PDL 2021 Commentary

[another]

Yes, you are!

But strange that Russia decided to gift Germany 4 points?

[jay65536]

Germany was actually gifted 8 points. His elimination was forced. France had Liverpool in the bag and also voted the draw.

[Oxmeister]

I'll write an AAR and post link it when done.

I played as Austria, and myself and Russia accepted the draw proposal during the fall season to show our dedication to France and each other, fully expecting France would confirm after retreats.

It was France that accepted last, and I'm not sure what the reasoning was but I'm not complaining as I had locked all my centers by then.

A nice steady start...

[jay65536]

I do hope we get clarification on why the game was open ballot. I can actually see that being the reason why France and Russia didn’t wait another turn (at least) to take the draw and lock up more points.

As someone who has tentatively expressed interest in playing later this year if needed, I hope the open balloting was an accident.

[mjparrett]

Indeed a solid FAR draw to start things off. Well played all involved and I look forward to reading the AAR.

Personally I'd prefer secret ballot as well but happy to go along with anything - that's not enough of a deal breaker for me but obviously everyone is different. I would possibly argue though that even if it was an error (don't think it is though) that you shouldn't change half way through a season. But again if everyone wanted to I certainly wouldn't object. Just happy to be involved

Mike

[jay65536]

Personally I'd prefer secret ballot as well but happy to go along with anything - that's not enough of a deal breaker for me but obviously everyone is different. I would possibly argue though that even if it was an error (don't think it is though) that you shouldn't change half way through a season.

I don't know whether it's possible for a mod to change the other games now, but I would argue that right now is not too late. The game that just finished was a very obvious 3way draw, with only 2 or 3 centers in the balance, so I think if it could be changed before any other games reach the point of draw proposals, that's probably fine.

If the current round of games is allowed to finish with open balloting, then I'd agree that's too late. What we should not have is a situation where a game's outcome was affected by the open ballot voting and then trying to change the voting after that game was affected.

One reason I'm bringing this up now, by the way, is because the league rules specifically call for secret balloting. That leads me to believe the open balloting (which, if I recall correctly, is the default option when creating a game) probably was a mistake, and if it was, we are very close to the point of no return for having to keep it that way even though it was not necessarily what people signed up for.

[mjparrett]

Good point well made. I'll wait for TTBen to confirm as technically I'm nothing to do with it anymore. I know my PDL 2018 rules or whenever it was called for secret ballot (purely as its my preference), but not sure if there was a conscious decision to move away from that.

[mjparrett]

Apologies - I've just re-read the start up thread for 2021 and he specifically mentions secret ballot. I'll pipe down.

[jay65536]

Just to take the emphasis off the draw voting:

Indeed a solid FAR draw to start things off. Well played all involved and I look forward to reading the AAR.

Agree with this. In the past when I've played tournaments using a similar scoring mechanism to this one (draw score plus center score), 3way draws were the norm, and the competitive players would never accept less. Last year's PDL D1 was an outlier in that there were no 3way draws until the final round (it was all solos and 4ways until then).

This game would not have been out of place at Round 1 of Dixiecon--a 3way draw with no one putting a target on their back and minimal energy used up (though that matters a lot more in FtF where a good night's sleep--or alcohol binge--is on the line). Well played by all.

[Oxmeister]

Thanks both, have posted the Austrian AAR in the AAR subforum : https://www.playdiplomacy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=820&t=61643&sid=cca53d02fcf2a2e19cd774311f6d2122