[Omnirizon]

perhaps it is a bad example.

But it is hard to imagine how to fit a player forgetting to send items into the roleplayed illusion. Assuming they genuinely forgot, it can be something like "the latest caravan was held up" or "our royal ambassador is an absent minded dunce who forgot his bags before he left for your capital" or something like that. It fits fairly well into an imaginable event. When a player forgets to do something 2 or 3 turns in a row, it is hard to imagine how it could be fit into the roleplay without the nation just being absolutely incompetent. Can you imagine a present day nation "forgetting" to send something equivalent to magic gems (say plutonium or oil) for 3 months in a row? And it is hard to imagine how such an absolutely incompetent nation could handle tax collection or managing their armies. Yet the tax collection is automatic and players rarely forget to move armies (sending items is actually pretty easy to forget). If something like this is happening, and it is genuine forgetfulness, then it is a complete metagaming influence between the two nations. A nation may have agreed to trade with another, and then three turns after that trade may decide they are going to attack. If one player keeps forgetting to send the trade goods, then the other player's in-game decisions are being influenced by the former's out-game events. If the player who had decided to attack was forced to withhold their attacks due to the still open trade deal (only open because of out-game influence), then the metagaming is having a very powerful effect on in-game events.

If the player isn't forgetting to send the gems, and using that as an excuse, then that is also metagaming. they are using out-game to justify an in-game strategy. A nation would never say they forgot to send something, because it would be completely incompetent. A nation that doesn't have enough wherewithal to ship traded goods to neighbors obviously can't rule their own lands, they would be immediately attacked.

I guess, then, we could just fit the whole occurrence, as you suggested, into some "economic reason". But it is hard to imagine what was economically preventing gems a player has from being put on a caravan or sent with a messenger to another player's capital. And like I said, no nation that can collect its own taxes could simply "forget" to send trade goods or tribute.

The issue is a player taking responsibility for a game they can't play. I guess I have a little feeling around the whole thing because the above scenario has happened to me. If a player is having in-game issues due to inability to actually play their turns, they should do whatever they can to repair their issues affects on other player's in-game strategies.