One important aspect of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) is concerned with synchronous remote interaction, which incorporates requirements necessary for synchronous communications within a group of geographically dispersed individuals, and a theory of group collaboration which includes both coordination and conflict. The board gam, Diplomacy is a game of skill whose aim is to take control of Europe. It was seen as an interesting vehicle to study both of the above issues, as it incorporates many of the requirements present in synchronous groupware applications. A prototype was built using Supercard and Hyper-AppleTalk running over a network of Macintosh IIci's. Experiments were conducted by playing the game over several hours, each player being in a separate room. A conference call telephone link was provided as an extra channel of communication. The design of this prototype had to provide support for dynamic subgroups in order for plans and strategies to be negotiated. The authors discuss the issues raised by this aspect of the implementation, highlight some of the problems encountered, and suggest ways of solving these problems for future groupware applications.
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