of the reclusive Eye of Doom.

[Netstrider]

OOC: Maybe it makes sense in the context of Alamaze because Alamaze is different than real life *and* every other game I've played. "Ally" means something specific to me (hint: It means you are "allies" as defined in the dictionary). Being allies means shared goals, obligations, etc. But maybe that's me applying something where it doesn't belong here in Alamaze. Maybe being allies in Alamaze means absolutely nothing as you seem to be stating. Maybe it just means that you can send your fleets through each water squares without being attacked?

In any case, I thought I answered pretty clearly. I'm just confused by what I see happening in the game. Remember - I'm a newb and haven't played a bazillion games of Alamaze. You guys are pretty tight knit group of players with many common games under your belts. As I said, I'll take you at your word. It's just a game after all.

[Vulkar]

I would like to think the ally declaration means nothing more than someone feels there was an advantage to issuing the order, however I wouldn't discount the possibility that among players who have relationships of trust that this is a quick and easy "hey, let's be friends in this one".

Will the AN take advantage of an increased regional reaction and invade the Mists, or should we construe this alliance as inviolable? I don't know, but I won't be living by any assumptions.