Just a quick question to yack about for no real reason other than conversation:
Who faces more hostility in a game: High-Ranking accounts or Low-Ranking accounts?
I've heard players say that they feel they attract more negative attention as a result of playing on high-ranking accounts. The idea is that other players see them as more of a threat and feel a greater urgency to oppose them. What's more, more experienced/skilled players say they themselves tend to gun for the stronger-looking opponents more often and more quickly, because they tend to pose the bigger threat than a new player who doesn't appear to know what they are doing.
I understand every one of those points, and I agree that they are all present in the game to some degree, but I still think that, all things considered, High-Rank accounts receive a more positive response from other players.
I play Low-Ranking accounts often. Usually, it's because I'm testing something and I want to see what it looks like without the perks of High Rank and account age. Sometimes it's because I want clear results on my current single-game stats (KDR, etc.). Every now and then, it's for a more novel reason like I want to play under a specific name or I want an account where I always play the same country. The point is: I play Low Rank (Rank 1) accounts often and have very recently (I am right now, in fact).
I also have a High Rank account that serves as my main. It's the one that I used when I was helping out as a moderator, and I've had it for years. It's got hundreds of started games on its stats and double digit coalition and solo wins. Because I've started and left so many games, the stats on that account certainly aren't impressive, but they also shouldn't give anyone the idea that I'm a bad player.
Yesterday I started a new game on a brand new Rank 1 Account. I selected Chile (I'd recently heard people calling it a bad country to play). Before the first day was half over, Bolivia and Peru both started attacking me. They are in a coalition together with Brasil, Veneuela, and Cuba. No one spoke to me or invited me. They all joined a coalition and two of them started attacking me together before I even knew there was a coalition started. I feel like this is pretty representative of the treatment that Rank 1 players get. No, my enemies weren't High Ranking players, so I'm not claiming that High Ranking players were preying on me, but I also didn't hear from any. I didn't hear from anyone at all.
A couple of days ago I started a game with my High Rank account. I didn't have my first research finished or my first buildings built before I had three different invitations to join coalitions. One of those was from another High Rank account more than an ocean away. When I politely declined all of the invitations, a number of countries automatically changed their status toward me to Right of Way (without me asking and without us discussing it). It's day 16 in that game; I'm a defensive player; and I haven't been able to coax anyone into attacking me yet.
Does anyone EVER attack me on my High Rank account? Sure. Brand new players who haven't figured out that they should check out Ranks and Stats sometimes blindly attack me. High Rank players who are confident they can beat me and who don't want to deal with me later in the game sometimes attack me. And Mid-/Mixed Rank coalitions attack me together in every single game. I mean, it's a war game; I'm going to get attacked by someone at some point. If we're comparing how other players respond to High Rank versus Low Rank accounts, though, my personal belief (based on frequent experience) is that most players are more aggressive toward Low Rank accounts and more cooperative toward High Rank accounts.
P.S. I think this is supported by the fact that Low Rank accounts will often message me that they have High Rank accounts because they want me to think they're competent. No High Rank account ever messages me that they are really a new player on someone else's High Rank account. I.E. Other players seem to see High Rank accounts as desirable and Low Rank accounts as less appealing.
Who faces more hostility in a game: High-Ranking accounts or Low-Ranking accounts?
I've heard players say that they feel they attract more negative attention as a result of playing on high-ranking accounts. The idea is that other players see them as more of a threat and feel a greater urgency to oppose them. What's more, more experienced/skilled players say they themselves tend to gun for the stronger-looking opponents more often and more quickly, because they tend to pose the bigger threat than a new player who doesn't appear to know what they are doing.
I understand every one of those points, and I agree that they are all present in the game to some degree, but I still think that, all things considered, High-Rank accounts receive a more positive response from other players.
I play Low-Ranking accounts often. Usually, it's because I'm testing something and I want to see what it looks like without the perks of High Rank and account age. Sometimes it's because I want clear results on my current single-game stats (KDR, etc.). Every now and then, it's for a more novel reason like I want to play under a specific name or I want an account where I always play the same country. The point is: I play Low Rank (Rank 1) accounts often and have very recently (I am right now, in fact).
I also have a High Rank account that serves as my main. It's the one that I used when I was helping out as a moderator, and I've had it for years. It's got hundreds of started games on its stats and double digit coalition and solo wins. Because I've started and left so many games, the stats on that account certainly aren't impressive, but they also shouldn't give anyone the idea that I'm a bad player.
Yesterday I started a new game on a brand new Rank 1 Account. I selected Chile (I'd recently heard people calling it a bad country to play). Before the first day was half over, Bolivia and Peru both started attacking me. They are in a coalition together with Brasil, Veneuela, and Cuba. No one spoke to me or invited me. They all joined a coalition and two of them started attacking me together before I even knew there was a coalition started. I feel like this is pretty representative of the treatment that Rank 1 players get. No, my enemies weren't High Ranking players, so I'm not claiming that High Ranking players were preying on me, but I also didn't hear from any. I didn't hear from anyone at all.
A couple of days ago I started a game with my High Rank account. I didn't have my first research finished or my first buildings built before I had three different invitations to join coalitions. One of those was from another High Rank account more than an ocean away. When I politely declined all of the invitations, a number of countries automatically changed their status toward me to Right of Way (without me asking and without us discussing it). It's day 16 in that game; I'm a defensive player; and I haven't been able to coax anyone into attacking me yet.
Does anyone EVER attack me on my High Rank account? Sure. Brand new players who haven't figured out that they should check out Ranks and Stats sometimes blindly attack me. High Rank players who are confident they can beat me and who don't want to deal with me later in the game sometimes attack me. And Mid-/Mixed Rank coalitions attack me together in every single game. I mean, it's a war game; I'm going to get attacked by someone at some point. If we're comparing how other players respond to High Rank versus Low Rank accounts, though, my personal belief (based on frequent experience) is that most players are more aggressive toward Low Rank accounts and more cooperative toward High Rank accounts.
P.S. I think this is supported by the fact that Low Rank accounts will often message me that they have High Rank accounts because they want me to think they're competent. No High Rank account ever messages me that they are really a new player on someone else's High Rank account. I.E. Other players seem to see High Rank accounts as desirable and Low Rank accounts as less appealing.