'Admiral' Gunboat Competition III

June Update

This Monthly Update has a number of things I've added. Knowing the page will be long; I've used bullet points showing areas being covered, which means that if you're not going to read it all, you can jump to the areas that concern you. Personally, I wish you read it all, as the bloody thing took too long to write. J

Qualifications to Semis
- 2^nd Placed Players Explained
Games
- Games Still Being Played
- Games Finished
Semis Possible Start Date
Players' Real-Names
Different Languages
- Serbian
PsychoCon
- 12^th – 14^th October 2007
EDC 2007
- 8^th – 10^th September 2007

Qualifications to Semis

I've been asked, if a game was won, why I allow a 2^nd placed player to qualify to the Semis?

That question has also been asked in both 'Admiral' I & II with me replying by adding it to the respective Monthly Updates. Given I'm now copying the e-mailed Monthly Updates & pasting them on a site page, ALB & GSB, if asked again, my reply will be a site link. J

http://www.alb-gsb.com/diplomacy/admiral/updates/admiralmnthupdate.htm

Unlike I & II, in III we have sufficient players to have 7 Semi-Finals. To go from 175 players to 49 players, the first easy option was to use the 1^st placed players & by doing some sums, 24 extra players are needed.

As for the 24 players, to me allowing 2^nd placed players to qualify was far better than the alternatives. To give you a better understanding of the way I think, take the following example & my thought process however always remember these two facts:

We sadly know that Anarchies are the biggest pain in the arse however as mentioned before, replacements aren't used unless it's for S01.
If a game is drawn, that 2^nd placed player is higher up the ranking than a defeated 2nd placed player.

In the example, you're playing Italy & against the other Eastern Square countries (A/R/T), you're coming out on top meaning a solo is likely. All of a sudden, France & Germany go into Anarchy leaving England to, quickly, win the game. You've ended with 12SCs however as the game was won, you didn't qualify to the Semis.

Those that did go through were those that were part of a three-way draw. To me, that would be wrong as I feel Italy has every right to go through not the 3^rd placed player in the drawn game.

If having read that you don't agree with my point of view, that's fine but again what would be your answer to this.

You have a choice of watching a game where no player is making an effort to solo or watching a game where all tried to win. Which one would you observe?

The no effort may well be based on players taking a rather defensive strategy. That strategy being chosen as if a change fails, they'll be out of the competition.

If you think that is I being a bit cynical, I'm afraid I’m not as I’ve seen it happen in a number of tournaments.

This part is changing the tack but still about qualifications. A comment was made to me about using a different qualification system. The one we're currently using will remain the same. To me, it's simple & equally I've seen too many complicated systems that frankly, you need a degree to understand.

Below you'll see a slight change in the way I'm showing the stats including me not showing any country that has gone into Anarchy.

The answer to that is virtually impossible to give but all I can say is the final season, in both Quarter & Semis, is A12 unless it's won beforehand. From looking at the games, you'll see the current seasons & hence the possible finish date on those games.

Add to that, on the 28^th July, Sally, Graeme & I are going to the Lake District for a week's holiday. On the 8^th Aug, Sally & I are getting married & our honeymoon is a long weekend. My guess is that I'll not be touching my PC from the 28^th July to the 13^th Aug & perhaps limited in that following week.

At a total rough guess, it would surprise me if the Semis don't start until September but again, that's a guess.

Once the Semis S01 have been adjudicated, the real-names of those that didn't make it through will have their real-names displayed. The reason for waiting until after S01 is in case any replacements are needed.

As for those that did go through to the Semis, their real-names will not be shown until the Final game (Good Hope) has ended.

To those that are unaware, a good number of players have submitted to me their native languages names for the provinces shown & I've created pages showing them.

Last month Milan Bujić sent me Serbian languages in both Latin & Cyrillic. The link below takes you to the intro to those pages & if having read that you can supply me with another language, PLEASE DO!

Mike Dean, a Scot who lives in Italy, is still running PsychoCon & this year is between 12^th – 14^th October 2007. One thing, the convention isn't held in Italy but in Leeds, which isn't a bad place as it's the home of Leeds Utd. J

I went to the first PsychoCon, 4 years ago I think, & that was good fun. Diplomacy is played but also other games. The two games I liked was Puerto Rico & Trans-Am. In short, good place to go.

Between 8^th – 10^th September 2007, EDC is being held near Marseille. Sadly I'm not 100% sure what EDC stands for but I think it's European Diplomacy Convention.

To those in the Northern Hemisphere, enjoy the rest of summer by buying a good umbrella & to those in the Southern Hemisphere, enjoy the rest of winter by buying good sun lotion. J

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