> Casey, though I am a big proponent of the postal hobby it is NOT the
> best way to start since the games are so slow you won't learn like
> you should. I also think it is not that useful to play against other
> novices in the "novice games" on the Judge, though by all means try
> it if you want, since what you really want to do is play other
> players who are good and learn from them.
The novice queue games have a number of frustrations, but I do
recommend playing at least one as a 'rite of passage' if you
are considering judge play as your most likely outlet in the hobby. At
the present time, there is a lot of absenteeism and resignations, which
is frustrating, but there are also a number of GMs who are doing their
best to make the novice game a solid learning experience. Alan Mennel
and Todd Lawson, for example, actively recruit players for Diplomacy
Direct, which is a novice group with the goal of transitioning players
into Dipsters in a year. I offer DD referrals too, but I'm mostly
interested in increasing the quality of the general player pool. If you
join a "ns######" game from the Openings page or if I pull your address
out of the queue then you'll get tutorials and thorough, patient answers
to many of the questions. Yes, I tell people to read the manual, but I
know that the judge docs aren't *exactly* straightforward so I
understand the need to provide additional guidance.
It's just tough to get a face to face group going unless you already
know a bunch of other geeks. For postal and hand-moderated play by
email, you really need to have a good grasp of the game and the pacing
before you make a commitment. Real Time has its pros and cons, but it's
almost exclusively no press and there are almost always bots playing.
The nice thing about the judge is that it handles the pacing of the
game and lets you get 7 human players without excessive delays. The
trade off is that the interface leaves a lot to be desired... and so
far graphical patches to the interface do not seem to have not
translated into an improved playing experience.
I have my own theories and plans, but the state of things is that the
judges are a distant second best to live play, but good preparation
for whatever non-live format you end up preferring.
Chris
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