Diplomacy: The Game of Knife

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 มิ.ย. 2024
  • In which I attempt to rationalise my love of betraying my friends by insisting this board game is in fact a deep exploration of our lives.
    Join my Discord server to discuss this video and more:
    / discord
    It's taken a year, but I'm back with another video essay. Remember when I said I'd probably never make one again? I lied.
    Like ParaWorld, Diplomacy is a semi-niche game I've played for many years. Also like ParaWorld, I have a burning need to tell the world about it and all the ways in which it's phenomenal. This video is what came of it.
    Editing has improved in general, though I'm still annoyed at my own voice. Guess I'll have to live with it.
    If the world leaders playing Diplomacy scene makes you want to gouge your eyes out and pray to Cthulhu for an escape from this hell, I don't blame you.
    Reddit post on 2012 World Cup: / the_2012_webdiplomacy_...
    Matthew Colville on Realpolitik: • Diplomacy | Running th...
    2012 World Cup Timelapse: • Diplomacy World Cup 2012
    0:00 Intro
    3:27 What is Diplomacy?
    6:30 Part I: Particles of War
    17:23 Part II: Mind Games
    26:32 Part III: The Meaning of Knife
    35:00 Conclusions
    37:03 Credits
    ----------------------
    FOOTAGE
    100 Years of History in 2 Minutes
    pwnwer
    • 100 Years of History i...
    Best TV Static Animation with Sound Effects
    YouToogle
    • Video
    Causes of WW1: Alliances
    Mr Allsop History Clips
    • Causes of WW1: Alliances
    Community: Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design
    NBC
    www.imdb.com/title/tt1640874/
    Cuban Crisis (1962)
    British Pathé
    • Cuban Crisis (1962)
    Diplomacy, Running the Game #40, Politics #3
    Matthew Colville
    • Diplomacy | Running th...
    Diplomacy World Cup 2012
    kenneth gordon
    • Diplomacy World Cup 2012
    Eurovision Song Contest 2019 - Grand Final
    Eurovision Song Contest
    • Eurovision Song Contes...
    Flames
    Pixabay
    www.pexels.com/video/flames-8...
    Forrest Gump
    Paramount Pictures
    www.imdb.com/title/tt0109830/
    Golden Balls - £100,000: Complete End Round Pt2
    GoldenBollocks
    • Golden Balls - £100,00...
    Life in life
    Phillip Bradbury
    • Life in life
    Paradox Interactive's Diplomacy (Full Austria Stream)
    DiploStrats
    • Paradox Interactive's ...
    "Remain Indoors" emergency broadcast - BBC Comedy
    BBC
    • "Remain Indoors" emerg...
    The Start of WW1 | Frightful First World War
    Horrible Histories
    • The Start of WW1 | Fri...
    Tsar Bomba Detonation
    Tsar bomba
    • Tsar Bomba Detonation
    VHS Rewind Effect - 4K Green screen FREE high quality effects
    ANFX // Free Media!
    • VHS Rewind Effect - 4K...
    WDC Recap 3: Fall 1901
    DanceScholar
    • WDC Recap 3: Fall 1901
    World War One - Footage
    killtron
    • World War One - Footage
    ----------------------
    MUSIC
    Carmina Burana: O Fortuna
    Carl Orff
    It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary
    Coldstream Guards
    It's a Long Way to Tipperary
    John McCormack
    Amazing Plan Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
    creativecommons.org/licenses/...
    Monkeys Spinning Monkeys Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
    creativecommons.org/licenses/...
    Onion Capers Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
    creativecommons.org/licenses/...
    Penumbra Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
    creativecommons.org/licenses/...
    X-Files Theme
    Mark Snow
    Bigger Than Us
    Michael Rice
    La Venda
    Miki
    These Constants Into Morning
    Oliver Lugg
    Victoria II Soundtrack
    Paradox Interactive
    Brain Damage
    Pink Floyd
    Sister
    S!sters
    God Save the Queen
    Traditional
    State Anthem of the Soviet Union
    Traditional
    ----------------------
    ARTICLES
    venturebeat.com/2020/06/10/de...
    www.diplomacy-archive.com/reso...
    / the_2012_webdiplomacy_...
    eurovision.tv/story/eurovisio...
    www.lesswrong.com/posts/jkf2Y...
    www.diplomacy-archive.com/reso...
    boardgamegeek.com/thread/3864...
    webdiplomacy.net/datc.php
    uk.diplom.org/pouch/Zine/F2007...
  • เกม

ความคิดเห็น • 705

  • @OliverLugg
    @OliverLugg  3 ปีที่แล้ว +238

    I'm taking part in Media Wars II along with a load of other Diplomacy content creators. Details here: th-cam.com/video/ls2q3d7k_Cc/w-d-xo.html
    EDIT: Media Wars II is done! See my post-game analysis here: th-cam.com/video/hmUTpjDUbRA/w-d-xo.html

    • @nahometesfay1112
      @nahometesfay1112 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      "To yeet a fleet across St. Pete is a cheat, but to beat a retreat is a bittersweet defeat" should be on a shirt or something

    • @jameslourenco8404
      @jameslourenco8404 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Dude we know what autumn is... just say autumn

    • @nahometesfay1112
      @nahometesfay1112 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@jameslourenco8404 It's a joke. Also the game calls it Fall.

    • @jlbjlb
      @jlbjlb 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      25:20 oh no

    • @QuizmasterLaw
      @QuizmasterLaw 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      God I hate this game because it's so brilliant and too accurate. It's like prisoners dilemma meets prison shanks. And you play with your friends!
      Well, your soon to be FORMER friends!

  • @thewingedserpent5823
    @thewingedserpent5823 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3734

    "A game that takes 3 years to play" dnd with bad schedules

    • @Zman44444
      @Zman44444 3 ปีที่แล้ว +347

      Lol
      DM: “So everyone, it’s been a minute, what’s goin on in the campaign? Anyone wanna give a recap?”
      Players: “uhhhh... I think we climbed a tree for something.. right?”

    • @andrewvanhorne4359
      @andrewvanhorne4359 3 ปีที่แล้ว +146

      @@Zman44444 It would be funny if it didn't hurt so bad.

    • @celebrim1
      @celebrim1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +41

      D&D? Try 10 years.

    • @Tommuli_Haudankaivaja
      @Tommuli_Haudankaivaja 3 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      We're lv 4 still and 2 years in.

    • @rickbergolla4055
      @rickbergolla4055 3 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      @@Tommuli_Haudankaivaja you're grand children will need to fight the BBEG

  • @whyando
    @whyando 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3285

    "Diplomacy meanwhile is all about communication which is why mathematicians don't actually like playing it" +1

    • @rageleague188
      @rageleague188 3 ปีที่แล้ว +67

      Report for: I'm in this picture and I don't like it.

    • @Darlos9D
      @Darlos9D 3 ปีที่แล้ว +46

      +1? Sounds like something a mathematician would say.

    • @ethelredhardrede1838
      @ethelredhardrede1838 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Pretty sure that I have played it with a mathematician, but not with Boardman, he cheated.
      "Press releases, too, were already a standard feature of the postal diplomacy scene. Indeed, several issues contain what might be thought of as a subzine, called REUTERS REPORTS, edited written and apparently printed by John Boardman, who was playing England in this game. (And Turkey, under the pseudonym Eric Blake though this didn't come out till after he'd won -- probably the first example of the use of underhand tactics in a postal dippy game)."

  • @Tomartyr
    @Tomartyr 2 ปีที่แล้ว +748

    For me the most fascinating part about this is that it's an American board game, set during the World Wars, that doesn't centre on or even include America.

    • @thesenate5770
      @thesenate5770 ปีที่แล้ว +56

      its technically set just after the turn of the century, so slightly before WW1

    • @Tomartyr
      @Tomartyr ปีที่แล้ว +56

      @@thesenate5770 Ah fair, including America as a military world power would be pretty ahistorical then.
      Nonetheless I'm still surprised they didn't do it anyway

    • @boobah5643
      @boobah5643 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      @@Tomartyr The US debuted as a world military power in the Spanish-American War in 1898, when it knocked the Spanish Empire out of the world power club and took its place. The problem is that the US is the only power outside Europe that could be considered a world, rather than regional, power, and it would be hard to justify the board's expansion for just the US.
      Does _Diplomacy_ often end in under 28 turns? Because if not, it can reasonably be considered set during the First World War.

    • @Tomartyr
      @Tomartyr ปีที่แล้ว +22

      @@boobah5643 I said world military power. The USA's military was insignificant compared to any of the European powers. Spain hadn't been a world power since Napoleon.

    • @cam4636
      @cam4636 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@Tomartyr You're not familiar with anything south of the equator, are you.

  • @Man2quilla
    @Man2quilla 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1130

    I once played a game of diplomacy in which, playing Britain I managed to get myself in an alliance United against Russia (played by the most experienced player). An afternoon full of backstabbing later I somehow managed to end the game as a member of the winning alliance... on Russia’s team. 10/10

    • @starmangalaxy2001
      @starmangalaxy2001 3 ปีที่แล้ว +148

      You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.

    • @thebravegallade731
      @thebravegallade731 2 ปีที่แล้ว +74

      so you were just roleplaying britan IRL then

    • @YataTheFifteenth
      @YataTheFifteenth ปีที่แล้ว +8

      🇮🇹

    • @valhalanguardsman2588
      @valhalanguardsman2588 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Went from intervention during the revolution to ww2

    • @lordphonix0994
      @lordphonix0994 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      napolianic wars in a nutshell

  • @QemeH
    @QemeH 2 ปีที่แล้ว +373

    Regarding the last unofficial rule about "cheating":
    My friends and I once played a legendary game with the homebrew additional rule that there was a "player" (I'm using this term lightly as they didn't have win conditions and acted perfectly neutral, so maybe "umpire" is the better word) acting as "the league of nations" with the sole power of removing units off the board. Any nation could at any point (except *during* turn resolution) claim that a unit had been cheated on the board and the league of nations would then take a secret poll among all remaining players weather this was true (if the voted ended 50/50 the "league of nations" went with the "correct" option as they traced all units independently). Oh boy, the friendships we destroyed with this rule... "Dave! You clearly saw Peter put a fleet in the baltic!" - "Hmmm... did I, Peter? Or will you promise to not support Berlin?"

    • @billiamswartz2355
      @billiamswartz2355 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      This is hysterical and I will steal this idea

    • @BWeManX
      @BWeManX 28 วันที่ผ่านมา +5

      This is brilliant madness...
      And not a bad way to get a small power back into the game. If those far from them would find it amusing to prop them up and annoy their immediate neighbors.

  • @katerinafitzridley3992
    @katerinafitzridley3992 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1099

    I looooove diplomacy. I remember all the friends I used to have before we played.

  • @thom_w
    @thom_w 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1985

    A few years ago, clubs were mandatory at my school so me and my conveniently sized group of six other friends played diplomacy, one game a week for months. I remember the arguments over the English Channel and the Black Sea, everyone banding together against the 16 supply centre Russia, and a naval invasion from Greece to St Petersburg. We actually got together on a google doc a few weeks ago to play diplomacy (which I can NEVER recommend, as the board was a .png which was incredibly easy to move accidentally) and had a good time.

    • @billymanners9629
      @billymanners9629 3 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      Try playing online, I use playdiplomacy.com, its free unless you want some features and pretty good

    • @abebuenodemesquita8111
      @abebuenodemesquita8111 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@billymanners9629 backstabbr is better but yea

    • @NareshSinghOctagon
      @NareshSinghOctagon 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Just get TTS and play it there.

    • @goalid9714
      @goalid9714 ปีที่แล้ว +47

      The best thing about Diplomacy club was that I could put it under my extra-curricular activities as "Diplomacy club" and play it off as some kind of model UN club lol

    • @57thorns
      @57thorns 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@goalid9714You were not that far off to be fair.

  • @codeviper8665
    @codeviper8665 2 ปีที่แล้ว +881

    "I know this because the only thing I've ever read about Paradox Interactive's PC version of _Diplomacy_ is that the A.I. sucks balls"
    To be fair, Paradox couldn't program a chess AI to beat a human player

    • @hedgehog3180
      @hedgehog3180 2 ปีที่แล้ว +241

      Paradox AI wins by making the game lag so much that the save is corrupted.

    • @scyobiempire4450
      @scyobiempire4450 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@hedgehog3180 too true...

    • @goldenrodprime226
      @goldenrodprime226 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      @@hedgehog3180 El Salvador moment

    • @Daniel-yz5qj
      @Daniel-yz5qj 2 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      @@hedgehog3180 thats why I always use the ai division limeter for hoi4, game is fucking unplayable without it (and spot optimization mod ofc)

    • @rexmopser7152
      @rexmopser7152 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      in my opinion paradox is one of the best ai creators of all gaming companys because the ai mostly dont cheat but instead follows the exact same rules as the human player not only makes it that great for ai adjustment at modding but also it makes the overall gamepla beter not like civilisation where ai ressources and gold apear out of nothing

  • @Repporio
    @Repporio 4 ปีที่แล้ว +751

    I feel the Vicky 2 soundtrack fits perfectly with this game. Though I thought buggy Victoria multiplayer was cool, this game sounds like utter madness.

  • @angelolorilla2050
    @angelolorilla2050 3 ปีที่แล้ว +641

    Changing Brest to Breast. Such a man of culture.

    • @skyclaw
      @skyclaw 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Better than interfering with the adjudication code in order to help him win.

    • @kiiwikiori7542
      @kiiwikiori7542 3 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      @@skyclaw but in a greater sense, in changing it to breast, he has already won

  • @NStripleseven
    @NStripleseven 3 ปีที่แล้ว +241

    So essentially what happens in the case of a paradox is that all of the troops involved think about it for a bit and are so confused they can’t do it.

  • @cam4636
    @cam4636 ปีที่แล้ว +55

    If it makes you feel better, "Fall" seems to have been a poetic counterpoint to "Spring," as in, Spring is when life 'springs up' after the winter, and fall is when it 'falls back' again. If it doesn't make you feel better, it's called "Fall" cuz the leafs start fallin'

  • @sambutton8494
    @sambutton8494 2 ปีที่แล้ว +130

    My dad played it with his friends, and lost them in the process. He then taught it to me, and I played it with my friends and followed in his footsteps.

  • @merrymerryjerry6736
    @merrymerryjerry6736 3 ปีที่แล้ว +163

    "I know all the openings, but am otherwise terrible at it"
    *Uses a queenside Bongcloud as background footage*
    A man of culture, I see

    • @piedpiper1172
      @piedpiper1172 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      New reply just dropped

    • @stemdapple
      @stemdapple 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Actual zombie

    • @Sarah12471
      @Sarah12471 29 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Pretty sure thats the queens gambit

  • @ManuelDornbusch
    @ManuelDornbusch 3 ปีที่แล้ว +198

    Wait what? There is a Game of Life that plays an even bigger version of Game of Life? I have never seen that before. Whoever worked that out, fills my heart with fear.

    • @jero37
      @jero37 3 ปีที่แล้ว +47

      The game of life is Turing Complete.

    • @rmsgrey
      @rmsgrey ปีที่แล้ว +41

      If you had a powerful enough computer, and enough patience, you could create a Game of Life running a Game of Life in Minecraft. Making Minecraft in Game of Life would require figuring out some way to handle player inputs, and an even more powerful computer, but it is, in principle, possible...

    • @awareqwx
      @awareqwx ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @@rmsgrey Technically you could write an AI to speedrun minecraft in GoL as well, then plug its inputs in via the USB 3.0 and DisplayPort interfaces over GoL wires to display them on a GoL screen

    • @QuizmasterLaw
      @QuizmasterLaw ปีที่แล้ว +2

      yeah people were larping LIFE before larp existed. i'm serious, it happened back in the o god i'm old 1970s

    • @ekki1993
      @ekki1993 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      People are trying to implement minecraft in minecraft too. And someone made a programming language entirely on one assembly function because it is Turing complete.
      Turing completeness does that to an mf.

  • @gamerofwar99
    @gamerofwar99 3 ปีที่แล้ว +241

    The algorithm works in mysterious ways. Never had it show me a small youtuber like this before, but it's nice to get recommended middling youtubers putting out high end content. Good luck king.

  • @jonesjohnson6301
    @jonesjohnson6301 3 ปีที่แล้ว +250

    30:30 "What if you based the impotent order for your last remaining fleet on a native Danes advice to attack their mortal enemies, the Swedes."
    - That had me, a native Dane, cracking up

    • @hedgehog3180
      @hedgehog3180 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      No matter the medium or time we will always be ready to get those damn swedes.

    • @hobbiefox-pastrycat4568
      @hobbiefox-pastrycat4568 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      *Always.*

    • @potatofuryy
      @potatofuryy 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Too bad they can just cross the ice

    • @Gositi
      @Gositi ปีที่แล้ว

      Det var vi som tågade över Bält, inte ni. Vill bara påpeka det.

  • @andrewgoff484
    @andrewgoff484 4 ปีที่แล้ว +167

    Brilliant. Play. This. Game.

  • @NotoriusBEN1
    @NotoriusBEN1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    Diplomacy is a game that breaks friendships...
    It is very hard to win solo as AustroHungary, but if you are willing to be a sociopath and social engineer your friends and classmates, you can pull it off.

  • @nok9355
    @nok9355 2 ปีที่แล้ว +29

    Diplomacy is like a combination of Risk, Chess, and Pokemon, with it being a map based strategy game like Risk, not luck based like Chess, and a little bit prediction based with the whole both players making the turn at the same time like Pokemon.

  • @ethanomcbride
    @ethanomcbride 3 ปีที่แล้ว +73

    We used this game to study paradigms in my game theory in international relations class. It was a semester-long sweaty fever dream

  • @lonjohnson5161
    @lonjohnson5161 3 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    I played this game in the 80s. I literally always spoke the truth hoping that would earn me some trust, but I was frequently the least trusted person in the game.

    • @64UPAllGOD
      @64UPAllGOD 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Makes sense. In a naturally "pragmatic" setting like a game, if you spend your time very obviously building up social capital, people naturally assume you plan to spend it at some point. At least, that's how I work, I've been reverse bluffed by truthtellers many times.

    • @lonjohnson5161
      @lonjohnson5161 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@64UPAllGOD The truth is, that was my plan. However, I never found a situation where spending the big lie was worth it. It eventually spilled over into my real life. This game literally transformed me into the truth speaking adult I am today.

  • @secular555
    @secular555 3 ปีที่แล้ว +132

    JFK "defused the crisis", the one he caused when he temporarily forgot what the M in MAD stood for

    • @crocidile90
      @crocidile90 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@patrickhenry1249 yup and for giving the invasion force in the bay of pigs the middle finger and NOT give them air support.

    • @jpheitman1
      @jpheitman1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Was MAD even codified then? I thought people started talking about it after the crisis.
      Side note: A version of MAD was widely understood to be true in Europe around 1900 onwards. The idea was that modern war was so deadly and destructive that no great power would ever think to start one.

    • @MintyLime703
      @MintyLime703 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Forgetting that Castro had a stiffy for nuclear war with the US and the Soviets time and time again had to tell him to stfu. I'd be pretty jumpy too if I knew there were nuclear weapons in Cuba and its dictator really wanted to use them. It's understandable then why putting nukes in Turkey was absolutely necessary. If he didn't understand "mutual" then he wouldn't have bothered doing that. Upholding MAD was kinda the point. And it worked.

    • @iamwepty8986
      @iamwepty8986 2 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      @@MintyLime703 your point would be correct if nukes weren’t placed in Turkey by the US before the Soviets placed them in Cuba
      If anything it was the Soviets upholding MAD

  • @Ragnoar
    @Ragnoar 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Mathematicians: Math is logically consistent
    Gödel: Have I got numbers for you kiddo

    • @lightgazaret6825
      @lightgazaret6825 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      Godel does not show that math is logically inconsistent, it shows that if maths is consistent it must be incomplete

  • @AdThe1st
    @AdThe1st 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    As a Java developer know that I will always rename England to Ireland

  • @aaronkersh
    @aaronkersh 4 ปีที่แล้ว +142

    16:58 was actually hilarious

  • @professorhaystacks6606
    @professorhaystacks6606 3 ปีที่แล้ว +34

    I love how the 'nefarious' action is just to put the word 'breast' in there.
    Also, did not expect to see the Goedal Incompleteness Theorem applied to a board game. Fun.
    Also like many games, the best long-term strategy is probably to behave randomly. After all, if you don't know what you'll do, neither can your opponent. The problem with that is you seldom win, but the game gets interesting fast.

  • @codeviper8665
    @codeviper8665 2 ปีที่แล้ว +46

    Me and my friends tried to create our own "board" game, similar to this (we even called it Diplomacy), but we never finished creating it, and we graduated before we ever got the club off the ground. I wish I could go back in time and tell past me about this game...

  • @firion666
    @firion666 4 ปีที่แล้ว +37

    That's one of the best thing I found on TH-cam ragarding Diplomacy. Thank you for your time and will.

  • @espicelmecanicodecombustio1632
    @espicelmecanicodecombustio1632 3 ปีที่แล้ว +38

    Ah, a fellow bongcloud enthusiast

  • @LegendaryTactics
    @LegendaryTactics 3 ปีที่แล้ว +53

    This video deserves way more views.

  • @lemmonboy6459
    @lemmonboy6459 3 ปีที่แล้ว +37

    Never heard of this channel, Diplomacy, and I’m not a mathematician
    But I’m so damn glad this was recommended to me
    Nice video :)

  • @utternon-cents9136
    @utternon-cents9136 3 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    Alright, when is this channel hosting a game of diplomacy

  • @DanceScholar
    @DanceScholar 4 ปีที่แล้ว +81

    Dude, this is absolutely amazing. :D

  • @givemeawand
    @givemeawand ปีที่แล้ว +9

    I heard about Diplomacy by watching Valefisk’s video playing it and I think it seems like a cool game.

  • @zooblestyx
    @zooblestyx ปีที่แล้ว +7

    In my mid-20s, I was obsessed with Diplomacy, but after a few years, I had to give it up. I didn't like who I was turning into, and how the game affected how I thought of, and felt about my friends. Interestingly, while I was still in the thick of it, there were older people around me who told me about having had that very experience, but I just thought they took it too seriously, or weren't "cut out" for the cutthroat nature of the game. As if I were, or should have aspired to be. I suppose I had to live it myself to understand it, since it is a tragic, yet fundamental truth of human life, that XP are not transferrable.

    • @lightworker2956
      @lightworker2956 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Yeah, agreed. I think it's good to briefly study diplomacy, just to understand a psychopath's mindset (because that's basically how you have to act to be successful). But let loose your inner psychopath for too long and maybe that's not good for you or your friendships.
      Diplomacy is Kissinger's favorite game. Need I say more?

  • @DiploStrats
    @DiploStrats 4 ปีที่แล้ว +181

    Great video! I've always been kind of obsessed with video essays and it's fantastic to see one done so well on Diplomacy. The game theory segment is giving me ideas :D
    And stand up against the American oppressors! If enough youtubers call it Autumn eventually everyone will :P

    • @andrewgoff484
      @andrewgoff484 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      There are five seasons in Diplomacy - Spring Summer (Retreats) Fall Autumn (Retreats) Winter (Builds).

    • @shreeramkumaran
      @shreeramkumaran 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      An aeroplane is made of aluminium

  • @Genubath1
    @Genubath1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I once had a game of uno that lasted from 10pm to 4am because every time someone came close to winning, everyone else dogpiled them and they ended up with most of the deck in their hand. The game only ended when someone threw the game and let someone else win because we wanted to sleep.

  • @postacorona6746
    @postacorona6746 3 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    Eurovision, the international competition I am only aware of due to that one episode of Father Ted

  • @XX-sp3tt
    @XX-sp3tt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Randomness works in games like this IMHO since how many political empires got screwed by "this didn't go how I thought it was gonna go."

    • @noahbirthisel3285
      @noahbirthisel3285 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      If you've seen the dramatically unfun potential endgames of risk you would know that rolling dice ten times a fight is boring.

    • @TheGahta
      @TheGahta 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Also it invalidates any diplomacy youre doing if it can go south that easily
      aka why invest an hour mulling over grievances if it can still go to shit even without anyone involved wanting it to fail :D
      just curious, what games with diplomacy you played that formed your opininon?

    • @oliviapg
      @oliviapg 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@noahbirthisel3285 The worst part of Risk isn't the dice imo, it's that 15 minutes into the game everyone knows who will win, and nobody can do anything to stop it. The next hour is just the game playing out to its inevitable conclusion.

    • @XX-sp3tt
      @XX-sp3tt 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@noahbirthisel3285 I have played risk, and I never felt negative about that.

    • @hedgehog3180
      @hedgehog3180 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@noahbirthisel3285 The problem there is the time it takes though not the randomness.

  • @josharmstrong8813
    @josharmstrong8813 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    16:49
    Oliver: "oh yeah I can programme in java now"
    Also Oliver: "wait JDIP is programmed in java . . ."
    *(Realisation sets in)*
    Oliver armed with forbidden knowledge: *prepares to commit a digital crime of the most heinous kind* (maniacal laughing gets louder)
    Me: YOU MADMAN!

  • @RoamingAdhocrat
    @RoamingAdhocrat 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Weird how the entire video was upside down except for a moment at 0:10

  • @anguscurnow9297
    @anguscurnow9297 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    less awkward self deprecation, more amazing analogies.
    loved your video essay. Thanks!!!

  • @alessandroverganti9992
    @alessandroverganti9992 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    I just got this recomended to me, going to convince my friends to play a game!

  • @board-qu9iu
    @board-qu9iu 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    This video is so underrated and I am surprised it has low views

  • @icebot3045
    @icebot3045 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    17:45 Valefisk just did a game where he told chat GPT his situation and what other players had said and it told him what to do and who to ally with, when and where to backstab, and other such things. All in all he labeled ChatGPT a “half decent diplomacy player” as he only lost because Turkey got very big, very fast and he was England and didn’t have many options for stopping them. Great video I highly suggest watching (even if it is 2hrs long)

  • @villevalste1888
    @villevalste1888 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    4:15 That BGM is giving me PTSD from all the times I had to go through great wars in Vic2.

  • @mazaltovcocktail
    @mazaltovcocktail 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    It always makes me pay closer attention when I start hearing the Vicky 2 sound track

  • @maxhill7065
    @maxhill7065 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Leaves fall, so we call it Fall - Americans, probably

  • @aidangarvey7049
    @aidangarvey7049 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I really hoped I would never have to relive the horrors of discrete math, but here I am starting at ∃0 ∈ ℝ, a + 0 = a, ∀a ∈ ℝ ⇒ a ∙ 0 = a ∙ (0 + 0) in a TH-cam video about a board game. Damn you!
    Memes aside, this was a very good watch, and your Paradox music choice was on point.

  • @KingOfCheesee
    @KingOfCheesee 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    Both the "WW1 = Eurovision" joke and the "JFK = F(Lon)->ENG" joke made me piss myself. Great video :D

  • @Pugmaster-ef1ii
    @Pugmaster-ef1ii 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I remember our 8th grade science teacher introducing this to my friend group, we played it a lot all through high school, great times.

  • @charliecharliewhiskey9403
    @charliecharliewhiskey9403 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    For time context, at the start of this game, I had a major car crash that destroyed my legs, and they were still playing when I finally finished my physiotherapy and moved on with my life.
    It sounds like a long time, 2012 to 2016, but even then it's hard to wrap one's head around that.
    It's long enough to completely change your life AND completely settle into your new life. It's long enough to reach the lowest low of depression, and manually surface again without medication.
    It's also about long enough to start and finish a bachelor's degree.
    It's a HUGE amount of time.

  • @spectralburst5258
    @spectralburst5258 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Didn’t expect this kind of video from Oliveriver, but I’m not complaining!

  • @penguinlordalan
    @penguinlordalan 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I played the mobile version of this for years and for some reason never bothered looking into its history, so great video!

  • @Sploack
    @Sploack 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    What an excellent video. The JFK Illuminati part had me laughing out loud. You explained everything perfectly and teached me so much in this half hour. Oh, and as a diplomacy and dungeons and dragons lover (I came to know these two gems at the same time around 2-3 years ago) I really appreciated the reference to Matthew Colville's video, which is the way I discovered diplomacy.

  • @paulembleton1733
    @paulembleton1733 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My mum bought me the game for my 13th birthday (1961). Never found enough players for a full game. Didn’t play again till late 1990’s and discovering a PBEM Diplomacy group on Yahoo Groups. It is quite simply the best board game ever invented and a good tool for learning something of the sausage making part of diplomacy and politics regardless of your background.
    My first solo was Austria-Hungary. It was due to France falling out with Germany then most everyone except me. I’d have been happier with the solo if I’d engineered their fallout, but it was something associated with previous games.

  • @loganjackson637
    @loganjackson637 3 ปีที่แล้ว +36

    I was introduced to this game by my history teacher, and it was either the best or worst thing to happen to me.
    Also I’m American and I still approve of WebDiplomacy’s choice to call it Autumn instead of Fall.

  • @domukaz
    @domukaz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Heart swelling at the sound of the Victoria II music.

  • @obnoxas
    @obnoxas 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Holy fuck I nearly spit my drink at 0:57

  • @MrWhatcat
    @MrWhatcat 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is so good! Thank you for posting this about such a timeless game. Gets me back to thinking about my spirited defense of Paris from the Italians, all thanks to a bunch of orders that Austria was feeding me. Knives can be years in the making

  • @friedwaldderlebendige8494
    @friedwaldderlebendige8494 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    the way you pronounced Kiel made me want to tear my german spine out

  • @LegendaryTactics
    @LegendaryTactics 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Wow. I feel so dumb now. Me move piece. Me win.

  • @krausewitz6786
    @krausewitz6786 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you so much for including the Game of Life and John Conway. I only met him once, but he had a profound impact on my life (and I'm not even a mathematician!).
    Such a joy to see him and diplomacy brought together.

  • @Fish_King
    @Fish_King 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is the first video of yours I've ever seen, it was great! I'm about to binge all your other videos now.

  • @gml4
    @gml4 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    This is a work of love! Nicely done!

  • @mennoastfalck2267
    @mennoastfalck2267 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I like the addition of Victoria 2 music.

  • @KTC88
    @KTC88 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Wow, what an interesting game! Thank you for all the effort you put into this video too!

  • @John-doe955
    @John-doe955 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    It would appear that you have been selected the algorithm roulette for me today. Cool video.

  • @davidmapping4041
    @davidmapping4041 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    That diplomacy paradox made my head hurt

  • @PeterBayer7
    @PeterBayer7 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    What a video, man. You say the video is too long but I never thought 37 minutes would be enough to talk about the many aspects of Diplomacy, yet you made it look easy and made it fun. Chapeau

  • @codeviper8665
    @codeviper8665 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    The Halo Effect applies to me and my family playing cards against humanity
    I am, by far, the most innocent and non-perverted person playing, but I absolutely destroy everyone, simply because no one could possibly fathom that my sweet, innocent, child-like brain could come up with some of these ideas

  • @maddoxlacy9072
    @maddoxlacy9072 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Hey, could you do one on axis and allies, perhaps? I would love one on that game. Especially when variant rules with diplomacy or alternate dates come in.

  • @arribalaschivas91
    @arribalaschivas91 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The librarian at my high school set up a game that lasted most of a semester with a daily order that had to be placed by 4. I don’t remember much other than realizing I had no hope of winning, so u just became an agent of chaos, messing up everybody’s attacks and support, favoring no one

  • @AFNick
    @AFNick หลายเดือนก่อน

    My favorite board game of all time. In order to manage time the groups I play with set a game clock that whoever has the most supply centers in a set time period (5-8 hours) wins the game.

  • @muhammadhaider7687
    @muhammadhaider7687 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This video is so beautiful. It really is a work of art. Like the game of diplomacy itself.

  • @threeten22
    @threeten22 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you for this review. My friends and I, who've known each other for most of our lives, played it pretty religiously one summer and I haven't ever experienced such (friendly) drama between all of us and had a lasting effect on us and our interactions for months after we stopped playing.

  • @KameTurtle_
    @KameTurtle_ 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    "To yeet a fleet across St. Peet is a cheat, but you beat a retreat in a bitter-sweat feat" 😂

  • @pinocolada5584
    @pinocolada5584 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    One of the greatest videos of all time. Such a classic for me

  • @memeboi6017
    @memeboi6017 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    26:23 Love the community clip, your honestly one of the youtubers i respect and relate to on a personal level the most

  • @feartheghus
    @feartheghus 3 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    There is nothing wrong with Russia’s votes until the end when they decided to vote for a draw even though that was surrender when they had not yet lost. They drew breath, they could win, and they decided to lose. The proper ply at this point is to negotiate an Italian surrender, after enough years anyone sane will accept rigging the game so that Russia will win just so they can be free of it and thereby have their victory as well. That way you win by willpower.

  • @australiansausage2727
    @australiansausage2727 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Fantastic video man, I'm glad I stuck to it until at the very end.

  • @noble6392
    @noble6392 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I really like "call of war"
    It is simple enough, i would recommend

  • @bicou
    @bicou 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great video, really enjoyed learning more the famous ‘friendship killer’ game 😀

  • @DysClaimer
    @DysClaimer 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Really, really well done. Captured a lot of truth about the game in this. Thanks!

  • @drmadjdsadjadi
    @drmadjdsadjadi ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I won the 1988 International Gamers Association World Diplomacy Tournament with ITALY (the single hardest country to play according to statistics) by backstabbing BOTH of the alliances in the game that were set up at the start. I joined both of them, backstabbed both of them, convinced both of them that I REALLY was STILL on their sides, and then backstabbed them BOTH AGAIN. At that point, I was too far ahead that I could just offer to pay off one alliance (yes, there was money on the line for all of this) and blow off the other one. No one dared to double cross me and I cruised to victory. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

  • @BluMacaw
    @BluMacaw 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    And that's why we have Hearts of Iron so we can have game like risk, but with less randomness, but with actuall content.

  • @Ignats75
    @Ignats75 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    An absolute perfect video. Entertaining, funny, knowledgeable. Well Done.

  • @aidandurkovic4983
    @aidandurkovic4983 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    This guy has better quality and production than many 300k+ subscriber content creators i've seen. Subscribing for sure.

  • @philfrank5601
    @philfrank5601 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Can we all agree that Oliver Legg is in fact the guitarist behind the KDH guitar channel?

  • @nargris4048
    @nargris4048 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Brought a complete Gibsons copy from a charity shop yesterday for £3.
    Never heard of the game and given what I read and the videos I have watched since; its either going to be the best or worst £3 I have ever spent 😁

  • @cookies23z
    @cookies23z 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    omfg, these mind games section :) I love it, reminds me so much of playing Scythe with my friends, brother and dad. It really brought up some of our games.

  • @jesush7662
    @jesush7662 3 ปีที่แล้ว +33

    Thank you for your joke of American “fall” I feel recognized and insulted! Cheers!

  • @smorcrux426
    @smorcrux426 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Holy fuck this is such a great video. How are you not insanely popular I'm sending this to all my friends

  • @iainoftheizzetleague9850
    @iainoftheizzetleague9850 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I remember being at a fairly small board game convention in April 2023, where I tricked three complete strangers into playing Diplomacy.
    The three players+me were;
    Austria-France(P1)
    Germany-Turkey(P2)
    Russia-Italy(P3)
    Britain(Me)
    As the only one there who actually knew how the game was played, I was immediately ganged up on. P1 and P2 proceeded to basically blockade me, but P2 accidently had a unit on one of Frances points during the fall turn, and for some reason France hadn't bothered expanding into any other points.
    I saw this, and immediately told P3, who hadn't been involved in the fighting thus far, that I would not fight him until he invaded me or we were the last two people, if he moved a unit into Frances last unoccupied territory.
    I then moved a fleet into France's last unnocupied territory, as his fleet tried to attack mine in the channel.
    That fall turn, I unveiled my machinations, and France was removed from the game, seemingly out of nowhere.
    That game went on to have a bunch of other wacky things, but eventually P2 had to leave for another scheduled game, and P1, who only had one point left in Austria, assumed control of his lands. He had not forgotten his grudge.
    Britain proceeded to fight a great war alone against every other country, and lost, but only because we all had to do other things and decided to tally our points there.
    I had nine.
    That one stupid game may be amongst my favorite board gaming memories, and I got ganged up on, simply because I had a basic grasp of some strategies to play the game.

  • @Ralkern
    @Ralkern ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I love how the Brest bit shows what a true Disney villain you are... wait.
    A Disney villain with understanding of multiverse time-travel... the fall of Disney from the happiest company on earth into villainy... what if...
    Oh your other video has a Jeb reference lol
    what was i talking about? Probably nothing

  • @diomedeus
    @diomedeus 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great vid mate, you gone grow huge mate. Keep pumping out the high end, long, math vids.

  • @greedy9310
    @greedy9310 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    "For the foreseeable future, AI has little hope of defeating Diplomacy veterans"
    Well that aged very well, didn't it :)

    • @alicewyan
      @alicewyan 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      It happened already?

    • @Ruiseal
      @Ruiseal 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Kinda off, the ai (named cicero) only really wins in blitz, in a longer format with more complex negotiations and tactics it just makes up random stuff

    • @alicewyan
      @alicewyan 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@Ruiseal oh, not solved yet then! ;)

  • @bjornseine2342
    @bjornseine2342 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    .... Gotta say, I did not expect Colville to pop up out of nowhere in this three year old video :D