[Baalz]

Jutetrea, I've found its much more often the case that it's better to appear powerful than to appear weak. Unless you're in first (possibly second) place by a good bit, you're more likely to be ganged up on because two or more of your neighbors think that you'll be easy pickings to their combined forces. True, you don't want to shoot out way ahead of everybody else unless you're ready for the attention, but definitely don't retard your growth for the sake of appearing non-threatening. Much better to be feared than ignored....