Etiquette

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AI in the Game of Diplomacy: Etiquette

I interpret DAIDE Etiquette as the official set of conventions that always apply, whatever other conventions may also be used (at least in officially recognised tournaments). Like other conventions, the etiquette only supplements the formal laws, which take priority.

Here are the official DAIDE rules of etiquette, as extracted from the Introduction to DAIDE, but numbered for reference.

The aim of the Diplomacy AI Centralisation Project is to provide an environment where good Diplomacy AIs can be developed and honed, not to provide an environment where programs can try and beat the system. As such, the following rules should be adhered to, although they are not enforced by the Server. It is recommended that any Diplomacy AI tournaments make these rules compulsory for all entering AIs.

1. You must not attempt to identify other countries being played by other copies of the same AI.
2. You must not attempt to write orders with the intention of signalling to other players. For example, orders such as convoys to Switzerland, convoys to another nations capital, supports for a move you intend to make next turn, or hope to see made by another power next turn, etc., while common in human NoPress play, should not be used in AI games. You should have a reasonable level of expectation that every order you give may be ruled as valid (for example, you should only order a support or a convoy, if it is reasonable to assume the other unit involved may make use of the support or convoy).
3. You must not attempt to read any signals in other players orders.
4. You must attempt to stick to the language as defined in the syntax document. For example, you must not attempt to send a reply to a message which you have not received.
5. You must not try to overload another player with messages to process.
6. You must not change the scheduling priority of your AI to a level above that at which it was started.
7. You must not lie when using the HUH or TRY tokens.
8. You must not purposely go into Civil Disorder.

See Extended Etiquette for an enhanced version of Etiquette as used by bots developed within my TinKing project, and recommended for general use.