Venue: Honky Tonks, Brisbane

Drinks for the interview:

Gavin: XXXX Bitter from Queensland

Ken: XXXX Bitter from Queensland

 

We interview English – now Australian player – Robert Hillier about his Diplomacy experiences and more. We also have some great Diplomacy chat about how the game compares to other board games and Gavin points out similarities between Diplomacy and the TV show “The Traitors”.

Intro and Diplomacy chat

• The guys introduce the venue and their drinks in this back-to-back recording (0 mins 15 secs)
• They tease what will be covered in the Patreon episode. You can listen for as little as $2. Gavin gets upset that no-one got his Best Country in Classic forum post on vDip (7 mins)

Interview with Robert Hillier

• They set up the interview Gavin did with Robert Hillier, a British player living in Melbourne when he visited Brisbane recently. Ken was sick at the time and couldn’t make it (10 mins 15 secs)
• The interview begins with Robert talking about when and how he came to Australia from the UK during the COVID lockdowns (11 mins 30 secs)
• Rob gives his Diplomacy story about how he got started in the hobby and how he got back into it (17 mins)
• They discuss playing the “Return of the Mac” game (19 mins 45 secs)
• Rob then discusses playing at the Melbourne Open (22 mins)
• Gavin asks what about the game appeals to Rob and the importance of simultaneous resolution in the game (26 mins)
• Rob compares virtual to face to face and the most satisfying aspect he finds in the game (28 mins)
• They talk about how Melbourne is really getting into playing regular local games and some stories about Ken (31 mins 30 secs)
• They discuss their drinks – both having St Hallett Black Clay shiraz – and how it drinks as a Diplomacy opening (39 mins 45 secs)
• Rob talks about playing on Discord the Imperial variant (designed by Flare) – to see the game go to Imperial Diplomacy’s map archive page – then Other games > Other games > Icecream Invitational  (41 mins 30 secs)
• Gavin asks Rob what aspects of playing a variant appealed and which didn’t. He goes onto explain how playing a variant helped him appreciate things he should be doing more in the classic game (49 mins)
• Rob mentions at the end of the Imperial game, shortly after EVERYONE can see the press between players (1 hr 2 mins 30 secs)
• He gives a shout out to Zoe Cameron for organising the upcoming Melbourne tournament later in the year (1 hr 5 mins 15 secs)
• Ken and Gavin discuss their thoughts on the interview (1 hr 8 mins)

Diplomacy chat

• Gavin mentions in addition to catching up for a drink with Rob, he also recently caught up with Tristan Lee who’s moved from Hong Kong back to Australia (1 hr 10 mins)
• Gavin gives some thoughts on how to improve players attending local games (1 hr 13 mins 15 secs)
• Ken points out the game design system of Diplomacy is different to many modern games which aim to keep players in, while Diplomacy tends to eliminate players (1 hr 20 mins 30 secs)
• Gavin shares a story about playing Ticket to Ride like a Diplomacy player and the consequences (1 hr 23 mins)
• They talk about how someone was trying to get a Mafia game going at vDip, and how Gavin found the TV show ‘The Traitors’ is very similar and has certain dynamics similar to Diplomacy (1 hr 28 mins)
• The guys wrap up the show (1 hr 34 mins)

Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don’t forget if you want to help pay off the audio equipment… or buy the guys a drink, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes!

Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone.

Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka “The General” for his rockin’ intro tune.