ASCII King



The XZNP No Press Diplomacy Judge

Name and Purpose

The XZNP Diplomacy Judge is for those who do not want to place their DRR and lateness records at risk, but who still wish to play fast NMR games - especially fast no press. The time zone set for this judge is UTC -1, hence the "XZ" prefix for international waters. It is intended to fill the role of a public judge configured to be easy to use for players who know eachother or who are otherwise easy with their trust. Use the "set no list" and "set player allow" commands to run private games... No is GM required on XZNP, but you may contact the JK if you would like a GM for a game on this judge or on USAK.

Contact Information

Judge Address
xznp -at- asciiking -dot- com
Judge Keeper Address
xznp-judgekeeper -at- asciiking -dot- com
Status
Status of the judge will be manually updated at www.asciiking.com/xznp/status.html once the judge comes into frequent use. A text copy of this document will be available at www.asciiking.com/xznp/status and (if the judge is operational) by sending "get status" to the judge address. This is manually updated information.

News

2008 May 11
The XZNP judge is up, running and tested.

Distinctive Characteristics

Time Zone
The time zone set for this judge is UTC -1, which should be fairly neutral with no undue advantage or disadvantage for players of any global region.
Monitoring
The judgekeeper will investigate player and GM complaints, but it is recommended that you use USAK for games where tight security is desired. 
No GM Required
In games where there is no GM, the judge keeper becomes the de facto GM. For this reason, most judges require a GM even for private games. On XZNP, the JK is willing to assume that responsibility with the caveat that, if closer monitoring is required, you consider asking him to GM a game for you on USAK. 
Fast No Press Accomodations
Very fast games, especially those that are set to allow NMRs, pose a special risk to a player's statistics. Games with no GM do not affect any statistics except for those on the judge itself. When the JK masters games on XZNP, they will be similarly flagged not to affect DRR and JDPR.
Gunboat Accomodations
The XZNP Diplomacy Judge was started with over 8000 registrations from an obsolete judge. This should enable gunboat games to be started immediately with every reasonable expectation of maintaining gunboat.

Privacy and other Policies

There is no privacy.

Information from your registration is freely available using the "whois" command on the judge. Never-the-less, a valid and complete registration is necessary to play. On XZNP, the GM is to use his discretion in checking user registrations and request the assistance of the JK if there are any questions. 

Additionally, Diplomacy helper sites such as www.floc.net archive registrations of the players along with other game information. Games played on XZNP should not generally be counted towards JDPR and DRR statistics and should not be polled by various Diplomacy clubs for qualifying information. Other uses are discouraged. Uses by other parties cannot be prevented, but objectional use by other registered users may result in the loss of privileges to use the judge for play and illegal use will be reported.

It is the policy of the judge keeper not to use registration information for any other purpose than maintaining the quality of play on this server. Towards that end, the JK may contact any registered player by email at any time about conduct on the server or about other Diplomacy related topics with a reasonable frequency. This does not include direct fundraising requests or advertising for any paid service, but it may include promoting tournaments and other free events within the hobby, some of which may accept contributions.

If, at any time, you want to be removed from the registration database then you must provide the judge keeper with a list of all email addresses registered with the judge in order to be manually removed. In order to keep removal requests to a minimum, it is the policy of the judge keeper to make all removals permanent. If you abandon any games due to the removal then other judge keepers will be notified as well. Moreover, removal from the registration database will not remove archived information from other sites.

If there is a complaint, it will be noted in your judge registration along with the action taken, usually a temporary ban. Those banned on a temporary basis may apply for reinstatement at the end of the ban.

Warnings

The judge hardware is the private property of the judge keeper. The judge keeper can prohibit anyone from playing for any reason. While the most common reasons are those defined by the E. P. House Rules, the judge keeper reserves the right to be completely arbitrary. There is no individual or body with higher authority on a judge than the judge keeper - not the Dip Pouch, any Pouch Council member, the judge maintenance mailing list nor any other person or group. The judge keeper is the final arbiter of all activity on the judge server. Like any other private property, if you are asked to move then you must move peacefully or you will be forcibly removed.

The judge keeper functions as the game master in a number of the games on this judge. While players normally have the option of appealing to the JK if there is a dispute, there is no appeal in such cases. Games moderated by the judge keeper are identified by Cbabcock on the Pouch openings list or cbabcock at this domain in the judge listings.

GMs and players on XZNP are expected to be self-policing. In exchange for ease of use and relaxed monitoring, users are required to monitor their own games and settle disputes rationally. Reasoned reports of innappropriate activity are required, but frivolous complaints will not be tolerated.