I have often problem understand what hosts means by some terms they use either in name of the game or in description. Similar setting games are often called with many different names. Therefore I would like to open discussion on how you understand the following terms:

• 1. Geopolitical
  
• 2. Roleplay
  
• 3. Diplomacy
  
• 4. Strategy
  
• 5. Chance/Luck

My idea is not find clear definitive meaning to them in this game, but to understand how those terms are understood by different people. What it means to you to call a game strategy or Roleplay and so on? What is required for a game to be a diplomacy? Please give your thoughts on that matter or provide what you have seen around other than whats already listed.

my biased understanding:

1. same as diplo, probably requires real earth maps and roleplaying a political role
2. lots of chat about the reasons why people should do this or that, game requires players to chat in character only, to build immersion
3. game mostly based on establishing strategic truce and backstabbing others at the right time
4. has strategic gameplay, forces you to deeply analyse the layout, predict your opponent and decide wisely to be able to win
5. mostly based on luck regarding 1st pick, attack order or attack luck of a stack in itself

Edited 12/16/2016 01:50:41

1. = diplomacy but on a real map? I've never seen this wielded in a WL game, but if it has polit, it likely is more than just war.
2 = diplomacy but each player is a heavy no-lifer who feels better by pretending to be something they're not online...
3 = the worst gamemode of Warlight - good in theory and in some private games, but the attitutes discourage war...that means they encourage sitting about and doing nothing but build up at borders...what?
4 = any game where one player of a skill level can slay on average a player of another skill level
5 = any game where this doesn't happen (as much)

Well I sure hoped to get more responses and opinions. But meanwhile I give my interpretation on some points.

Geopolitical in practice seems as you both describe it - a Diplomacy with some real-life map, although when put in theory and warlight context I think it should reflect maps where areas, bonuses, territories have clearly distinguishable values. Whether some offer more bonus, are easily defended, good attack positions. To me it has nothing to do with diplomacy genre. It is term used in political geography to understand political state of affairs from geographic point of view, which often lead to understanding why conflict happens over valuable lands-areas. Maps mostly define this type of genre in my view.

Roleplay is something I have not seen here, at least by the standards I think it should be played. As I see it, it has two sub categories. Historical or psychological. It has nothing to do with maps, but the role one players. In historical sense it can be made via custom scenario and with some guideline rules - what one has to do, how long, when, in what situations aside what one has to achieve by the end of game and so on. Psychological is playing certain style: aggressor, defender, peace-keeper, retaliating player and so on: while keeping their true identity unknown and trying to achieve the goal they have assigned.

Diplomacy - probably one of the broadest definitions to give here. But the way I see, it is a genre which comes down to a lot of communication. It is a game-mode where brute force usually does not pay off. But clever trickery to convince other players to fight your wars is a key to success. Should be played with built in environment and situation with definitive rules. Can be predetermined positions, but I think it would be more authentic with random starting. Also this mode falls under predictive skill and asymmetrical information.

Strategy - I think this is the most abused word in warlight. And there has been quite a lot of threads that try to define it in Warlight - and most seem in vain. But my definition always starts with looking the 4-key elements: Calculable or Predictive Strategy and Symmetrical or Asymmetrical information. Those help to understand what kind of strategy we speak of. Warlight most of the times seem to be played with Asymmetrical and Predictive strategy which does not make it actually pure-skill.

Chance/luck - Easiest definition is to go with what you do not have control over. Random order, high luck rate. But it all depends on whether we speak of one instance or high repetition - because in that case random distribution in uneven map and luck will in the long run balance itself out.

You might want to add them to https://www.warlight.net/wiki/Warlight_dictionary.

1. Geopolitical

Used to describe a game where the distribution is a scenario around the geopolitical situation of the world in a given timeframe. e.g. Geopolitical 2016 game could include things such as the rise of the Islamic State, the conflict in Ukraine and the Trump election. Although not necessarily a Roleplay scenario (might be a team game of sorts, like a WW2 scenario), it oftentimes is.

2. Roleplay

Any game whose focus is not to prove your or your team's tactical superiority over the enemies but rather to, through the use of the chat function, play-pretend you're a political leader inserted in the world the game's board shows.

3. Diplomacy

A separate category of free-for-all/small teams game in which special flavor rules are added to make going on the offensive harder and more punishable, while also enforcing a general scenario of frequent backstabbings and unwritten teams. Usually, the key flavor rules are "Announce in chat before attacking someone" and "Breaking a rule allows anyone to attack you freely". Whether a diplomacy match is Roleplay or Strategy related is very arbitrary as some players focus around chatting while others just want to blob indefinetely to win it.

4. Strategy

Any game whose focus is to prove that you or your team is more skilled than the opponent(s), regardless of it's specifics (local deps, map, luck, distribution and such are irrelevant).

5. Chance/Luck

Anything that changes the game so that the outcome of the intended actions may be different due to an in-game modifier that cannot be controlled by either player. Here goes Luck Modifier, Automatic Distribution, Weighted Random, Random Teams, any move order that isn't No Luck Cyclic and using the Prod 2.0 with randomness option on Autopilot.

Thanks Zeph for adding your point of view as well.

@DanWL
I have no intention to normalise those terms. Everyone is still free to feel what each word means to them in Warlight context, therefore I do not want to my write my opinion as firsthand truth. Although in game benefits, it would be useful if those terms would be used more in similar context. But my aim was to see how players define them, use them and maybe to learn something how and why one interprets one in a particular way, but there is not interest in it as it seems.

Hm, I personally don't see geopolitical as requiring an earth map, it seems to me rather a hybrid of diplomacy and roleplay.

In diplomacy, you do whatever you can(minus breaking accepted rules) to win without pretences of having an actual reason to attacking your neighbour

In Roleplay you mostly have fun with the public chat and private messaging and only make war in accordance to those.

In geopolitical, you usually bother to make up an excuse, and there is a degree of roleplay, but the grand goal is still to kill everyone else....no part of that seems to me can't be played on say, a middle earth map or a New York City map.