[Calahan]

Passing FYI - Thought I'd pass on some of the 3+ years of experience I have on NAP's, for those interested.

Everyone will have a different view as to what constitutes a breach of NAP. But when you are about to do something that you think might breach a NAP (such as stealth preaching/stealth troop movement/over-writing currently existing globals), then it's pointless arguing or discussing what other players think (by digging up threads), as there's only one player's view that matters. And that's the player you have the NAP with. Nobody else's views matter one bit. (with regards that particular NAP. Other players views may effect future NAP's these players have, but that's for the future)

So unless you either get the ok for your actions in advance with your NAP partner ("Hi there, do you mind if I stealth troops into your land or not?"), or you clearly laid out some terms of the NAP when signing (and not just said "Do you want a NAP-3?"), then just about any action you take that impacts negatively on your NAP partner can be considered a breach (by some players). I've seen players claim NAP breaches over Scouts or building fort/temples on borders before now, which just shows some players will always take these things to the extreme. Edit - Just remembered ages ago one player claiming I breached an NPA with him just because I purchased a load of archers on his border, as doing that *obviously* meant I was going to invade him next turn?!? (so be aware that there are nutters out there)

So if you are a player who signs NAP's, then you either need to lay out a few general terms before signing on what might constitute a NAP breach. (1. No stealth preaching. 2. No targeted global over-writes. 3. Casting the following globals without asking. etc.). Or accept that some players will view any negative impact you have on them as a breach. But what you can't do is rely on any sort of "The general community consensus is that XYZ is/isn't a breach of NAP" as there just isn't a 'general community consensus' in existence. The closest you'll get to community agreement on this matter is with certain powerful/harmful globals, as most players agree they are an instant declaration of war on the world (rather than a breach of NAP). But even that view isn't universally accepted (although I would say it has a fairly large majority).


FWIW, if someone randomly overwrote my global by putting a new one up, then I wouldn't consider that a NAP breach (or an act of war). But if someone targeted my global specifically with an over-write, then that's an instant declaration of war for me. Since they targeted me with a spell that had quite a big negative impact on my empire and removed a valuable resource (since I wouldn't have put the global up if it wasn't valuable to me).