Sometimes I will point out an open SC because I want my ally to go there, or will point out something obvious because it ties into a strategy.

In terms of unhelpful allies, I have two in one game who said they would do certain actions, then never submitted orders. They just dropped out of the game. I believe the second one was still ingame, but they sent a confirmation three hours before the end of the turn but still didn't submit orders. like what the hell were you doing?
Nevertheless it resulted in me getting destroyed pretty quickly.

When I think of unhelpful allies, I think of players who are so bad at guessing what moves they should make that they're start dying even though I am helping them.
For example, England allies me and I am Germany and somehow France is in English Channel, Belgium, and Irish Sea.

I usually betray this type of ally.

Tbh, I'd much rather have (and do) what you describe than have little to no press.

Sorry if it was me, I guess. O_o

It's just a conversation starter. I appreciate thatkind of press.

You would be surprised at how many higher level games people get into and forget this simple fact. As a neighbour, it really sucks. How can you plan and move ahead when you have a ventriloquist dummy with no ventriloquist sitting next to you.

That's a pretty bad metaphor.

It is part of the deception. They write novels planning out your most obvious moves...to distract you from the things you should be finding out from them.

No. Unreliable and or disloyal allies annoy me far more.

I prefer obvious press to no press or lying press. At least its a starting point.

I try to message all players every turn to keep comms open. The content is not Shakespeare.

The fact that you call them 'allies' proves that their tactic works!

I suppose being straightforward is better than being totally full of shit right?

I've found that having an idiot as a neighboring ally is a great boost to my own solo chances. I'd rather have an incompetent ad an ally then a crafty bugger. The game is on my terms then.
Note to idiots: I make a great ally, team up with me and we will steamroll them!

Sometimes what seems obvious to a good player, isn't obvious to a new player. Therefore, I usually apologize for writing to an ally about something obvious in the same message. I don't want to offend people like you who become irritated because they assume I think they're not good enough to see the obvious move. Does it help reduce the annoyance when the person apologizes for pointing out something obvious? The reason I do this is because I have discovered that not everyone opens up the orders. The orders sometimes contain a lot of interesting information about moves that you don't necessarily see in the map graphic.

Good point eturnage. Being nice to a newbie can be rewarding.

I generally go off the assumption that everyone involved in the game has some capability for strategy. It's a basic instinct we all have, to plan and make decisions, even though they may not always be the best decision. It is also something that has to be built off of experience more then straight teaching, since strategy (while there are several helpful books out there to read) isn't an exact science like chemistry.

I will make suggestions to help out an ally or influence them, but contrary to @ishirkmywork I prefer a competent ally. I have had allies that are either incompetent (not only do they make bad decisions, but they ignore my suggestions and comms) or disrespectful, and I have no time for either.

@MajorMitchell I also feel the same way, especially with unreliables.

no such thing as an 'unhelpful ally' ... ;-)

This thread attracts players interested in this great game we share, I've started two fun world games, one is anonymous, one is not, both only five points to enter, if you're interested, PM me for the passwords

Oh, games 201160 & 201162