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1. How do I play?
2. How do I join a game?
3. What's involved in a game?

1. How do I play?

   The rules are included in the game, they may be purchased directly from Avalon Hill. I'm sorry that we can't explain the rules in any great detail, but they're copyright, and tend to be protected. Permission has been granted for PBM and PBEM diplomacy, and the use of the maps, but not for the publication of the rules. Diplomacy can be purchased from any good toyshop. A legitimate question to ask of the list is: 'I live in ____, does anyone know a good place to find the game Diplomacy?'.

   You can get a good idea the main rules by looking at some of the tutorials in "The Diplomatic Pouch". You can also watch the games in progress.

   If you have an understanding of the basic rules, then perusing the strategy pages would be a good thing to do.

2. How do I join a game?

   Games are started on an irregular basis. You can get a game in one of two ways

   • Wait for a "Game start" message.
   • Take over from someone who has had to take a break from a game

   Remember, that you'll be subject to the house rules of the GM.

   Do not volunteer somebody else for a game, even with their consent. Players should step forward of their own volition. Similarly you should have lurked for a while before taking on a game.

3. What's involved in a game?

   Look out for any message with the name of your game in the subject line. Note that each game is given a unique name.

   Typically you'll be expected to submit orders every few days, the penalties for missing orders will depend upon house rules, but may eventually result in a replacement being sought. Upon joining a game you are signing up for a long term commitment, and will be expected to finish.

   If you become known for late orders or dropping out of games then you'll find it harder to find a place in a new game.

   If you must drop out, for whatever reason, it is only polite to give notice and to try and arrange for a temporary or permanent replacement where this is feasible.

• Modifications (the boring bit)

  Here are a list off the modifications made to this FAQ.

  12th Apr 1999	General Maintenance, repairing some links that broke during the FAQ split, for example.
  28th Oct 1998	FAQ Split into sections. Note, after this date the revision history for each FAQ will diverge
  28th Oct 1998	Minor maintenance
  26th Feb 1998	Alex pedanted at me a bit regarding typos and phrasing
  25th Feb 1998	A minor maintenance revision - a few sentances added here and there to try and discourage cluelessness.
  23rd Feb 1998	A minor maintenance revision
  28th Jan 1998	The "Abuse" section was changed slightly.
  28th May 1997	A small section upon the IRC channel was included.
  10th May 1997	The HTML version was created
  9th May 1997	The "How do I start a game" section was updated. This includes the "power preferences" section.
  8th May 1997	This modification list was created before posting the revised FAQ back to AFPDip. A credits section was created. Small changes were made to the "Use and Abuse" section and to the "How do I Play?" section.
  7th May 1997	Subscription address for the announce list was corrected. John Fouhy's inspirational footnote was included.
  6th May 1997	The FAQ was written in one giant Tour de Force.

• Credits (the even more boring bit)

  Murky B

  Starting afpdip
  Creating the first draft of the FAQ - 6th May 1997
  FAQ Maintainer, 6th May 1997 - ??????????

  Piers Forrest

  Providing information regarding the genesis of afpdip in a post by John Fouhy.

  Alexander Kamilewicz

  Pedanting over the Phraseology in the FAQ.

  Leo Breebaart and Mark Lowes

  Providing a home for the mailing list on Lspace. Thank you.

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