The Cheapest Trick in the Book!

[vfb]

You're not going to improve your game much by always fighting the guy who goes AI.

I really think it's best to ignore which player is playing which nation, and just base your decisions on the individual circumstances of each game.

[Illuminated One]

Originally Posted by Dragar

There is a strategic purpose to being spiteful - you will very likely play against your opponents again. Who would you attack, all else being equal? A player who goes AI as soon as they are losing, or someone who fights tooth and nail to the end and sows his fields with salt as the enemy army invades?

That's a bit the same as I will never trust that guy that backstabbed me once.

[Dragar]

Originally Posted by vfb

You're not going to improve your game much by always fighting the guy who goes AI.

I really think it's best to ignore which player is playing which nation, and just base your decisions on the individual circumstances of each game.

In a multiplayer game do you try and take out an (in your estimation) easy target first to grow, or fight an equally sized and skilled opponent such that you both fall behind?

Absolutely you have to look at a lot besides the player, but it is almost never irrelevant. I've got a couple of games now where I'm on the way out, but I never want people to think I'm a pushover..

[vfb]

Originally Posted by Dragar

In a multiplayer game do you try and take out an (in your estimation) easy target first to grow, or fight an equally sized and skilled opponent such that you both fall behind?

I'll fight a larger opponent if I have a temporary or national advantage against him, and leave smaller nations alone if they are not a threat. If I'm at a disadvantage for whatever reason, then I'll do some diplomacy and see if I can get someone else to gang up on my perceived enemy. If there's a nation who is both bigger than me and has a national advantage, and I can't convince anyone else to go to war with him, then I'll be likely to leave him alone, if peace is an option.

The one thing I won't do is attack (or not attack) a nation because of the person who is playing that nation.

Absolutely you have to look at a lot besides the player, but it is almost never irrelevant. I've got a couple of games now where I'm on the way out, but I never want people to think I'm a pushover..

Of course, I agree that the threat posed by (or vulnerability of) a nation depends on who the player is. I just won't base my decisions on that.