OT POLL: Do Nice Guys Finish Last??

Slynky · #1 July 12th, 2004, 03:36 PM

Another comment:

I'm not rich (though, I suspect, some people struggling to make a living might disagree after seeing our house and lifestyle). I'd say I'm well off. So, as to the question about nice guys finishing Last in the workplace (where the money is made), I'll say there are those who are much more ambitious than I am and who are willing to step on people to climb that "ladder". But I like to sleep well at night. And more money in exchange for that sleep just isn't worth it to me.

AMF · #2 July 12th, 2004, 03:48 PM

Well, I think it is safe to say that nice guys generally finish Last in SEIV and politics in general. I am almost exclusively a cooperative/non-zero-sum type of player, building alliances, gifting tech freely, helping others out in SEIV...and I don't think I've won a PBW game yet...my fault, of course. I also suck at ship design and micro-managing, which doesn't help.

Traskelion · #3 July 12th, 2004, 04:20 PM

In response to David E. Gervais's comment:
I'd like to say that I DO leave my cars unlocked, and no one takes them, so HAH to you! Then again, most of them don't work anyway, but the big reason is I live in a little town where no one locks anything (except school lockers).

Anyway, to the point. As a "nice guy" I can safely say that in SEIV, it will get you beaten around pretty badly by someone more cruel

Slynky · #4 July 12th, 2004, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alarikf:
Well, I think it is safe to say that nice guys generally finish Last in SEIV and politics in general. I am almost exclusively a cooperative/non-zero-sum type of player, building alliances, gifting tech freely, helping others out in SEIV...and I don't think I've won a PBW game yet...my fault, of course. I also suck at ship design and micro-managing, which doesn't help.

I hear ya, "Deccan" (smile). 1 x 1 games are OK because everyone (both people) have agreed at the beginning to be enemies. But in a multi-game, I find it hard to choose an enemy when it needs to be done for expansion's sake. I usually look to who has treated me the worst. In your case, as you know, we settled out pretty well. So, I think we are similar in this regard

.

Slynky · #5 July 12th, 2004, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Traskelion:
Anyway, to the point. As a "nice guy" I can safely say that in SEIV, it will get you beaten around pretty badly by someone more cruel

There is some truth in this. While I understand that "backstabbing" is part of the game, I prefer to be known as a person who would never do that. So, when people are looking to me to consider me for an alliance (or a treaty of some sort), I know they are thinking 2 things: (1) I can absolutely trust him and (2) He'll be so trusting that I can screw him over later. It's a double-edged sword I live with. I hope that people will give more consideration to trying to win the game with point #1 in mind than in point #2. But for those who give more weight to point #2...well, that's fine. I would rather finish 1 game out of 5 in first place by being the "honest/nice" guy than winning 4 out of 5 by backstabbing. As I said below...I like to sleep at night and my gaming conscience won't let me otherwise.

tesco samoa · #6 July 12th, 2004, 05:14 PM

yea but they are high school girls or club girls...

You do not marry a bad guy unless you like being married to an ***.

Long term relationships need a good level of the niceness...

Ps. what do you define nice as

As for work... Everyone at my work is nice... Mind you we do not want to go up the corperate ladder into management... Now there are some nice people who care about their work and help out and take responsiblity for when stuff goes wrong... I return the favour ... To me that is nice at work.

And in life... Hell yea...

p.s. in seiv i try to play to the race i am playing.... So some are nice some are not...

And I have won 1 game without being in a single fight with any race....

AMF · #7 July 12th, 2004, 05:18 PM

Yeah, that's my reasoning too, almost exactly. Now, that's not to say that it doesn't sometimes lead to uncomfortable situations. I *HATE* to attack anybody preemptively, but I also can't envision myself ever not supporting an ally. So, when my allies insist that we go to war against a power whom I have no specific beef with, it puts me in a real bind. In a recent case, I was faced with three allies who made a very strong case for going to war against a Talisman weilding power that eventually probably was going to be a big threat...so, I tried very hard to get a viable casus belli to justify my war on grounds other than "self-interest" - of course, self-preservation is a good enough reason, but to strike someone pre-emptively for that reason is a problematic bit of logic. Perhaps I took too many "ethics in international relations" courses at school...in any case, I would much rather do the "right thing" rather than the "selfish" thing...and it has indeed meant that I generally lose out to other with a more cutthroat approach...Oh well. Better to be known as someone who will go down fighting for an ally, even to the end, than someone who might betray an ally for advantage...

Quote:

Originally posted by Slynky:

quote:
Originally posted by Traskelion:
Anyway, to the point. As a "nice guy" I can safely say that in SEIV, it will get you beaten around pretty badly by someone more cruel

There is some truth in this. While I understand that "backstabbing" is part of the game, I prefer to be known as a person who would never do that. So, when people are looking to me to consider me for an alliance (or a treaty of some sort), I know they are thinking 2 things: (1) I can absolutely trust him and (2) He'll be so trusting that I can screw him over later. It's a double-edged sword I live with. I hope that people will give more consideration to trying to win the game with point #1 in mind than in point #2. But for those who give more weight to point #2...well, that's fine. I would rather finish 1 game out of 5 in first place by being the "honest/nice" guy than winning 4 out of 5 by backstabbing. As I said below...I like to sleep at night and my gaming conscience won't let me otherwise.