 Any advice for anyone that is interested in getting into the game? You know, some of the smaller tournaments, this is competitive, it's very friendly, but it's pretty competitive, but some of the smaller tournaments out there around the country, that's a good way to do it. I mean, people love to see new players come out, because they may have a chance of beating them, you know, but no, really, there are a lot of good people playing diplomacy, and a lot of people really love the game and would really go out of their way to get other people to play, and it's a unique situation. I mean, anyone can play a game like Monopoly that you can buy on any store shelf and, you know, slug your way through rolling dice and stuff. I mean, you know, it takes a little bit of character to be a pathological liar and backstab total strangers while you're telling them that you like them, you know. Just play the game, don't take it personal, because if you take it personal, it'll just tear you apart. Yeah. I'm Andrew and this is my brother, Ryan. Good day. Where are you guys from? Vancouver. The White North. So you guys go to tournaments together? Huh? You guys go to tournaments together? Tournaments? We've been to a couple. Together. Yeah. Dragonflight? Right. Did you play Dragonflight? My brother's a hoser. And we played at the WAC a couple years ago. Washington Athletic Club. What? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm in. I'm in. Anyway, so yeah, we're gonna play Diplomacy. Did you guys start playing together? No. I played by myself for years. Jesus. And you're out of it. Get in here. No, I played before I met him. Possibly his brother's a hoser. I would play for Sicily 70. So what is that? Like over 25 years ago. Because I've ranked Diplomacy on a web site called Board Game Geek. And I've given it a 10, which is the highest rating you can get. And yet it's not my favorite game, not by a long shot. I like a few other games more. There are even some games I like more that I give a lower rating to. I just enjoy playing them more. Diplomacy is an extremely elegant game. And I consider it to be the game. Well, the game, I believe that's true. It's a beautiful game. It's got no real luck elements, except for out-guessing your opponent, maybe. But even out-guessing your opponent takes... It's like poker is just as luck. But I don't know what they call poker a skill game. And a lot of that is through out-guessing your opponent. If reading people is part of the skill, doing that well will make you... Unfortunately, it brings out the sociopath in most people. And that's kind of an unfortunate side effect. But if you can just, you know, keep that where it belongs, then it shouldn't have any adverse effects. Which is in the bedroom naturally. Yeah, sociopathic. You're thinking psychopathic when it comes to that. Well, better that kept me going. I think it's also dangerous, though. You got me thinking. That's always a dangerous, very dangerous. Yeah, I actually went down a bit of a rant the other day. I play a postal game out of Colorado. Have you ever played that before? I know. Can I get you into that? What? Once a month. You only play one turn a month. So a game drags on for a year or more. Often quite like a year and a half or two years. And I went down a bit of a rant in one of their newsletter issues about how a lot of people are turned off by the game because they come in, they play a game, and there's a lot of painful things happening. People lying and even cheating and being disloyal. All those things. Really, you know, in a general society, that's what the world is a cool place. Not societies of, you know, types of qualities that we like to see come out of people. You can put them in good use. So diplomacy here is life. Well, you're being naive. Perhaps. People lie. People cheat. People steal. So what made you rank Diplomacy as a 10? What are your favorite games, if you rank? My favorite game is Air Assault on Crete, a historical simulation of the airborne assault the Germans did on the island of Crete in 1942 and World War II. And that's just, I just have a lot of fun playing the game. Is it an Avalon Hill game? That's correct. Yeah. It only rates a nine, but it's my favorite game of all time. It's not a perfect game. You know, some of the things in the game can be better. Perhaps a little lopsided in victory conditions. But Diplomacy rates a 10 because it is almost perfect. It's really amazing how every side has a really good chance. And it's really got nothing to do with your position on the board. It's all up to you as a person how you do in the game. Is that really true? Isn't it possible you can get stuck in situations where you're going to be against a group of people who are predisposed to not allow you to do well in the game? That is perfectly possible. Why would they be predisposed? I don't know why. That comes from outside the game itself. Well that's the problem. That's not playing the game. If you're bringing outside stuff into the game... Baggage. Emotional baggage. Absolutely. You're tainting it. But we're human beings, so it happens naturally. I guess so. So it's kind of an incorp. Yeah, maybe. You can see it out there. But it's a humanity that makes it.