[13lackGu4rd]

Originally Posted by Septimius Severus

1. What constitutes a "team" in terms of team size and working methods?

any size, it depends on the situation(both in dominions and in real life). a team must however be larger than 2 members, that would be a duo, couple, etc. also the smaller the team the easier it is to manage, while the larger it is the more benefits it can achieve due to sheer size.

2. How are teams different from alliances and other diplomatic relationships between players?

the first distinction between teams and alliances is that teams are predefined while alliances happen during something. for example, in dominions your NaV game was all about a team vs team action, those are well, teams... in standard games however, when 2 or more people unite against a common enemy than they can form an alliance, note that it happened during the game not before the game started.

the second distinction is that teams are permanent(or well, until the game ends as far as dominions go) while alliances are temporary, usually uniting against a common enemy than dissolving once the common enemy is no more. a good example of this from real life would be world war 2. at first Germany declared war on France which had previously allied itself with Britain due to previous German aggression, while Russia was allied with Germany and even supported it with Iron and Steel for the German factories. however Germany eventually betrayed Russia at Operation Barbarossa, than Russia allied itself with the US, Britain and France to complete the "Allies".

from the second distinction comes the major difference as far as diplomacy between the members. in a team, due to its permanent nature, the cooperation level is very high, and some members even do things that won't be the best for them individually but would be best for the team. such as a member(say Ulm for example) becomes the forge ***** of the team, not because he will personally benefit from it, but because the entire team will be much stronger. in an alliance however, due to its temporary nature, cooperation levels are relatively low, and every agreement between members needs to benefit both of them, or else it wouldn't happen.

3. Should teams have leaders, or can teams be run in a Democratic/voting/consensus fashion? Which method of administration is more efficient/appropriate for a given team size?

yes, teams should have leaders, even a democracy has a leader(president/prime minister)... a team without a leader is a team that doesn't function properly and doesn't gain as much as it could from being a team. however there are different types and styles of leaders, and different styles of management. so there's no 1 way to lead/manage a team.

for example, your NaV is built more towards a single leader who is supposed to be a mentor/educator(game wise not real life wise obviously), while a team filled with expert players for example, say Baalz, Micah and Jurri, could be run more loosely and perhaps democratically, unless they decide to let 1 of them become a dominant leader and agree to follow his lead.

4. Do all team games have diplomacy to some extent (even those that say they don't)?

I assume you mean diplomacy not within the teams themselves. that would depend on the game rules first and foremost. if there isn't a rule that bans it than it is bound to happen. same deal as diplomacy between individual players... 1 team becomes larger and stronger than the rest, the other teams form an alliance between themselves to eliminate the stronger team, than go back to fighting each other.

5. What are the benfits/drawbacks of small teams vs larger teams?

small teams are easier to manage, and usually the cooperation levels between the different individuals are larger. larg teams are a lot harder to manage, and the cooperation levels inside the team are somewhat lower, but the sheer size of the group lets it do things a small team just can't do. in dominions for example, a large team can easily wipe out a single opponent in 1(or well, 2) turns, by participation of most or all the team members. in real life a large team(say a large corporation) can gain larger discounts, be it for raw material, supplies, vehicles, etc.