In my opinion Diplomacy is a game well suited for correspondence gameplay. Not only is it difficult to get all the players to commit the necessary time on a day everyone is available, but it is also much more fun since you can plan your moves more freely. We've even gotten used to planning moves with one another using Evernote throughout the week.
Some friends and I have been playing this way for a few years now, and hands down it is a better experience than using any of the cumbersome boards and having to manually adjudicate everything.
Submit one move every Tuesday, it's now a tradition.
We used to play in 14 hour marathons on the weekend. Thirty minutes per turn. A couple things about playing Diplomacy in person (compared to online and compared to other games):
Seeing other people walk off together to talk to each other.
Seeing others explode upon being backstabbed.
Sometimes we played with more than seven players, putting more than one person on the same team, giving them a diplomatic manpower advantage.
The drama and tension in person just can't quite be replaced. Although the anticipation of a move when you're playing correspondence is absolutely exquisite. Burning someone in a 3 month old game is its own wonderful experience.
Well, this looks fun. I'd like to play and I like the idea of playing with turns every week or so, but nobody I know would really be bothered with this.
Where would someone find a committed group to play with?
In the ArsTechnica forums, under the gaming heading, there is a group that plays every now and then. I have gotten in on 3 of the games, and it is exquisitely diabolical.
I am curious if in person games have as much backstabbing in them as play by email sessions, as I always tend to get screwed over and over again by shady dealings of other powers.
Some friends and I have been playing this way for a few years now, and hands down it is a better experience than using any of the cumbersome boards and having to manually adjudicate everything.
Submit one move every Tuesday, it's now a tradition.