codependency and/or dependency personality disorders tend to do this involuntarily, so I would say this is a bad thing.

Manipulation and persuasion does have its uses in business (sales, marketing... try using it to buy a car... I have with incredible success), but it tends to harm close relationships.

And I'm guessing you realize that actually backstabbing people in real life is generally bad form, right? ;)

To close, to use persuasion and manipulation in life usually requires lying to others, or at least becoming very untrustworthy to others if you play the grammar game.... and Mark Twain has a great quote on lying: "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."

I have spent my life striving to be straight boring honest, and I think I'll stay that way, even in Dip. I'm not playing to win here: I am playing to sharpen my negotiation skills in a fun way. I try to stay true to my core values in-game whilst creatively making the most of my assets to get the best deal that I can.
Has it helped my negotiation skills?
Maybe it is too early to say because I have been here only since March. My impression so far is that at work I am sharper than before. In addition my reputation is stronger than 6 weeks ago. This is important because in my job, credibility is everything.

Negotiation, strategy, and verbal tactics - yes. Outright lying - no. You can down play the negative and use charm and tact to upsell the positive in real life, but never lie and say you are going to do something (or play the grammar game) then not do it.

Just to clear up: I didn't lie, bend the truth, play the grammar game, imply a falsehood or anything of the sort. It was the situation posted in the header post: the enemy of my friend is my enemy, and in real life's it's difficult to stay on good terms with both of them. I'm Germany in a strong alliance with England; there's only so long I can go without attackng Russia.

But real life isn't a game you are trying to win at the expense of others. You can, like Switzerland, stay neutral in England and Russia's conflict as there are no victory conditions.

It seems to me that in Dip it is acceptable to use (almost) any subterfuge to win. Dip is NOT life. I get mad at players who stab me, and dealing with it here helps me to deal with it in the big bad world out there. But I wouldn't think worse of someone who uses game legal methods to get the better of me, even if they are completely unacceptable in the real world. It's just a game in its own world.

"But real life isn't a game you are trying to win at the expense of others."

Heard of Capitalism? :D

@TWA - Capitalism of the lying nature is A) not about friends (the issue was the enemy of my friend may be my friend) and B) technically illegal. Go ahead and lie to the shareholders of your company, the public, or the government and watch the anti-trust violations, lawsuits, and indictments fly. Lie to your customers and you soon have no one to sell to.

I didn't say anything about outright lying. I simply implied that Capitalism forces people to treat their life like a game in which they can only succeed at the expense of others.

ANYWAY, I apologize to everyone for turning yet another thread into a political discussion and promise to cease at this point.

At the corporate or business level maybe. But there is more to life than Dickensian profit. And most people know this. Capitalism doesn't force nada on personal relationships.

"You can, like Switzerland, stay neutral in England and Russia's conflict as there are no victory conditions." You, my friend, don't live in the world of women. Neither do I, obviously, I don't understand at all. Herein lies my problem. I'm surprised nobody else has had the same problem.

Well, throwing in the sex of the people in question changes everything. Male friends can stay neutral. But yeah, cattiness abounds in the fmeale relationships.