Hi, folks!
I'm an experienced player, and I used to be a moderator. I try to play as fairly as possible, and I'm generally more about the strategy and challenge than about winning at all costs. I play with only what the game gives me, and I usually play as one of the smaller, weaker nations to make the game more fun. My point is: I'm usually not someone who embraces the philosophy of shafting everyone else and anything goes as long as I get a win. That being said, I'm currently facing a situation, and I can't really decide if it is dirty or just good strategy (or maybe both). So, I'd like you all to weigh in and to let me know what you think:
In this one game, i'm the #1 nation in the world and approaching enough VPs for a solo win. Not in the next game day or two, but certainly in the next five to eight game days (I play 4x). Up to this point (Day 30), I have played completely solo. Throughout the game, one coalition has been more successful than the others, and is now the only functional coalition remaining. There are currently five of them and they are all the next five strongest nations below me. So, if things continue as they stand, obviously they'll have to attack me to keep me from winning.
Can I beat all five of them working together? It's honestly a good question. I've both won and lost in such situations before. In this case, from what I've seen, I'd give myself about a 50/50 chance. They're not bad players, and they might be able to overwhelm me with numbers. Still, my original/default plan was to just fight them all and win.
Here's where we get to the dilemma, though. That coalition has decided they would rather drop their weakest player (currently #6 in the game) and add me in that player's place. They've contacted me and made that offer. Allegedly, they're kicking the #6 player out right now. So, here are my options:
A) Refuse to join, fight them all, and try to power my way to the solo win (as originally planned);
B) Join them and cruise easily to a shared coalition win with them;
C) Join them now so that I don't have to fight them, finish obtaining enough VPs for the solo win, and then drop out to claim the solo win.
Now, I know what you're thinking, and generally I agree with you: it's shifty to leave a coalition at the last minute to claim the solo win. Normally it is, but that's because a lot of people do it after their coalition has supported and protected them for the entire game. That's not what's happened here. It's Day 30, and I've never been in a coalition with anyone. I've done it all on my own. These guys could have attacked me at any time, but they didn't because they were scared, which is the same reason they are inviting me to join now. So if I guarantee peace with them for the last five days of a 35-day game, am I really being sketchy, or am I just being smart? What do you guys think?
I'm an experienced player, and I used to be a moderator. I try to play as fairly as possible, and I'm generally more about the strategy and challenge than about winning at all costs. I play with only what the game gives me, and I usually play as one of the smaller, weaker nations to make the game more fun. My point is: I'm usually not someone who embraces the philosophy of shafting everyone else and anything goes as long as I get a win. That being said, I'm currently facing a situation, and I can't really decide if it is dirty or just good strategy (or maybe both). So, I'd like you all to weigh in and to let me know what you think:
In this one game, i'm the #1 nation in the world and approaching enough VPs for a solo win. Not in the next game day or two, but certainly in the next five to eight game days (I play 4x). Up to this point (Day 30), I have played completely solo. Throughout the game, one coalition has been more successful than the others, and is now the only functional coalition remaining. There are currently five of them and they are all the next five strongest nations below me. So, if things continue as they stand, obviously they'll have to attack me to keep me from winning.
Can I beat all five of them working together? It's honestly a good question. I've both won and lost in such situations before. In this case, from what I've seen, I'd give myself about a 50/50 chance. They're not bad players, and they might be able to overwhelm me with numbers. Still, my original/default plan was to just fight them all and win.
Here's where we get to the dilemma, though. That coalition has decided they would rather drop their weakest player (currently #6 in the game) and add me in that player's place. They've contacted me and made that offer. Allegedly, they're kicking the #6 player out right now. So, here are my options:
A) Refuse to join, fight them all, and try to power my way to the solo win (as originally planned);
B) Join them and cruise easily to a shared coalition win with them;
C) Join them now so that I don't have to fight them, finish obtaining enough VPs for the solo win, and then drop out to claim the solo win.
Now, I know what you're thinking, and generally I agree with you: it's shifty to leave a coalition at the last minute to claim the solo win. Normally it is, but that's because a lot of people do it after their coalition has supported and protected them for the entire game. That's not what's happened here. It's Day 30, and I've never been in a coalition with anyone. I've done it all on my own. These guys could have attacked me at any time, but they didn't because they were scared, which is the same reason they are inviting me to join now. So if I guarantee peace with them for the last five days of a 35-day game, am I really being sketchy, or am I just being smart? What do you guys think?