Surrender, Routing, and Pacificm

[Gandalf Parker]

Actually I can see Arryns point. The devs, in most of the text descriptions thru the game, clearly mean it to be a "Last god standing" type of game. And in solo-play that seems to be the "default" obvious method of play. The solo players (like myself) have asked for diplomacy things to be added to the game.

On the other hand, the way the game is played in multiplayer mode tends to be the opposite. Very few games occur without alliances. Long discussions in the strategy newsgroup over Dom1 got rather heated with some players feeling cheated when so many games ended by agreements rather than winners. Eventually we pointed out what many felt was the problem. We all knew each other. It was a small gaming community. We had reputations that go from game to game. Its not a bad thing really but by the time I join a game here Im not just Pangaea, Im Gandalf playing Pangaea.

We did some games in the newsgroup where efforts were made to make sure that NONE of the players knew who was playing a nation. A little more effort to do but it can be interesting. The game went VERY differently. Alliances were made but they were also broken. Sometimes in very devious side-switching back-stabbing ways which didnt seem to appear in the other MP games.

In my humble opinion, one of the things which can most clarify the game as a "Last god standing" for those that want it, is the work being done on creating a web-based game signup site. Having anonymous play of a nation will probably make a big difference (good or bad Im not sure) in the way those games are played. Then diplomacy additions wont "ruin" the game for some players. In fact, it would become another tool for war.