One of the most frequent and damaging things I face in the game is my enemy's "spite". You see, as long as a player is trying to win the game themselves, there are certain things I can normally expect them to do, mainly defend and preserve their own nation. Some players, however, at whatever point they decide they have nothing left to lose, will just go nuts and do things that don't benefit themselves in any way.
In one game a couple of days ago, for instance, I had two countries run everything they had at my country while I was asleep so that they could blow up some of my buildings in my homeland cities. Meanwhile, they left their own homelands almost completely undefended, took 6- or 8-to-1 casualties pushing into my country while I was offline, and didn't have any units left to hold the few cities of mine they took. In short, it was a complete suicide mission, and they were both immediately eliminated the next game day when i woke up and got online. They gained nothing. Their VPs didn't go up at all from one day to the next, they got eliminated from the game, and my VPs kept increasing (although I did have to rebuild some buildings) the whole time. I spoke civily to both players later (both very nice people) because I was curious why they did what they did. They said that they did it because blowing up my buildings would cause an inconvenience and a delay for me. They did this even though they knew it would mean the end of the game for them.
I've been thinking about it a lot since then, because it's a strange mindset to me. If I was a player who was resigned to the fact that I had already virtually lost a game, I'd just leave and start a new one. I wouldn't waste time meaninglessly suicide attacking another player. I have noticed, however, that a LOT of people do go out of their way to attack me, even if it means killing themselves. When I consider why this might be, I can only guess that it might be because in most games I'm a noticeable player. I often lead my coalitions, I'm often at or near the top in VPs from very early in the game, etc.
So, here's my question: Do you guys ever play it quiet or keep a low-profile in a game just to keep from being targeted by suicide attacks from crazy folks who don't care what happens to their own countries?
In one game a couple of days ago, for instance, I had two countries run everything they had at my country while I was asleep so that they could blow up some of my buildings in my homeland cities. Meanwhile, they left their own homelands almost completely undefended, took 6- or 8-to-1 casualties pushing into my country while I was offline, and didn't have any units left to hold the few cities of mine they took. In short, it was a complete suicide mission, and they were both immediately eliminated the next game day when i woke up and got online. They gained nothing. Their VPs didn't go up at all from one day to the next, they got eliminated from the game, and my VPs kept increasing (although I did have to rebuild some buildings) the whole time. I spoke civily to both players later (both very nice people) because I was curious why they did what they did. They said that they did it because blowing up my buildings would cause an inconvenience and a delay for me. They did this even though they knew it would mean the end of the game for them.
I've been thinking about it a lot since then, because it's a strange mindset to me. If I was a player who was resigned to the fact that I had already virtually lost a game, I'd just leave and start a new one. I wouldn't waste time meaninglessly suicide attacking another player. I have noticed, however, that a LOT of people do go out of their way to attack me, even if it means killing themselves. When I consider why this might be, I can only guess that it might be because in most games I'm a noticeable player. I often lead my coalitions, I'm often at or near the top in VPs from very early in the game, etc.
So, here's my question: Do you guys ever play it quiet or keep a low-profile in a game just to keep from being targeted by suicide attacks from crazy folks who don't care what happens to their own countries?