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From: mike@rlvd.UUCP (Mike Woods)
Newsgroups: net.games.board
Subject: Re: Opening Discussion
Message-ID: <778@rlvd.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Sep-85 08:21:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: rlvd.778
Posted: Tue Sep 10 08:21:42 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 12-Sep-85 22:52:58 EDT
References: <394@brl-sem.ARPA>
Reply-To: mike@rlvd.UUCP (Mike Woods)
Distribution: net
Organization: Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, Atlas Buildings, U.K.
Lines: 47
Xpath: warwick ubu

In article <394@brl-sem.ARPA> jeffh@brl-sem.ARPA (the Shadow) writes:
>1)  What are the relative merits of political interaction games
>vs. conventional war games?
>
(warning: over-simplification ahead)
political interation games == multi-player (solo play unlikely)
conventional war games     == two player (solo play probable)

>Some of my favorites of this type are:
>
>Civilization  (Avalon Hill):

As an aside, does anyone  know if  there are  differences between the
Avalon Hill version and the original by Hartland  Trefoil (apart from
price)?  

>Diplomacy seems like it might be good game for that sort of thing, 
>but I haven't played it yet.  I will be starting one soon on the 
>net, though.  

I made the mistake of admitting to be  a novice  in my  first game of
diplomacy; I was out in two years!  

>2) How does one go about getting other people interested in "war 
>games?" (using the term in its generic sense.)  

It's very hard.  I have spent a long time trying to get my girlfriend
to play and it is an uphill  struggle.   She is  now at  the level of
TSR's Awful Green Things  From Outer  Space (and  wins!)   but I have
found  it  almost  impossible  to introduce  a serious  game into her
repetoire.  

>3) Not really a question at all:
>
>I have great difficulty understanding the current computer game
>craze.

One answer is to do with the factor I hinted at in question  1:  many
people have no one to play against!  As there are very  few good solo
games around, most of the time I have to  play normal  games and keep
changing hats.  As this tends to slow the game  down and  as there is
no input from another mind it can all  get rather  tedious.  Computer
games at least give some sort of oponent.  

Mike Woods.

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