From: irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu (Josh Smith)
Subject: Re: Game Express!!!
Originator: irilyth@fenris
Organization: Evil Geniuses For A Better Tomorrow
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 19:01:49 GMT

An anonymous wimp (an7840@anon.penet.fi) writes:

> To all involved in this game:
> 
> I have been an Observer for aproxx. 2 weeks and to be frank I am
> disgusted with this game!!!!

Then I suggest you resign, go away, and shut up. No one is forcing you to
participate in games you find disgusting.

> This game should be called joke and not express. You guys should end
> the game now with a draw. If anybody takes over England and other soon to
> be abanoned countries, they will regret it, if the game is not ended.

1) England is no longer abandoned; the position was taken over several days
   ago, though I suppose you were too busy being disgusted to notice this. 

2) Turkey solicited a replacement from the Observers, and one said that he
   would be willing to take the position. Turkey has resigned; the Observer
   has not yet taken over the position, but will hopefully do so soon.

3) The other players involved have all recently confirmed that they are
   very interested in continuing the game, and do not plan to drop out. Your
   "soon to be abandoned countries" comment is entirely baseless, as you
   would know if you'd been paying any attention to the game.

4) Do you have any particular reason to think that the players remaining in
   the game will "regret it if the game is not ended", or is this simply
   another random baseless assertion?

> I believe that this experiment in superfast games is a failure.

The English abandonment in 'express' had nothing whatsoever to do with the
superfast nature of the game. In fact, the English player explained in
detail why he quit; if you had bothered to read the press he sent, you
wouldn't be so confused now. The problem here seems to be more focused on
the illiteracy of the Observer than any trouble with the game.

> Please get another group of players together and start again.

If you want to start a game yourself, feel free to do so, but I am not about
to end a perfectly viable (and quite interesting) game on the basis of your
groundless assertions, and I would think twice about joining any game you
were to moderate. Comments like "Express should be terminated because the
discussion of the game has gotten too meta for its own good," or "Express
should be terminated because none of the players want to continue playing,"
or even "Express should be terminated because the players are being too
harsh to each other," these comments would at least be worth considering and
addressing. "Express should be cancelled because it disgusts me" is not, and
I almost regret having bothered to reply to the previous post.

Apologies for the caustic tone of this message, but anonymous potshots at
other people's enjoyment tends to bring out my harsh side.
-- 
Josh Smith, User Support Coordinator  ::  Home: irilyth@fenris.claremont.edu
Harvey Mudd College, Claremont CA USA ::  Work:    josh@fenris.claremont.edu
"To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography,
and the dancers hit each other." --Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts
Newsgroups: rec.games.diplomacy