Myself, I think gunboat is a very different game and not to my liking. The game we play is called Diplomacy for a reason and much of the fun is writing to others and discussing ideas and weighing this person against that one.

But, that is my personal opinion and I know plenty who like gunboat, they most certainly are not wrong! And I'm sure we have plenty who like both as well. It's all personal taste.

You say it is a noob question so I assume you are new to Diplomacy?
My opinion is to first play a standard game and stay away from gunboat (for now)
Get a feel for the basic game. In fact, stay away from variants as well. Just get the basics down before you try other things since they are all based on the standard game you want to fully understand that first.

In standard be aware that you SHOULD be writing others often. Too many new people fail to understand this and for many they really dislike writing to strangers. Then add having to lie to them and stab them, it can be difficult! And if you find yourself in that camp, then gunboat may be a perfect game for you!
But even if it is, again, try the standard first so you can get to know how things work and fully appreciate some of the hidden aspects of ones moves in gunboat and what they may be signaling you. Good luck with whatever game you play! It was a good start posting what you might have thought was a dumb question (it was not)

<wow...just a little hypocrisy here....>

what?
c'mon stop trolling and let people discuss things.
Or spell out the hypocrisy that doesn't exist but stop the trolling, you are making it difficult for any to read the forums.

Yes, krellin, that's EXACTLY what I thought when I read Tomahaha's message.

Tom -

In all honesty, I don't think you're going to find much of a receptive audience here (for any of these topics). There are those of us who agree with you, and we've made it known who we are. There are also those who don't agree with you, and are likely to never agree with you. They're going to keep riling you up no matter what you say, so unfortunately, I might just have to advise that we bow out of the discussion. Sadly, the play style here is never going to match places like Redscape in either mindset or ability. The best you can do is play here with those think likewise, which unfortunately cuts out a lot of the larger maps, or suck it up and dive headfirst into questionable territory on the larger maps (which some of us do in order to actually try those maps).

Thanks guys for the help

I've played f2f before just the online confuses me

Then you should do well!
Nothing online "should" be confusing if you already understand the basic game.
Each Diplomacy website is a bit different and has it's own unique traits but all are pretty much the same at the core. I would caution you to pick your first game with a bit of care, make sure the deadlines fit your schedule. If not a standard game (as you already know the basics) be sure the game you pick is interesting to you and you understand all the variant specific rules changes. And then in general terms, do not be shy! Think of this as a face to face game with total strangers ...maybe you are in a tournament setting? If it were face to face (FTF) then you would obviously be talking to these other people. Same here, write the others early and often, what you say is hardly different from FTF but you do have time to THINK about what to say, how to say it, etc. You are not as rushed and you can thoroughly plot and plan. Read into what others reply to you and just as if this were a ftf game, excuse the language as some may not speak English as a first language (many more than you might think). Your first message might be a generic hello with your name, where you live, what you do, how you came to know the game, and of course some general plans. The preliminary "nonsense" would be similar to a face to face game where you are sitting around the board as you set things up. Be certain to write ALL your neighbors as soon as possible, as far as the next tier out (depending on how large the game is) depends on you but always always always write your neighbors and try to even be first to do so!

Daviid - if you are looking for answers about gunboat other than someone's criticism of it - gunboat is a game of *subtle* messaging. despite what some (blowhards) people may tell you, there is much communication in Gunboat - only the communication is made via strategic moves -- a bounce, a self-bounce, a *non*-move, etc will all convey messages to your neighbors...and to their neighbors...about your intentions. Alliances can and will be formed via these messages.

So it is a completely valid game, and those that are good at it - that have learned the sign-language - will clean your clock at ease.

So as a varient it is a good game to work on strategy and tactics without the need to listen to the typical blowhard/obvious lies of normal diplomacy.

I'm not a fan, because I enjoy press. But I think you will find that the vast majority of players in press games think that good diplomacy = lie, and thus the quality of game often suffers. some of the best players I know never lie - but they carefully craft words...but that's anotehr discussion.

Leave it at this: Gunboat *does* have communications, and if/when you miss the messages conveyed in the moves, you will lose to the skilled gunboat player.

we agree!
(and I was not critical of the variant, I simply pointed out, as you did as well, why the game is not for all, myself included)

As Krellin states, while direct messages are not part of the game, there ARE some messages made by your orders. They are sometimes difficult to spot and are almost always subtle. I do not play this variant and never had, no doubt I too would get my clock cleaned! Since you understand the basic game I would say you could make that attempt at this variant but do so expecting complete failure and do not let that affect your opinion of online Dip (hard to do! and heck, it's not like you CAN'T win). Your first game online should be something you fully understand and even then, your first foray into gunboat WILL take time to get good at!

dammit people, we need a glossary. took me months to figure this out.

Gunboat = no in game messaging
Public press = global messaging but no private messaging
Full press = private and global messaging

WTA = Winner takes all (points)
PPSC = points per supply center

Grognard = grumbling veteran player who yells at noobs to get off his lawn and then lectures them about the right way to play