[Grandpa Kim]

Lord Chane said:

If at work "we are on the same team", then why would your boss be using you? From my perspective, someone who is using you isn't on your team. They're on their own team. A team has a common goal. If I'm using someone on a team, then I'm attempting to gain an advantage to advance my goals, not the team's goals. Sometimes a team member has to subordinate their goals for the good of the team. Sure, they'd like to be the star player, get the accolades, win the individual awards, but they forego that for the good of the team. Team members who advance their own goals first don't seem like team players to me. So I submit that if your boss is using you, then you and he/she aren't really on the same team. But that's just my opinion.

A valid point. I can only say that team play and using or being used are not mutually exclusive. My boss uses my talents to further his company, I use his company to further my reputation and earn more and more money. When one or the other is not making a sufficient gain, the relationship will end. In the meantime the more effiently we can build a quality product remains our mutual goal. You can relate this almost directly to the way I play SEIV.

While the alliance was in place I did nothing to further my position at the expense of those two allies, who I'm pleased to say treated me the same in reverse.

This is exactly the way I play alliances. Small transgressions lead to friction. Depending how I'm roleplaying the game, this may lead to immediate war or a long period of building distrust leading to eventual war or anything in between. Often the transgression is corrected, but that seed of doubt has been planted and remains throughout the game.

For myself, I don't recall ever using a pearl harbor attack. You will always get a warning. For instance,

"For our empire's security, we require you to vacate the Freduk system by 2409.4 to make room for our new colonies and military bases."

Not much reading between the lines required there.