Alright guys, lets play nice now please. I'm going to point out what I've picked up about games in my 3 year stay here.
First off, there are a few excusable reasons for going into CD: lose of internet and emergency. Other then that you can pretty much always find a sitter to finish your games no matter the reason. You got hurt and can't play, you just don't like the game anymore, or you had a family problem (this was my case a few years back) and I shot off a 30 second email to the mods apologizing and they found me a sitter. Any of these ways, finding a sitter for a non live game is easy, especially in a game like this where any TA would be willing to step in if needed. The point being, nobody should ever CD in a non live game and expect forgiveness from anyone else on the site in the future.
Secondly, I have never found global chat to be useful for anything but banter. I know may players like Draugnar use global chat for devious manipulations, and that is fine, there is a subtle art to that. Unless that is what you are doing I advise you very strongly not to get into arguments on the global chat. The only thing this does is make private communication that much more difficult.
Thirdly, never stop speaking to any other players. There is always the chance you will be able to convince an enemy to do something beneficial or to let something slip. Even if you feel the person is completely untrustworthy it is still worth it to keep open negotiations with them.
Lastly, you are never going to be required to draw a game unless there is a perfect stalemate line in effect. If you look at you map and you do not see a stalemate line you should expect to keep playing, even if you are positive nobody can solo or that nobody can be eliminated there are so many factors that can change the outcome of the game. Diplomacy can turn a guaranteed "tactical" victory into a defeat, and a "tactically impossible situation" into a win. Along this line is asking somebody to throw the game. I don't see any problem with that, there is no reason not to try if you have nothing to lose from it, the chance the person can be convinced to give you a solo is worth asking. On that same line, giving somebody a hard time for asking this of another player is perfectly fine as well. It's just another form of diplomacy. As long as it doesn't break the rules literally anything goes, though being civil is always appreciated. I'm sure you all read the recent disagreement between MadMarx and Babak in the forums. That is how you should try and conduct all your negotiations. That way even if you lose a game you don't lose anyone's respect.
I felt this was needed in light of the recent global messages and posts here, feel free to comment or pm me if you'd like me to elaborate on anything I said here. To be clear I am not aiming any comments at anyone specifically and I would like any new players reading this to consider my points.
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Doctor Who: the New or the Old orOld or Old or Old.....???
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