Discover this podcast and so much more

Podcasts are free to enjoy without a subscription. We also offer ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more for just $11.99/month.

Interview with Kestas, the "Godfather" of online Diplomacy

Interview with Kestas, the "Godfather" of online Diplomacy

FromDiplomacy Games


Interview with Kestas, the "Godfather" of online Diplomacy

FromDiplomacy Games

ratings:
Length:
117 minutes
Released:
May 12, 2018
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

Today we're going back, way back. 2004 and Kestas' creation of the code based that got WebDip, vDip, PlayDip and many more up and running. Plus a discussion on Bourse progress and the odd tangent or two.
Intro
The guys discuss Anzac Day in Australia and their family connections to Australia’s military participation (0 mins 10 secs)
Then it’s time to discuss their drinks and Caxton Street (6 mins 45 secs)

Interview with Kestas
Kestas talks about playing the game and why he’s not the guy to talk strategy: rather he enjoyed building the adjudicator and forum. He discusses how the community slowly built up in the early days (16 mins 30 secs)
Kaner asks about what issues arose during the early days of webDiplomacy (19 mins)
Amby asks where the first PHP diplomacy instance went live (20 mins 50 secs)
They discuss the rationale for why the code was made available as open source so others could download and share (22 mins 15 secs)
Kestas talks about when he does play Diplomacy,  how the game filled an itch when he was at university and why he doesn’t like Turkey (23 mins 15 secs)
Kestas gives a shout out to Alex who runs Italian Diplomacy (webDiplomacy.it), he goes onto discuss how he’s happy to be contacted by others wanting to create a new Dip server, particularly in a language other than English. He talks about the translation functionality that is used on webDiplomacy.it (25 mins 30 secs)
He goes onto to discuss what it feels to have his code so widely used. Kaner asks about whether Kestas would change anything if he had the chance again (27 mins 30 secs)
Amby asks about how the adjudicator and code have been used for variants beyond Classic. He asks whether Kestas considered variants in the way the code was developed (31 mins 30 secs)
Amby asks whether Kestas has chatted much with admins from Diplomacy communities online beyond webDip (34 mins)
Kestas discusses his recent work on the webDip forum (36 mins)
He describes what he enjoyed most about the recent changes he’s made to webDip and the code (39 mins 30 secs)
Amby asks about how to best mitigate the use of hacks, and developing more cleaner code. Kestas gives a big hat tip for GitHub (41 mins 30 secs)
Amby raises how some forum based Dip games use more than two units as the current code doesn’t support three or more unit types. He asks Kestas whether the code could be expanded to support more than two units (44 mins 30 secs)
Then its Kestas’ ideas on how the code and forum could be improved further, including cross-server games (49 mins 30 secs)
Kestas clarifies how the relationship currently works with PlayDip (53 mins 30 secs)
Kaner asks about the old-days of webDip’s forum and how it evolved (54 mins 30 secs)
Everyone goes off to get a new drink before Kestas asks the guys about where the podcast came from and Kaner & Amby’s involvement in the face to face scene (58 mins 30 secs)
Kestas is asked about when he recognised the need to introduce moderators to the community and why multi-accounters do what they do (1 hr 1 min)
Kaner asks about what happens when people offer to help (1 hr 6 mins)
Amby asks how people can get in touch with Kestas to contribute further to the code (we won't put it here in the notes so bots don't spam Kestas!) They explore Kestas’ cultural heritage (1 hr 7 mins 30 secs)
Wrapping up Kestas thanks the WebDip donors and mentions a new server upgrade is coming  (1 hr 9 mins 30 secs)

Thoughts on the interview
The guys discuss what came out of the interview they were surprised to here (1 hr 12 mins 30 secs)
They go onto discuss multi-accounters, gaming the system and opening the kimono (1 hr 14 mins 15 secs)
Then they offer for anyone caught multi-accounting, or thinking of multi-accounting, what their motivations were so they can come on for an interview  (1 hr 20 mins)
Next up is their discussion about having more than two units in Diplomacy variants - which would allow online New World Order, Dissolution and Nuclear Diplomacy. Amby then goes to tow
Released:
May 12, 2018
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

The podcast about playing the strategy game Diplomacy face to face and online. Visit DiplomacyGames.com for more info and shownotes.