Re: Diplomacy ethics
"By reputation" would definitely be the default option of diplomacy. Machiavellian games came into popularity recently and encouraged treacherous play which should not affect reputation.
Altering the penalty and reward metric directly alters the nature of the decision making. It would be sub-optimal not to backstab someone you have an opportunity to do given it would provide you benefit. In a normal game you would think twice before doing it. Machiavellian makes the decision a no-brainer. NAPs don't really have any meaning. If you guard your border closely another player will probably pick another target regardless whether you have a NAP with them or not.
Another thing - why does everyone thinks drama is inherently a bad thing and should be removed? It adds to the experience. We are all human beings with emotions after all. And please don't give me "it's just a game" answer.
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