MP: Setsumi - Come for the game, stay for the drama!

[Quitti]

Maybe had Utgard and Rlyeh moved against Ermor, this game wouldnt be so sadly one-sided?
Maybe if they will wake up now (at last) we will still have a chance to revive this sad game?

I haven't been in the race for the top position for ages. This means that I'm not competing for the top position, and I'm either
a) Trying to learn from the experience
and
b) Not play to give "easy" victory to anyone (ie. You or zeldor, Marignon is out of the question now).
or
c) Playing little into the top nation(s) game by not attacking one of them, and doing whatever I do.

Should I put all my forces against Ermor, It might give you a cheap edge on the battlefields on the other side of the map to simply gobble up while Ermor is distracted in destroying me. Should I attack you, Ermor would probably gobble you up. So I'd very much like to see you two hit each other, no matter the result. The better player/nation wins. Simple as that. Of course if you can offer me something that will make me one of the top nations by attacking Ermor, sure, why not. Can you make one? Can Ermor make one? Which of you makes a better offer first? Does neither offer me anything? "Ermor not winning the game" is not enough for me. One nation will win the game, period. Top contenders are Man and Ermor from what I see.

So far, this game followed the most stupid scenario in whole Dominions: LA Ermor is surrounded by new/staling players, he absorbs them one by one, everyone thinks 'its OK because I will get some leftovers now, and then we'll unite'. 'THEN' it turns out that Ermor has grown too strong and everyone says 'oh I wont win anyway, so why should I care, I'll keep turtling'.
Really, Baaltz should mention such things in his 'players pledge'.

That shows that Zeldor has been succesfully diplomatic in whatever he's doing. Divide and conquer, as someone said a long time ago, supposedly.

P.S.
Cant say I am surprised about the death of my SCs. 'What can poor Ermor with his weak chaff do against teleporting Air Queens', right? Repeatedly teleporting SCs are very vulnerable. Too bad they didnt even inflict any casualties on you over this whole time. Just some 'useless freespawn'.
But at least they staled your advance for a few turns, and now I am one castle closer to your deadlands. I hope to prove a very unpleasant (read: challenging) neighbour yet. Alas, it wont be enough...

I'm really annoyed, to be honest. This is one of my best games - I took a rather limited nation and expanded into everything, getting a position that would be considered very powerful in any other game. But it wont change anything in Setsumi because of the stupid, stupid, stupid metagame.
Sigh.

P.P.S.

Just in case... if I didnt make myself clear enough: no, dont end this game now, goddamnit.

Just a pointer, diplomacy is part of the game. Doing awesomely well with your nation, which you claim/seem to have done, is not the whole game. I admit that I'd be very frustrated in your position too.

At this point I'm in for the ride along. I acknowledge that I should have attacked Ermor before I attacked Patala, but Patala was a very weak nation whom I just gobbled up. After that we had some disagreements with Mictlan, which ended up into me and Abysia pretty much gobbling Mictlan up, at which point I didn't have sufficient power to go against Ermor. I know Marignon was attacking him then, but nothing else. The situation hasn't changed that much now, except that Marignon decided to go AI, for losing SC's/mages, and not sticking around with this royal piece of steaming... excrement. Which a good player should've done. Now Ermor/Man/Abysia/me/whoever can waltz in and take his provinces that are not taken already. I admit that I don't have much intelligence with how much Marignon has left, but I'm betting he would have still had something up his sleeve.

Just my 2p. Thanks.