Facebook Diplomacy: turning us to the dark side?

Diplomacy has replaced Scrabble a Facebook’s most fun game.

I had neither played Diplomacy before.  Basically, you control one European country at the start of the twentieth century and compete with the others to conquer half of Europe.

I think there is as dark side to it though. 

In Srabble you become a better player by improving your vocabulary, which improves your ability to understand and express concepts, and your ability to analyse the best available move.  It’s a competition of positive skills.

But in Diplomacy, my experience is you win by forming pacts with one player against another (i.e. gang up on the weakest) and often eventually attacking your own allies (i.e. stab people in the back).

I’m not sure that bullying and betrayal are really the skills we most want to cultivate.  Apparently, Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon used to play this game in the White House, which says it all. 

I suppose one advantage is it familiarises people with the regions of Europe.  They may not conform to modern boundaries but has the man on the street previously heard of Galicia?

In the screen-shot below, I’m Russia, James Graham is Austria, Andy Mayer is France, Italy is a target seat PPC whom I won’t embarrass and Turkey is being played by a double-crossing snake in the grass.